History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 53

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 53
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 53

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JACOB L. VAX DEUSEX was of Holland descent. Jacob Lansing Van Densen was born at Albany, N. Y., July 17, 1785. After a classical education at the Cambridge (N. Y.) Academy, he chose and com- menced the study of medicine, under Dr. Woodruff, of Albany. In 1806 he received his degree from the University of the State of New York. He then at- tended lectures in Philadelphia, under the celebrated Drs. Rush and Physick. In 1808 he married Nancy 1., daughter of Sanford Clark, Esq., of Albany, and there he practiced for twelve years. After four years

more spent at Genesee, N. Y., he changed his abode for the last time, settling at Montague, among the healthful hills of " old Sussex." There he completed the faithful work of a life, and there, where he expe- rienced life's vicissitudes and trials, as well as com- forts and joys, he ended his days. He was happily devoted to his profession, pursuing it with his whole heart. He was much interested in educational mat- ters.

Dr. Van Deusen's specialty in surgery was in dis- eases of the eye, he being quite successful in operations for the relief of cataract. About 1860 he relinquished his practice. He died Sept. 25, 1867. Of his eight sons, six are living and engaged in pursuits closely allied to that of their father, five being druggi-t -. For thirty-five years and until his decease he was a useful member of the Reformed Church of Montague.

JOHN JORDAN LINDERMAN, an eminent physician of his time (born 179]; died July 19, 1872), soon after completing his medical studies, in 1818, settled at the "Brick House," now Montague, Sussex Co., where he successfully practiced for a year or more, and then removed to Pike Co., Pa. During his long residence at the last-named place his services were frequently sought and rendered in the region from Flatbrookville to Tuttle's Corner. During 1846-47 he and his son Dr. Henry R. (late director of the United States Mint) had an extensive practice in Sandyston and Montague during an epidemie of bilious fever with decided typhoid tendency. His successful treatment of this class of ailments won for him an eminence which he maintained during the continuance of his professional career.

Dr. Linderman, when he settled at the Brick Ilouse, was associated with Dr. Jacob Hornbeck, or took his practice.

DAVID EVEN .- It is stated that Dr. Euen was a native of Elizabeth, N. J .; his parents were William and Margaret Euen, of that city. He received a thorough medical education, and was a skillful physi- cian and surgeon. He studied medicine with Dr. Treat, of New York City. It is also related that he was a surgeon on an English vessel before the Revo- lution. The time of his advent in Sussex is not known. He was a bachelor, and eccentric in his habits. Ile lived in an old, unfinished house, which stood where is now David Foster's residence. He died on his birthday, June 3, 1814, aged sixty. It is supposed he was buried in Newton. The second wife of Dr. R. Byington (deceased), of Belvidere, i- his niece .*

HIEMAX ALLEN, youngest son of Elisha Allen, was born at Williston, Vt., July 4, 1779. He commenced his medical studies with his elder brother, Elihu, con- tinued them with Dr. Phillips, of Phillipsburg, C. E., attended lectures in Columbia College during the winter of 1805-6, and clinical lectures in New York

· Dr. W. S. Johnson.

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Hospital. He was examined and licensed to practice in New York State in 1807, and settled in Unionville, Orange Co. From thence he removed to Deckertown, this county, about 1820, and followed his profession there for twenty-five years. It is said that for forty years he suffered frequent attacks of pneumonia, from one of which he finally died, Dec. 22, 1859. He was buried in the yard of the First Baptist church of Wantage, now known as "Deckertown Cemetery."

HULL ALLEN, a native of Westport, Conn., and licensed at Newark, N. J., came to Sparta about 1820, but remained only a few months, as Dr. Vail, who came about the same time, paid him to surrender the field to him. Dr. Allen then went to Sugar Loaf, but subsequently returned to Connecticut, to Milford, where, after over fifty years' professional labor, he was still located in June, 1875.

JONAS ROE was born in Orange Co., N. Y., Aug. 26, 1792. The vicinage of his birth and the correla- tion of dates incline us to think he was a brother of Drs. Jacob D. and Thomas Roe. He was graduated from the University of New York, and received a di- ploma or license from the "Medical Society of the Eastern District of State of New Jersey." Married, in 1817, Matilda Hopkins; commenced practice near Orangeville, Pa .; in 1820 was located in Sparta town- ship, and removed to Beemerville about 1825; died at Bristol, Elkhart Co., Ind., May 12, 1870, of pulmo- nary consumption. His wife died in 1859, and was buried at Bloomsburg. He practiced about fifty years in Sussex County and vicinity. He ranked among the first as a physician, and was no less suc- cessful in operative surgery, among other cases being several difficult operations for cataract.

CHARLES VAIL was born in Morris Co., N. J., Sept. 25, 1793; commenced the study of medicine about the year 1817, under Dr. John S. Darcy, then of Hanover; subsequently attended lectures in New York, and was admitted to practice by the censors of the medical society of Morris (or Essex) in 1821, and immediately entered upon his medical career in Sparta, Sussex Co. In 1824 he removed to Dauphin Co., Pa., and the next year to Stroudsburg, where he married and remained until his death, Jan. 19, 1836. He left one son, a member of the Philadelphia bar. His widow still survives. "He was an intelligent, conscientious, devoted, and most faithful physician. While he lived he enjoyed the confidence and esteem of those who knew his worth. Dying, he left no stain upon his name."

THOMAS ROE was the son of Benjamin and Drucilla Van Kirk. He was born in Frankford township, N. J., Dec. 13, 1807. Ilc died of heart disease at Sandyston, Oct. 23, 1878. Licensed to practice by the president of the State Medical Society, Sept. 29, 1832; married Susan Smith in Sandyston, March 22, 1834; commenced practice in Milton, Morris Co., in 1832, and about fifteen months subsequent removed to Sandyston, where he followed his profession until

his death. He was an early member of the District Medical Society of Sussex County. In a letter which he wrote to the secretary of the society, July 1, 1869, he says, "I believe I am one of the three oldest of the present members of the society."

JACOB D. ROE, an elder brother of the above, born at the same place, Dec. 21, 1795; attended lectures at College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, in winter of 1819-20; licensed by State society, May 3, 1820; commenced practice at Milton, N. J .; came to Beemerville in 1836-37; in 1820 married Cynthia Headley, and had six children ; died of typhoid fever at his home, in Frankfort township, Nov. 11, 1857, and was buried at Beemerville. He was of good standing in the profession, and was a modest, unas- suming, upright man. A sound judgment, united with indomitable energy, made him a successful prac- titioner.

DAVID COOK was born in the year 1795, at Han- over, N. J .; his parents' names were William and Elizabeth. He was a graduate of the New York Medical College, and received his diploma in 1818. He studied with Dr. Darcy; commenced his practice at Milford, Pa., in 1818, and the following year was married to Sarah, daughter of Henry Beemer. Soon after, he located at Beemerville, and for ten years was a physician and surgeon there, until his death (1830), caused by internal injuries resulting from being thrown from his carriage. His wife was born 1799; died in 1873. Of his six children, two are deceased.

GEORGE HOPKINS was born Nov. 23, 1794, on Long Island. His mother was a Woodhull, related (how nearly is not known) to Gen. Woodhull, of Revolu- tionary fame. He read medicine and attended lec- tures in New York (College of Physicians and Sur- geons) ; came to Newton in 1815, and was for a short time associated with Dr. David Hunt. The copart- nership was dissolved Feb. 14, 1816. He was a well- read and skillful physician and surgeon, and had attained no little reputation in his profession when his promising life was cut short at the early age of twenty-five, Oct. 28, 1819. His wife was Eliza M., daughter of John Johnson, Esq .; she died in 1826. He left two sons,-Samuel J. and George W. He was a member of and an elder in the Presbyterian Church of Newton.

Dr. Hopkins died in the house which he built, on Newton green, now occupied by Dr. Miller, and was buried in the old graveyard, as was also his wife.

HARVEY HALLECK was a son of Israel Halleck, of Mount Hope, Orange Co., N. Y., where the doctor was born in 1802; followed in early life the vocation of a school-teacher. He subsequently studied medi- cine with Dr. Newkirk, of Unionville, and afterwards with Dr. Stephen Hedges. He became a successful practitioner. He followed his profession for a short time at Middletown, N. Y., Marksboro', N. J., Hills- boro', Pa., Johnsonsburg, N. J .; then went to Pitts-

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burgh, Pa., in 1842, returning to this State in the spring of 1847, when he located in Newton, N. J., with his office and residence at Mrs. McCarter's, op- posite the Presbyterian church. But he suffered for years from chronic neuralgia, which finally caused him to relinquish his profession and take charge of the Newton Academy. He had discharged the duties of principal but a few months when he was taken ill of jaundice. His malady had a fatal issue ; he died June 21, 1852.

"Dr. Halleck was a man of extensive acquirements and fine abilities." He was made an honorary men- ber of the District Medical Society of Sussex County, April 20, 1846. He married Eleanor McCarter, who was a daughter of John McCarter ("Old Man of the Mountains"), of Morris Co., N. J. ; she is still living in Newton.

DAVID MELANOTHON SAYRE was born March 26, 1807, at Hanover, Morris Co., N. J .; he was of Eng- lish descent. At an early age he began the study of medicine with the late Dr. John S. Darcy, of Newark, but then at Hanover. In 1829 he took charge of the practice at Sparta, vacated by Dr. S. Halsey. While practicing at Sparta he attended lectures, and received his degree of M.D. from the College of Phy- sicians and Surgeons, New York, in 1836. In 1843 he went to Hanover, and there for a short time was a partner of Dr. Kitchell. A year later he returned to Sparta (1844), "at the urgent solicitations of its citizens." He practiced there until 1863, when he went to the Hanover homestead farm; but, having little taste for an agricultural life, in February, 1865, he moved to Newton and entered into partnership with Dr. Stuart and G. L. Smith in the drug-firm of J. R. Stuart & Co. The following year he withdrew from the business, opened an office, and resumed pro- fessional labors, although for a few years prior to his demise he had given up general practice. He died suddenly, of heart disease, Aug. 3, 1876.

Dr. Sayre was in some respects a peculiar man. He never married, nor was he in any degree fond of children. Fortune smiled upon him in a pecuniary sense, for he became quite wealthy, yet was as gener- ous and liberal as the majority of his brethren or fellow-citizens. His gift of five thousand dollars to the Newton library is proof of this. He was a mem- ber of the District Medical Society, joining it in 1834. " He was honest, imbued with self-respect," very am- bitious, had a great love for the science of medicine, of which he was a life-long student and distinguished representative. Itis professional career was a success- ful one, in all respects.

DR. D'AUARINE was a native of Waterford, Ire- land, and owned a large property there. Having been an active participant in the Irish Rebellion, he was compelled to thee. He sold his property and em- barked for America, landing in New York, some time prior to 1809, with fifty-three thousand guineas in gold. He invested forty thousand dollars in the first

cotton-factory established in Paterson, which was en- tirely destroyed by fire in 1809. He came to Sparta, this county, from Milton, N. J., in 1818. In 1821 he moved to Pennsylvania, and about three years later died at Bethany, Pa., in the almshouse. He was a remarkably benevolent man.

THOMAS RYERSON, son of Judge Thomas C., and grandson of Martin Ryerson, was born at Myrtle Grove, Sussex Co., Feb. 18, 1821. He was graduated at Lafayette College in 1840; studied medicine with Dr. Hedges; was graduated at the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons, New York City, in 1844. He im- mediately commenced the practice of medicine at Bel- videre, Warren Co., although he remained but a short time, removing thence to Newton, Aug. 22, 1845. At this place he has since resided and practiced for a period of over thirty-five years. He is the prominent physician of the county. He was president of the State Medical Society in 1837,-the only Sussex County physician who ever enjoyed that distinction. Besides being a Fellow of that organization, he has been a prominent and official member of the medical society of this county. In 1878 he became a member of the American Academy of Medicine, then recently organized. In 1866-67, at the outbreak of Asiatic cholera, he was appointed by Governor Ward a mem- ber of the sanitary commission which instituted the first measures for securing general and local health boards for this State.

Dr. Ryerson's contributions to the literature of his profession may be found in the published "Transac- tions" of the State Society. He took a very promi- nent part in the raising of troops in Sussex County during the late war of the Rebellion,-services which he gladly rendered gratuitously, and for which he is justly entitled to a large meed of praise. He was also medical examiner for recruits and exempts under the first draft. In 1850 he led to the altar Margaret Matilda Brouwer, of New York City; has one son, Henry O., a druggist in Newton. Mrs. Ryerson died in January, 1878. Dr. Ryerson is a member of the Presbyterian Church of his town, uniting with it in 1846, and often has been its representative in the Pres- bytery and Synod, and in 1876 in the General Assem- bly which met at New York City.

JOSEPH S. BEEMER was a son of Joseph and Phoebe Beemer. He was born at Beemerville, May 9, 1820. He began the study of medicine with Alexander Linn, and was graduated at Jefferson College, Philadelphia, about the year 1842. He commenced to practice the healing art at Hamburg, where he remained for eight years, after which he removed to Beemerville (Wykertown ?) and practiced, but one year later he died,-May 14, 1851. He was buried at Beemerville. May 11, 1843, he married Miss Catherine A. Lewis, of Pleasant Valley, Sussex Co., N. J. He associated himself with the County Medical Society in 1846.

JOHN NEWTON DEE was a native of Connecticut, but was formerly a resident of Sussex County, of

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whose medical society he was elected a member in 1856. He also practiced at Marksboro', Warren Co., and died there, May 22, 1857, of phthisis pulmonalis. A monument was erected to his memory by the Dis- trict Medical Society of Sussex County .* He read medicine with Dr. John Miller.

SAMUEL MARSHALL was of Irish nativity. He came to Newton in 1820, and established himself in the office of the late Dr. Hopkins. He practiced in Newton until 1835, when he removed to the West, where he was soon after shot by some unknown party while seated in the sheriff's office. He was one of the first members of the Sussex County Medical Society. His wife was Jane T., only daughter of Dr. Berret Havens, of Wantage; she died Sept. 17, 1833, in her twenty-third year.

Dr. Marshall was a practical and successful practi- tioner, a leader in the profession during his stay in this county, much consulted, and greatly esteemed both in and out of the medical fraternity.

JOHN MILLER .- Andrew Miller, grandfather of Dr. Miller, was of German descent, came from Pennsyl- vania, and settled in Harmony township, Warren Co., N. J., during its early history, and there carried on farming until his death. He was the owner of con- siderable real estate, and was one of the builders of the Harmony Presbyterian church, of which he was a member. He was also engaged in the French and Indian war. Of his children, William, seventh son, was an electropathic physician in New York City, and accumulated a large property by his practice ; Joseph was a surveyor, and remained on the old home- stead, near the Harmony church.

There were seven sons altogether, of whom Peter, father of Dr. John Miller, was born in Harmony, and married Margaret, daughter of Tunis Smith, of the same place. For several years he was connected with the Presbyterian Church of Harmony, but subse- quently became one of the pioneers of the Methodist Episcopal Church in that locality. He belonged to the Jeffersonian school of politics, and became a mem- ber of the Republican party upon its organization.

His children are John, Tunis, Levi De Witt, Asa, Christiana (wife of William Kimple, of New York), and Sarah (wife of Henry Woolever, of Harmony).

Dr. John, eldest son of Peter Miller, was born in Harmony, in 1816. His early education was obtained in the schools of his native place. At the age of six- teen he became a clerk in his father's store at Har- mony, and about the same time began the study of medicine with Dr. Wilson, of Pennsylvania. IIere he remained for five years, and for four years he was engaged in mercantile business near Blairstown, N. J. He completed the study of medicine with Dr. Albright, Paulina, a physician of some prominence in New Jer- sey, with whom he practiced for some time. After attending two courses of lectures he was graduated at

the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, and in the spring of 1846 settled at Andover, Sussex Co., N. J., where he has since resided, remaining in continuous practice.

Dr. Miller became a member of the Sussex County Medical Society soon after his settlement at Andover, was for one year its president, and was also one of its board of censors. For several years he has acted as reporter for the society. He is also a member of the Medical Society of New Jersey, and of the American Medical Association.

As a physician Dr. Miller is skillful, judicious, and successful, and his long and varied experience has given the people comprising his large ride full oppor- tunity to judge of his ability as a physician, which they hold in highest esteem.

Dr. Miller's location at Andover, in near proximity to the mines, where frequent and serious accidents occur to the employees, has given him a great oppor- tunity for the practice of surgery, with which he is said to be so familiar that during his entire practice of thirty-four years, in nearly every case his opera- tions, although often difficult, have been skillfully and successfully performed.

Dr. Miller is a supporter and earnest advocate of the most successful mode of treating traumatic tetanus, and he acted as consulting physician in the Smith case, attended hy Dr. Cook,-a case which attracted considerable attention and was reported. In this case Dr. Miller's advice was followed and the man cured.

In many instances Dr. Miller has undertaken, with successful results,-even to saving life,-surgical op- erations thought impracticahle by other attending physicians. One very difficult and peculiar case was his removal of a malignant tumor from the face of the late Robert Slater, of Andover; another, the suc- cessful extraction of a malignant tumor, of the size and form of a hen's egg, occupying the space between the angle of the jaw and the parotid gland, crowding the carotid artery and jugular vein, and covered in part by the facial artery and vein, without the necessity of ligat- ing a single blood-vessel. The patient was a Miss Syckles, aged fourteen.

Characteristic of Dr. Miller is his great care for and sympathy with those whom he treats, and his atten- tion is devoted none the less to those from whom he expects no remuneration besides good will than to those who are obliged to make no sacrifice to pay him for his services. His wife was Rhoda, daughter of Christopher and Elizabeth Sharp, of Harmony ; they have an only child,-Frank.

Dr. Levi De Witt, third son of Peter Miller, was born Feh. 22, 1836, and received his preliminary edu- cation at the common school and at the Belvidere Classical Academy. He began the study of medicine with his brother, Dr. John Miller, at Andover, in 1852, attended lectures, and was graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York, in 1855. He established himself in practice at Lafay-

* Sce sketch in medical chapter of Warren County, in this work.

J. Miller

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ette, Sussex Co., immediately after his graduation, and there remained until 1862, when he was appointed assistant surgeon of the First Regiment New Jersey Volunteers, and for two years he was the only surgeon of that regiment in the Army of the Potomac. To give a history of Dr. Miller's career in the army would be to narrate the battles, marches, privations, and suf- ferings of his regiment during the entire time of its service, in which his skill as a surgeon was fully de- veloped and proved successful in difficult operations.

Returning from the army, Dr. Miller settled in New York City, where he carried on a drug-store and also practiced his profession for three years. In 1858 he settled in Newton, N. J., and has remained in the ; continuous practice of his profession since. Dr. Mil- ler has been a member of the Sussex County Medical Society, and has served as secretary of the society for several years. His wife is Mary E., daughter of Wes- ley Cummins, of Lafayette, whom he married Sept. 30, 1858. Their children are Fred Sherman and Sayre Wesley (deceased).

LEWIS WESTFALL, son of Matthew Westfall, Esq., of Wantage, this county, was boru in that township, Oct. 29, 1839; pursued his earlier medical studies at Cambridge, N. Y., under the direction of Dr. Henry Gray, and was graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in the city of New York, in March, 1863. In the same month he was appointed acting assistant surgeou in the United States navy, and was ordered to duty in the West, on the United States gunboat "Queen City." He was a faithful officer, and admired and respected by his shipmates. At the battle of Clarendon he was wounded; after a few months' absence on sick-leave, he returned to duty on the United States steamer "Siren," from which he was transferred to the United States hospital " Pinck- ney," at Memphis. Honorably discharged Nov. 6, 1865, with especial commendations from his superiors in the medical department, he returned to his home, resting and recruiting his impaired health until 1867, when the late Dr. Alexander Linn invited him to take charge of his wide practice. He entered upon the work with zeal, but his strength was unequal to the task. In February, 1869, he was compelled to relinquish practice, and on the 29th of May in the same year he died, greatly regretted by all, leaving a young wife, to whom he had been united but a few months. He was a physician of attainments and esteem.

The doctor is possessed of considerable literary promise, and as a man and a citizen won deserved ability, with quite a taste for historical and anti-

JONATHAN HAVENS* is the son of James C. Havens, of Deckertown, grandson of Dr. Berret Havens, of the same place, and great-grandson of Dr. Jonathan Havens, of Hartford, Conn. Ile was born Aug. 16, 1840, at Deckertown, this county ; educated at Flushing Institute, Long Island, at New- ton Collegiate Institute, New Jersey, and at Deek-

ertown Classical School. He studied medicine with Dr. Alexander Linn at Deekertown, and at the Col- lege of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, grad- uating therefrom in 1862. For some time after

Jonathan Havens

graduating he served as assistant physician at the Nursery Hospital and House of Refuge, on Randall's Island. He settled at Sparta in 1863; removed to Deekertown in 1864, and in 1866 to Newton, which has since been his residence. ITe is a member of the American Medical Association and of the Dis- trict Medical Society of Sussex County, serving as secretary, president, and historian of the latter. He has written considerable on medical topics,-notably, an article contributed to the American Medical Times in 1863 on "Puerperal Tetanus," and various re- ports and mortuary notices to the New Jersey State Medical Society. Since September, 1875, he has held the position of United States examining surgeon for pensions.

quarian research, and may justly be considered the historian of the profession in Sussex County. In January, 1871, he married Margaret A., daughter of the late John H. Nelden, Esq., of Newton, and sister of Dr. C. R. Nelden, his professional partner at that time. Dr. Havens is now practicing alone.

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History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 53

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