USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Montclair > History of Montclair township state of New Jersey; including the history of the families who have been identified with its growth and prosperity > Part 40
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JASPER RAYMOND. the subject of this sketch, son of Jasper Raymond and Lney ( Whipple) Rand, was born in Westfield, Mass .. October 17, 1837. His education was obtained in the common school and academy of his native town and of Fairfax, Vt. At an early age he entered the office of his father, who was then engaged in the manufacture of whips at a time when Westfield made whips for all the world.
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HISTORY OF MONTCLAIR TOWNSHIP.
He continued until 1865, when his father having retired, he and his brother succeeded to the business and continued it until 1870, when they sold it out and removed to New York. Mr. Rand was associated with another brother, Albert Tyler, for a time in the manufacture of the celebrated Laflin and Rand powder. In 1872 his brother, Addison C., began the manufacture of the Rand Rock Drills, and other mining machinery, and Jasper Rand became associated with him later; they subsequently organized the Rand Drill Company, which for nearly a quarter of a century has been one of the leading firms of the country in this line of business. Addison C. Rand above referred to is President of the Company.
RESIDENCE OF J. R. RAND, HAWTHORN PLACE.
Mr. Rand became a resident of Montelair in 1873 and has since been recognized as one of its most energetic and enterprising citizens. Ile purchased a plot of ground on one of the most beautiful and elevated sites in the township, and erected thereon a large and commodious residence of the theu prevailing style of architecture. With a frontage on Hawthorn Place, the land slopes gently to the eastward, and along the line of Gates Avenue. The beautiful shade trees, the spacious lawn, and the great variety of plants and flowers, add much to its natural beauty, the location being unsurpassed for health and for its picturesque surroundings.
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HISTORY OF MONTCLAIR TOWNSHIP.
Mr. Rand entered heartily into the numerous plans of those who sought to make Montclair a model suburban township, which should be second to none in the vicinity of the great metropolis. Although his extensive business interests required every moment of his time during business hours, he vielded to the wishes of his fellow citizens of Montelair, and served for three years as a member of the Town Committee and two years as a member of the County Board of Freeholders. The records of these departments show the extensive improvements made and the increase in realty value during those periods. Mr. Rand was one of the organizers of the Bank of Montelair and became its first President, and still holds that position. He has devoted much time and attention to the management of its affairs, and the business has inereased to such an extent as to justify the erection of a large and commodious building for the accommodation of its patrons. Mr. Rand was one of the founders of the Montelair Club, and rendered material assistance in raising the requisite amount for the splendid building which it now occupies, one of the largest and best equipped elub houses of any town outside of New York City. He became its first President in 1557, continuing in office until 1890; and during this period its membership was largely increased as well as its social attractions and financial prosperity.
Great eredit is due to Mr. Rand for his zeal and activity in this as well as in other publie enter- prises that have added to the social, business and educational features of Montelair.
As a member of the Board of Trustees of the First Congregational Society, he has rendered important service, and its financial affairs have been ably managed.
Mr. Rand married. in 1-60, Annie, the daughter of Peter Valentine, who, in 1815, married Mary, a daughter of John Osborn, of Hempstead, N. Y .. and Elizabeth Wannamaker, his wife. Her father died during her infancy. John Osborn, her maternal grandfather, was descended from Richard Osborn, who came in the ship " Speedwell" from England to Hingham, Mass .. in 1635. Two years later he engaged in the Peqnot war, for which service he was afterward awarded a grant of 50 acres of land.
The first ancestor of the Wannamakers in this country was Pieter Wannamaker (or Van der Maker), born in Darmstadt, in the lower Palatinate. He was one of the Palatines who, upon the revocation of the Ediet of Nantes, Hed from Catholic oppression and settled upon the west bank of the Hudson River in 1710. With him came Conrad Frederick ; and their children- Hendrick Wannamaker and Elizabeth Frederick-became the parents of Elizabeth Wannamaker, who married, John Osborn in 1782.
Richard Osborn (the father of John Osborn), born 1717. married Christine, a daughter of Jacobus De Baen, who was the oldest son of Joost De Baen, who emigrated from Holland in 1683, and in the following year became schoohnaster and town elerk of New Utrecht. He was a large property owner in that place and also in New Rochelle and Bergen County. N. JJ. Ile afterward removed to Kinderkamack, N. J .. and the records of the Hackensack church show that he was an eller, a church-master, and gener- ous in its financial support.
The name Valentine is one of the oklest on record and had its birthplace in Italy in the second century.
The issne of the marriage of Mr. Rand with Miss Valentine was three daughters and two sons :
1st. Florence Osgood.
2d. Albert Holland-died in infancy.
3d. Josephine Freeman.
4th. Annie Grace, died February, 1889.
Jasper Raymond. at the present time a student at Cornell University.
Josephine, who married Elfrie Drew Ingall, of Ottawa, Canada, in April, 1892, died in December of the same year. She was an accomplished and rarely gifted woman, whose apparently untimely end brought lasting sorrow into many households besides her own.
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HISTORY OF MONTCLAIR TOWNSHIP.
JOHN HOWARD WILSON.
JOHN HOWARD WILSON .- On the paternal side Mr. Wilson is descended from an old New England family of this name. His father, John Overing Wilson, was the son of Robert Gardner Wilson, son of Dr. John Wilson, of Hopkinton, Mass., who married the daughter of John Overing, of Boston, Mass. Robert Gardner Wilson, the paternal grandfather of John H., married Rebecca Conant, daughter of Levi Conant, son of William, William, Lot, John, Lot, son of Roger, the ancestor. The name is derived from the Celtic Conan, formerly of Wales and Cornwall, and subsequently of Brittany.
Roger Conant, the emigrant and ancestor of most of those bearing the name in America, was baptized at All Saints Church, in the parish of East Budleigh, Devonshire. England, April 9, 1592. He was the youngest of Richard and Agnes were esteemed for piety." He emigrated 1623, and settled first there on account of diversity of views," was chosen by the to manage and govern Ann, Mass., being pious, sober and pru- Although he is not nized as the first Gov- setts, Roger Conant is honor, for the colony head made the first in the Massachusetts germ from which the Colony sprung. His of colonization was him the colony would eight children of (Clarke) Conant,"who their exemplary to New England in in Plymouth, but left "an ecclesiastical and in 1624-25, he Dorchester Company their affairs at Cape recommended as "a dent gentleman." universally recog- ernor of Massachu- fairly entitled to that of which he was the permanent settlement territory, and was the Massachusetts Bay influence for purposes very great, and but for have been abandoned. Wilson married, in of Jesse Morse, at maternal side Mr. from the old New Coolidge, many mem- earnest and steadfast of the fortunes of the lutionary days. The J. H. WILSON.
John Overing 1843, Mary, daughter Natick, Mass. On the Wilson is descended England family of bers of which were patriots and followers colonies in the Revo- name of Mr. Wilson's ancestor, John Coolidge, appears on the Lexington Alarmn Roll of Col. Peirce's regiment, which marched to the Concord and Lexington battle fields. April 19, 1775. The same ancestor afterward saw eight months' service as a member of Bremer's Massachusetts regiment, enlisting immediately after the Concord fight.
The hereditary traits of John II. Wilson were exemplified in his school-boy days as well as in his subsequent professional career. Ile was born in Natick, Mass., and entered Yale in 1864, graduat- ing in '68. He studied law for a time with his unele, Joseph Warren Wilson, in Norwalk, Conn .. and removed thence to Flushing. New York, in 1869, where he soon after made the acquaintance of Henry A. Bogert, Esq. From a student in the law office of Mr. Bogert he became permanently associated with him in his practice, having charge of the department of Court practice. embracing commercial, real
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estate, ete. The defeat which many times followed his undertakings at the beginning, determined his ulti- mate success, for his defeat in any enterprise, instead of discouraging, aroused all the dormant energies of his nature, and tenacionsly he fought his way through difficulties and overcame obstacles.
Mr. Wilson after leaving Finshing resided for three years in Brooklyn, and moved thenee to New York City. In 1877 he married Carolyn Ives, daughter of William HI. Dawson, Esq., of New Haven, Conn., and decided to make Montelair his permanent home. He bought a plot of land on Park Street, one of the most beautiful and romantic spots in the outskirts of the town, which formerly belonged to Lucy Stone, being a part of the old Noah Crane property. The old forest trees were left standing, and through the deep ravine that skirts the homestead plot flows the same rippling brook where the Lenni Lenappe stopped to quench their thirst on their journey to the sea. The Swiss cottage, half hidden by the trees, has often attracted the eye of the artist and formed a valuable acquisition to his portfolio.
For the first few years Mr. Wilson enjoyed the quietude of his country home and mingled but little in public affairs. During the presidential campaign of 1550, however, he entered actively into polities. The defeat of Blaine, the republican candidate for President in 1584, only made him the more determined in his efforts to win, and in the campaign of Iss> he took the stump and made a vigorous canvass for Ilarrison, the standard bearer of the republican party, with gratifying results. The following spring he accepted the nomination and was elected a member of the Township Committee, of which he was made Chairman, has since been annna'ly re-elected to the same position and has deservedly received the approbation of his fellow citizens for the excellent work he has done. His time, his talents, and his energies have been unstintingly devoted to public improvements of every character, in all of which he has had the hearty support of his colleagues. During his administration the appropriations for the improvement of streets and roads have doubled in amount, and have been judiciously expended. The snecessful establishment of the present sewerage system is largely due to his efforts. His professional services were freely given to secure the best results. He participated in the negotiations with the repre- sentatives of Orange and Bloomfield for an outlet through these places. It required considerable diplomacy and shrewdness to accomplish the desired results. He vigorously worked for a union with Orange in the construction of an outlet to tidewater, which resulting in the enlarging of their system so as to take in Bloomfield and Montelair. Next to the introduction of water this is by far the greatest publie improve- ment ever made in Montelair, and the most beneficial to property owners.
Mr. Wilson was the first to nrge upon his fellow citizens the necessity for a change in the form of local government, by exposing the weakness and difficulties connected with the okl township system, and afterward by procuring the appointment of a committee to consider the necessity for a change, and to report upon the best form of government to adopt. The results of these efforts has been the adoption by the voters of Montelair of the present town government. By this aet his administration was fully endorsed and the people of the new town, under a new and more perfeet form of government, have entered upon what, it is believed, will prove an era of renewed prosperity. For these good results no one is entitled to more credit than Mr. Wilson.
Mr. Wilson has been equally active in promoting all the interests of the town. He is a member of the Congregational Church, and has been connected with the Sunday school. He is a member of the Montelair Club, was a member of the Board of Directors for three years, Vice-President for two years. and has now been re-elected for a second term of three years as a director. He was one of the original members of the Outlook Club. which has always received his earnest and hearty support. He was an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention of 1892, at Minneapolis, Minn .. which nominated Harrison for the Presidency. He is Vice-President of the Town Republican Club and Chair- man of that braneh of the County Republican Committee located in Montelair.
From Yale University he has received the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts. Ile is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, and of several college fraternities connected with Yale. Whether in politics, professional or social life. Mr. Wilson has always preserved a spotless escutcheon and maintained a high character.
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HISTORY OF MONTCLAIR TOWNSHIP. THE UNDERHILL FAMILY.
LINE OF DESCENT OF WILLIAM WILSON UNDERHILL, FROM CAPTAIN JOHN UNDERHILL, 1630.
CAPT. JOHN UNDERHILL, the progenitor of the family from which William Wilson Underhill is a descendant, was one of the most famous of the early New England settlers. He was a noted Indian fighter, and is said to have slain 150 Indians on Long Island, besides being one of the commanders of the expedition which exterminated the tribe of Pequods in Connecticut. He was the son of John Edward Underhill, of Huningham, England, a near relative of Edward Underhill, who was distinguished by the title of " Hot Gospeller," and who exchanged the life of a country gentleman for that of a soldier and courtier.
During the reign of Elizabeth, when the prosperity of the family was at its height, the Underhills acquired property in almost every parish within six miles of Eatington. They became connected by mar- riage also with many of the of Warwick, and attained best families of the County the honors of Knighthood. Among the first men- of William Underhill, of Stafford, who "lyved in the The family bore Arms, tween three trefoils slipped or on a mount vert. tioned of the name is that Wolverhampton, Connty yere of our Lord 1423." argent a chevron gules be- vert. Crest, a hind lodged Capt. John Underhill, in 1597, early imbibed an was strongly solicited to go Elder William Brewster. settlement of Plymouth. throp "as captain of any employed or instituted," as great Dutch Prince in the 1630. He disciplined the of the first deputies from Court. He was one of the tain of the Ancient and pany of Boston. In 1637 Vane, sent him as com- to Saybrook, Conn. The ehised and eventually ban- of Massachusetts, his ideas more liberal than those
the American ancestor, born ardent love of liberty. He with Governor Carver, and other worthies to the He came over with Win- militia foree that might be he had served under the War of the Netherlands in Boston militia, and was one Boston to the General founders and the first Cap- Honorable Artillery Com- his great friend. Sir Harry mander of the colony troops same year he was " disfran- ished from the jurisdiction of religious toleration being around him."
W. W. UNDERHILL.
He was a representative the General Conrt in 1633.
from Stamford, Conn .. to In 1644 he moved to Long Island and became a resident of Flushing. In 1655 he was made by Governor Nicoll high sheriff of North Riding on Long Island. He died at an advanced age, July 21, 1672, and was buried on his estate in the Underhill burying-ground at Matinecock, formerly Kenilworth or Kilingworth, Queens County, Long Island. The seal of Capt. John Underhill, attached to his name as a witness in a conveyance from the Indian proprietors of Matinecock, Long Island, to Matthew Prior, dated Kilingworth, 22d of June, 1664, are "argent three trefoils slipped vert." He had a son, John, of Matinecock, who became a member of the Society of Friends, and was the ancestor of the Long Island branch of the family.
Nathaniel, son of John, born in 1663, removed to Westchester, N. Y., in 1685, and bought lands of John Turner. The children of Nathaniel were Thomas, Nathaniel, Jr., Benjamin, Abraham, John,
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HISTORY OF MONTCLAIR TOWNSHIP.
Mary, and William Barton. A son of Nathaniel. JJr., was Abraham, who had a son Isaae, born June 21. 1726, at whose honse in Yorktown Major Andre stopped for breakfast on the morning of the day of his capture at Tarrytown. A son of base was Joshua, father of Ira B. Underhill, who married a Miss Abigail King, of Philadelphia.
Wir.r.sM WH SON UNDERHILL, the subject of this sketch, son of fra B. and Abigail (King) Underhill, was born in New York City, September 13. 1539. He was educated at several schools, at Burlington College and the University of Pennsylvania. After his father's death he went to New York and engaged for a time in the commission business. At the beginning of 1962 he went abroad and made an extended tour. In December, 1862, he entered the office of the United States Fire Insurance Company, New York City. as Assistant Secretary. He was made Secretary in 1866, and President in 1552, having succeeded his uncle to that position, who had filled it for twenty-five years. The same office has been presided over by an Underhill since 1549.
While eschewing politics in the ordinary sense of the term, Mr. Underhill has given time and thought to the leading issues of the day.
Brought up in the simple faith of the Society of Friends, suburban life had more attractions for him than the city, and after visiting Montclair he was favorably impressel with its many attractive features, and in 1 ~~ 3 be purchased the property on the corner of Harrison Avenue and Llewellyn Road. a part of the Riker E-tate, formerly the homestead farm of Frederick Vincent.
When called upon by his fellow citizens to serve in a publie capacity, ho consented to serve as a member of the Town-hip Committee, and during the two years he occupied that position he favored the most advanced ideas of progress and reform.
Ile is also a member of the Essex County Microscopic Society, the Montelair Club, and the Insurance Club of New York : also President of the New York Inland Underwriters' Association, and Secretary and Treasurer of the Tariff Association of New York. Having no associates there of his own faith, he is an attendant at St. Luke's Episcopal Church.
Mr. Underhill married Miss Emily II. Griffen, danghter of John L. Griffen, Esq., of New York City, a descendant of the Griffens of Westchester County. N. Y. They have issue seven children, viz. ; Louise Griffen, Wilson, John Griffen, Mabel King. Arthur, Clarence King, and Einest.
THE MILLER AND DEMAREST FAMILIES.
COLONEL GEORGE ALFRED MILLER-Colonel George A. Miller was born in New York City. August 30. 1853. He is probably descended from John Miller, who settled on Long Island abont 1649, from Lynn. Mass., and who married a daughter of Res. Abram Pierson, whose son was the first President of Yale College. Colonel Miller's father was Leri, his grandfather Joseph (both born in Somers, West- chester County, N. Y. son of Samuel, born in Harrison, Westchester County, N. Y., November 11, 1757 ; removed thence to Somers, after the War. He did service in the War of the Revolution, as shown by the following statement copied from the records of the War Department at Washington:
" Near the end of 1775 he volunteered for 12 months as a Ranger. under Capt. Micejah Townsend & Col. Hammond, and was on duty as gnard to the Committee of Public Safety, executed their orders in arresting and disper-ing Tories, prevented their congregating to concert measures or to furnish su] :- plies of forage or provisions. When the British war vessels sailed up the Hudson River-the Rose it Phenix-he, with his company was ordered to guard along the shore to prevent their landing. After this he went to the . Big Lot' near Mamaroneck where Tories were organizing. killed Capt. Win. Lounds- bury, on whom was found a British commission to enlist men, and captured all but two of his men. IIe was employed on entrenchments at Horus Neck on York Island when N. Y. City was evacuated (Sept. 15, 1776) and retreated with the army to White Plains and was on Holton Hill or near it when the battle (Oct. 25, 1776) took place at White Plains.
" In 1777 or s (probably 1775) he enlisted for one year as 'minute man " under Capt. Win.
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HISTORY OF MONTCLAIR TOWNSHIP.
Moger-afterward insane-& Col. Thomas, and while at North Castle was attacked by a large body of horse with a sharp engagement in which his father was killed and he retreated.
" Near Round Hill (a portion probably of Greenwich) Conn. he with his company attacked the advanced guard of a body of British horse, killed Capt. Theall besides wounding a mimber of others. After this, during 1780, 1781 and 1782, he continued to serve in the militia under Capt. John Thomas and Capt. St. John in the command of Col. Thomas, and Under St. James Miller, on alarm, and as the emergeney required, which were short tours of which he could not give the details, but he claimed it aggregated from 6 to 12 months of actual duty."
The mother of Colonel Miller was Marianne Adeline Demarest (Miller) a descendant of David des Marest, a French grated to this coun- his arrival joined the on Staten Island. him his wife, his David, with their and Sanmel, an un- moved in 1665 to 1677 disposed of his bought from the large traet of land Hackensack and which included the Hackensack.
Marest was a native little village of near the city of of des Marest was that part of France ble. One Samuel des of Theology, and his Henri, prepared nonneed the finest Bible that has ever Colonel Miller's the aneestor is David, born 1645, Jacobus, born 1735, and James, born father of Marianne Miller and mother
COL, GEO. A. MILLER.
Hugnenot, who emi- try in 1663, and on Iluguenot Colony lle brought with two sons, Jean and wives and children, married son. He re- New Harlem, and in property there and Tappan Indians a lying between the Indson rivers, present township of This David des of Beauchamp, a Picardy, in France, Amiens. The family very numerous in and highly respecta- Marest, a Professor two sons, Daniel and what has been pro- edition of the French been published. line of descent from through Jean, son of Petrus, born 1709, Jacobus, born 1767, 1791, who was the Adeline, wife of Levi of Colonel Miller. was educated in New
Colonel Miller York City, and was graduated at Columbia Law School in 1873. Hle was admitted to the bar in 1874, shortly before which he had entered the office of Seudder & Carter, with which, and the succeeding firm of Carter & Ledyard, he has ever since been connected. These firms have, both of them, at all times, had charge of litigations involving large interests, and the name of Mr. James C. Carter, who is the senior member of the firm, is of national reputation. The department of work which has engaged a large part of Mr. Miller's attention has had relation to pleading and procedure, in which he has had large experience. He is Professor of Law in the Metropolis Law School, where he lectures on practice and pleading at common law and under the Code. He is also a member of the New York Bar Association and of the New York Reform Club.
SPRunges.
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HISTORY OF MONTCLAIR TOWNSHIP.
Colonel Miller has also achieved distinction as an officer of the National Guard, S. N. Y. He began his military career in 1573 as a member of the famous Twenty-second Regiment. having joined Company A that year. lle was an enthusiast in military affairs, and in time became thoroughly proficient in military taeties, remaining only one year as private. being promoted corporal in 1874, sergeant in 1876, second lieutenant in 1ss1, and in six weeks following was elected captain, passing from a non- commissioned officer to the highest company rank of a commissioned offieer within a period of less than two months. In 1886 he became Major, and in Isss Lieutenant-Colonel of the Regiment. He was an efficient officer, a thorough disciplinarian, and withal popular with the rank and file. Colonel Miller rendered important military service in connection with this Regiment, having been a participant in many of the exeiting events in which the Twenty-second Regiment was conspicuous, notably the railroad riots of 1577. In 1882, at the unanimous request of the officers of the Twelfth Regiment, he was transferred thence. and served as its Lientenant-Colonel with distinction until 1892, when he resigned, after an active service of nearly twenty years in the National Guard.
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