History of Monmouth county, New Jersey, Part 125

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Swan, Norma Lippincott. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia, R. T. Peck & co.
Number of Pages: 1148

USA > New Jersey > Monmouth County > History of Monmouth county, New Jersey > Part 125

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

748

HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

many years, and on his removal to Monmouth County was appointed one of its associate judges. John W. Herbert received his education at the distriet schools near his home, and, in connec- tion with his brother William, cultivated the farm for a period of eight years, after which he received the property as a gift from his father. This farm he made his home, and has since con- tinned the healthful pursuits of a farmer, hav- ing added to his possessions by the purchase of other tracts in adjacent portions of the county until he now has one thousand acres of valuable land. Judge Herbert married, on the 24th of February, 1851, Agnes D., daughter of Savage Wright, of Piscataway township, Middlesex County. Their children are John W. Jr., a graduate of Rutgers College and Columbia College Law School, and an attorney in Jersey City; William, a student of the Trenton Busi- ness College, and a resident of Omaha, Neb., and now in the postal service; Richard, educated at New Brunswick, who resides on the farm ; Kate, a graduate of Vassar College, wife of D. M. Kelly, of Brooklyn ; and Jeanne, who was educated at Saratoga. Judge Herbert is one of the representative and public-spirited citizens of the county, and was largely instru- mental in securing the organization of the township of Marlborough, in 1848. A stanch Republican in his political principles, he was elected the same year its first frecholder, held the office of school superintendent from 1850 to 1863, was for fifteen years assessor and from 1874 to 1879 associate judge of the Superior Court of Common Pleas. He also, in early years, pursued the profession of a surveyor. Judge Herbert was, in 1872, a dele- gate to the Republican National Convention at Philadelphia, as also to the National Con- vention of 1884 which met in Chicago. He was for ten years chairman of the County Republican Committee of Monmouth, and for sixteen years its treasurer. He was tendered and declined the nomination for Congress in 1872, and in 1875 received the no- mination as candidate for the State Senate. His ability and integrity have caused him fre- quently to be chosen to fill the responsible po- sitions of executor and administrator. He has

been for years treasurer and superintendent of the Monmouth County Plank-Road Company, and is director of other turnpikes in the county, as also president of the Matawan Propeller Com- pany. He was, from 1861 to 1865, engaged in journalism as proprietor and editor of the Mon- mouth County Inquirer, which enjoyed a period of signal prosperity under his able management. He was also owner of a carriage-factory at Key- port, and, in connection with Theodore Aunch, conducted for twelve years a large and snecess- ful business. Judge Herbert's religions associ- ations are with the Reformed Church of Marl- borough, to which he has ever been a liberal contributor.

LAFAYETTE AND STACY P. CONOVER .- The common ancestor of the Covenhoven (or Conover) family in America was Wolfhert Ger- ritsen Van Covenhoven, who emigrated from Ammersfort, in the province of Utrecht, Hol- land, in 1630, having been sent over by the patroon of' Albany to look after his landed in- terests. He remained three or four years at Albany and then came to New Amsterdam, where he was engaged for a short period in farming on Manhattan Island. He had three sons,-Garret, Jacob and Peter,-of whom Gar- ret settled on a farm at Flatlands, married Altje Cornelipe Cool (or Cole), and had two sons, William and John, and two daughters, Neeltje and Maritje. He died about 1644. Ilis son William was born about 1636 and died about 1728. He married, for his second wife, Jannetje Montfoort, in 1665, and had six sons and five daughters. His son John, the great-grandfather of Lafayette Conover, was born April 9, 1681, and died in 1756. He married, about 1704, Jacoba Van Derveer, and removed to Monmouth County, settling on the farm where Peter G. Conover now resides. They had seven sons and one daughter. Their son Garret was born April 27, 1726, and died November 1, 1812. He married, first, about 1748, Neeltje Van Ma- ter, who was the mother of three sons and two daughters. He married again, about 1786, Ann Schenck, who was born August 9, 1753, and died April 5, 1803. To this nnion were born three daughters and two sons. The daughters

Il Herbert

La Fayette bonover

Slang

749

MARLBOROUGH TOWNSHIP.

were Eleanor, born December 13, 1787, who married De Lafayette Schenck ; Jane, born No- vember 9, 1789, who married Stacy Priekot : and Ann, born September, 1790, who married, first, William Schenck, and, second, Theodore Rne. The sons were John, born December 17, 1791, who married Ann Smock, and Peter G., born Jannary 2, 1797, who married, November struction of a new court-house and jail, on the destruction by fire of the original buildings. He has also aeted as member of the township committee, collector, etc., and been identified with the most important interests of both town- ship and county. Mr. Conover has been as- sociated sinee his youth with the Reformed (Duteh) Church. Stacy P. Conover, the third 10, 1819, Charlotte, daughter of John Lyell, son of Peter G. and Charlotte Lyell Conover, was born on the 5th of June, 1828, at the an- cestral dwelling-house in Marlborough, and received a rudimentary education at the distriet school near his home. In youth he became familiar with the labor of the farm, and assisted in itscultivation until his majority was attained, when he managed it on shares until 1856, at which date a portion of the land was purchased by him.

and has children,-John L. ; Lafayette ; Staey P. ; Garret P. ; Charles, deceased ; Ann Eliza, deceased (Mrs. David Beard) ; Eleanor, deceased (Mrs. Alfred Conover) ; Emma (Mrs. Ferdi- nand Hyers) ; Amanda, deceased ; and Jane, deceased. Lafayette, of this number, was born February 21, 1822, on the homestead in Marlborough, still in possession of his father, and until the age of fifteen was a pupil of the dis- trict school of the neighborhood, after which his services were required upon the farm. He was, in 1846, married to Elizabeth, danghter of Wil- liam R. and granddaughter of Ruloff' P'. Sehenek, of the same township. Their children, are a son, Charles E., married to Ella, daughter of John Farry, of Matawan, who has two children, Florence May and Elizabeth ; and a daughter, Jane Elizabeth, married to Charles HI. Mills- pangh, whose children are Lafayette, Josephine, Ellen and Laura.

Mr. Conover, on his marriage, removed to Middletown township, where, in connection with his brother, John L., he purchased a farm and remained two years. In 1850 he returned to Marlborough and became owner of the farm which is his present residence. Ilere he has since been engaged in general farming and made horticulture a study, pear-culture having been attended with much success and corresponding profit. He is a member of the board of direc- tion of the Monmouth County Agricultural So- eiety, was director and treasurer of the Holm- del Transportation Company, which he form- erly, in connection with a partner, controlled, and was also a member of the board of direction of the Freehold and New York Railroad.

Mr. Conover is in politics a Democrat, having served for seven years on the Board of Chosen Freeholders and been placed on the building committee appointed to superintend the con-

Hle was married, on the 3d of July, 1860, to Miss Ellen L., daughter of Daniel Schenck, of Marlborough township. Mr. Conover, in 1862, purchased the farm on which he at present re- sides, in the same township, and is still engaged in the employment of an agriculturist, devoting special attention to horticulture. Mr. Conover's extensive business interests have not, however, rendered him indifferent to affairs connected with his township. A Democrat in his political predilections, he has held various local offices and been an influential factor in the develop- ment of his section of the county. He is a member of the board of direction of the Free- hold and Keyport Railroad. His religious views are in accord with the doctrines of the Reformed (Dutch) Church, in which the fam- ily for generations have worshiped.

J. V. N. WILLIS is a son of Ralph Willis and Lucretia A. Van Nuise, the former born in London, England, in 1815, and the latter near New Brunswick, N. J., in 1811. Rev. Ralph received his primary education in London and in Yorkshire, having been a pupil of " Dough- boy Hall." In 1830 he emigrated to this country, whither his father, Edwin Willis, within a few years followed, settling with his remaining family in Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Rev. Ralph, after pursuing a preparatory course

750

HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

of study in Philadelphia and in the grammar school at New Brunswick, in 1835 entered Rutgers College, from which he graduated with reputation in 1849, when he became a member of the Theological Seminary of the same place. At the conclusion of his theological course he was called to the pastorate of the Reformed Church of Bethlehem, N. Y., where his name and usefulness have still honorable mention. Leaving this charge in 1851, he became pastor of the Brick Church, Monmouth County, N. J., where he remained an honored and successful pastor until the spring of 1868, when he as- sumed, in connection with his official position as county superintendent of public instruction, the care of the Reformed Church of Spotswood, N. J., whose interests, both spiritual and ma- terial, he greatly advanced. This reverend gentle- man still holds, at this writing, the office of superintendent of instruction, his efficiency and adaptability having secured his reappointment, term after term, for the past seventeen years. In addition to this public service, his old age is honored with the responsible position of rector of the Theological School at New Bruns- wick, where he resides with his remaining family in circumstances of competence and comfort.

John V. N. Willis was born in Bethlehem, N. Y., August 15, 1843. His primary edu- cation was obtained at the Woodhulls' school, Frechold, and, for a time, in Philadelphia. His more advanced studies were under his father's tuition, at Marlborough, N. J. At the age of nineteen he assumed the care of the home farm, preferring the occupation of a farmer to that of any other. After his marriage to an estimable lady, Ann Schanck, he purchased a farm in Atlantic township, which he retained but a short time, disposing of it for the purchase of the Schanck homestead, Marlborough, where he still resides. Here, together with general farm- ing, he devoted much attention to the raising and training of fine horses, owning at one time, among others of note, the famous trotters " Edwin Booth " and "Sensation." In 1876 his attention was diverted from fine horses to fine cattle, making the Jerseys his specialty, being the first to intro- duce registered Jerseys into this section. This en-

terprise at first was not looked upon with favor by his more cautious neighbors ; but with a self- reliance that was always a prominent trait in his character, he persevered. In the spring of 1879 his offering at the Breeders' Combination Sale in New York comprised the two-year-old heifer "Daisy Maid of Bloomfield " and her calf, with some yearlings. Prices at that time did not range so high as at present, yet the cow and calf were sold to Mr. T. A. Havemeyer, of New York, for fifteen hundred dollars, and the yearlings brought prices ranging from three hundred to four hundred dollars cach. At the subsequent sales, held in the American Institute Building, his stock has always been much sought after by the prominent breeders of the country, and have always com- manded large prices. At the Breeders' Contri- bution Sale in New York, in May, 1883, Mr. Willis received the second prize, a costly silver cream pitcher, presented by his associate breeders for the second highest average, being $1224.50 per head. His contribution at the sale was all of young animals, and included the little bull-calf " Koffee's King," only twenty- one days old, which was bred by Mr. Willis, and brought sixteen hundred and fifty dol- lars, which was within fifty dollars of the highest price ever paid up to that time for a Jersey bull-calf. At a similar sale, in New York, in May, 1884, Mr. Willis contributed fifteen head of young Jerseys, which secured for him the admiration of the visitors and of the press, and their sale aggregated ten thousand three hundred and thirty-five dollars.

Again, at the annual sale in New York, in April of the present year (1885), he carried off the prize offered to the person contributing the five animals selling for the highest price, whether bred by the contributor or not. This inch-cov- eted prize consisted of a beautiful solid silver punch-bowl, mounted on an ebony pedestal, and was valued at one hundred and seventy-five dol- lars. The average obtained at the sale for five of his cattle was nine hundred and thirty-one dol- lars per head, which was also the highest average obtained by any participant in the sale. Mr. D. F. Appleton, of New York, in presenting the prize to Mr. Willis, paid a very high compli-

751

MARLBOROUGH TOWNSHIP.

ment to his ability to select and develop the very best animals, and said that his consignments to these sales had always been greatly admired. He has also been a successful prize-winner at local and State fairs, receiving many herd and individual prizes. His stock in the hands of others has also been successful in winning prizes at St. Louis and at other points in the West. He was sent, as an expert in Jersey cattle, by the American Jersey Cattle Club, to test the great cow " Princess II.," who made twenty-seven poundsten ounces of butter in seven days, at that time, the largest yield on record ever made by any cow. He has also acted as judge of live stock at the most prominent exhibitions lately in Baltimore, Rhode Island, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and elsewhere. At the present time Mr. Willis' herd comprises a large num- ber of superior animals of various ages and the most popular and varied strains. He ranks among the first breeders of fine cattle in the coun- try, and as a judge of the merits of young cattle and of their future promise, and as a conditioner, it is conceded that he stands in the front rank. The Jersey Bulletin, published at Indianapolis, under date of May 1, 1884, said : " [He] is an extraordinary judge of the possibilities of young stock, and is one of the first managers and handlers in the country." October 29th, it said : "[He] possesses the utmost instinctive power of judging of the probabilities of young calves." December 31st, it said : " [He] has an intuitive knowledge of the capabilities of animals to feed, has had a most thorough education, training and experience in rearing, feeding and the manage- ment of cattle, and in tact and talent in this di- rection is equaled by few."

Mr. Willis is a Democrat in politics, and a popular man in his section, in which his party has been in the ascendancy for many years. He has frequently had public positions tendered to him, but has always declined to accept them. He was appointed by Governor Abbett to represent the Third Congressional District on the board of visitors to the State Agricul- tural College, his commission bearing date of April 18, 1884. He has also recently been re-elected as a member of the board of mana- gers of the Monmouth County Agricultural So-

ciety, of which society he has been an active and prominent member for a number of years. He is still a young man, and can scarcely be said to have reached the prime of his mental abilities. Should he escape accident and disease, he has a bright future before him, and the kindest re- gards of his friends and associates will accom- pany him in his career.

DANIEL P. VAN DORN. - The Van Dorn family are of Holland descent, the progenitor of the family in New Jersey having been Jacobus Van Dorn, a native of Holland, who settled on Long Island, from whence he removed to Monmouth County in 1698, purchasing six hundred and seventy-six acres of land in Marl- borough township. At the organization of the First Church of Frechold, in 1709, Jacobus Van Dorn was one of the two members appointed to fill the office of deacon.

The northwest corner of the land above re- ferred to is now in possession of the subject of this biographical sketch, having come to him by inheritance through an unbroken line of ancestors, embracing a period of more than one hundred and eighty years. In the direct line of descent from Jacobus, who married Maritje Bennet, a lady of large wealth, was Peter Van Dorn, born July 4, 1755, on the ancestral land in the present township of Marlborough, where he followed the occupations of a farmer. He married Jane Williamson, whose birth occurred July 5, 1758. Their children were Mary, Jacob, Elbert, Williampe, Anne, John, Wil- liam, Isaac, Peter, Jannetje, and Sarah. William, of this number, was born March 2, 1790, and married, November 28, 1815, Catherine, daughter of Daniel Polhemns, of the present Atlantic township, a soldier of the Revolution, who was confined in the famous Sugar-House Prison, in New York. To this marriage were born four children,-Catherine, Jane, Daniel P. and Mary,-of whom Jane, born January 14, 1819, married, March 10, 1842, John Rue Per- rine, of Manalapan, whose only daughter is Catherine Polhemus Perrine. Mrs. Perrine's death occurred August 28, 1877.

Daniel P. Van Dorn was born October 7, 1820, on the homestead still occupied by him,

752

HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

which has been his life-time residence. He was educated at Matawan, in his native county, and later at Lenox, Mass., after which, on his return, he assisted in the routine of labor eon- nected with the farm until the death of his father, when he received as his patrimony a portion of the land, and acquired the remainder by purchase. He has since that time been devoted to the varied labors of an agrieultur- alist. Mr. Van Dorn was, on the 9th of Sep-

the State Legislature in 1854, serving during the session on various important committees, including that on banks and banking. He has also acted as chosen freeholder and filled other township offices. Mr. Van Dorn was educated in the faith of the Reformed (Dutch) Church, to which he still adheres.

OBADIAH C. HERBERT .- The ancestry of the Herbert family having been already given

tember, 1874, married to Anna J. Roche, of elsewhere in this volume renders repetition here North Hadley, Mass. Their only child is a unnecessary. The subject of this biographical sketch is the son of Conover Herbert, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Major David Provost, of Monmouth County. The children of this marriage are Obadiah; Cornelia, wife of William H. Heyer; David P., deceased; Elea- nor G., deceased; Mary Louisa; William H., deceased; John W., deceased; Evelina E., de- ceased; and William C., married to Louisa Applegate. Obadiah C. was born on the 12th son, William, born on the 20th of August, 1875. Mr. Van Dorn has been identified with many of the most important interests of the county. He was one of the early projectors and is still a director of the Freehold and New York Railroad. He is also a member of the Monmonth County Agricultural Society. His political principles have always been those of the Democratic party, which he represented in

753

OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BRANCH.

of October, 1834, at Matawan, Monmouth County, where he remained until his twelfth year, subsequently residing for four years with his uncle, Judge J. W. Herbert, in Marlborough township. His education was received in Marlborough and at Matawan, and later at the Madison University, at Hamilton, N. Y., from whenee he was called home by the illness of his father, whose death occurred in 1858. He assumed direction of the farm, and in 1859 became, by inheritance and purchase, the owner of the paternal home, which is his present resi- dence. He was, in 1857, married to Mary A., daughter of John Buck, of Freehold, their children being Ralph Willis, a practicing physi- cian at Manasquan; Dora E., wife of Dr. Charles N. Cox; Frank C .; George B .; Evan M .; Carrie O .; and Harvey C., deceased. Mr. Herbert has, since his marriage, been engaged in farming, though various business interests requiring close attention have influenced him to place the cultivation and improvement of his lands in the hands of his sons. On his farm are extensive and valuable marl-pits, which have brought their owner into prominent notice as the most extensive dealer in this remarkable fertilizing product in the State. (A comprehen- sive deseription of the marl-beds of the county will be found in the chapter on the geological formation of the county.) The whole of Mr. Herbert's farm is underlaid with marl, about twelve acres of which have thus far been profit- ably worked, the supply being practically un- limited. The market is chiefly found in adja- cent portions of the State, the Freehold and New York Railroad, which runs over the land, affording superior facilities for shipment. Mr. Herbert was the projector and has been the leading spirit in the development of Marlborough, the village in which he resides. Ile purchased the ground, which was laid out in lots, build- ings erected, and manifested a spirit of energy and determination which insured its rapid de- velopment and growth. He still continues these improvements, and has recently devoted much attention to real estate operations and the purchase and sale of property in this and other localities. Mr. Herbert is a member, and was formerly an officer, of the Monmouth County 48

Agricultural Society. He is a Republican in politics, and although at times the incumbent of various township offices, has frequently de- clined such honors. He has, however, been more largely identified with religious work, and was an active member of the building com- mittee in the erection of the edifice of the First Baptist Church of Marlborough, of which he is both deacon and trustee, and has been, since its organization, superintendent of the Sabbatlı- school.

CHAPTER XXVI.

OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BRANCH.

THE township of Ocean was erected from a part of Shrewsbury by an act passed February 24, 1849, dividing the said township of Shrews- bury into two townships, by a line " beginning at the mouth of Shrewsbury South river, and running up said river to Eatontown Landing Creek, to the east line of Jacob White's land ; thence northerly, along the line of land between Jacob Whiteand Peter Castler, to Parker's Creek ; thence up said creek to the Eatontown mill- brook ; thence up said brook to said mill ; thence up the pond to a point where line south ten degrees west will strike the road west of Asel Spin- ning's ; thence on a straight line to the road leading from Eatontown to Shark River, where said road crosses Cranberry Brook ; thence along said road, as it runs across Jumping Brook, to the northwest corner of Skullthorp's farm ; thenee on a straight line running west of the school-house, near John P. L. Tilton's, to the Howell line. The northwesterly part to be called the township of Shrewsbury, and the southeasterly part to be called the township of Ocean."

In 1867 the Legislature of New Jersey passed an act declaring " That the township of Ocean, in the county of Monmouth, shall be hereby divided into two townships, by a line running as follows, to wit: Beginning at the mouth of Peter Reynolds' mill-brook, where it empties into Shark River, and running up said brook to said mill ; thence a straight line

754

HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

northeasterly to the southwest corner of Elisha J. Morrison's farm by a bridge over a stream which empties into Great Pond ; thence down the said stream to the aforesaid pond, and around the same to the north side thereof, to the southeast corner of Jeremiah White's farm, being also the southwest corner of the farm of Garret Vanderveer; thence along the line of said White and Vanderveer dne north to the Deal road, leading from thence to the Eaton- town and Long Branch turnpike road, by Elisha Lippincott's store; thence along said Deal road to a cross-road at the foot of Negro Hill, near the Methodist Episcopal Church, leading to Lane & Corlies' store ; thence along the mid- dle of said cross-road to a stone planted for the northwest corner of John Lever's farm, being also the northeast corner of the farm of the late James T. Woolley, deceased ; thence north nine degrees east to the Turtle mill-brook ; thence down the said brook and creek to the southeast corner of George Hance's farm; thence along the east line of said farm to the northeast cor- ner thereof, being a corner of lands belonging to William Morris; thenee north thirty-five and a half degrees west to South Shrewsbury River, being the Shrewsbury Township line. The easterly part to be called the township of Ocean, and the westerly part the township of Lineoln." This act was repealed in the follow- ing year, thus obliterating Lincoln township from the map of Monmouth County, and leav- ing Ocean township with boundaries the same as before the passage of the act dividing it.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Monmouth county, New Jersey, Part 125

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Swan, Norma Lippincott. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Philadelphia, R. T. Peck & co. Number of Pages: 1148

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Swan, Norma Lippincott. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia, R. T. Peck & co.
Number of Pages: 1148