History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 52

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 52
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 52

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In all his habits Dr. Fowler was strictly temperato and ex- emplary, an early riser and of untiring industry, and endenv- ured to devoto all his leisure-moments to the attainment of useful knowledge. lis remains are interred in the valley of llardyston, which near half n century before his death he sought, a youthful stranger, with no fortune but that which ho carried in his own brave heart and will to use with industry tho talents which l'rovidence had given him.

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THE MEDICAL PROFESSION IN SUSSEX COUNTY.

Becmerville, embraced about one hundred and forty acres at the time of his death. Among many other bequests, he made a liberal one to the Clove Church. He died suddenly, of apoplexy. His wife's demise occurred previously. He was one of the pioneer phy- sicians of Northwestern Jersey, a man of considerable reputation and influence in his day, popular, and esteemed. Hle was of Irish descent, and had a habit of using the term "'Od zounds" which caused the same to be applied to him as a sobriquet. He was a liberal contributor to and an attendant of the Clove Presbyterian Church, in the cemetery of which he was buried. The following is the inscription upon his monument :

" DOCT. BERRET HAVENS, Died Dec. 23, 1:45. In his 83rd year. Here lie with those of Wife and Daughter, The remains of a man of worth. Ilo was born nt Sag Harbor, And settled in Wantage, Where he Ilved a life of Industry and integrity ; and at his death, left a liberal bequest to the Clove Church."

ANDREW LINN was born in Hardwick township, Sussex Co., in 1755. His parents were Joseph and Martha (Kirkpatrick) Linn, originally from Hunter- don County. Ile practiced first in Hardyston, but removed to Newton and practiced until his death, in April, 1799, aged forty-four. He was buried in the old cemetery.

CHARLES MCCARTER .- It is asserted that Dr. Charles McCarter was an army surgeon from Sussex in 1776 .*

ELIJAH EVERITT, son of Samuel Everitt and Nancy Thatcher, was born between 1770 and 1780, in King- wood township, Hunterdon Co. His preparatory ed- neation was under the supervision of Rev. Dr. John Hanna, of Kingwood. He studied medicine with Dr. Samuel Kennedy. He had no license. He was mar- ried in January, 1800, after which time he practiced medicine at Greensville, where he had an extensive practice, covering an area of ten square miles. He died Jan. 11, 1850, at the house of William Mattison (son-in-law), of Sparta, whither he had gone on a visit, and was buried at the Yellow Frame. Between 1816 and 1818 he had in copartnership a Dr. Chad- wick, who came to Greensville from Bottle Hill, or Madison, and who, about two years later, died there of typhus fever. Elijah Everitt was appointed justice in 1814 by joint meeting of the Legislature. He was the father of Samuel A. Everitt, of Branchville.

JOHN B. BEACH, son of Isaac and Mary Bigelow Beach, was born at Troy, Morris Co., N. J., April 5, 1785. He studied medicine with the late Dr. Lewis Condiet, of Morristown, and commenced practice in ISII, in Frankford township, this county, continuing

there in the active labor of his profession until the day of his death, which occurred at Branchville, June 19, 1851. From April, 1846, to April, 1849, Dr. J. L. Allen was his partner. He joined the District Med- ical Society in 1829. Ile married, in 1811, Elizabeth C., daughter of James Haggerty, Esq. ; she died Nov. 23, 1823, and he married, in 1825, Eveline, daughter of Judge Thomas M. Armstrong, of Frankford, who lived until Feb. 10, 1849. He left two sons and five daughters. " As a physician he was efficient, faith- ful, and sympathizing. He ministered as willingly unto the poor as the rich. As a gentleman and scholar his dignified and courteous intercourse with his fellow-citizens endeared him to all. Dr. Beach was endowed with that order of intellect which would have qualified him to discharge honorably the duties of the most exalted station, but he was retiring, do- mestie, and unambitious." While he was a public- spirited man, the allurements of public life had few charms for him.

SAMUEL SWEZY SEWARD, father of the late eminent statesman William H. Seward, probably practiced medicine in this county. He was the eighth child of Col. John Seward, of Hardyston, who commanded the Second Sussex Regiment of Volunteers during the war of the Revolution. Col. John Seward was a son of Obadiah Seward, who came from Wales and settled on Lamington River, in Somerset County, where his son John was born May 22, 1730, and married Mary Swezy, March 22, 1751. Col. John Seward and his family settled in Hardys- ton prior to 1767, in which year his name first ap- pears as a member of the board of freeholders from Hardyston township.

Dr. Samuel S. Seward was born in Hardyston, Sussex Co., Dec. 5, 1768, married Mary Jennings, of Goshen, N. Y., and after living for a time in Vernon removed thence to Florida, Orange Co., in 1795, where he pursued the practice of medicine during his life. The village of Florida, Orange Co., is just over the Sussex boundary, and distant five miles from Goshen, on the Pine Island branch of the Erie Rail- way. It contains the Samuel S. Seward Institute, an academy named in honor of its founder, Dr. Samuel Swezy Seward. In the heart of this village, fronting on the main street, is a little low one-story, gable- roofed wooden building, still standing, in which William II. Seward was born.

Dr. Samuel S. Seward, besides his practice as a physician, was a member of the Legislature of New York in 1804, and in 1815 county judge of Orange County. He was subsequently first judge, and be- came distinguished for his wealth and liberality. In 1846 he established the institute which bears his name, donating the grounds, erecting appropriate buildings, and endowing the school with the sum of twenty thousand dollars.

Dr. Seward died in 1849, leaving an estate of about three hundred and fifty thousand dollars and making

. Dr. Stephon Wickes.

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his son William H., and his friend Maj. Grier, of Goshen, his executors. The will was proved in Sus- sex County, as well as in Orange, and is on record in the office of the surrogate of the former, at Newton. Matters connected with the estate brought William H. Seward to Newton several times after his father's death, and there he formed a pleasant acquaintance with the late B. B. Edsall, Esq., of the Sussex Register.

ROBERT W. COOKE, a father in medicine, and a light of the profession, who died, " full of years and full of honors," Dec. 27, 1867, was a native of Sussex County. He was the son of Dr. Ambrose Ellis Cooke, and was born at Newton, Jan. 21, 1797. He pursued the study of medicine, preliminary to entering the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York, with his father and Dr. Valentine Mott. Shortly after receiving his license as a practitioner of medicine he removed to Holmdel, Monmouth Co. (1820), where he continued in active practice till stricken with the sickness that preceded his death. His disease was peritonitis from ileo-cæcal obstruction. He was buried at the "Brick church" near Marlborough. A fine tribute to Dr. Cooke's memory, by the late Dr. Alfred B. Dayton, may be found in the annual transactions of the Med- ical Society of New Jersey for 1868.

STEPHEN HEDGES, son of Joseph Hedges and Elizabeth Woodhull, was born at Chester, Morris Co., Feb. 15, 1798. After a good scholastic education in the best schools of those days, he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Lewis Condict, of Morris- town, and continued for a short time with Dr. George Hopkins, of Newton. He attended lectures at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York, and received a diploma from that institution in April, 1819 .*

Dr. Hedges was examined by the censors of "The District Medical Society for the County of Morris in the State of New Jersey" at Morristown, July 15, 1819, and was licensed to practice at that time. A letter of commendation signed by the board of cen- sors by whom he was examined says,-

" His examination was not merely satisfactory, it was interesting and gratifying to the society in a very unusual degree. His medical read- ing appeared to have been extensive and discriminating; but what gave ue uncommon pleasure were his judicious answers to an unuenally wide range of practical questions, into which his intelligence led the members of the society. In one word, we do but express the unanimous senti- ment of the society in saying he was one of the most accomplished can- didatee that has ever come before us."

The above was signed by William A. Whelpley, Lewis Condict, and John B. Johnes, then the board of censors at Morristown.

After the death of Dr. Hopkins, at Newton, in 1819, he succeeded to his practice, occupying the same

house. "Like most young physicians, Dr. Hedges found his path to success tedious and difficult, but his kindly qualities of mind, united to professional skill, won him firm and fast friends," by which he gained an extensive practice throughout the county, and held the same until his death from typhoid fever, Aug. 10, 1845.

The memory of Dr. Hedges needs no further record than the fact of the well-sustained recommendation given by the board of censors, by which he was in- troduced to the county. In 1824 he was married to Rachel Ann, daughter of Jonathan Baldwin, of New- ton, where she is still living. At the time of his death he left seven children,-Elizabeth, Sarah, Jo- seph, Mary, Frances, Julia, and Emma. The son, Joseph, is a practicing physician at Branchville; Sarah, now deceased, married Theodore Little, a prominent lawyer of Morristown ; and Elizabeth, also deceased, was the wife of George H. Nelden, the pres- ent clerk of Sussex. The remaining children sur- round the fireside of their mother's home, where, mourning their bereavements, they still remain a united family.

ALEXANDER LINN, son of Hon. John Linn, was born at Harmony Vale, Sussex Co., July 17, 1811. He married Julia, a daughter of the late Horace Vib- bert, in 1845. He was a graduate of Union College, 1831; began the study of medicine under Dr. R. By- ington at Johnsonsburg, N. J .; attended lectures at Jefferson Medical College, 1833-36, receiving his diploma from that institution in March, 1836. In 1837 he located at Deckertown, where his skill and earnest devotion to his calling soon gave him com- mand of a large practice, which he retained until prostrated by his last illness. He formed a partner- ship with W. H. Linn, May 1, 1849, which was dis- solved in April, 1856. He was a great student, and possessed a remarkable memory. Became a member of the Sussex County District Medical Society in 1840, and his associates looked up to him "as the most brilliant star in their circle." He was a mem- ber of the State Medical Society, and was twice elected as one of its vice-presidents. After months of great suffering he died, May 12, 1868, leaving a widow and four sons, together with a large circle of warm friends and patrons, to mourn the loss of one who, had he cared less for theirs and more for his own health, might have yet been spared ; but such was not his conviction of duty.

JOHN R. STUART was born in Newton, N. J., March 11, 1809, and died there Jan. 15, 1873. He was adopted, reared, and educated by his uncle, Daniel Stuart; his educational advantages were of the best. In 1827 he was graduated from Rutgers College, and began the study of medicine in his na- tive town with the late Stephen Hedges, then one of the most popular physicians of the county. He at- tended lectures at the College of Physicians and Sur- gcons, New York, and was licensed to practice in the

* It is supposed that he was the first graduate in medicine ever settled in Sussex. Dr. Fowler attended lectures, but it is not shown that he wae a graduate; and if Dr. D'Aubigne, of Sparta, was, it must have been of a foreign school. At that date (1819) but few attended more than one course of lectures, mind were licensed to practice by censors .- Dr. Havens.

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fall of 1831. He at once commenced his labors at Newton, and in the following spring united himself with the District Medical Society, which he served for several years as an efficient secretary, and in 1849 was elected its president. His interest in the society was maintained throughont his life.

In February, 1843, he went to Sparta to take the practice left vacant by Dr. D. M. Sayre's removal to Morris County. Soon after this change Dr. Hedges died, and Dr. Stuart (in 1845) returned to Newton, where he established an extensive practice, which he pursued with energy for ten or twelve years. After twenty-five years of active professional life he gradu- ally withdrew from practice and devoted most of his time to the sale of drugs, in which business he was engaged at the time of his death. His confidential friends, Judge D. S. Anderson, of Newton, and Sec- retary of State Henry C. Kelsey, of Trenton, were his executors.

Dr. Stuart was well known as an excellent physician and a courteous gentleman, of fine hospitality, gener- ous to the poor, and much beloved by his patients and friends. His social qualities were remarkable. As a physician he was guided more by the cautious expe- rience of an observing mind than by medical theories; trusting much to the curative efforts of Nature, he was content to be her ministering servant, finding his chieť employment in removing the obstructions which im- peded her wise course to returning health.

JOHN TITSWORTH .- The first of the name to set- tle within the limits of Sussex County was William Titsworth, one of the first settlers of the township of Wantage. He came from the Neversink settlement during the French and Indian war, driven thenee by the hostilities that then prevailed, and located on the tract of land near Deckertown on which his descend- ants have since resided. He was the great-grand- father of Dr. Titsworth ; died March 4, 1791.

Stephen Titsworth, son of the first William, was born on April 8, 1734, and carly occupied land in Wautage township, near that of his father. He mar- ried Catharine Coykendall, and had children,-Sarah, born Nov. 5, 1752, died March 14, 1777; William, born Aug. 12, 1758; Henry, born Dec. 3, 1764; and Josiah, born Feb. 23, 1774. Stephen Titsworth died April 17, 1777, and his wife on Nov. 17, 1805.

William Titsworth, father of the doctor, was born in Wantage township, on the date indicated above, and occupied the ancestral acres of his father and grandfather. Over one hundred years ago he erected the stone house still standing on the Clove road, in Wantage, near the residence of his grandson, Wil- liam ; this was his dwelling-place for life. Besides being a thrifty and industrious farmer, owning a large tract of land, he operated a grist- and saw-mill on the Clove stream, near by. He took an netive in- terest in church affairs, was one of the signers of the original petition for forming the Clove Church, and was for many years an elder in that body. His wife

was Margaret Middaugh, born Oct. 8, 1757, and the children were Jane, born March 24, 1780 (married Dr. Berret Havens, an old and prominent physician of Wantage), died Jan. 9, 1807; Stephen, born July

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24, 1783; Amos, born June 23, 1787, died Feb. 19, 1856; John, born April 19, 1793, and the subject of this sketeh. William Titsworth died March 3, 1837, and his wife, Margaret, on March 31, 1841. His property was divided between his sons Amos and John, and is still occupied by their descendants.

Dr. John Titsworth was born in Wantage township on April 19, 1793. His early life was spent on his father's farm, where he passed through the usual rou- tine experiences of a farmer's son. When about four- teen years of age he left home for school at Chester, in Morris County, where he received the benefits of careful academic instruction, and subsequently at- tended the academy at Newburg, N. Y. Being thoroughly fitted, he entered Yale College, at which institution he was graduated in the class of 1813. Among his classmates were Samuel B. Ruggles, Dan- iel Lord, Theodore Dwight, Joshua Leavitt, William L. Stores, and others who have since become favor- ably known in connection with the public affairs of the country.

After graduation Dr. Titsworth pursued the study of medieine in New Haven, and attended full courses of lectures in both New York and Philadelphia. Upon being duly licensed as a physician he commenced the practice of his profession in New Haven, and also with a partner engaged in the drug business in

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SUSSEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

that city. He continued in active business life at that place until the year 1826, when, owing to failing health, he removed to his native township and settled on the old homestead. A few years later he erected the present residence of his son, William Titsworth, where he passed the remainder of his life.

For many years he practiced as a physician in Wantage, and was recognized as a learned and skill- ful practitioner. Possessed of an inquiring mind, he studied his cases carefully, and brought to their con- sideration the most exact and scientific treatment. He kept abreast with the discoveries of the times, and carefully avoided the grooves and routine habits of his medical brethren. He was frequently called into con- sultation by other physicians, and his skill was greatly appreciated by them. In his later days he somewhat relinquished his practice, and devoted his time to reading, study, and scientific investigation, which was more congenial to him than the details of prac- tice, as well as less wearing on his somewhat weak- ened constitution. He took daily exercise in his garden, and was greatly interested in horticultural affairs. In politics he was a Whig, and was also one of the main pillars of the Clove Presbyterian Church, of which he was for many years a trustee and an elder. He was a man of generous impulses, of warm and liberal spirit, of strict integrity, and a prompt con- tributor to the various benevolent and philanthropic enterprises of his day. After a long life of useful- ness and honor he passed away on Feb. 1, 1873, and was laid to rest with his fathers in the neighboring cemetery.

Dr. Titsworth's wife, whom he married on May 31, 1819, was Abigail, daughter of Deacon Nathan and Mary Beers, of New Haven, Conn. She was born April 10, 1795, and died Dec. 27, 1863. The children of the union were Barret Havens, born July 25, 1822, died 'April 1, 1837 ; William, born July 12, 1824 (re- siding on the old homestead) ; Margaret M., born May 27, 1828 (wife of Mahlon Cooper, of Warwick) ; and Mary P., born Dec. 12, 1829, died July 26, 1830.

JACOB HORNBECK, third son of Philip Hornbeck, was born in Rochester, Ulster Co., N. Y., about the time of the Revolution. He studied medicine in his native town with Dr. Abram K. Dewitt, completing the course in October, 1800, after which he removed to Montague, Sussex Co., N. J., then known as the Minisink Valley. He was licensed to practice in this State, Oct. 5, 1802. The next year he married Es- ther, only daughter of John I. Westbrook. As a cit- izen he was honored and respected. He served one term in the Legislature (elected in 1820) with great acceptance. He was a physician of decided abilities, and sustained a high reputation among his professional brethren. In his early practice he rode for miles into the wilderness of Pike Co., Pa., and for a great distance over the hills of Sussex, encountering dan- gers unknown to the present day. He continued in active practice until a few years before his death.

Dr. Hornbeck was a man of extreme modesty and reserve; he eschewed politics, and, with one excep- tion, held no public office. He died Sept. 12, 1859, at the residence of his son-in-law, Archibald Drake, in Frankford, and was buried at the Reformed Dutch church of Montague, in the neighborhood of where. he had for fifty-nine years labored to alleviate and minister to the ills of the people. His daughter, Sarah, became the wife (in 1854) of Dr. Cornelius Stillwell, of Caroline, Tompkins Co., N. Y. His son, Jacob E., is a miller at Deckertown, this county.

JACOB T. SHARP, son of Edward Sharp, of Ham- burg and Newton, and Martha Thomson, daughter of Mark Thomson, of Marksboro', was born at Newton, N. J., May 16, 1802, graduated at Princeton, and stud- ied medicine in Philadelphia with Thomas C. James, professor of obstetrics in the University of Pennsyl- vania, from which he obtained a diploma in 1825, at the age of twenty-three. Not long after this (about 1826) he commenced practice at Newton, where he remained about one year, and then went to Washing- ton, Warren Co., where he practiced for three or four years. He thence removed to Philadelphia, and three years later to Salem, N. J., where he practiced fifteen years; then relinquished his business to his son, Ed- ward S. Sharp, M.D., and removed to a large tract of land at Port Elizabeth, Cumberland Co., N. J.

SEYMOUR HALSEY was born at Monroe, Morris Co., N. J. He studied medicine with Dr. John B. Johnes (?) at Morristown. In 1824 he began the practice of medicine at Sparta, and was one of the original members of the District Medical Society. In 1829 he left Sparta and went to New York, where he attended a course of lectures at the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons, graduating in 1830. Through the influence of his intimate friend, Dr. John R. Rhinelander, he afterwards entered one of the city hospitals, in which he served until after the season of cholera. He then went to Newark, N. J., where he remained but a few years, being persuaded by his friends to go to Vicksburg, Miss. While there he was married to a widow, with whom he lived but a short time before his death took place. He was a surgeon in the Mexican war.

FRANCIS MORAN was born in the county of Leitrim, Ireland, Sept. 29, 1793, and died in Newton, of an affection of the heart, Dec. 24, 1854. He com- menced his medical education in Trinity College, Dublin, and after coming to this country continued his studies with Dr. Young, of Amity, N. Y., and at- tended a course of lectures at the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons, New York. He commenced the practice of medicine in this county about 1821, at House's Corner, where he remained but a few months, when he came to Newton. He became a member of the District Medical Society of Sussex County, Aug. 22, 1829. As a physician and surgeon he stood at the head of the profession, combining high scientific knowledge with that wisdom and experience which

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only mature age and a life devoted to the practice of the profession can achieve. Not only medicine, but philosophy, mineralogy, chemistry, agriculture, and other kindred topics, shared in his studies and inves- tigations. He was not alone the friend, but the con- sistent advocate, of temperance. His death was sin- cerely mourned by the whole community in which he had lived.

DAVID HUNT was a son of Richard Hunt, of Hard- wick. His early life was one of toil and privation, and whatever prominence he acquired in the profes- sion to which he was so ardently attached may be mainly attributed to his studious course in early life. His tutor was Thomas C. Teasdale, then principal of Newton public school. He followed Teasdale to the South, and finally commenced the study of medicine at Yale College. He afterwards entered the office of Dr. Linn, and at the time of the latter's death they were partners. For about a year (1815-16) he was a partner of Dr. George Hopkins. He lived on the hill, in the old Johnson house, now owned by Chester L. Teel. He died in Newton, and is buried in the old cemetery, where the inscription on his tombstone reads :

" To commemorate departed worthi, this stone Is erected sncred to the memory of Dr. David Hunt, by his affectionate daughters. He died March 2, 1831, aged 54 years."

ELIAS L'HOMMEDIEU, one of the original members of the District Medical Society of Sussex County at its formation, in 1829, was born in 1794; commenced practicing at Hamburg in 1816. May 20th, that year, he announced his advent by an advertisement, in which he stated that he had " taken board at James Horton's Inn," and would punctually attend the calls of all who should favor him with their patronage. Edsall & L'Hommedieu operated iron-works in Ham- burg for a number of years. He was appointed "judge and justice" in 1832, and again in 1837, serv- ing for ten years. He appears to have retired from active practice, for an advertisement dated Newark, N. J., April 1, 1846, associates him ("late of Ham- burg") with John Y. Baldwin in the wholesale grocery and commission business. He died at his residence, in West Bloomfield, July 28, 1853, in the fifty-ninth year of his age. Ile was a popular man, a successful physician, and worked faithfully and hard while he practiced, but the later years of his life were devoted largely to commercial enterprises.

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History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 52

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