History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 124

Author: Snell, James P; Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1140

USA > New Jersey > Sussex County > History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers > Part 124
USA > New Jersey > Warren County > History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers > Part 124

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).

JAMES M. ROBESON is a lineal descendant of Jona- than Robeson, who came from England about the time of William Penn and settled on the Schuylkill, near Philadelphia. In 1741 he commenced the erec- tion of the first iron-furnace in what was then Green- wich township, Morris Co., N. J., to which he gave the name of "Oxford Furnace," in compliment, it is said, to his father, Andrew Robeson, who had been educated at the University of Oxford. From this the township of Oxford took its name upon its erection, in 1754. The Robesons were of the Society of Friends or Quakers, and were among the most wealthy of the early settlers.

We quote the following from Edsall's Centennial Address :

"Jonathan Robeson was one of the first judges of Sussex County. His father and grandfather both wore the ermine before him in Pennsylvania; while his son, grandson, and great-grandson, each in his turn, occupied seats on the judicial bench. William P. Robeson, of Warren County, was the sixth judge in regular descent from his ancestor, Andrew Rohe- son, who came to America with William Penn, and was a member of Governor Markham's Privy Council."

Morris Robeson, a son of Jonathan, was associated with his father in the ercction of the Oxford Furnace. Ile married Anne Rockhill, a sister of Dr. John Rockhill, of Pittstown, Hunterdon Co., N. J., April 25, 1750. Between 1750 and 1755, Morris Robeson

purchased a tract of land in the Highlands, in Orange Co., N. Y., to which he removed with his family, and there erected the first iron-furnace in the then prov- ince of New York. He gave to this estate and fur- nace the name of "Forest of Dean."

Mr. Robeson continued to remain there, carrying on his business, until failing health compelled him to relinquish it, and about 1760 he returned to New Jersey, where he soon after died, and was buried in the Friends' burying-ground at Quakertown, Hunter- don Co. The date of his death, as recorded in the old Elizabethan Bible published in England in 1599, and preserved in the family of James M. Robeson, of Belvidere, was Nov. 13, 1761. Anne Robeson, his wife, died Feb. 26, 1774.

The children of Morris and Anne Robeson were Elizabeth, born June 15, 1751; Mary, born Feb. 1, 1753; John, born July 22, 1755; Achsah, born March 21, 1757 ; David Maurice, born May 19, 1759; Anne, born Feb. 14, 1762.

Of the children above named, John, the third son, was the father of the subject of this sketch. He was born at Oxford Furnace, Jan. 22, 1755, and was well, though not liberally, educated. During the Revolution, Mrs. Robeson being a widow, the family was broken up, some of its members living in New Jersey and some in Pennsylvania. Before the close of the war all had died except Elizabeth, Morris, and John, who in 1781 returned to Oxford and settled on a farm situated at the lower end of Green Pond, broken in fortune by the vicissitudes of the war, yet with sufficient property to make a comfortable living. The brothers and sister lived here together, all un- married. In 1782, Morris removed to Pittstown, and subsequently to Philadelphia. John and Elizabeth continued to live together upon the farm until 1799, when John was united in marriage to Martha Boyle, danghter of Anthony Boyle, of Sussex County. Eliza- beth died single in Belvidere, April, 1833.

John Robeson followed the pursuit of an agricul- turist, and dealt largely in the exportation of cattle to Canada from 1783 to about 1810. He died May 2, 1836, and his wife, Martha, died Feb. - , 1849. The children of John and Martha Robeson were Maurice, Ann Elizabeth, Mary, Edward Rockhill, Anthony Boyle, Caleb Newbold, John, Andrew, and James M.

James M. Robeson, the subject of this sketch, is the only surviving member of the family. He was born Nov. 1, 1819, on the farm near Hope, in Oxford town- ship, where his early life was spent. He was educated at the Friends' Academy in Philadelphia and at Lafay- ette College, Easton, and began the study of the law with John M. Sherrerd, Esq., in 1843, having previ- ously been engaged in the mercantile business in that town for several years. He finished his legal studies, and was admitted to the bar as an attorney at the Jannary term, 1848, and as a counselor at the Febru- ary term, 1860. From March 23, 1860, to March 27, 1865, he held the position of prosecutor of the pleas.

Im Wheren

Henry Hours

497

BENCH AND BAR OF WARREN COUNTY.

It was at the beginning of his services in this capacity, at the April term, 1-60. that he was called upon. by virtue of his office, in behalf of the State, to manage one of the most important eriminal trials in the annals of the county .- that of Jacob >. Harden for the murder of his wife. He was a-si-ted in this great trial by William L. Dayton, then attorney-general ; and, al- though the evidence wa- entirely circum-tantial, it was sufficient to satisfy all unprejudiced persons of the guilt of the prisoner. He was declared guilty, and was executed June 28, 1860. The conscientions manner in which Mr. Robeson handled the case, as well as his tact and ability in its management, secured to him an honorable position as a counselor. and he thenceforward took a leading place at the bar. which he has ever since maintained. He is, with exception of Jehiel G. Shipman, E><1 .. the oldest living member of the Warren County bar.

In 1872, Mr. Robe-on was electedl by the joint meet- ing of the Legislature law-judge of Warren County. He held the othice two years, when he resigned.

Judge Robeson was married in 1-46 to Sarah Owen, an estimable lady of Belvidere. The fruit of this union has been five children, four of whom are living : one died in infancy.

For the sake of making a more complete outline sketch of the Robeson family of this section of New Jersey, we add the following :

Morris Robeson, son of Morris and brother of John, married Tacy Paul, of Philadelphia, and became one of the large mercantile firm of Paul. Robeson & Paul. who were intimately connected with the city govern- ment during the latter part of the last and commence- ment of the present century. He had a family of eight children, all deceasedl. About the year 1509 he purchased the old homestead property of the chippen estate, to whom it had been sold by hi- grandfather, and removed to Oxford Furnace with his family, and died there about 1522.

HON. WILLIAM H. MORROW. presiding judge of the courts of this county, was born at Deckertown, Sussex Co .. N. J., in February. 1.44. He read law with Levi Shepherd, of that place, and subsequently in the office of Linn & Shepherd, in Newton. He wa- admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of this State as an attorney in November, 1-65, and as a counselor in 1865.

Immediately after becoming an attorney he re- moved to Belvidere, and began the practice of his profession in the office of Hon. D. A. Depne, then appointed a judge of the Supreme Court. He eon- tinuel in his profession here till Jannary, 1675. when he went to Newark and formed a copartnership with his brother-, Samuel Morrow and James M. C. Mor- row, continuing there for four year-, but having his residence in Belvidere.

At the time of the ring trials here he was retained to defend a number of the county officials, and con- dueted the defense so admirably that upon the death

of Judge Vliet he was unanimon-ly recommended by the bar for the judgeship, and appointed by Gov- ernor Mcclellan to the position. A local paper in speaking of his appointment sar -. -

" By his antiring industry he has succeeded in building up a lucrative practice, and has mule himself felt as a man of sterling character and mural purity. This Domination and prompt - nfirmation as law-judge of Warren County will please the people of the anty, regardlem ( politi- cal distin tion. In him a worthy successor uf the lamented Judge Vliet will be found. Ile has an attractive bearing, a fine pers nal appearance, and In all the essentials f legal experience and attainments he is welt qualified for the honorable position he is now called to bil. The feeling through at the county is one of gennine satisfacti u at the selection of so) acceptable an officer."

Judge Morrow has five brothers, all of whom are members of the legal profession and were at one time practicing in Newark. He relates a story of a elient in Newark once expressing considerable interest in his having five brothers who were lawyer-, whereupon the judge said to him that was not the most remark- able feature of it, inasmuch as each of the other- bad five brothers who were lawyers. The client was quite dumfounded with this information, and went out of the office uncertain whether there were twenty-five or thirty lawyers in the family.

The important business of the Orphans' Court has been attended to with the greatest eare by Judge Mor- row, and, it is believed, to the entire -atisfaction of the people of the county. It may be noticed that the official records show that the business of the courts has been transacted in less than one-half the time that has been usually required for that purpose.

Judge Morrow is an elder in the Second Presby- terian ('hurch of Belvidere, and superintendent of its Sabbath-school. Hi- residence, on the corner of Third and Greenwich Streets, is one of the most handsome in town.

HENRY S. IIARRIS .- His grandfather is Dr. Henry S. Harris, who for fifty years has been a prominent physician, most of which time he practiced his pro- fession in Warren Co., N. J. An extended sketch of his life and ancestry may be found in the Medical History of this work.

Israel, father of Henry S. Harris, was born June $. 1820, in Readington, Hunterdon Co., N. J .; - ettled in Belvidere in 1845, and upon the resignation of John Stuart, the first cashier of the Belvidere Bank, he was chosen to fill the position, which place he has retained for a period of twenty -- ix year -. He has always been interested in all that pertains to the best interests of society, and a supporter of all worthy local enterprises. Formerly a member of the oll Whig party, he became identified with the Republi- ean party upon its organization, in 1856, and has been somewhat active in the propagation of it> principle- in town-hip and county matters. For many years he has taken a prominent and influential part in the onler of Odd-Fellows in New Jersey, and has filled the office of Girand Master, and six years Grand Rep- resentative to Grand Lodge of the United States, Hi- wife is Susan, a danghter of John stuart and Eliza

498

WARREN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

Lawrence Everitt. Her father was of Scotch birth ; came to America and settled in Warren County in 1811. He kept a store at Hope, and then removed to Ramsaysburg, in Knowlton township, where he was proprietor of a public-house for some time ; was deputy sheriff of the county for several years, and upon the organization of the Belvidere Bank was elected its cashier, which position he retained for many years, and resigned in 1854.

The children of Israel Harris are Henry S., Frank V., a student-at-law in the office of his brother, Henry S .; Charles E., a member of the junior class at Princeton in 1880; and Carrie A., wife of Dr. E. M. Beesley, of Belvidere.

Henry S. Harris, subject of this sketch, and son of Israel Harris, was horu in Belvidere, Dec. 27, 1850. He received his early education at the public schools of his native place, was prepared for college in the classical school of Rev. Frederick Knighton, pastor of the Oxford Presbyterian Church, and entered the sophomore class at Princeton in the fall of 1867, from which institution he was graduated in the class of '70. Immediately following his graduation, he com- menced the study of law in the office of J. G. Ship- man, at Belvidere, was admitted to the bar as attorney at the June term in 1873, and as counselor at the June term in 1876. Upon being admitted to the bar as attorney he opened a law-office in Belvidere, and has remained in continuous practice there since. In March, 1877, he was appointed prosecutor of the pleas for Warren County by Governor Bedle, and is the incumbent of that office in 1880.

Mr. Harris ranks among the most prominent of the younger members of the profession in the State, and his legal ability has been very fully developed while acting as prosecutor in some of the most important causes ever tried in New Jersey. The most notable of these were the cases of the strikers on the Morris and Essex and the New Jersey Central Railroads, in which nearly a score of them were indicted and con- vieted, and also in the famous Warren County ring trials of 1878, wherein twelve high officials of the county were indicted, convicted, and sent to the State's prison and jail for conspiracy, forgery, and embezzlement, seventy-six bills of indictment having been found against them.

In the fall of 1880, Mr. Harris, having since 1872 acted as a Democrat, received the unanimous nomi- nation for member of Congress from the Fourth Con- gressional District of New Jersey by the Democratie party, and was elected by a majority of four thousand one hundred and seventy-three, against Gen. Judson Kilpatrick, the Republican candidate. The district is composed of the counties of Sussex, Warren, Hun- terdon, and Somerset.

Mr. Harris married, Aug. 19, 1874, Miss Martha, a daughter of Anthony B. Robeson, deceased, of Belvi- dere. They have one child, Bertha Robeson, aged four years and six months.

OSCAR JEFFERY was born in the city of Lockport, N. Y., Aug. 31, 1838. His father, Joseph Jeffery, died when Oscar was a mere child, and after the decease of his father his mother, with her two children,

Oyear Jeffery

returned to her native county, Sussex, N. J. In August, 1849, his mother died of the Asiatic cholera, leaving Oscar and his younger brother orphans with no means of subsistence.

Through the kindness of an uncle, Oscar was kept at school until 1856, when he became a clerk in the general country store of Robert Blair, at Johnsons- burg, N. J. In 1860, upon the suggestion of a friend who was a law-student, he had his name entered as a law-student in the office of David Thompson, Esq., a prominent member of the Sussex County bar, and while performing his duties in the store he devoted himself to his law-studies during all the leisure time at his command. In 1864 he quit the store and be- came a clerk in his preceptor's office, at Newton, N. J., where he remained until the November term of the Supreme Court of the same year, when he passed his examination and was licensed as an at- torney-at-law. He was admitted to the bar as a coun- selor-at-law November, 1867.

On the 10th day of January, 1865, after his admis- sion as an attorney, Mr. Jeffery opened a law-office at Washington, N. J., where he has continued to prac- tice his profession with a good degree of success.

499

BENCH AND BAR OF WARREN COUNTY.

Before he attained his majority he identified himself with the Republican party, and has remained loyal to its principles since. He has never held political of- fice except to act as a member of the county execu- tive committee, it being the only time the Republican party was successful enough to elect a State senator und sheriff in Warren County, at which time he was chairman of the committee. He has been closely identified with the Methodist Church at Washington for many years, has been continuously one of the official board, and has served as the recording steward since 1867, and Sunday-school superintendent nearly one-half of the time.

Mr. Jeffery is interested in all worthy local enter- prises, and lends his aid to their support. In 1870 he married Miss Emma L., daughter of John Will, of Paterson, N. J., a woman of high moral and Chris- tian excellence, of culture and refinement.

V .- IMPORTANT TRIALS.

Several important trials have been had before the bench of this county. The first one of note was rather a series of trials, growing out of the murder case of Joseph Carter, Jr., Abner Parke, and Peter W. Parke, in 1843 and 1844. These persons were in- dicted for the murder of John Castner, Maria Cast- ner, his wife, Mary Matilda Castner, daughter of John and Maria Castner, and John B. Parke, brother of Peter W. Parke.

These murders were committed at Changewater, in Warren County, and were of such an inhuman and revolting character as to send a shudder of horror through the whole county and wherever the deed was known. The perpetrators also attempted to kill Jesse Force, a bound boy in the family, striking him on the head with a hatchet and leaving him, as they sup- posed, dead or in a dying condition.

Indictments were found against Carter and the Parkes at the June term of Oyer and Terminer, 1843, and the trials began at the September term, when Carter was tried upon the first issue of the series, l'or the murder of John Castner. The counsel for the State were William C. Morris, prosecutor of the pleas, tieorge P. Molleson, attorney-general, and John M. Sherrerd, Esq., of Belvidere. Those for the defendant were William F. Clemson, Phineas B. Kennedy, and Alexander Wurts, the latter from Flemington, Hun- terdon Co. The jury in the case were Samuel Beatty, Joseph Andress, John Hixson, * Joseph Bryant, David P. Kenyon, William Matlock, Joseph A. Carpenter, theorge Vass, John Van Sickle, John Hay, Jr., John S. Ogden, John Allen.

The trial was protracted, and created a great deal of public excitement. Sixty-six witnesses were ex- amined for the prosecution, and twenty-nine for the defense. On the ttth of September the jury returned a verdict of "Not guilty."

After his acquittal Carter was admitted to bail in the sum of fifteen thousand dollars. In 1844 he was brought to another trial, the issue this time being upon the murder of John B. P'arke. He was con- victed, and so also was Peter W. Parke, a nephew of the murdered man, John B. Parke. Abner Parke, a brother of John B. Parke, and Henry C. Hummer were tried upon separate indictments in the same general case, and acquitted.

These trials revealed a marvelous network of cir- cumstantial evidence, holding the criminals so com- pletely within its meshes as to render escape from justice impossible. It was skillfully woven around them by the tact and eloquence of able counsel, and the publie sense indorsed the justice of the convictions. Few murders have left a more profound impression of their enormity or of the guilt of the perpetrators upon the county than these. Joseph Carter and Peter W. Parke were hung in Belvidere, within an inelosure in front of the court-house in 1845.

Another important and exciting trial in this county was that of Jacob S. Harden, indicted at the April term, 1859. for the murder of his wife by poison. Harden was a Methodist minister, officiating at An- derson church, in the township of Mansfield, Warren Co., and lived in the family of Dewitt C. Ramsey, at whose house the murder was committed.

Harden had entered the ministry when quite young. -less than twenty-one years of age,-and was about twenty-three when the murder was committed. He was a son of John Harden, and was born near Blair -- town. It appeared in the evidence that he had left home about the age of fifteen, and his course had been one revealing his entire lack of moral integrity. He had not been many years married to his wife-her maiden name was Hannah M. Dorland, and she was in ill health and sometimes low-spirited-when he conceived the dark design of putting her out of the way and marrying another woman, with whom he was on terms of intimacy. His guilt at last culmi- nated in the foul act which brought him to an igno- minious and untimely end upon the gallows.

In this remarkable trial the evidence was entirely circumstantial, but it was nevertheless clear and con- vineing ; so that all doubts of his guilt were removed. The jury who convicted him was composed of Philip D. Weller, Charles Walker, Horace M. Norton, Da- vid Smith, James Blair. Philip Hartung, Auron Crammer, John K. Feel, John V. De-hong, George HI. Weller, George V. Stillwell, Edwin Albertson. James M. Robeson had just received the appointment of proscentor, and. he and Attorney-General William L. Dayton were the counsel for the State ; while Benja- min Williamson, chancellor, Joseph P. Bradley, since of the Supreme Court of the United States, Jehiel G. Shipman, of the Warren bar, and David A. Depue. of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, were the coun-el for the prisoner. He was tried before Chief Justice Whelpley, of the Supreme Court, and Associates

* The only one now living of the twelve (April 1, 1851).

500

WARREN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

John Moore, James Davison, and Jacob Sharp of the Warren Common Pleas.

After a full and patient hearing of the case, which consnmed fourteen days, and the examination of a large number of witnesses on both sides, the jury brought in the prisoner guilty of murder in the first degree, May 2, 1860. On the 3d of May he received his sentence to be hung on the 28th of June follow- ing. At the time appointed lie expiated his crime upon the gallows.

On May 17, 1875, Peter T. Myers was killed at Phil- lipsburg by a pistol-shot from a revolver fired by Pat- rick Ward, an Irishman about sixty years old. An indictment for murder was found at the September term, 1875, and the case came up for trial Feb. 6, 1876, before the court, consisting of Mercer Beasley, chief jus- tice, Samuel Sherrerd, law-judge of the county, and As- ciate Judges Jesse Stewart, Jr., and Robert Rusling ; Jacob Vanatta, attorney-general, Joseph Vliet, pros- eentor for Warren County, Judge Kirkpatrick, of Easton, and G. F. Fitch, for the State; I. G. Ship- man, George M. Shipman, and B. C. Frost for the defense. The jurors were Bartley Rush, Ogden White- sell, George B. Bowers, Joseph Gardner, Peter Wil- lever, Oliver B. Badgley, David Miller, Joseph M. Cole, Alfred L. Flummerfelt, Jacob S. Hoff, Imla D. Mann, and Alfred Leida. Twenty-one witnesses were examined on the part of the State, and sixteen on the part of defendant.

There had for a long time been bad blood between the parties. On the day of the shooting Ward was at the front of his house when Myers went by ; some words passed between them, when Ward fired, and Myers fell, the ball having gone through his arm, en- tered his breast, and lodged in his spine, severing the spinal marrow, causing paralysis of the lower limbs immediately, and death in a few days after the shoot- ing. The killing was not denied, but it was claimed, on the part of the prisoner, that it was done in self- defense. The jury, however, did not believe this the- ory, and brought in a verdict of murder in the first degree after being out a little over an hour. On the 15th of February the defendant was sentenced to be hung on the 24th of March, 1876, but on the 23d of that month this sentence was changed by an order of the Court of Pardons to that of imprisonment for life, and he is now in the penitentiary.

About this time Warren County seems to have been visited by an epidemic of murder. At the same term at which Ward was tried there were two other pris- oners disposed of who had been indicted for that crime. John Walters, a young man living in Green- wich township, killed his brother with a stone. IIe at first pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder in the first degree, but afterwards retracted his plea. A plea of guilty of murder in the second degree was accepted by the court, and he was sentenced, Feb. 12, 1876, to five years' imprisonment in the penitentiary.

John Ritter, a German, was indicted at the De-

cember term, 1875, for the murder of his two children, Otto Ritter and John Ritter, Jr., at Hackettstown. The case was an exceedingly atrocious one, and aroused a great deal of feeling in the community ; but by the advice of the attorney-general the conrt considered that the requisite malice could not be proved against the prisoner, and accepted a plea of guilty of murder in the second degree, but, to show how the case was regarded, sentenced him, Feb. 12, 1876, to forty years in the penitentiary, that term being the ntmost limit allowed by the law.

At the September term, 1874, Andrew Oleson, a Swede, was tried for the killing of Policeman Smith, at Hackettstown. The jury found him guilty of mnrder in the second degree, and he was sentenced, Oct. 1, 1874, for seven years.

At April term, 1876, John Cunningham was tried for the murder of Margaret Kays, in Greenwich town- ship. The killing had taken place several years be- fore, by some one unknown at the time. Cunning- ham was subsequently charged with the crime by a woman with whom he had been living in a Western city, and he was hrought here for trial. The testi- mony, however, was not strong enough to convince the jury that he was the murderer, and they brought in a verdict of acquittal.

At the September term, 1876, Nancy Riker was indicted for the murder of Alfred Leigh, at Rock- port, on the Morris Canal. She was tried Sept. 29, 1876, and acquitted, the jury believing that the kill- ing was done in self-defense.

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 Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 124

Author: Snell, James P; Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford) Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1140

Author: Snell, James P; Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1140