History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 130

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 130
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 130

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The doctor first located in the practice of his profes- sion at Pennsburg, Montgomery Co., Pa., where he re- mained about four years. He then removed to Clover- port, Ky., where ho practiced about a year and then re- turned to Pennsburg. After several years he removed to Fleetwood, Pa., where he remained till the breaking out of the late Rebellion. Being then in active sympathy with the Union cause, he entered the service as a surgeon

and was assigned to hospital duty at Fortress Monroe. Hle subsequently performed the same duties at White Hall Hospital, Philadelphia, Port Royal Hospital, and at Jacksonville, Fernandina, and Charleston. At the close of the war he was detailed to bring North the suffering occupants of Andersonville prison. The war being over, the doctor resumed practice at Pennsburg, where he re- mained till June, 1869. lle then located at Phillipsburg, N. J., where he has since continued in active and suc- cessful practice. Aside from his prominence as a phy- sician, he has made himself justly popular in the com- munity in which he dwells by his affable and genial manners, and his integrity and uprightness as a citizen. Although a Republican in politics, he has filled several important offices in a locality in which Democratic senti- ment largely predominates. He has filled the office of school commissioner of the Second Ward, and was elected mayor of the city in May, 1879, and May, 1880, being the incumbent of that office at the present writing.

In religious affairs, Dr. Bieber was formerly a member of the Lutheran denomination, but since his settlement in Phillipsburg he has been a member of the First Meth- odist Episcopal Church of that place. He has been iden- tified with several social organizations, and is a member of Delaware Lodge, No. 52, A. F. and A. M., of Phillips- burg, of Eagle Chapter, No. 30, R. A. M., of the same place, and of Hugh de Puyne's Commandery, No. 19, K. T., of Enston, Pa., of which he is a Past Most Eminent Commander.

Dr. Bieber was married, July 16, 1850, to Angeline M. Wange, of Pennsburg, Pa. His daughter, Emma L., is the wife of Charles E. Vough, of Phillipsburg, N. J.

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THE MEDICAL PROFESSION OF WARREN COUNTY.

Hackettstown, and about 1879 went West, where he is practicing.

WILLIAM E. MATTISON settled at Hope during the service of Dr. Dunean, and remained two years. Thence he went to Millstone, Somerset Co., N. J., and later to the city of New Brunswick, N. J., where he is now practicing. He was graduated at the College of Physicians in 1852; was born in 1822, in Steuben Co., N. Y .; he also practiced in Morris Co., N. J., and was an assistant surgeon in the volunteer army in 1862-63.

HUGH HORNER ABERNETHY, son of Samuel and Jane (Horner) Abernethy, was born in Tinicmm town- ship, Bucks Co., Pa., Sept. 12, 1808. The late Dr. Samuel Abernethy, of Rahway, N. J., was his only brother.' He was early left an orphan-his mother dying in the year 1811, his father in 1820-to become the architect of his own fortune. After receiy- ing his primary education he entered as a student the office of Dr. Stewart Kennedy in 1827. In the following year he attended lectures and became a student in the office of Dr. Dewees, of Philadelphia. He was graduated in 1830, and located temporarily at Pittstown, Hunterdon Co., N. J., taking charge of the practice of Dr. C. B. Ferguson. In 1832 he bought the property of his preceptor, Dr. Kennedy, at the " Straw" Church (Greenwich), where he continued in practice until the fall of 1835, when he entered into partnership with Dr. George Green, of Belvidere ; this continued until 1838, from which time until Jan. 1, 1841, Dr. H. 11. Southard was his partner. In 1841 he moved to Easton, l'a., and joined practice with Dr. Stewart Kennedy, who was in failing health. In 1853, becoming disabled by cataract, he removed to his farm in Greenwich township, but practiced until he was absolutely blind. In 1859 his eyes were operated upon, which partially restored his sight ; he soon again resumed practice, removing to Phillipsburg in 1867, where he continued about two years. The years 1869 to 1875 he spent in Jersey City, where his six sons were in business ; 1875 to 1877 again in Phillips- burg; he then sought the friends of his early man- hood in Easton, where he still resides, beloved and respected. In 1831 he married Mary Jane Maxwell, daughter of John S. Maxwell, of Phillipsburg; she died a few years ago. To them were born six sous and four daughters. In 1$30 he was examined and licensed by the censors of Warren County, of whose District Medical Society he became a member so early as 1834. Ile is a tall, spare man, with good conver- sational powers and a retentive memory. Probably no physician in Warren County can count more friends than Dr. Hugh H. AAbernethy.

JOSEPH FLAVEL SHEPPARD, son of Jacob Sheppard and Elizabeth Henderson, was born in Raritan town- ship, Hunterdon Co., N. J., March 30, 1819. When the doctor was about eighteen months old he received an injury at the left hip-joint through the running away of a horse, that produced morbus coxarius and

made him a confirmed cripple for life. But, notwith- standing his serious physical disabilities, he attended the common schools of his neighborhood and a select school in Flemington, N. J. In the year 1848 he en- tered his name as a student of medicine with the late Dr. John F. Schenck, of Flemington. He took his first course of lectures at the L'niversity of the City of New York in the winter of 1851-52; a full course during the winter of 1853-54; was graduated the following March from the above-named college, and located immediately at Hightstown, N. J. He came to Phillipsburg, Aug. 7, 1854, where he has con- tinued to the present time in a large and lucrative practice,-a period of twenty-seven years,-filling many positions of trust, and having always had the utmost confidence of his patrons and friends. He has been compelled to walk upon crutches up to the pres- ent hour. One would suppose that he ought to be the last man to study and practice medicine,-especially follow the hard and active life of a country physician. But there is probably no more energetie, determined, or persevering man in the medical profession in the whole State of New Jersey. His likes and dislikes are very strong. One would think by the peculiar tremor or quiver of his chin that he was of a nervous make-up; he is just the reverse,-as firm as a rock and with an indomitable will. lle has long been an honorable member of the District Medical Society for the county of Warren, having filled the chair of president and served as a delegate to the State Medical Society.

Dr. Sheppard has been twice married,-first to Miss Julia B. Cummins, of Belvidere, N. J., Nov. 11, 1856, and by whom he had one child, Julia C. His first wife died Oct. 1, 1857. Oct. 25, 1871, the doctor was again united in matrimony to Mrs. Henrietta Stearns ( widow of the late Eckley Stearns), who is still living.

ABRAM O. STILES, the son of Moses and Phebe Stiles, was born Jan. 31, 1802, near Morristown, Mor- ris Co., N. J., at which place he attended school. His academic studies over, he entered the office of Dr. John B. Jones, of Morristown, and attended lectures at the University of the City of New York when the late Dr. Valentine Mott was one of its luminaries. From that institution he was graduated in due time. Ilis examination for a State license (as required by the law at that time) occurred at Morristown in the summer of 1827, and his diploma bears the date of November 22d of that year. lle practiced one year at his native place, and in 1828 located at Ilarmony, Warren Co., N. J., where he continued, with the ex- ception of one year, until 1860, when he retired to private life. About 18-10 he sold his practice at Har- mony to Dr. G. II. Cline and moved to Finesville, where he labored professionally for about a year. So strongly was he urged by his old friends to return to his former practice that he was induced in 1841 to pay his forfeit-money to Dr. Cline and return to his old field of labor. He did a great amount of riding, generally on horseback. He was prompt and atten-

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WARREN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

tive, quick at diagnosis, careful in prescribing, and emphatic in his directions to both patient and nurse. It is said he was very stern when his orders were dis- obeyed. He was undoubtedly the Andrew Jackson of the profession in Warren County. He still lives in retirement in the village of Harmony. Almost an octogenarian, and much crippled by disease, his mind is yet clear ; he still enjoys a joke, and is as much alive to the progress of the times as if in the midst of an active practice.

JACOB T. SHARP was a native of Newton, Sussex Co., born May 16, 1802; was graduated at Princeton ; studied medicine with Dr. James, of Philadelphia, and obtained his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1825. Soon after he commenced practice at Newton, but a year later removed to Wash- ington, Warren Co., where he followed his profession for three or four years." He then removed to Phila- delphia, three years later to Salem, N. J., and after fifteen years' practice there removed to a farm in

Cumberland Co., N. J. His son, Edward S., is also | not divided into political parties, and peace and quiet a physician, succeeding to his father's practice at Salem.

WILLIAM H. DRAKE, eldest child of William H. and Mary Drake, of Bethlehem, Hunterdon Co., was born in that township Nov. 1, 1841, and after receiv- ing a liberal education read medicine with Dr. R. B. Brown, then at Asbury. He attended lectures and was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1863; soon after he settled at Finesville, this county. In 1864 he married Miss Mary E., daughter of John L. Riegel, Esq. A short time after he removed to Musconetcong, where he continued in active practice until January, 1871, when (on account of functional disease of the heart) he disposed of his practice to Dr. N. Case, who is yet practicing in the same field. Soon after the death of his wife (which occurred in 1873) he went to Philadelphia, where he still continues engaged in the lumber business.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE PRESS OF WARREN COUNTY.

I .- PRESS OF BELVIDERE. THE BELVIDERE APOLLO.

To write a full and complete history of the Belvidere Apollo would not be an easy task had we the unbroken files of the paper from its first issue before us, and ample and accurate biographical sketches of its nu- merous editors at our command. But its files are broken and mutilated ; its editors are departed far hence, many of them are dead and some of them are almost forgotten ; its life was variable and often fecble and flickering, and hence the task is more difficult.

Tradition in regard to the life of a newspaper is gener- ally vague, somewhat uncertain and unreliable, for the reason that the inner and real character and the con- trolling influences of the newspaper are often wrapped in a veil which the public is not permitted to pene- trate.

The Apollo is not only old and important, but its character and history are made of matters interesting and concerning all the people of our county from its earliest history to the present time. Its columns are largely filled from the business and the lives of the people living in the county, and its history is there- fore interesting even to those who have not usually indorsed its policy and approved its sentiments.

The name of the paper, Belvidere Apollo, a name so much wondered at, criticised, and so often mis- spelled, was doubtless suggested by the beautiful name of the town, which called to mind the famous statue " Apollo Belvidere."

When the Apollo was established the country was prevailed throughout its bounds. In 1825, Warren County was but partly cleared of its original forests, its population was sparse, probably not exceeding six- teen thousand.

Belvidere then had but five buildings on the south side of the Pequest, one little school-house in a re- mote spot, no church, and a population numbering about one hundred. Instead of gathering at religious services on Sunday, many of the citizens strolled along the Delaware with fishing-poles. Belvidere is said to have been a comparatively rough and immoral place in that day. There were about ten taverns for every school-house and a dozen distilleries for every church in the county. Ignorance was as dense as the population was sparse. These were some of the ob- stacles that lay across the path of the _1pollo and pre- vented its early success.

George G. Sickles, the pioneer of journalism in Warren County, came to Belvidere and published the first issue of the Apollo, Jan. 11, 1825, in the house then standing upon the site now occupied by Acker- man & Widenor's wheelwright-shop on Water Street. The forthcoming paper had been heralded throughout the county, and a multitude gathered in on publica- tion day to see and learn what they could of the mar- velous enterprise. What they thought of the rude press, the clumsy black balls, the inky devil, and the editor, from whose mind flowed the thought com- mitted to the printed page, we cannot know.

We have been told by old men who were then boys that the first issue was startling. It contained among its other matter an exciting article about a very poisonous worm which lived along small streams and killed thousands of men who fell within its reach. The ardent reader, who was not then used to having his warm blood stirred and his youthful soul harrowed up with thrilling tales, found at the end of the story that this destructive monster was the worm

* In 1830 he was elected by the board of frecholdors as physician of the poor-house establishment.

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THE PRESS OF WARREN COUNTY.

of the still. But the interest then lay chiefly in the printing of the paper and not in its contents.

Mr. Sickels, we are informed, had been a resident of New York some time prior to his coming here, and his manners and ideas were those of a city man. But in coming to this rural and farming community he felt that he should conform to the customs and live much as his neighbors did, and they were farmers for the most part. Mr. Sickles caught the spirit of the place. One of his ventures was to buy six or seven pigs. He did not pour their milk in a trough, but fed it to them with a spoon. They did not thrive on spoon victuals, and died young. He, like his well- known son, Gen. Daniel E. Sickles, had a taste for military operations, and while here was a successful captain of a military company. The now famous Gen. Sickles, who was then about ten years old, is well remembered by some of our oller citizens.

In 1827, about two years after the _Apollo was started, there came to Belvidere from Philadelphia a rather small and delicate but bright, genial, and gentle- manly young man, aged twenty-three years, who made the acquaintance of Mr. Siekles, and in 1827 bought the Apollo. That young man was Edmund P. Banks, He had culture, and good ability as a writer. He made a fair paper, but did not receive the financial aid necessary to make it a success, and. consequently, Feb. 10, 1829, he decided to suspend publication, and accordingly published an editorial farewell. But his friends persuaded him to continue the publication, which he did until Sept. 7, 1829, when his health failed and he went out of the office, and was succeeded by Sitgreaves & Browne. During Mr. Banks' connection with the Apollo he married Miss Sarah Browne, an estimable lady, a daughter of William Browne, of Easton, a sister to James I. Browne, and a cousin to Judge Samuel Sherrerd, of Belvidere. Mr. Banks died May 22, 1830, in the twenty-fifth year of his age, of consumption, leaving a widow and one child, a daughter, who is now the wife of Joseph C. Kent, Esq., of Phillipsburg. During Mr. Banks' connection with the paper his mother-in- law rendered pecuniary assistance and had an interest in the office.

James 1. Browne, then a young man twenty-one years old (afterwards clerk of the county ), assisted his brother-in-law (Banks) in the office, when he entered into partnership with the late well-known Charles Sitgreaves. They continued this partnership and were editors and proprietors of the paper until Jan. 3, 1832, when Mr. Browne himself assumed full con- trol of the paper.

In 1829, Sitgreaves & Browne changed the name of the paper to Belvidere Apollo and Warren Patriot, and in 1830 they again changed it to the Belridere Ipollo and New Jersey Weekly Advertiser. Their management was able and energetic. During the somewhat ex- citing campaign of 1828, when Andrew Jackson was elected to the Presidency for the first term, the paper

maintained its neutrality, though both the Jackson and the AAdams parties were jealous, at times feeling that the paper leaned too much towards the other side.

In 1832, the Wurren Journal having been started as a Jackson paper, the Apollo became strongly anti- Jackson. Charles Sitgreaves, an aspiring Jackson man, withdrew from its editorial management, Jan. 3, 1832, leaving Browne in control of the paper until he sold out to Franklin Ferguson, early in the en- suing fall.

Mr. Browne was descended from an old and respect- able Quaker family in Philadelphia that came to this country with William Penn. His career here seems to have been satisfactory and successful in everything except finances. He sold his half-interest to Frank- lin Ferguson. In October, 1832, he started the War- ren Journal, and subsequently he went to Ohio and started the now famous Toledo Blade. He returned to this county in 1845, was elected county clerk, and diel in office in 1850, aged forty-two years, leaving a wife and two children.

Franklin Ferguson came here from Bridgeton, Cumberland Co. He conducted the paper accept- ably for about three years, when, having sold the -Ipollo to Frederick P. Sheldon, he removed to Cam- den, N. J., continued his journalistie labors, and died there July 9, 1877, upwards of seventy years of age. For many years he was an active and consistent member of the Methodist Church, and an esteemed and useful citizen.

In 1835, Frederick Perkins Sheldon became the editor and proprietor, and kept a drug- and book-store in the building now occupied as a dwelling by John F. Tinsman, in front of the American House, where the office was located for many years. He came here, it is said, from Trenton. He was a man of fair ability, and in person was small and delicate. Hle died April 14, 1838, in the thirtieth year of his age.

At the time of Mr. Sheldon's death the _Ipollo was in a feeble and embarrassed condition, and contribu- tions amounting to about fifteen hundred dollars were made by prominent Whigs in the county and the paper put under the control of William P. Robeson, J. P. B. Maxwell assuming the editorial management. Mr. Maxwell was re-elected to Congress in 1840, but, it is said, retained a large pecuniary and general in- terest in the _Ipollo till his death, in 1845.

In 1840, the paper was enthusiastic in support of Gen. Harrison. Mr. Maxwell was a man of noble character, intrepid spirit, fine culture, and superior ability. (See a more extended sketch on preceding pages. )

In 1839, Allen N. Wilson, son of Hon. James Jef- ferson Wilson, came from Trenton to work as editor and printer on the Apollo. But he did not assume the entire control of the paper until about 1811. For a short time Wilson and a man by the name of Britton, from Trenton, were partners in the paper. Mr. Britton's capital was soon sunk, and he went

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WARREN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

out of the business. Judge W. P. Robeson had money, enterprise, generosity, political position, and ambition. He therefore furnished the oil with which the wick of the Apollo was kept burning for several years.

In 1848 or 1849, Allen N. Wilson left the paper and went to Somerville, where he continued his journal- istic labors till his death, which occurred in 1852. He had a keen intellect, brilliant wit, an overflowing humor, and was a prince of good fellows. For a time Joseph Cook, brother to the late Simon Cook, assisted Wilson. Judge Aaron Robertson, among others, oc- casionally contributed articles.

George & Wilson became proprietors, March 29, 1849, and they changed the name to The Intelligen- cer. The partnership was dissolved Feb. 7, 1850, and George went to Philadelphia, where he carried on the printing business and amassed a fortune. Alexander C. Wilson, who was a brother to Allen N. Wilson, then became editor and proprietor of the Apollo, dur- ing which time he wrote strong and pungent edito- rials and achieved an enviable reputation as a jour- nalist. When the New York Times was started, Mr. Wilson was offered a position on its editorial staff; he accepted, and therefore left the Apollo, June 12, 1851. His mind was quick and vigorous, his read- ing and acquirements extensive. He remained for some years on the Times, finally went to London, was agent for the foreign Associated Press dispatches until his health failed, and is now connected with the Asso- ciated Press of this country.

A. C. Hulshizer, son of Daniel Hulshizer, of Stew- artsville, succeeded Wilson and maintained control of the Apollo till Ang. 11, 1855, when Lewis Gordon bonght it. Hulshizer was a graduate of Princeton College, a good writer, a genial fellow, and made a fair paper. Lewis Gordon, a native of Clinton, N. J., was a practical printer, an industrious and steady man. Under Gordon the paper was prosperous. He sold to Franklin P. Sellers, Nov. 2, 1858, and bought the Easton Free Press. He is now publishing a daily in Pittston, Pa. Mr. Sellers was a sturdy man, and a practical printer of great industry. He learned his trade in Pennsylvania, and worked for a long time in a printing-office in Doylestown with the venerable Simon Cameron, with whom in after-years he kept up friendly relations ; his death occurred in 1863.

Jan. 8, 1864, Andrew J. Shampanore became pro- prietor. He changed the name of the paper to Bel- videre Intelligencer and Warren County Republican. A young man named Vansant was connected with Sham- panore in 1866. Mr. Shampanore is a native of War- ren County, and learned his trade in the Warren Jour- nal office. He now cdits and publishes the Bound Brook Chroniele.

William Burgess, who had been a teacher in Penn- sylvania, took charge of the Apollo April 12, 1867. He left April, 1868, and was afterwards appointed to an Indian agency. He now lives in the West.

In April, 1869, Jacob Lundy Brotherton assumed control of the paper and edited it for a year, during which he changed its name back to the Belvidere Apollo. He was descended from a Quaker family in Morris County, and related to the Landy family in this county. He now lives in Philadelphia.

Sharps Mellick, a resident then and now of Belvi- dere, and a graduate of the Warren Journal office, purchased the Apollo in April, 1870, and conducted it for one year, making a sprightly and well-printed paper.

In 1871 the present editor, Josiah Ketcham, be- came editor and proprietor of the Apollo, being asso- ciated for the first three months with O. B. Badgely. Mr. Ketchiam was born in this county in 1841, where he has since resided. He received a liberal ednca- tion, chose the law for a profession,-which he studied for some time,-prepared himself for college, but en- tered the editorial sanctum of the Apollo instead, and has made his paper the beacon-light of his party in Warren County.

THE WARREN JOURNAL.

The Warren Journal first made its appearance on Oct. 30, 1832, under the editorial management of James I. Browne. In size it was twenty-one by thirty inches, six columns, set in brevier and long primer type. It contained only a little over two columns of advertising, including notices for the Philadelphia Times and "Godey's Lady's Book." In politics it was a staunch supporter of "Old Hickory," and the first number presented as "the People's candidates, for President, Andrew Jackson, and Vice-President, Martin Van Buren." Its editorials were directed against the " United States Bank" and urged the put- ting down of all "monopolies." Browne published it but a short time, when he transferred it to Nelson S. Hibbler, who, in August, 1833, sold it to George W. Clason and Daniel Grant Fitch, two young prac- tical printers. In their introductory they say that they " come to advocate the Jeffersonian principles of equal rights," Nov. 25, 1834, Mr. Fitch retired,* and went to Louisburg, Pa., where for a time he published the Standard. About 1841 he returned to Belvidere

He died quite suddenly at Dayton, Ohio, April 1, 1881. IIo removed to that city in 1848, purchased a half-interest in the Western Empire, in the publication of which (in 1850) Mr. Clason became his partner ; this interest continued for several years, but both subsequently retired from the paper. Mr. Fitch was adjutant-general of the State under Governor Bishop, and held other minor offices under the State government of Ohio. He was a brother of Charles W. Fitch, late editor of the Mani- towoc (Wis.) Herald, but now in the Department of the Interior at Washington. Daniel G. was married at Newton, Sussex Co., about the year 1834, to the second daughter of the late Judge Joseph Y. Miller, who survives him. They had five children,-three sons and two daugh- ters. All were born in New Jersey except the youngest. The oldest son, William Grant Fitch, has been cashier of the First National Bank at Milwaukee, Wis., for the past twouty years. The other two sons, -Charles and Albert,-both of whom became printers, are dead. The two daughters are both living. Mr. Fitch was a forcible writer, and as a man was genial, generous, and popular. During his residence in New Jersey, Mr. Fitch was an active member of the order of Odd-Fellows, and at the scesion of the Grand Lodge in 1847 was clected to the office of Most Worthy Grand Master, which office he filled with marked ability.

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History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 130

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