History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 62

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 62
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 62

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Newton. This was several years before the opening of the Revolutionary war. A number of his descend- ants by his first marriage still remain in this vicinity, among them the sisters Evaline and Hannah Ror- bach, of this town. His second wife was a Miss Fisher, of Hackettstown. By this marriage he had six children,-Elizabeth, who married Pettit Britton, father of Pemberton Britton ; Samuel, who was judge in 1838; Susan, John, Hannah, and Richard. Han- nah married George MeCarter, father of Col. Harris McCarter. The children are all deceased, the last survivor being Susan, who died in Newton, Jan. 9, 1872, at the advanced age of eighty-four years, eight months, and fifteen days, being born in the year 1787 (AApril 25th), and who was at her death one of the oldest living natives of Newton.# George Rorbach. though a cripple and an invalid, was a prominent citizen of Sussex County in its early days, and for a number of years was keeper of the old county jail. Andrew, one of his sons by his first wife, emigrated from Newton to Canada at the beginning of the pres- ent century, along with the Lundys, McElbones, and other families from this section.

Other carly families, who settled here prior to the year 1800, are represented by the names of Sausman- house (now Sausman), Johnson, Holmes, Drake, War- basse, Stewart, Basset, Rosenkrans, Ryerson, Pum- berton, Kerr, etc.

Charles Pemberton, a native of England, settled here about the period of the Revolution, he being at the time less than twenty-one years of age. lle en- gaged at first in teaching school and afterwards estab- lished a store, becoming later associated with John Holmes and Daniel Stuart. He was twice sheriff,- in 1797 and 1803. His wife was a Miss Rorbach. He left no descendants, his property falling to his wife's relatives upon his death. He was familiarly known as "Colonel,"-a title carned by militia service. IIc died Dec. 17, 1817.

Isaac Basset, an carly settler, and an influential man in his day, was also a tavernkeeper. The first Masonic lodge in Sussex County met at his hotel. Ile was proprietor and host of a public-house which formerly stood on the site of the present t'ochran House; in 1818 he removed to the County Hotel, on the hill. He is described as being a short, thick-se: man, jovial in his manners, and a popular landlord. lle married n Woolverton and raised a large family of children, one of whom became the wife of the Rev. Peter Kanouse ; a granddaughter in this line now re- sides in Newton. Mr. Basset died about 181s. llis widow subsequently married the late Judge Mackey.

William I. Basset, a cousin of Isaac, was a carpea- ter, and also n hotelkeeper.

: It is will she was never ontsido of Newton during her life but once, and that was when, just prior to 1512, she went with her father to Canada to visit her brother Andrew, being prevented by the breaking ont of tho war from returning until its close.

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Thomas Armstrong was an emigrant to this county from Middlesex. "He first became acquainted with this section of the State by bringing Indian corn hither and exchanging it for wheat. He followed this business as late as 1784, at which time, to the best of his knowledge, Indian corn was not cultivated here." He located at Newton somewhere near the date above given,-likely carlier. During the Revolutionary struggle he was prominently identified with the patriot cause, having the confidence of Gen. Wash- ington and serving as quartermaster in the Continen- tal army. He was among the first members of the pioneer lodge of Masons in Newton, joining prior to 1794, as in that year he was elected as its Senior Warden. He purchased his farm of Robert Hoops, and, although most of it is now in the hands of stran- gers, the homestead is in the possession of and occu- pied by one of his sons, Robert, the only survivor of a large family of children,-namely, James Britton Armstrong, who married Mary Foster ; William, who married Mary Pellet, daughter of Obadiah ; Thomas Moore, who married Anna, daughter of William Saus- man, and stepdaughter of Col. Van Cleve Moore; Robert, married Loretta Pellet, another daughter of Obadiah ; Margaret, became the wife of Theophilus Hunt, and Elizabeth, of John Seward, kin of the late Hon. William H. Seward; Jane G., married Uzal Haggerty; Evaline, became the second wife of Dr. Beach ; and Maria, married John S. Warbasse.

The Ryerson family, among the earliest in this vi- cinity, are descended from Martin Ryerson, an emi- grant from Holland to Flatbush, L. I., and later resident at Wallabout. Joris, one of his five sons, married Sarah Schouten, and had four sons and four danghters, and his son Martin married Catharine Coxe and settled in Hunterdon County. Three of the lat- ter's sons,-Martin, John, and William,-with their widowed mother, removed to Sussex County in 1770.

Martin was a member of the Assembly from 1793- 95. He married Rhoda Hull, daughter of Benjamin, and had the following children who grew to maturity : Jesse, David, Anna, Emma, Thomas C., and Eliza- beth. The latter became the wife of Robert A. Linn. Of these sons, Thomas C. (who died in 1838) was a judge of the Supreme Court of the State, and one of his sons, Martin, was also judge ; another, Thomas, is a practicing physician in this place, while another, Henry Ogden, was an officer in the late civil war.

David Ryerson (born 1781; died 1867) was in early life a surveyor, as was his father; in fact, it is said there have been five generations of surveyors in this family. He was county collector and for thirty-four years president of the Sussex Bank; he was also prominent in State affairs, being for several years a member of the Council. Supplemental to this account of the Ryerson family will be found full memoirs of Judges Martin and Thomas C., and Henry O., in the chapter on the "Bench and Bar of Sussex County," elsewhere in this work ; also a sketch of Dr. Thomas,

in the medical chapter, antecedent; and of David Ryerson, in the history of the Sussex Bank, on subse- quent pages.

David Sausman came from Germany very early and settled on what afterwards was known as the "Drake farm," near Newton. The name of the family in Germany (and in this country as late as 1796) was Sausmanhaus .* The wife of David Sausman was Anna Eich, a native of Holland, and the children of the union were Peter, William, Henry, Mary, Anna, Sarah, and Susan.

Peter Sausman removed to "the lake country," married a Teeter, and raised a family. Henry died unmarried; Mary married and had a family ; Anna married a Hanners, of New York, and had a family ; Sarah married Stephen Case, of Newton, and had children, of whom the late William Case, who has descendants in the county, was one; Susan married twice. Her first husband was Uriah Lucas, by whom she had two children, Uriah and Garret. For her second linsband she married a Labar, and settled in " the lake country."

William Sausman was born on the family home- stead, near Newton, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was a captain of militia, and familiarly known as " Capt. Sausman." He married Bathsheba, danghter of Uriah Lucas (father-in-law of Susan Sausman), of Hope township. Her grandmother was Irish, and her mother, Elizabeth Coutant, one of the French Huguenots. By this marriage were born Elizabeth, Anna, and Catharine Sausman. The first married Judge John H. Hall (deceased), the founder of the Sussex Register ; Anna married Thomas Moore Armstrong, of Sussex County (she is living in New- ton, at an advanced age); Catharine married Asa Hall (deceased), of New York, brother of Judge Hall.

For her second husband Bathsheba Lucas married, in 1804, Col. Van Cleve Moore, of Hunterdon County, N. J. He was a man of prominence, and sheriff of Sussex County in 1821-23. Of this nnion was born Sarah Moore, wife of James Phillips, who died May 8, 1822, in her eighteenth year. Col. Moore died Nov. 11, 1824, in his forty-fourth year.

The third husband of Bathsheba Lucas was Judge Richard Brodhead, of Milford, Pike Co., Pa. He was the father of United States Senator Richard Brod- lead, of Pennsylvania. No children were born to this venerable couple. Bathsheba Brodhead died at Newton, Aug. 14, 1854, aged eighty-two.

Daniel Stuart came to Newton from Hackettstown about the year 1780; he was of Irish descent. He was early and for many years engaged in mercantile pursuits in this village, associated with John Holmes,

* It is so spelled in a deed to David's sons, " William and Henry Saus- manhouse," of date of 10th of May, 1796, from John Armstrong, for a Irnet of 242 acres, "situnte in the township of Newton," and a part of which is now known as the Drake farm, in the jnesent township of Andover.

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Col. Pemberton, and others, the firm being at one time Holmes, Pemberton & Stuart. Ile was presi- dent of the old Sussex Bank, and surrogate (appointed Dec. 2, 1803) for nineteen years. His wife was Mar- garet Ayers, a daughter of "Squire" Ezekiel Ayers, of Hackettstown. They had no children, but adopted, reared, and educated John R. Stuart, who became one of the most successful physicians of Sussex County .* Daniel Stuart died in January, 1822; his wife in 1842. James Stuart was a brother or half- brother of Daniel.

David Kerr was born in Warren County, near Bel- videre, and came to Newton about 1809 or 1810. He married here, about 1815, a Miss Frances Bates, and of his eight children (all living) only two, David MI. and Margaret, widow of Mr. Bryant, of Morris County, are now residents of Newton. David 31. married Priscilla Kimball. The elder Kerr was a hatter, and was thus engaged in Newton as early as 1820, possibly before. Ile died in 1839, and is buried in the old cemetery.

The Warbasse family are descended from Peter Warbasse, a native of Jutland, Denmark, born in 1722, and a carpenter by trade. In his native country he joined the Moravians, or United Brethren, about 1740; with a company of that faith he emigrated to America in 1753, settling in the province of Pennsyl- vaniu. He resided at the Gnadenhütten mission of the Moravians at the time of the massacre, in Novem- ber, 1755, being one of the five who escaped.t As a resident of Bethlehem, later, he kept the famous "Sun Inn," and also owned a grist-mill. In 1769 he removed with his wife, Ann Mary Schemelin (who was of his own age, and whom he married in 1764), and family to Knowlton township, Sussex Co., now Hope, Warren Co. Hle established himself at the Moravian settlement first called "Greenland," subse- quently Hope. He returned to Nazareth, Pa., in 1771, and died there in 1806, aged eighty-four. His sons Peter and Joseph settled in Newton township at an early day,-prior to 1800, and probably before 1790.

Joseph Warbasse, son of Peter, carried on his trade -that of a blacksmith-in Newton. His shop is yet remembered by some of our oldest citizens; it was located where the present Baptist church now stands. He was the grandfather of Joseph, now and For many years a merchant in this village, and of Samuel, of Lafayette township; their parents' names were James R. and Anna (Tuttle) Warbasse.

Henry Johnson came from Readington, Hunterdon Co., N. J., and as a pioneer in Sussex County became the progenitor of most of the families of that name within its bonnds, and whose lineal descendants have figured prominently in the history of Newton. Hc had six sons,-namely, Henry, David and Jonathan (twins), John, Samuel, and William. His wife was Susannah His ellest son, Henry, was born April 20, 1763; married, April 20, 1795, Rachel, a daughter of Gershom? and Anna Goble. She (Rachel) was born April 22, 1770, and died July 31, 1819; her husband died May 22, 1814. They had a family of five children, as follows :

1. William Henry, born Feb. 6, 1796; died July 9, 1863. He married, in 1827, Ann MI. Couse (who was born May 20, 1798), and had Henry W. and John C. (twins), born Oct. 21, 1828; Catharine II., born March 28, 1831; Samuel, born April 19, 1833; and Mary A., born June 12, 1836,-all living, and all resi- dents of Newton, except John C., a physician at Blairstown, and Henry W., at Mattawan, N. J.

2. Elizabeth Ann, born June 16, 1800; married Daniel Griggs, and died March 18, 1837.

3. John .A., born Jan. 19, 1803; married Lydia L., daughter of Azariah Drake, and died Feb. 7, 1873. 4. Samuel, born Jan. 27, 1806; died Nov. 12, 1843; married Mary Trusdell, who is resident at Newton.

5. Emeline J., born June 22, 1813. She became the sceond wife of Daniel Griggs after the death of her sister Elizabeth, who was his first wife. Emeline is the only one of the children of llenry and Rachel Johnson now living; she resides in Deckertown.

But little is known of the other tive sons of Henry and Susannah Johnson, especially of David. Jona- than, one of the twins, died Feb. 14, 1802. John, his brother, was county clerk, 1805-15, and also judge of the Court of Common Pleas; he was three times married,-to Miss Roy, Miss Shafer, and the widow of Thomas Anderson. His sons were Whitfield S. and William J .; the former married Ellen Green. The daughters were Susan, who died single; Eliza, who married a Hopkins; Margaret, who became the wife of Rev. - Crane; Harriet, the wife of Rev. James C. Edwards; and Catharine, who died single. Whitfield S. Johnson was a lawyer, prosecutor of the pleas for this county for many years and, later Secre- tary of State, residling at Trenton, where he died, and where his widow is now residing.

Samuel Johnson, fifth son of Henry, Sr., and brother of the Henry, Jr., David, Jonathan, and John already mentioned, came to this vicinity about the same time as did his brothers, married Rebecca Heanor, and moved to Muncy, P'a., about 1840. 1Tis oldest son, Brodhead, died unmarried in New Orleans; Henry, another son, is a lawyer in Pennsylvania, and married a Green. His daughters were named .Ann,

* Svo sketch in the chapter " Medical Profession of Sussex County." + "Our dear Brother Peter Worbass here In Bethlehem followed the carpenter's trude for many years and also has been our public manager In our Concern. . . . He has been on our frontiers among our Indians, was in the town of Goudenhutten when the wild savages burned It ; our brother jumped out of a mill-window ; saw the Indian who fired it, and www a number of our Sisters in the flames, of which he says he had a most painful sensation, llo traveled 40 miles that night, suam the lighet river, and brought the news to Bethlehem."- Translation from German JESS, of Jucob Von Fleck, minister at Dethichem.

* Henry Johnson was a prominent cillzen of Johnsonsburg, tho placo being named for him. Hle kopt a storo there, with one Van Horn,

¿ Gershom Gubilo was collector of flantwick in 1779.

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the wife of Heman Cummins; Laura, who married Dr. Wood; Josephine, and Sarah.

William, sixth son of Henry Johnson, married a Miss Bray, near Lebanon. His son Theodore T. re- sides at or near New York City, and is acting as secre- tary of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company.

John Drake emigrated with his wife and family from Hackettstown to Newton in 1804. He was a minute-man during the Revolution, and was a native of Pennington, Mercer Co. His wife, Phebe Hunt, died in 1853, and he in 1854. His children were Azariah, William, Martin, Nathan, Abigail, Rebecca, and Nancy,-all deceased.

Azariah located in 1804, with his father, John, near what is now the steam-mill, purchasing of John Holmes a tract of nine acres. He erected thereon a barn and blacksmith-shop, wherein he pursued his trade. There was already a dwelling-house built by Mr. Holmes upon this land, or before it came into Mr. Drake's possession. He resided there until his death. The property is still in the family, in possession of the heirs of his brother Nathan. Azariah had a family of twelve children,-namely, Phebe, Archibald, Alexan- der, John, Lydia, Margaret, Azariah, Nathan, Rebecca, William, Jacob and Euphemia (twins), who are all deceased except Azariah, Lydia, and William, only the last named residing in Newton.

Nathan, son of John, married Rebecca Morrow, of Sparta; William, his brother, married Rachel Dil- dine, of Warren County; and Martin married Mary Silvers.

William, son of Azariah Drake, was born Nov. 14, 1816, and was, in 1849, united in marriage to Eliza- beth Gray, a native of Newton; she died Jan. 8, 1880. Has only two children living, William G. and Elsie E., who are the great-grandchildren of Jolin Drake.

John T. Smith was a native of Maryland, and a saddler by trade. He came to Newton from Philadel- phia in 1812 with his wife (Mary Dietz, a native of the last-named place, but of Hollandish descent) and his sons, John and Alexander H. Soon after his ad- vent here he opened a saddlery-shop where now is the shoe-store of Moore & Co. He made a specialty of ladies' side-saddles, which, before he came, were of the "pot-pie" style; he manufactured a much im- proved article, and consequently did a thriving busi- ness. He died in December, 1820, and his wife in 1812. At the time of his demise he was living where is now the store of Stull & Dunn, His son Alexan- der continued the business until 1830, and after that date in partnership with his brother George. Jolin was a blacksmith, and served his time with Azarialı Drake. Ile married Sarah J. Coursen, and died in 1839; his wife is also deceased. Alexander married Harriet, daughter of Martin Drake; he died in 1843. George T., brother of the above, married Nancy, daughter of James and Elizabeth Huston, of Newton. Ile was born in Philadelphia in 1812, and came to

this village in 1817. Their children, George Hamil- ton and Elizabeth, are both living.

The McCarter family of this section were descend- ants of John McCarter, who came to this country from Londonderry, Ireland, in 1773, and settled in Morris County. He espoused the cause of American independence, joined the army, and was appointed commissary of hides and leather in Col. Wind's regi- ment, serving until the close of the war. He then engaged in mercantile pursuits and the manufacture of iron, but was not successful in either. He married the daughter of George Harris, of New Windsor, Orange Co., N. Y., and settled in Mendham, N. J., where all his children save the youngest were born. Over the signature of "Old Man of the Mountain" he contributed many articles to the newspapers in support of Mr. Jefferson ; these attracted much atten- tion. Governor Bloomfield sent him a commission addressed to "John McCarter, Esq., the ' Old Man of the Mountain.'" He was also county clerk, surro- gate, and a member of the Legislature. He died in 1807, leaving a widow, six sons, and three daughters.

The oldest of these sons was Robert Harris. At quite a youthful age he served as deputy clerk of Morris County, and later, for two terms, as clerk. He then embarked in the mercantile business at Eliza- bethtown, and two years after removed to Newton, where he joined his younger brother, George, in the firm of R. & G. H. McCarter, which was continued until the death of the latter. He was elected one of the county judges, and, although not a lawyer, sus- tained a high reputation through his equitable deci- sions. Soon after the new constitution was adopted he was chosen judge of the Court of Errors, which place he filled at the time of his death, in Trenton, in 1852. Soon after removing to Newton he purchased a lot of Thomas C. Ryerson; he subsequently found the title imperfect-that the person who sold to Mr. Ryerson had only a life estate in the land. Judge McCarter had meanwhile built a comfortable house upon the same, and unless he could get a release from the heir-at-law before his mother's death the property would pass out of his hands. He went to the heir-at- law and offered him the original cost of the lot, giving him until the next morning to decide, inti- mating that if his offer was declined he would pull down his house and remove the materials to another place. The offer was accepted, and the property saved. This is but one of the many instances we could give illustrative of Mr. MeCarter' strong common sense and prompt manner of action, which gave him success in business and in all other interests with which he became connected. Robert was the father of Thomas N., a lawyer, formerly of Newton, but more recently of Newark, and of John, once a mer- chant here, but now of New York, and a resident of Brooklyn.

George II. McCarter, the third son of John, was apprenticed at the age of fourteen to Col. Pemberton,

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merchant, of Newton ; before reaching his majority lie became a partner. Col. Pemberton died soon after, leaving him a small legacy and making him his ex- ecutor. In 1840 he was elected sheriff, and was twice re-elected. He died in 1845, greatly esteemed and la- mented. Ile was vice-president of the old Sussex Bank. Ile built, in 1819, and died in, the brick house now the residence of David Thompson, Esq. Ile owned a farm of 130 acres west of the village, which he divided into lots and sold; some of these lots have since, by the growth of the town, become a part of the village. He married Hannah Rorbach, a sister to Mrs. Col. Pemberton and Mrs. Pettit Britton ; had three sons and one daughter. Of the former, George was the editor of the Sussex Democrat, New- ton, from 1858 to 1862, during its continuance. IIe fell from a ferry-boat in crossing the Hudson, at New York, took cold, and died from the effects. Robert died in Newton. Col. Harris McCarter, the only sur- viving child, is also a resident of this place. Eliza- beth (" Betty") married Harvey Raymond, and is de- ecased ; their only daughter is a non-resident. George MeCarter married for his second wife a Ludlow, six- ter of George Ludlow, of Morris County, but had no issue. George was a partner with his brother Robert in the lumber business, and carried on that branch of trade here at an early day. Their.yard was first lo- cated in High Street, opposite Church, and later at the corner of High and Division Streets. They were also interested jointly in the erection of many resi- dences and store buildings. HIe built for his own use the house now occupied by Thomas Kays, Esq. Both Robert and George were for many years among the leading Democratie politicians of Sussex County.

Benjamin MeCarter taught school in Newton, in the old academy, now the Nicholas dwelling. IIc never married.

John McCarter, brother of the above, married a Miss Kelsey, aunt of Ilenry C. Kelsey, Esq. ; he died in Newton. One son, Ludlow, is a lawyer in Newark and law-judge of Essex County ; another son, William II., is living at Middletown, N. Y.

James, the fifth son of John, Sr., was born at Mend- ham, N. J., Dec. 14, 1800. Ile went to Charleston, S. C., in 1823, engaged in the book business, made a fortune, and married a daughter of Jonathan Bryan, of that city. For his second wife he married a sister of his first ; he had one daughter by each. His es- tate, which before 1861 yielded him ten thousand a year, he lost during the war of the Rebellion. HIe went to Europe in 1860, and managed to save some of his property. After the war he returned here and engaged in business with his nephew John, but sub- sequently removed to Columbia, S. C., where he died a few years since. During his residence South he usually spent his summers in Newton.

Of Daniel S., another son of the "Old Man of the Mountain," little is known, or of the daughters, Mar- tha, Mury, and Ellen ; the former married Luther Y.

Howell, the latter became the wife of Dr. Harvey Halleck; Mary never married. Ellen, of all the children of John MeCarter, Sr., is the only survivor ; she is living in Newton with her family.

Uzal C. Haggerty was the son of James and Ilan- nah Koykendall, and grandson of Hugh, who came from Ireland and settled near Branchiville, Sussex Co. After being elected sheriff, in 1831, Uzal re- moved to Newton and resided there until his death, in 1845;" he married Jane, daughter of Thomas Arm- strong, and his children who attained to manhood and womanhood were Robert Haggerty, who married Mary, a sister of Capt. Thomas Anderson, now in the custom-house in New York City, and lives in Newark ; Catharine, became the wife of George MI. Ryerson and the mother of eleven children, of whom seven are living ; Mary Haggerty, the chosen help- meet of Thomas N. McCarter.

Isaac Smith and his wife, Catharine Loder, came from Hunterdon County about 1810 or 1811, and set- tled about two miles from Newton, on the Fredon road, on what are now the Jacob Crawn and Henry Van- doren farms. He was a distiller and farmer. He had twelve children, one of whom, Samuel Smith, who married Elizabeth Mattison, t was a farmer and an extensive grain and stock speculator; he is now rep- resented in Newton by Fanny L., wife of Maj. Wil- liam R. Mattison ; William M., a lawyer; Charles .1., and Mary Alice. Eliza, a daughter of Isaac, married Gen. Lyman Edwards, and their children living are James A. and Harriet. Children of William L., $ an- other son of Isaac (John Wesley, William Marshall, and Emma), have property in the town, but are not residents there.

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History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 62

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