History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 46

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 46
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 46

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Timothy Halsted came to this country during the early history of the colonies, and at first settled on Long Island. A large tract of land was afterwards purchased by the family at Elizabethtown, N. J., upon which Caleb, son of Timothy Halsted, located ; this he owned and cultivated.

Caleb Halsted's wife was Rebecca Ogden, who was an aunt of Robert Ogden, of Sussex County, and also of Col. Aaron Ogden, of Revolutionary fame.

To Caleb and Rebecca Halsted were born five sons and five daughters, of whom Dr. Robert Halsted was eldest. He was born at Elizabethtown, N. J., Sept. 13, 1746, and was graduated at Princeton College. He was a distinguished physician of that town, and a

zealous and fearless citizen in the gloomy days of the contest with Great Britain, conspicuous for his exer- tions and sufferings in the cause of liberty, it having been his lot to endure the horrors of confinement on board the "Jersey Prison-Ship." On one occasion a notorious Tory informed against him, as a rebel and an aider and upholder of rebellion, and he was tem- porarily lodged in the old sugar-house, in Liberty Street, New York City. On another occasion he saved the life of Col. Aaron Ogden, who had been seriously wounded by the Hessians while out alone on a military reconnoisance. He was grave, and by some is spoken of as stern, yet he was by all admired and respected, and was a patriot at a time when the title bore a significant and an eloquent meaning. His younger brother, Caleb, was also an eminent physician, born Sept. 15, 1752. On July 15, 1825, while confined to his house on account of illness, he received a visit from Gen. Lafayette, and had the pleasant honor of entertaining that famous son of France.

Dr. Robert Halsted's first wife was Mary Wiley, whom he married April 15, 1773. She was born Dec. 17, 1750, and died May 4, 1785. The children born of this union were Job Stockton, Molly Tillinghast, Rebecca Ogden, William Wiley, and Robert Wiley. His second wife was Mary Mills, born Feb. 20, 1763, whom he married Oct. 1, 1787. The children born of this union were William Mills, Caleb Pierson, Mat- thias Ogden, Jacob Reading, and Hannah Mills.

Job Stockton, eldest son of Dr. Robert and Mary (Wiley) Halsted, was born in Elizabethtown, N. J., March 4, 1774. At the proper age he became a stu- dent in the law-office of Col. Aaron Ogden, a distin- guished soldier and officer in the Revolutionary war, and prominent as a lawyer in New Jersey. He was admitted to the bar in 1795, and as counselor in 1798, and shortly after his admission he removed to New- ton, N. J., where for nearly half a century he prac- ticed his profession and performed the duties of a good citizen with exemplary faithfulness. Whatever trust was reposed in him was honorably fulfilled; whatever enterprise of public utility was started found in him an ardent advocate; whatever project of phi- lanthropy needed the fostering aid of the Christian or the patriot was sure of receiving at his hands a liberal support. The circulation of the Scriptures and the cause of temperance were in his opinion of vital im- portance in effecting the moral and religious regener- ation of society, and for the promotion of these objects he labored long and efficiently, and with a zeal that death alone could abate. He was emphatically a "gentleman of the old school." His principles were formed iu the school of Washington, and he had for his preceptors the founders of our government.

His political rights he never failed to exercise. To vote was with him a duty, and to vote honestly and independently a matter of conscience. No consider- ation of self, no morbid ambition to attain the higher

* See his military record in Chapter IX. of the general history.

Job. S. Maistic

Martin Ryerson

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scats in the political synagogue, ever sullied his pub- lic conduct or cast a shade upon the purity of his patriotism.

In 1832, as a member of the National Committee, be cordially joined in nominating Ilenry Clay for the Presideney, and he remained to the last an earnest friend and advocate of the Statesman of the West. He died April 13, 1844.

His wife was Ann MeIntire, who was born at Cole- raine, near Londonderry, Ireland, March 7, 1782, came to Philadelphia with her widowed mother during the latter part of the century, and whom he married June 10, 1805. She died Sept. 28, 1838. The children born of this union who grew to manhood and womanhood are:

1. Robert Wiley, born May 21, 1806; graduated at Princeton ; studied law with his father; attended law-lectures of Judge Goukl, of Litchfield, Conn., and after his admission to the bar practiced law in Newton until his decease, Nov. 19, 1829.

2. James Maner, born May 5, 1808; was a prosper- ous merchant in New York City, and is in 1880 presi- dent of the American Fire Insurance Company of that city.

3. Job Stockton, born March 5, 1810; was a mer- chant at Charleston, S. C., for several years; was subsequently in business in Hong Kong, China ; on

account of ill health returned to Newton, where he , courts. Maj. Anderson was at the time of his death,

elied, Feb. 7, 1846.

4. Thomas McIntire, born May 21, 1811 ; studied law with his father, but in consequence of declining health never practiced his profession. He died Feb. 18, 1837.

5. William Mills, born Oct. 7, 1812; was a mer- chant in New York City until his death, which or- eurred Oct. 21, 1849.

6. Charles Melntire, born April 13, 1814; was during a part of his life engaged in mercantile pur- suits, and died at Newton, May 12, 1853.

7. Mary MeIntire, born Nov. 1, 1815; became the second wife of Judge Martin Ryerson, of Newton.

8. Jacob, born Aug. 10, 1817; was for many years a successful merchant in New York, and is in 1880 a resident of that city.

9. Ann Boggs, born Nov. 8, 1818; became the first wife of Judge Martin Ryerson, of Newton, and died April 22, 1855.

10. Matthias Ogden Halsted, born Nov. 16, 1822 ; was a merchant in New York City, and died March 30, 1855.

WILLIAM T. ANDERSON was a son of Thomas An- derson, who, "about the time the first court-house in Sussex County was completed, a young lawyer, came to Newton and settled there permanently, and proved himself a useful and patriotic citizen."* Ile (Wil- liam T. Anderson) was born at Newton in the year 1777, spent his early youth at home, was graduated at

Princeton College in 1796, and soon after commenced the study of the law. At the time of the threatened rupture with France he sought and obtained a com- mission as major in the provisional army of the United States, raised in 1798. In the year 1801 he was ad- mitted to the practice of the law, and in the active duties of his profession he was ever afterwards profit- ably and honorably engaged. A character for up- rightness, capability, and energy, carly acquired, gave him a prominent position and forced him into very active participation in the affairs of his native county. He represented her in the "Council" at Trenton in 1821, was appointed surrogate in 1822, and for nine- teen consecutive years was director of the board of chosen freeholders. The stockholders of the Sussex Bank chose him as a member of its first board of directors, and he occupied that position until his death,-a period of thirty-two years. His local con- temporaries in his profession were Job S. Halsted, Daniel Haines, and Thomas C. Ryerson, while he was on terms of familiar social and professional inter- course with Samuel L. Southard, Theodore Freling- huysen, Joseph C. Hornblower, Gabriel II. Ford, Jacob W. Miller, James S. Green, Peter D. Vroom, and William Pennington, most, if not all, of whom during the first third of the present century habitu- ally attended the trial terms of the Sussex County which took place at Newton on the 9th of Febru- ary, 1850, one of the managers of the State Lunatic Asylum, at Trenton.

HON. MARTIN RYERSON, LL.D., late of Newton, in this county, was born, Sept. 15, 1815, at Hamburg, in this county, and was the eldest son of Judge Thomas C. Ryerson, of whom some account appears in this work. He received a first-class academical education, which enabled him to matriculate advantageously at Prince- ton College, from which institution he was graduated in the class of 1833, dividing the first honor with three others, and in the assignment of position received the Latin salutatory. He subsequently commenced read- ing law in his father's office, afterwards continuing his studies with Hon. Garret D. Wall, in Burlington, and concluding his course with the late ex-Governor Pennington at Newark. He was licensed as an attor- ney in November, 1836, and at once commeneed the practice of his profession in the last-named city, con- tinuing there till 18-11, when he removed to Newton, where he afterwards resided, excepting for three years between 1853 and 1857, during which he lived at Trenton. He was made a counselor in 1839, and ac- quired distinction in his profession. He was a promi- nent member of the convention in 1844 which framed the present constitution of the State. In 1849 he was elected a member of the Assembly, when the late Chief Justice Whelpley was Speaker, and served upon the judiciary committee ; it was mainly through his influence and instrumentality in that Legislature that the charter was obtained for the Farmers' Bank

* Seo sketch of Thomas Anderson in Chapter IX. of general history.

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at Deckertown. Upon an increase of judges in the Supreme Court he was appointed one of the associate justices by Governor Price, and filled the position only three years, ill health compelling him to resign the bench in 1858. In 1873 he was appointed as one of the judges of the Alabama Claims Commission,- a position which he was compelled to resign in Janu- ary, 1875, by reason of the complete failure of his health. He had likewise been selected by Governor Parker as one of the commissioners to revise the con- stitution, which he had assisted to frame in 1844, but was constrained to decline that position also from the same cause.

Judge Ryerson's political opinions were Demo- cratic down to the period when the attempt was made to force slavery upon Kansas and Nebraska and the Democrats surrendered unconditionally to the slave power. At that time he sundered his connection with it and entered with all the enthusiasm of his nature into the work of organizing and building up the anti- slavery sentiment which finally crystallized in the Republican party organization. At the commence- ment of the recent civil war he was among the fore- most supporters of every measure looking to the maintenance of the Union and the vindication of its authority. He was in constant correspondence with many of the most influential men in the country, and by his counsel and advice contributed much towards shaping the policy of the government during the critical periods of the war. His mind was well stored with useful information, and his retentive memory enabled him to draw upon it at will. He engaged actively in the political campaigns which occurred during and immediately after the war, and was mainly instrumental in the revolution in the old Fourth Con- gressional District when the Republicans triumphed for the first time. He threw himself with zeal and energy into that sharp conflict, and he also did yeo- man's service for his party in all the succeeding elec- tions, especially in those of 1868, 1870, and 1872. " He would without hesitation, at a moment's notice, summon a conference of leading politicians, from all parts of the State, at Newark or Paterson or New York, and opposition to his policy was generally in vain. His élan was irresistible and his enthusiasm contagious."

In religious belief, Mr. Ryerson was a Presbyterian, and had been for many years a leading member of the congregation in Newton, of which lie had been a ruling elder for ten years, and was likewise frequently selected as a delegate to all the Presbyterian ecclesi- astical bodies. He was also a strong advocate of the temperance cause, and was often called upon to attend conventions of that organization. He was a man of great force of character, looking witli earnest care to all the details of every enterprise in which he was about to engage, and was the energetic and active leader in every local improvement in the town of his late residence. As a lawyer he occupied the front

rank in his profession, and as a judge he was regarded, by those qualified to give an intelligent opinion, as one of the ablest and very best on the bench. He was a kind, considerate, cultivated, Christian gentle- man, a scholar, a patriot, an invaluable citizen, and in all the elements of intellectual manhood an honor to his native county and State. In 1869 Princeton College, his Alma Mater, conferred on him the hon- orary degree of Doctor of Laws.

Judge Ryerson was twice married, his wives being sisters, daughters of Job S. Halsted, late of Newton, in this county. He died June 11, 1875, leaving a widow and three children,-two daughters and a son.

HON. THOMAS C. RYERSON, one of the associate justices of the Supreme Court of this State, was the third son of Martin Ryerson and Rhoda Hull, born May 4, 1788, at Myrtle Grove, in this county, five miles northwest of Newton, the county-seat. He was a great-great-grandson of Martin Ryerson, of Hugue- not descent, who emigrated from Holland before 1660 and settled on Long Island, marrying, in 1683, An- netyes Rappelye. From this marriage have sprung large numbers of the name of Ryerson (besides nu- merons descendants of the female branches of the family), who are scattered over New York, New Jer- sey, and several other of our States and Canada.

Judge Ryerson's grandfather resided in Hunterdon County, in this State, whence his father removed to Sussex about 1770, dying there in 1820, in his seventy- third year. His father and grandfather were both distinguished as surveyors, his father being deputy of the surveyor-generals of both East and West Jersey, and his father was thus enabled to make very judi- cious land locations for himself, and at his death left a landed estate even then worth between forty and fifty thousand dollars.

Until the age of sixteen Mr. Ryerson remained at home, working on his father's farm and receiving only the common education of the country. In 1801 his father removed to Hamburg, in this county, and in 1804 the son began to prepare for college. His pre- paratory studies were finished at the Mendham Acad- emy, Mendham, Morris Co., then taught by Rev. Dorton Armstrong and the Hon. Samuel L. Southard, and in 1807 he entered the junior class at Princeton, graduating there in 1809 with the third honor in a class of forty-four. This school acquaintance with Mr. Southard ripened into an intimate and life-long friendship, and a very warm and enduring friendship grew up between him and the late Judge George K. Drake, who was graduated at Princeton in 1808.

After graduation Judge Ryerson studied law with the late Job S. Halsted, of Newton, and was admitted to the bar in February, 1814. Four years of study with a practicing lawyer were then required, even of graduates, and during part of this time he was out with the New Jersey militia at Sandy Hook to resist a threatened attack of the British. Immediately after being licensed he began practicing law at Hamburg,

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removing to Newton in April, 1820, where he resided till his death, Ang. 11, 1838, aged fifty years, three months, seven days.

In December, 1814, Mr. Ryerson married the fifth daughter of Robert Ogden, a lawyer residing at Sparta, in this county, elder brother of Col. Aaron Ogden and Col. Matthias Ogden, of Revolutionary memory, the Ogden name, like that of Ryerson, hav- ing for several generations been associated, in New Jersey, with the struggles for the rights of all men.

For two years (1825-27) Mr. Ryerson was a mem- ber of the Legislative Council of New Jersey, and in January, 1834, was elected by the joint meeting a justice of the Supreme Court, in place of Judge Drake, whose term then expired. Judge Drake had given great offense, but without good reason for it, to the Hicksite Quakers by his opinion in the celebrated suit between them and the Orthodox Quakers, for which they determined, if possible, to defeat his re- election. To accomplish this they aided, in 1833, in electing a large majority of Democrats to the Legis- lature, which the year before had a majority of the other party. Judge Drake was not a Democrat, yet Mr. Ryerson, with many other influential and leading Democrats in the State, were strongly opposed to the idea of his retirement from the bench, especially at such a juncture as this. To effect his reappointment Mr. Ryerson used all his influence with the four Dem- ocratic members from Sussex. He was not in Trenton at the time of the election, and so was not permitted the opportunity of preventing his name being used as an opposition to that of Judge Drake; and, as this use of his name was the only means by which the de- feat of Judge Drake was accomplished, he was very loath to accept the office at the expense of so excel- lent and irreproachable a judge, his own warm per- sonal friend.

The news of his election was a complete surprise to Judge Ryerson, and with it came letters from promi- nent Democrats urging him to accept, and assuring him that his declination would not benefit Judge Drake; that party lines had been drawn, and he could not now, under any circumstances, be re-elected. He held the matter under advisement till the receipt of a letter from Judge Drake himself, dated Feb. 3, 183-1, urging him to accept, "and that promptly." He said also, "I feel under obligation to you and my other friends for your zeal in my behalf; but it has proved ineffectual, and I have no confidence in the success of another effort." And again : " If the place is thrown open, nobody knows into whose hands it may go. I rejoice that it has been so disposed of that we may still confide in the independence and integ- rity of the bench." This letter decided him to accept, and he was sworn into office Feb. 25, 1834, holding it till his death, in August, 1838.

Judge Ryerson's course at the bar and on the bench fully justified the opinion of Judge Drake, quoted above, as in all positions he was a man of the firmest

independence and strictest integrity. He was an able lawyer, well read, and was remarkable for a discrimi- nating and sound judgment; an earnest and success- ful advocate, with great influence in our courts and juries in Sussex and Warren, to which counties he confined his practice, although following his own cases to the Supreme Court ; and as a judge it is be- lieved that he enjoyed in a high degree the esteem and confidence of the bench and bar, as well as of the people at large. For the last eight years of his life he was a very devoted member of the P'resby- terian Church, his first wife having joined it some eight years earlier and dying three years before him. Early in 1838 he married a younger sister of his de- ceased wife.

Judge Ryerson was very easy and affable in his manners, delighting in social intercourse and conver- sation, with a great fund of anecdote, very simple and economical in his personal tastes and habits, ex- pending, however, freely in educating his children, and noted for his liberality to the poor around him and to the benevolent operations of his day. So much did he give away that he left no more estate than he inherited, although in full practice for twenty years before his appointment as judge. He often said to his children that he desired only to leave them a good education and correct principles, and that they must expect to make their way in life with only these to depend upon. Both as lawyer and judge he was very painstaking and laborious, conscientiously faith- ful in the discharge of his duties to his clients aud the public. Having a strongly nervous temperament, this mental strain was too great, and resulted at length in a softening of the brain, from which he died after an illness of three months, leaving three sons, a daughter, and a widow-his first wife's younger sister (as above stated)-to mourn an irrep- arable loss. Two of his children remain,-Thomas Ryerson, M.D., of Newton, in this county, and a daughter, who is the widow of Theodore F. Anderson. The youngest son, Col. Henry Ogden Ryerson, was killed in the war of the Rebellion, in May, 1864, at the head of his regiment, on the second day's bloody fighting in the battles of the Wilderness, in Virginia. The eldest, Judge Martin Ryerson, died June 11, 1875. The second son is Thomas Ryerson, A.M., M.D., who at this writing is a practicing physician and surgeon at Newton, und has been since August, 1845.

HON. DANIEL HAAINES was born in the city of New York in the year 1801. His father, Elias Haines, was for many years a well-known and successful merchant in that city, and was noted as a man of upright and benevolent character. His ancestors were among the first settlers of Elizabethtown, where his grandfather, Stephen Haines, resided, and, with his sons, took a distinguished part in the war of the Revolution. They were surrounded in their dwelling one night by a strong force, which captured them and took them as prisoners to New York, where they were imprisoned

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in the "old sugar-house" and were for a long time, with others, great sufferers. The mother of Governor Haines was a daughter of Robert Ogden, of Sparta, and a sister of Governor Ogden.

HON. DANIEL HAINES.

Daniel Haines graduated at the College of New Jersey in 1820, having received his preparatory educa- tion under Rev. Dr. Edmund D. Barry, a celebrated teacher of New York, and at the academy in Eliza- bethtown. He studied law at Newton, Sussex Co., with Hon. Thomas C. Ryerson, was admitted as an at- torney in 1823, as counselor in 1826, and as sergeant- at-law in 1837. In 1824 he settled as a lawyer in Hamburg, Sussex Co., where he continued to reside till his death, which event occurred Jan. 26, 1877. His practice as a lawyer, although never very large, soon became quite respectable. The year of his set- tlement at Hamburg proved auspicious for his en- trance into political life, as it brought forward Gen. Jackson, whose cause was espoused by most of the leading politicians of the county, both Democrats and Federalists, as a candidate for the Presidency. Mr. IIaines, although of Federalist descent, took an active part in promoting the success of Jackson, and secured for his candidate the entire vote of the township of Vernon, in which he resided. In 1839-40 he took an active part in what was known as the "Broad Seal War," he being that year a member of the Council. A series of resolutions had been passed by the Legis- lature of 1838-39, which were ordered addressed, not to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, but to "The Honorable Robert M. Hunter, representative of Virginia." Mr. Hunter, as Speaker of the House refused to receive them, justly regarding the address

as insulting to that body over which he presided. This rejection excited the Whigs, and new resolutions were introduced into the Legislature in the session of 1839-40, denouncing in strong terms the action of the House of Representatives as equivalent to declaring New Jersey out of the Union and no longer entitled to a voice in the councils of the nation. " Amzi Armstrong, of Newark, and Jacob W. Miller, then members of the Council, were the leading advocates of the resolutions, and Mr. Haines bore the brunt of the contest in opposition. The Whigs, being at that time largely in the majority, carried their resolutions, but the efforts of Mr. Haines and his friends were not lost. The testimony taken in reference to the election which occasioned the difficulty established the fact that the Democratic members had received a clear majority of the votes, and their party grew stronger and stronger in the State, until, in 1843, it carried a majority of the Legislature. The debate in which ! Mr. Haines took so prominent a part served to make known his ability and to bring him forward as a leader. He served a second time in the Council, and then de- clined a renomination."*

In the fall of 1843 he was nominated by the Dem- ocrats for Governor, and was elected by the joint meeting. While in the executive office he sought to advance the cause of education, and gave his influence in favor of a new constitution. This last measure was adopted under his administration, in 1844. He was the last Governor under the old constitution, and might have been the first under the new had he not peremptorily declined the candidacy. In 1847, how- ever, he was put in nomination by the Democrats, and was elected by a respectable majority. "In his inaugural address and in his message he reiterated his recommendations in favor of education by means of public and free schools, He strongly recommended a normal school for the education of teachers,-a measure which did not then obtain the favor of the Legislature, but which not long afterwards was adopted, and has proved of great public benefit."+ During his first term as chancellor ex-officio he de- livered several carefully prepared opinions, which will be found 3 Green's Chancery Reports.

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History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 46

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