History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 47

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 47
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 47

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At the expiration of his second term he resumed the practice of his profession, and was occupied iu it till November, 1852, when, having been nominated as a justice of the Supreme Court and confirmed by the Senate, he took his seat on the bench, and, being re- appointed, held the office fourteen years.

As a judge he was remarkably impartial, always seeking to do justice, and he rarely failed to ascertain and give preponderance to the merits of a cause ; by his courteous deportment as well as by his sound judgment he merited and received the confidence and respect of suitors and their advocates. "Few judges

* Elmer's " Reminiscences," p. 258.

+ Elmer. See Chapter VI., p. 172, of this work.

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were ever freer from the influences of passion or prej- udice. For several years he presided in the Newark circuit, the most important and difficult, perhaps, in the State, and left it greatly respected by the bar, who expressed their feelings by a strong testimonial of regard.

Governor Haines was carefully edneated as a Pres- byterian, and was for many years a ruling elder of the Church. He was prominent as a member of the Gen- cral Assembly, of the Bible society, the Sunday-school, and interested in other religious and benevolent pro- jects, which always engaged his hearty and earnest attention. In 1845 he was appointed one of the com- missioners to select a site for the State Lunatic Asylum, and was a member of the first board of managers of that institution. In 1868 he was appointed by joint ballot of the Legislature "to examine the existing system of the State prison of this State and similar institutions of other States, and to report an improved plan for the government and discipline of the prison." In October, 1870, he was one of the commissioners ap- pointed by Governor Randolph to the National Prison Reform Congress held at Cincinnati, and by that body was appointed one of the committee charged with the duty of organizing a national prison reform associa- tion and an international congress on prison disci- pline and reform, to be held in the city of London in 1872. In the organization of the National Prison Reform Association he was made one of the corpora- tors and a vice-president. For many years he was one of the board of trustees of Princeton College.

Governor Haines was twice married. His children were Rev. Alanson A. Haines, of Hamburg; Capt. Thomas Ryerson Haines, killed in the late war; and one daughter, who married Professor Guyot, of Prince- ton College.

JUDGE JOHN LINN was a native of Hardwick township, and was of Irish descent. The early part of his life was spent on the farm where he was boru until his removal with his family to Hardyston township, where he passed the remainder of his days. In 1s05 he was appointed judge of the Common Pleas, and reap- pointed in 1810, 1815, and 1820. Hle married the daughter of the senior Richard Hunt, of Hardwick. Judge Linn possessed a strong mind and sound judg- ment ; he was endowed with talents above mediocrity, and exerted more than ordinary influence in the community. Ile represented the Fourth District of New Jersey in Congress two terms with honor to himself and satisfaction to his constituents, and while in Congress, in the winter of 1823, he was taken ill and died of typhoid fever. Ilis remains were shortly after sent for and brought home to his family. Ile was an exemplary man and an elder in the Presby- terian Church of Hardyston.

JUDGE JOHN TOWNSEND was a native of Sussex County, having been born in Vernon township, in the year 1815. His early life was spent in rural pur- suits, and upon reaching his majority he purchased a

rough farm in Warren County and there settled. A few years later he sold it, much improved, and re- moved to Newton, where his public life began; this was in 1843. Although he had enjoyed but limited scholastic advantages, he possessed naturally strong administrative abilities, a powerful will, and a pecu- liar faculty for influencing others. Politics-at that time the absorbing question in the county-engaged his ardent and active nature; and yet his ambition never ran in the direction of official honors and pre- ferment. The influential position he sustained in the dominant party of the county and State placed such honors within his reach, but he declined them all, with one exception-that of the appointment of judge of the Common Pleas in 1864, which station he filled with usefulness to the public and with credit to himself until 1868, when declining health impelled him to resign it. He died in 1868, in his fifty-third year. He brought to the bench a singularly lucid and legal mind, and his deportment as a judge was marked with courtesy, dignity, candor, and the strict- est integrity.

COL. ROBERT HAMILTON was an attorney and counselor of more than ordinary abilities. He was born Dec. 9, 1809, and was a son of Hon. Benjamin Hamilton, of Hamburg, for several years a member of the Council from this county. He was admitted to the Sussex bar in February, 1836, and in due course was advanced to the rank of counselor, serving three terms as prosecutor of the pleas. As a lawyer he was very shrewd and skillful in the management of causes, an able advocate, and a forcible and elo- quent speaker, having a voice remarkable for its pe- culiar sharpness and penetration. During the time of his practice at this bar he was engaged in most of the important litigations of the county, and did a large business in the Supreme Court at Trenton. in the Circuit Courts, Court of Chancery, Court of Last Resort, and Court of Errors and Appeals. He was very successful in business, amassing a handsome fortune.

It has been the privilege of few to enjoy a larger share of the confidence and respect of the community in which they have lived,-of none to sustain a more enviable reputation in his profession. Ile received a substantial common-school and academic educa- tion, and came to Newton in 1831, after the appoint- ment of Col. J. E. Edsall as county clerk, and as- sisted in that office for about ten years. At that time he commenced the study of law with Maj. William T. Anderson. He was for several years a chosen free- holder from Newton, and was regularly selected by the board as its director. For his ability he was prominently mentioned for judge of the Supreme Court at the time of the reappointment of Judge Dalrymple. He was elected to the Assembly in 1862, and re-elected the following term. During the ses- sion of 1863-64, upon the death of the Speaker, MIr. Taylor, Mr. Hamilton was elected as his successor.

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At the announcement of his death the Assembly unanimously passed resolutions of respect. He was the member of Congress from the Fourth District from 1873 to 1877, and held important positions. At the organization of the Merchants' National Bank in 1865, and of the Newton Library Association in 1868, he was in each institution chosen as a director and also selected as president, both of which positions he held at the time of his death. In the church, Mr. Hamil- ton was an Episcopalian, and represented Christ Church of Newton in the Convention of the Diocese of New Jersey in 1837, and was a delegate almost con- tinuously from that date for over forty years. In that church he was a member of the vestry from 1839, and warden from 1848. He was baptized and confirmed in 1845, and was a communicant for nearly thirty- three years. He was extremely liberal in his gifts for the support of the church, and in its management was continually looked to for judicious advice, which was always cheerfully given and respected. It is a pleasure to say that he was always their counselor, but never their dictator. It is unnecessary in this brief sketch to enlogize his professional attainments or to weave in history the brilliant traits in his char- acter in private life. The esteem in which he was held has been well shown by the many positions of trust and confidence reposed in him. From the com- mencement of his professional career he enjoyed a large and lucrative practice.

It only remains to record briefly a statement of his decline and death. During the long session of Con- gress in 1875, Col. Hamilton contracted malarial fever at Washington ; he partially recovered, but was seized with another attack during the next session, from the effects of which he never rallied. He was stricken with paralysis on Oct. 29, 1877, after which he was unable to speak but few words, or to otherwise com- municate his thoughts. He died March 14, 1878, leaving a widow and only daughter. Daughter, son- in-law, relatives, rector, physicians, many kind friends and watchfnl nurses, constantly attended and tried to minister to his relief and comfort, notwithstanding which he gradually declined until his death, and left many vacancies to be regretted and mourned by loved .ones and by a sympathizing community.

ALPIIEUS GUSTIN was a lawyer of good character and fine legal abilities, having been prepared for the bar at the law school in Connecticut. He was a son of John Gustin, and was born in Augusta, Frankford township, Sussex Co., where he began practice in 1820 and resided till the time of his death. In the preparation of his cases he was remarkably orderly and systematic. He was prosecutor of the pleas for Sussex County from 1830 to 1835. Mr. Gustin's sur- viving widow (third wife) now resides in the village of Newton; also his daughter by his second wife, Mrs. John J. Edwards, and daughter Miss Anna J. Gustin. He died on the 13th of June, 1862.

WHITFIELD S. JOHNSON practiced law in Newton

for many years subsequent to his admission as an at- torney, in May, 1828. He was a lawyer of good repu- tation and a citizen of strict integrity. For five years he was prosecutor of the pleas for Sussex County ; was for twenty-one years secretary and treasurer of the Sussex Mutual Insurance Company, and also served as Secretary of State from 1861 to 1866.

DANIEL S. ANDERSON was born in Newton, Nov. 1, 1819. He is a son of Thomas Oakley Anderson, an officer in the United States navy, who was with Com. Decatur at the sacking of Tripoli. Daniel S. studied law with his uncle, William T. Anderson, and was admitted as an attorney in September, 1841, when he began practice at Newton. In 1848 he was elected surrogate of the county, and was twice re-elected, holding the office till 1863,-a period of about fifteen years. He then resumed the practice of his profes- sion, in which he continued till 1871, when he was appointed president judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Sussex County, under the act of April of that year, and held the position till April, 1876.

Judge Anderson has discharged the duties of his several offices well, and is highly respected both in his profession and as a citizen. He was for a number of years the law-partner of Hon. Thomas N. McCar- ter. At one time he did a large business as executor and administrator, his experience as surrogate having given him great familiarity with the laws and rules relating to Orphans' Courts. All his transactions commanded the entire confidence of the people. He was at one time a director in the old Sussex Bank, and its attorney. By a too generous desire to befriend others he became security for certain parties, involv- ing, we are told, the loss of his property, amounting to fifteen or twenty thousand dollars. Judge Ander- son still resides in Newton, and is a member of the Sussex bar, though the infirmities of age disqualify him for active practice.

CYRUS S. LEPORT was admitted to the bar in 1838, and began practice at Stanhope, Sussex Co., where he remained several years and then removed to Wiscon- sin. In 1864, or about that time, he returned to Stan- hope, and was for some time prosecutor of the pleas of Sussex County. He was a son of John Leport, a farmer of Byram township, where he was born. His son, William T. Leport, is a practicing lawyer in Do- ver, Morris Co., N. J.

COL. SAMUEL FOWLER was regularly admitted to the Sussex bar, although he never practiced the pro- fession of the law. He was in some respects the most remarkable man that Sussex County ever produced, and inherited much of his native ability from his father, Dr. Samuel Fowler, of Franklin.

Col. Samuel Fowler-or "Col. Sam," as he was familiarly called-was born at Franklin, and was brought up amidst these mining ideas and interests. He became possessed of the same strong predilection for minerals which characterized his father. At his father's death he inherited the mines and furnace at

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Franklin, made the discovery of zine white,-now $0 well known to the chemist and the artisan,-carried on the mines and furnaces, organized companies, pro- cured charters for them, and handled mining stocks for many years, often, it is said, making as high as eighty thousand dollars in a single operation. lle was engaged as a broker in the city of New York, and made money very rapidly there. Retiring from that business, he went to Port Jervis, and did more than any other man towards the building up of that place. While there he was the Democratic candidate for lieutenant-governor of the State of New York.

Col. Fowler was a man of most decided ability, great power of will, and force of character. "At times," says a gentleman who remembers him well, " he was the most eloquent speaker I ever heard. He had a burning eloquence, great personal magnetism, and I have seen him in some of his bursts of elo- quence cause a whole audience, instantaneously and all at once, to spring to their feet as if he had every man by the collar. At other times I have heard him make dry and rather tedious speeches, but they were always sound and thoughtful."

HENRY O. FOWLER was a son of Dr. Samuel Fow- ler, and youngest brother of Col. Samuel. He was born at Franklin, where he continued to reside, and, although educated for and admitted to the profession of the law, like his brother, he never practiced.

GEORGE MI. RYERSON, although admitted in 1841, never practiced the profession of the law. Ile is a surveyor and farmer by occupation, and was at one time engaged as a hardware-merchant and a druggist. He is a son of David Ryerson, and was born in New- ton.

BENJAMIN HAMILTON, JR., son of Gen. Benjamin Hamilton, and brother of Col. Robert Hamilton; born at Hamburg, Sussex Co. ; studied law with his brother, Col. Robert Hamilton, and was admitted in February, 1845. He practiced law at Hamburg, evineing good abilities in the profession, and sustain- ing a good character. He was a member of the As- sembly in 1852 and 1853, and died while a member during the latter year, in young manhood.

Jous LIN, son of Andrew Linn, was born at Harmonyvale, in Hardyston township, Sussex Co. ; was admitted as an attorney November, 1841, and as a counselor October, IS48; went to Wisconsin soon after his admission, where he remained till 1850, when he returned and settled as a lawyer at Newton. He remained in practice here till 1867, when he opened a law-oflice in the city of New York, where he re- mained two or three years, and then settled in Jersey City, where he is still in the practice of his profession.

Mr. Linn was for many years one of the leading members of the Sussex bar, being well up in his pro- fession, a good speaker, and an able advocate and attorney ; he is also a sound and safe counselor. A member of the present bar says, "Mr. Linn stood very high while he lived in Newton, both as a lawyer

and a man. Hle was a member of the Presbyterian Church, a man of very dignified appearance and manners, and at one time was one of the 'Riparian Commissioners of the State of New Jersey.' He was a candidate for member of Congress from the Fourth District against Andrew J. Rogers in 1862. While here he was engaged in most of the important litiga- tions of Sussex and had a good practice in the higher courts; and he has a good practice where he now lives. He was engaged to some extent in mining in- terests while in Sussex County, and is still interested in that business, having possession of the 'Williams Mine', near Canisteer, N. J." He built the large brick dwelling-house in Newton, on Liberty Street, and lived there till he removed to New York, in 1867. The residence is still owned by him. Mr. Linn is a hard student and well versed in the ground principles of the law.

ROBERT T. SHINER, son of Amos Shiner, of Green township, and brother of ex-sheriff Andrew Shiner : studied law with David Thompson, Esq., and was admitted to the Sussex bar in February, 1845. He practiced law in Newton, and acted, chiefly in the capacity of a clerk, first in the office of Mr. Linn, and afterwards in that of Thomas Kays, where he re- mained till the time of his death. Meantime, he served five years as justice of the peace.

HON. THOMAS N. MCCARTER, now of Newark, was a prominent member of the Sussex bar from 1849 till his removal to his present residence and place of busi- ness, in 1867. He is a son of Robert II. MeCarter, who was for many years a prominent citizen and mer- chant of Sussex County, residing at Newton. The elder McCarter came here from Morris County, where he had been clerk of the courts, and while living here was judge of the Common Pleas and of the Court of Errors and Appeals, holding the latter office at the time of his death, in 1851.

Thomas N. MeCarter was born in Elizabeth, N. J .. in 1823; graduated at Princeton College; studied law and was admitted as an attorney in October, 18.15, and as a counselor in January, 1849. By his ability, self-reliance, and thorough knowledge of the law he attained to a leading position at the Sussex bar during his residence at Newton, and now stands among the prominent lawyers of the State. He was a member of the Legislature from this county in 1861. He married the second daughter of ex-Sheriff Uzal C. Hagerty, of Sussex County, and has three sons and three daughters. One of his sons, a graduate of Princeton, is a law-student with him, and another is in Princeton College.

DAVID THOMPSON .- The progenitor of the Thomp- son family from whom the subject of this sketch traces his desvent was Aaron Thompson, who, with his younger brothers, Moses and Hur, emigrated from Scotland to America in the year 1686. The younge -: of these, Hur, settled in New England, Varon and Moses settled in Elizabethtown, N. J., and their de-

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scendants are found at " Connecticut Farms" (Union), " Battle Hill" (now Madison), and Mendham, N. J.

Joseph, youngest son of Aaron Thompson, removed from "Connecticut Farms" to Mendham in 1739. He died in July, 1749. His wife, Lydia, died March 24, 1749. The same year with the death of the parents five of their nine children also died, of a prevailing epidemic called the "long fever."

David, youngest of these children, was born Oct. 4, 1737, and died Dec. 28, 1824. His first wife was Rachel Bonnel (born Oct. 15, 1737; died March 27, 1766), who bore him two sons and two daughters. His second wife was Hannah Cary, whom he married Aug. 11, 1766. She was born April 26, 1747, and died Nov. 19, 1831. Of this union were born six sons and five daughters.

David Thompson was a man of great energy and strong force of character. He was one of the founders of the Presbyterian Church at Mendham, and retained the office of elder most of his life. During the war of the Revolution he commanded a company of min- ute-men, and at the time the American army was encamped at Morristown, when despair of success and extreme poverty weighed heavily upon the forces, his house became the welcome home of multitudes of famishing soldiers, and his hospitality was limited only by his means of supply. He was a man of good in- fluence in society, and, being well read in Bible truths, his desires were never gratified until all who came in contact with him had received wholesome impressions of a better life from his teachings.

Familiarly known as "Captain," and as often, ·" Judge,"-which latter title he obtained from being on the bench of the Court of Common Pleas,-he was always the favored guest among both the old and the young, and his retentive memory, quaint sayings, and ready wit, often accompanied with sarcasm, made his companionship agreeable and his narratives and stories of " olden time" instructive. He was a man of keen perceptive faculties and bright intellect, and not only was he a close student of the best authors and the current topics of his time, but he sought to give his children the best opportunities then afforded for an education.

One of his sons, David Thompson, Jr., was gradu- ated at Princeton College in the class of 1804, was surrogate of Morris Co., N. J., for many years, was prominent and influential in local and national poli- tics, and for ten years retained the Speakership in the lower branch of the New Jersey Legislature. He was an intimate friend of the late Samuel L. Southard, and while that gentleman held high places in the State and nation Mr. Thompson's counsel was often sought. lle died in 1831, at the age of forty-nine.

Another son of David Thompson was Stephen, father of our subject, who was born Jan. 16, 1775, in Mendham, on the old homestead purchased by his grandfather, Joseph, in 1740. Ile succeeded to the home property upon his father's decease, resided upon

it during his life, and died in June, 1858. He lived a quiet life as a farmer and was not solicitous of pub- licity, although he was elected to and served one term in the State Legislature. He was a man of good business ability, and was esteemed for his integrity in all his business relations. Like his father before him, he was a very devoted Christian man, was elder of the same church for many years, and reared his chil- dren under the strictest family discipline of the old Puritan style. His wife was Susanna, a daughter of George and Mary (Boyd) Harris, whom he married Aug. 12, 1802. She was born May 15, 1776, and died in 1841. Her grandfather, William Harris, came from Ireland in 1742, settled in Philadelphia, and be- longed to the family who founded Harrisburg, Pa.

The children of Stephen and Susanna Thompson are four sons and one daughter. George, Nancy, and Robert reside on the old homestead in Mendham ; Alexander died in 1834, in Charleston, S. C., at the age of nineteen; David was born Oct. 26, 1808, in Mendham. While very young he evinced rare ability as a student, and at the age of eleven was found read- ing Virgil. He was prepared for college under the tutorship of the late Samuel H. Cox, then a clergyman of the Presbyterian Church at Mendham and at Bloom- field, N. J., and entered the junior class at Princeton in the year 1823 at the age of fifteen, from which he was graduated with the usual honors in 1825. Among his most noted classmates were William L. Dayton and A. O. Zabriskie. For four years following his graduation he was a classical teacher in the academy at Mendham. In 1830 he entered the law-office of Jacob W: Miller, of Morristown, N. J., where he re- mained one year, and then came to Newton, N. J., and for two years was a law-student in the office of the late Judge Thomas C. Ryerson. He was admitted to the bar as an attorney at the November term in 1833, and at the November term in 1836 he was ad- mitted as counselor.

In the winter following his admission to the bar as an attorney Mr. Thompson opened a law-office in Newton, and has remained in continuous practice until the present time (1880), a period of forty-seven years. In November, 1838, he was appointed surro- gate of Sussex County, and held the office for five years. Outside of the duties of his profession, he has been interested in the various worthy local enter- prises of the village and county of his adoption, and in an unostentatious way has sought to fulfill all ob- ligations incumbent upon him as a citizen. Since 1844 he has been interested in the Sussex Bank as a director, was for many years its vice-president, and upon the resignation of the late David Ryerson he was elected president of the bank,-now the Sussex National,-which position he now holds.

In politics Mr. Thompson was formerly a Whig, and since the organization of the Republican party he has been a supporter of its principles. Of a naturally retiring disposition, he has never been

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solicitous of political place or the emoluments of office, but has preferred rather the quiet duties of his profession and business pursuits. His judicious and safe counsel as a lawyer, his sterling honesty and financial ability in business, his moral and Christian influence as a citizen and a member of the Presby- terian Church of Newton, have won the confidence and esteem of all who know him.

His wife was Susanna, daughter of Joseph and Susanna (Anthony) Dederer, whom he married Nov. 11, 1835. She was born Nov. 10, 1815, was a woman of real moral worth and Christian excellence, and died May 28, 1879. Their children were Alexander, «lied at the age of eight years ; Juliana, wife of David R. Hull, of Newton; Susanna Dederer ; William Armstrong, a graduate of the Troy Polytechnic In- stitute in the class of 1868; and Charles Dederer, a graduate of Princeton in the class of 1874, admitted as attorney in 1877, as counselor in 1880, and the law- partner of his father at Newton.

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History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 47

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