History of Monmouth county, New Jersey, Part 96

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

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seventy-five acres, and has at various times added to its area until the farm now embraces two hundred and ten acres under enltivation. He has been a farmer from his youth, and is thoroughly practical in his methods ; henee he has been successful, and while raising the usual products of the county, has given much attention to fruit-eulture. Mr. Grant was, in 1854, mar- ried to Anna, daughter of Jarret Morford, of Red Bank. Their two children were Laura (deceased) and T. Henry, a civil engineer on the

ation for the Monmouth battle monument. He served on the committees on agriculture, unfin- ished business and the joint committee on eom- meree and navigation. He is a member of the State Horticultural Society, and active in pro- moting its objects and interests. Mr. Grant is in his religious associations an Episcopalian, and meniber and vestryman of Christ Protestant Episcopal Church of Middletown, of which he has been, for nearly a quarter of a century, business manager.

Wm 6 grant

New Jersey Central Railroad. Mrs. Grant's GEORGE CRAWFORD HENDRICKSON. - Mr. Hendrickson is the great-great-grandson of John Hendrickson and the great-grandson of Daniel Hendrickson, born in 1735, who married Nellie Van Mater. Among their three children was John, whose birth occurred June 13, 1773. He resided on the family estate, having married Mary Lloyd, who was born October 17, 1772. Their second son, John Lloyd, was born March death occurred March 5, 1868, and he was again married, April 22, 1875, to Mrs. Eliza Jane Watson, daughter of Thomas Hendrickson, of New York City. Mr. Grant's interest in the county and township of his residence has led to his nomination to many responsible offices. He was, in 1884, elected, as a Republican (in a Democratic distriet), to the State Legislature, and was instrumental in securing the appropri- 3, 1801, in Middletown township, and settled

Leo 10 / Vend

MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP.

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on the property now the home of his widow, in that township, his death having occurred September 25, 1845. He was married, on the 16th of December, 1822, to Adaline, daughter of George Crawford, of Middletown, and had children,-Eleanor, born October 9, 1823, who died, October 22, 1837; Anna, born September 26, 1825, deceased; George C., whose birth occurred March 8, 1829; and Mary Louisa.

bition for positions of trust and honor among his fellow-men. He gave little attention to enter- prises of a publie character, and rarely interested himself in matters apart from his own farm, which was successfully conducted and very productive. He greatly loved the quiet of his fireside. No man was more hospitable, more kind or generous to his workmen or more true to his friends. His heart ever responded to the

George Crawford Hendrickson was born on ! calls of benevolence or religion. Though not a

Tranny CHE Clang

the old homestead, and pursued his studies at ' member of the church, he was a strong supporter Flushing, Long Island, after which he entered | of all Christian movements and a regular at- the academy at Middletown. He determined tendant of the Baptist Church. His death, which was universally deplored, occurred Oc- tober 12, 1875. upon agriculture as the business of his life, and on the death of his father managed the property in the interest of the family. This work he continued during the remainder of his life, SIDNEY MCCLANE .- Jacob McClane, the grandfather of Sidney McClane, was a native of Bucks County, Pa., and during the Revolution- ary War the owner of a farm and ferry on the Delaware, the latter of which was intimately as- giving some attention to the raising of fine cattle and sheep. He was among the most substantial and respected citizens of the township, though his life was nnassuming and free from am-

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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

sociated with the struggle for independence, in which Mr. McClane participated as a soldier in the battle of Germantown. He mar- ried Martha Burdge, whose children were Moses, David, Solomon, Jonathan and Martha. Jon athan was born in Bucks County, Pa., and re- moved with his parents to Mommonth County, his father having given him a farm on the Shrewsbury River, where his life was chiefly spent. He married Eleanor, daughter of Ben- jamin Burdge, whose grandfather, David Birdge, emigrated from England and secured an exten- sive tract of land in Middletown township. The children of this marriage are Jacob, Wil- liam, Theresa, (Mrs. John S. Leonard), Sidney, Warren, Eleanor (Mrs. S. B. Close), Benjamin B. and Susan (Mrs. William MI. Smith). Sidney, of this number, was born on the 27th of September, 1820, in Middletown township, and spent his youth with his parents, having been a pupil in boyhood of the neighboring public school, after which he interested himself in the cultiva- tion of his father's farm. He eventually became owner of a portion of the homestead land, and remained upon it until 1866, the date of the family's removal to the attractive property now owned by his widow, where his death occurred on the 2d of July, 1874. He was married March 11, 1858, to Anne Smith, daughter of Joseph M. Smith, of Middletown township, whose children were six in number, three of whom are now deceased. Mr. McClane, though successful in all departments of farming, made horticul- ture a study, and devoted much of his time to the raising of choice varieties of fruit. He was formerly a Whig in politics, and later became a Republican, though never a participant in the active scenes of a political campaign. He was one of the originators, as also a trustee, of the Fair View Cemetery, and a director of the Mid- dletown Turnpike Company. Ile was connected by membership with the Red Bank Baptist Church, of which he was a trustee. A man of modest bearing, and domestie in his tastes, his pleasures were found within the circle that gath- ered around his own fireside.

WILLIAM M. SMITH was born in Middletown township, Monmouth County, N. J., in 1803,

and died at his home on the 25th of February, 1879, within a quarter of a mile of his birth- place, the family homestead, which he himself owned at the time of his death. He was the son of Daniel Smith, long and favorably known as deacon of the Baptist Church in Middle- town, with one or two exceptions the oldest in the State. Daniel Smith's death occurred in 1850. His father, grandfather and great-grand- father, three generations, all bore the name of William, the first William being the son and chief heir of John and Mary Smith, who arrived in New York in the year 1670 and bought a plantation in Middletown, the warrant of which is dated 1676. The will of John Smith bears date December 29, 1714, and enumerates seven children, William being the eldest. His son, the second William Smith, was married, about the year 1728, to Mary Compton, and died in 1770. Among his ten children was the third William Smith, the father of Daniel Smith and the grandfather of the subject of this biography. The third William Smith married, in Novem- ber, 1762, Mary Layton and had ten children. He lived in an era that "tried men's souls," and, the records state, suffered, among other depri- vations, a loss of £138 168. 6d. through the British. His son Daniel, the father of William M., was born June 5, 1768, and married, in March, 1793, to Anne Maxon, one of the truest, noblest and best of women, whose father, Rich- ard Maxon, was an officer in the War of the Revolution. Their twelve children were Joseph Maxon, Maria, Anne, Daniel, William M., Mary, Eliza, Theresa, Lucinda, Jackson, Amanda and Lydia, four of whom are still living. Perhaps the best estimate of the life and character of Mr. Smith may be gained from the expressions of the press on the occasion of his death. The Red Bank Standard spoke of him as spending his whole life in that community, and expressed the general regret at the loss sustained, saying : "Few farmers were more thrifty, few husbands more affectionate, few fathers more indulgent, few neighbors more obliging, few church mem- bers more devoted." Though a busy, stirring man, much absorbed in the cultivation and im- provement of his fine estate, Deacon Smith never neglected his duties as a Christian. Converted

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MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP.

at the age of twenty-three, he became a member of the Baptist Church at Middletown, but finally brought his letter to the Baptist Church of Red Bank, of which he was a trustee at the time of his death. His life became very closely asso- ciated with all its spiritual aud temporal inter- ests, and while he substantially aided many other churches besides his own, the upbuilding of his own rested heavily upon his heart, many of his last days having been spent in planning the !

and said of him: "He had a splendid farm, and was among the most prosperous men of the county, giving his time and attention to the improvement of his property until it was one of the most attractive places in this part of the State. He was honest, upright aud thrifty, and leaves a good name behind as a reward of many years of' honest labor and toil." He was for- merly a Whig in politics, and afterward became a warm adherent of the Republican party. He was

William N Smith

advancement of its best interests. He was espe- cially anxious to see a parsonage erected, and not only donated for the purpose a lot, but also a liberal subscription. His long and painful illness was endured with patience and Christian fortitude, and as night brings out the stars, so those weary months of illness developed the brightest lustre of his Christian character. The Monmouth Inquirer spoke of him as a devoted and energetic member of the Baptist Church at Red Bank, which he had helped in many ways,

on the 24th of December, 1856, very happily married to Susan McClane, who now survives him. She was thedaughter of Jonathan McClane, one of the most prominent and respected citizens of the county, whose attractive residence was situated on the north shore of the Shrewsbury River. The children of this union were Willie M. and Charles J. M. Smith, the eldest of whom, a child of uncommon promise, died in youth. Charles J. M. Smith, the youngest and surviv- ing son, is now living on the homestead, which

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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

has not been allowed to deteriorate, but is con- stantly being improved, in a way which indi- cates both good taste and executive ability. Mr. Smith was interred at Fairview Cemetery, in a circular lot, inclosed with granite. The monument commemorating his death is said to be the largest in the State. It is of Quincy granite, bearing the appropriate inscription, "I know that my Redeemer liveth."

ceived such educational advantages as the dis- trict school afforded. He chose the blacksmith's trade, and became an apprentice in Middletown township, afterwards conducting his trade at Black's Mills, Manalapan township. In 1844 he received the appointment of attendant of the light-honse at the Highlands of Navesink, and remained for five years thus occupied, building at this point the favorite resort known as Thompson's Atlantic Pavilion. Desiring to

JOSEPH I. THOMPSON is the grandson of | become interested in agriculture, he, in 1867,

Joseph @ Thompson

Joseph Thompson, a farmer on an extensive scale in Freehold township, who married Sarah Conover. Among their children was John I., born in 1776, who married Margaret Walton, born in 1780, daughter of Elisha Walton, of Revolutionary fame. Their children were Wil- liam, Emeline, Joseph I., Elisha, Mary Ma- tilda (Mrs. John Little), Sally and Ann (Mrs. Uriah Smalley). Joseph I., the second son, was born on the 24th of February, 1811, at Mount's Corners, near Freehold, where in youth he re-

purchased his present farm of one hun- dred and twenty-five acres, in Middletown township, and has since been absorbed in its cultivation. He was, on the 28th of December, 1834, married to Eleanor Schureman Johnson, granddaughter of Cornelius Johnson, and daughter of Dr. Cornelius Johnson, a gradu- ate of Princeton and of the leading Philadel- phia medical college of his day, whose only son, James Schureman, was a graduate of Rutgers College, New Brunswick. Mrs. Thompson is

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MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP.

the maternal granddaughter of James and | His education, under not very efficient teachers, Eleanor Schureman. The children of Mr. and was necessarily limited, the absence of Mrs. Thompson are John I .; Eleanor .I., wife | his father, during his frequent voyages, making of Eugene W. Benton ; Cornelius J .; and Mar- garet M. (Mrs. John N. Riker). an active and industrions life a necessity with the older children. Each assisted on the farm or in the store, Thomas being, until twenty years of age, chiefly employed upon the farm. He then entered his father's store, and in 1840 succeeded him in business, the latter retiring to his farm, where he resided until his death, July 19, 1872. On the 5th of February, 1840,

Mr. Thompson has always been identified in politics with the Democratic party. His popu- larity in the county led to his election, in 1859, to the office of sheriff, though aside from this distinction he has declined all proffers of official position. He was formerly director of the

Thomas Leonard

Sandy Hook and Long Branch Railroad, and | Thomas Leonard married Mary A., daughter interested in other business projects, though his time is principally given to his farm and hotel enterprises. He is a contributor to the support of the Middletown Reformed (Dutch) Church, of which Mrs. Thompson is a member.

THOMAS LEONARD, son of William and Eliz- abeth (Applegate) Leonard, was born Septem- ber 5, 1815, on the property at present occupied by him, which has been his lifetime residence.

of James and Patience Hopping, of Middletown. Their children are James H. (born January 8, 1841), Thomas H. (June 30, 1843), Edward II. (February 13, 1853) and John J. (born March 6, 1856). Mr. Leonard, by his influence, succeeded at this time in having a post-office established at Leonardsville, and received the appointment of postmaster, with the office located in his store. In 1882 he retired from business, his son, Edward H., being his successor on the

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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

site which has been continuously occupied by the family for a period of seventy years. The remaining sons are established in successful business enterprises at Atlantic Highlands. Mr. Leonard, on the organization of the Atlantic Highlands Association, was elected its treasurer, and fills the same office in connection with the New York and Atlantic Highlands Railroad. He was formerly, in his political associations, a Democrat, but later became a Republican. He has been, like his brother, Richard .A., actively | after a passage of five weeks reached New York

years of age. Having worked upon a farm from the time he was thirteen until about seven- teen, he spent three years in learning the cooper's trade. Before the age of twenty he had completed his apprenticeship, and shortly after went to England. Very soon, in a way undiscerned by himself, the Lord began to direct his steps to the land wherein many labors, trials and triumphs awaited him. He sailed in 1803 from Dublin for America, and

THOMAS ROBERTS.

identified with the temperance cause, to which In May, 1804, he sailed for Madras, in the he has given his means and influence for more , than one-half a century. His religious creed is that of the Baptist Church, in which he has been for years a deacon and an exemplary member for more than half a century.

REV. THOMAS ROBERTS was born in Den- bighshire, North Wales, on the 12th of June, 1783. His father died when he was about five

East Indies, in company with four Baptist mis- sionaries ; from there to Prince of Wales Island, near the Straits of Malacca, and thenee to Madras, from which city they returned to New York in 1805. While in New Jersey, Mr. Roberts met and married Elizabeth, daughter of John Rutan, May 25, 1806. To this union were born ten children,-Thomas (married to Mary Griggs, of Freehold), Elizabeth (wife of

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MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP.

Richard A. Leonard), John (married to M. |Middletown. He supplied the Navesink Bap- Lavina Patnam), Elisha (married to Naomi Jones), Mary (wife of Edmund Morris), Wil- liam S. (who died in youth), Nathaniel (married to Phobe M. Rowlands), Sarah (married to Richard A. Leonard), Daniel (married to Eleanor V. Arrowsmith) and a daughter who died in infancy.

Mr. Roberts was baptized on the 8th of March, 1807, and being urged to use his gift in exhortation, complied, without the most distant idea of preaching the gospel. In 1808 he re- moved to Utica, and united with the First Bap- tist Church, laboring meanwhile in Utica, Tren- ton and Holland Patent. He also preached at Albany to the few Baptists who assembled in the court-house, conducting service in the morn- ing in English and in the evening in Welsh at a private honse. He subsequently removed to the Great Valley (Pa.) Baptist Church, and for eight years labored fervently with this people. In 1821, under the auspieces of the Acting Board of Foreign Missions, he organized a mission to preach the gospel and establish schools among the Cherokee Indians, where he labored for two years, when it was deemed necessary for him to return to present the claims of the mission. While traveling in New York and New Jersey to solieit aid among the churches for the Cherokee mission, he visited Middletown, Mon- mouth County, where he was afterwards called, and remained in this chosen field for thirteen years, preaching with marked acceptance and profit to the church and community. In 1837 he removed to Sonth Trenton, N. Y., and took charge of the Holland Patent Church, also preaching for two years at South Trenton and at Deerfield Corners. In April, 1843, he re- moved to Utica to be near his charge, and on the 18th of October of the same year was deprived of the companionship of his most devoted wife. Removing, in May, 1844, to Middletown, in the fall of the same year he took charge of the Pennypack Church, in Pennsylvania, where he continued four years as pastor, having married Eleanor, widow of Rev. David Jones, the former incumbent. He devoted the following three years to the pastorate of the Holmesburg Church, and in 1851 returned with his wife to

tist Church until a pastor was installed, after which he preached, by invitation, among the many churches of his acquaintance. His wife having died in 1859, Mr. Roberts found a home with his youngest son, continuing to preach, as strength permitted, for the churches in the vicinity, and as a patriarch among his children was welcomed with veneration and love. After eighty-two years of pilgrimage the messenger for whom he had patiently waited came. On the 24th of September, 1865, his spirit passed to the Saviour, whose death and glorious resurrection he had proclaimed so often and earnestly, leaving his brethren the legacy of his meck, laborious and persevering example.

WILLIAM B. HENDRICKSON is a grandson of Daniel Hendrickson, a Revolutionary soldier, who resided upon land now owned by the sub- ject of this sketch. His children were Daniel D. and William, both of whom settled in Mon- mouth County. The former, born in 1786, who figured conspicuously as captain of the largest company raised in the county for the War of 1812, though by trade a cabinet-maker, was also a successful farmer. He married Cath- arine, daughter of Thomas Bedle, of the same township. AAmong their thirteen children is William B., the twelfth in order of birth, who is a native of Middletown township, and was born February 10, 1830, on the homestead, where he has sinee resided. With the exception of the limited period in youth devoted to in- struction at the neighboring public-school, his life has been a busy routine of labor peculiar to the farmer. After becoming thoroughly familiar with all departments of agriculture he, at the age of eighteen, assumed the charge of his father's interests, and continued thus engaged until the death of the latter, when, by in- heritanee and purchase, he became owner of the property, to which he has sinee at various times made considerable additions. Always a farmer, Mr. Hendrickson, though interested in the raising of the staple grains, has met with signal success in fruit-culture, to which much labor and attention is given. He was, on the 24th of November, 1852, married to Miss

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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

Catherine L., daughter of Joseph S. Applegate, of the same township, their children being Eva Lilly, who graduated at the Freehold Young Ladies' Seminary, and Daniel D., a graduate of the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, engaged in practice in his native township. Mr. Hendrickson has been for years identified with public affairs in both township and county, having been for six years a chosen freeholder, and, in 1872, elected to the State

GEORGE MORFORD .- The Morford family are of English descent. William Morford, the grandfather of George Morford, resided in that portion of Middletown township now known as New Monmouth, where he was engaged in the employments of a farmer. He married Lydia Stout, whose children were twelve in number, the survivors being William, Thomas, Charles, Elias, Lydia (Mrs. John Taylor), Sarah (Mrs, Grover Taylor), Mary (Mrs. Walter Parsons)

Trillium to Hendrickson

Legislature, as a Democrat, in a district strongly Republiean, and by a flattering majority. He was an active member of various important committees. He has, however, been more re- cently engrossed in the management of his pri- vate business interests, and gives little time to public matters. Mr. Hendrickson is a liberal supporter of the Middletown Baptist Church, of which Mrs. Hendrickson is a member.

and Lucy (Mrs. James J. Taylor). William Mor- ford was born September 23, 1796, on the home- stead, and married Elizabeth Willett, whose birth occurred February 14, 1794. Their chil- dren are James, born in 1819; Henry, in 1823 ; Elizabeth (Mrs. Benjamin Frost,) in 1830; and Margaret, in 1832. Mrs. Morford's death occurred in January, 1835, and Mr. Morford was again married, in October, 1836, to Joanna, | daughter of Nicholas and Mary Johnson, whose

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MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP.

children are Margaret, born in 1840, and George, October 18, 1844. Henry, the second son in order of birth, attained distinction as an author, having founded the New Jersey Standard, at Matawan, which for several years heedited, subsequently be- coming editorially connected with the New York Atlas. Among his publications are " Rhymes of Twenty Years," "Over Sea " and " Paris and Half Europe." IIe also held the appoint- a pronounced Whig, and later a Republican, holding the office of justice of the peace, and wielding an extended influence in public affairs. He was connected by membership with the Middletown Baptist Church, from which he transferred his connection to the Port Monmouth Church of the same denomination. His death occurred April 28, 1868, in his seventy-second year. The birth of his son George occurred ou ments of reader for the New York Board of the homestead, where his life has chiefly been Aldermen and clerk of the City Court. His , spent. Receiving such instruction as the neigh-

Geo Morford

death occurred in August, 1881. William Mor- ford, soon after his marriage, removed, to the honse now occupied by his son George, at New Monmouth, where he engaged in mercantile pursnits, continuing thus employed for a period of more than forty years, and at a later date embarking with his brothers in the coal and lumber business. He was one of the originators of the earliest transportation company, and largely identified with township and county matters. In his political predilections he was

boring publie school afforded, he at once en- gaged in farming, and on the death of his father assumed the management of the property, which has been continned until the present time. He was, on the 20th of November, 1867, married to Miss Emeline, daughter of Jacob H. and Hannah Masker, of Newark, N. J. Their children are William, born July 3, 1869 ; George, July 11, 1874 (deceased) ; Alice, August 19, 1877 ; and Harry, August 19, 1881. Mr. Morford is actively engaged in business interests

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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

aside from farming, as director of the First National Bank of Red Bank, and as director and former president and treasurer of the Port Monmouth Steamboat Company. He is also a member of the Monmouth County Agricultural Society. A Republican in his political associations and an influential representative of the party, having for years been a member of the exec- utive committee of the county, he has invariably declined office other than that of trustee of the | a daughter who died in infancy.

dependence from British aggression. After acquiring the trade of a carpenter he removed to Monmouth County in 1801, where he for some time followed that vocation, but subse- quently became a farmer and also a distiller. He was married to Mary Whitlock, and to them were born eight children, five sous and three daughters, viz .: John W., Lydia, Wil- liam, Edmund, Richard, Benjamin, Mary and

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History of Monmouth county, New Jersey, Part 96

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