USA > New Jersey > Mercer County > Trenton > History of Trenton, New Jersey : the record of its early settlement and corporate progress. > Part 24
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Upon the fifteenth of April, 1861, came President Lineoln's call for 75,000 State militia, and upon the seventeenth of the same month came the War Department's requisition for New Jersey's quota. This was to attach one regiment from each of the four military divisions of the State. Of this requisition, the Third Regiment, for three months' service, with William Napton as Colonel and James S. Yard as Major, had Companies A, C, D recruited in and around the city of Trenton.
These three-months' men were enlisted to serve until July 31st, 1861, when they were to be mustercd out. By virtue of the first three-years' call for national defenders, issued under the general orders of the War Department May, 1861, Company B was raised in Trenton, with Captain Sylvester Van Syckell in command. An act of Congress (July 22d, 1861) called the Fourth Regiment into being, Company B, Captain William Sedden ; Company C, Captain Hcatheoat J. Disbrow, and Company D, Captain Samuel Mulford, being largely composed of Trentonians. Company A, re-organized, of the Fifth Regiment was from this city, and its Captain was John W. Neal. Com- pany E of the same regiment had Trenton soldiery in its ranks. Of the Sixth Regiment, a part of Company A, Captain Stephen R. Gilkyson, and Company B, Captain Charles Ewing, were from the capital.
The Ninth Regiment had Mercer County Riflemen in Company F, whose Captain was William B. Curlis. Company M, also of this regiment, Captain Joseph M. McChesney, was raised partially in Mercer county. The Tenth Regiment was raised as an independent organization under the supervision of the War Department, and was called the Olden Legion. On the twenty-ninth of
Y
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January, 1862, the regiment passed under control of the State of New Jersey. In April, 1862, Company G of this regiment, whose Captain was Charles H. McChesney, now Chief of Police, was raised in Trenton. At this same period, the Eleventh Regiment was organized, Company C being the Trenton portion thereof. John J. Willis was the Captain.
In the spring of 1862 the Fourteenth Regiment was recruited, Company B composed of Trentonians. The Twenty-first Regiment, composed of nine-months' men, had from Trenton and vicinity Companies E and H, whilst the Twenty-second Regiment had Companies F and G as parts of their respective organizations. The Thirty-second Regiment, or the Second New Jersey Cavalry, had many Trentonians in Company C, whose Captain was Edward P. Mount. Company E, under command of William V. Seudder, was also of this regiment. Of the Thirty-seventh Regiment, Company C was the Trenton organization, as was Company K of the Thirty-eighth Regiment. The Fortieth Regiment Companies E and G were organized in this city. Company B of the Thirty- fourth Infantry was partially a Trenton company, as was K of the Thirty-fifth Regiment. Of the five batteries of artillery which New Jersey furnished, none were raised in Trenton, but many recruits came from the city.
Inasmuch as Trenton was the seat of State government, the city was the headquarters of many of the military operations of the State. The Governor was practically a resident of the town and as Commander-in-Chief drew about him the leading military spirits of the State and nation.
In Chambersburg, at the outbreak of the Rebellion, was situated Camp Oklen, where the first nine regiments were mustered into service. This camp was sustained until the spring of 1862, when Camp Perrine was established. The latter was located on South Broad street, near the canal, and also in the " old borough." Camp Perrine remained until the close of the war. The recruiting station and military headquarters of Trenton were upon the southeast corner of Front and Warren streets, a spot known as the " Rendezvous." The Thirty-fourth Regiment and Second Cavalry were encamped in East Trenton, between the Inter-State Fair grounds and the canal. In 1864 the United States government built the Trenton barraeks in Millham, facing Olden avenue. The markets on Broad Street were at this time thoroughly equipped, and the soldiers were frequently fed at the vegetable stalls.
The National Guard of the State of New Jersey was organized by legislative enactment in the year 1869 (March 9th), and is practically the active militia of the State.
At its incipieney the National Guard consisted of not more than sixty companies of infantry, two batteries of artillery and six cavalry companies. It was authorized that these companies be organized by the Commander-in-Chief into not more than three brigades. The present National Guard authorizes sixty companies of infantry, two Gatling gun companies, one seacoast artillery company, and four companies of colored men.
In Trenton, which is the headquarters of the Seventh Regiment, National Guard New Jersey, are to be found Company A, organized November 30th, 1860, whose armory is in Masonic Temple ; Company B, organized April 14th, 1869, whose armory is in Washington Hall, and Company D, organized July 20th, 1869, which also drills in Washington Hall.
It is of interest to recollect, in connection with the Rebellion, that upon March 11th, 1862, the Trenton Arms Company was incorporated. There was a capital stock of $150,000, divided in shares of $500 each, with power to increase it to $400,000.
The corporators were Aaron H. Vancleve, Charles Moore, Joseph G. Brearley, Joseph C. Potts and Andrew G. M. Prevost.
The commanding officers of the Seventh Regiment are Colonel, William H. Skirm ; Lieutenant Colonel, Charles Y. Bamford ; Majors-First Battalion, Augustus F. Stoll, Second Battalion, Andrew J. Buck. The Staff-Surgeon, Charles B. Leavitt ; Assistant Surgeon, R. R. Rogers, Jr. ; Judge- Advocate, Chauncey H. Beasley ; Quartermaster, George T. Cranmer ; Paymaster, C. Edward Mur- ray ; Inspector of Rifle Practice, C. Augustus Reid ; Adjutant, Charles H. W. Van Sciver ; Adjutant First Battalion, Frederick Gilkyson ; Adjutant Second Battalion, Micajah E. Matlack, of Mount Holly. The Non-Commissioned Staff is composed of Sergeant-Major, Frank W. Allaire ; Commis- sary-Sergeant, Horace Biddle ; Quartermaster-Sergeant, Philip Arnold ; Hospital Steward, Frank H. Lalor ; Color-Sergeant, Charles Mutehler ; Right General Guide, John G. Boss ; Left General Guide, William E. Pedrick ; Bugler, Fred. F. C. Woodward ; Drum-Major, Jacob V. Booz. Of the Line-Company A, Captain Lewis N. Clayton ; First Lieutenant, W. F. Skillman ; Second
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Lieutenant, Gouverneur V. Packer. Company B, Captain, George L. Forman ; First Lieutenant, William G. Maddock ; Second Lieutenant, Frank J. Towers. Company D, Captain, Bernard Rogers ; First Lieutenant, Patrick J. Anderson ; Second Lieutenant, Frank J. O' Hara.
The recent impartial criticism of the United States War Department makes an exceptionally fine showing for the militia of New Jersey. The chapter relating to the National Guard of New Jersey gives in detail the statistics of the brigades, regiments and battalions, with full information as to the staff departments. The Ambulance and Hospital Corps is praised for its high degree of efficiency, as is also the Signal Corps attached to the Second Brigade.
Under the head of "Drills and Ceremonies," it is remarked that "the proficiency of the National Guard is creditable and satisfactory," while the personnel and discipline are referred to as follows :
"The personnel of the Guard is excellent. A number of the general officers and their staffs, and the field and regimental staff officers, saw active service during the Civil war, as well as some being graduates of West Point and Annapolis. Many of the staff and line officers are young men, enthusiastic, ambitious and studious. The same may also be said of the rank and file, whose ages are from eighteen to thirty-five years. The discipline is good and insubordination is rare."
This comment is particularly applicable to the Seventh Regiment and to the companies located in this city.
The Naval Reserve in this city was organized under a recent act of the Legislature. The First, West Jersey or Trenton Division is located in this city and consists of fifty-eight members. The State Commander is William H. Jaques, whilst of the Trenton Division the Secretary is Norman P. Stahl ; Treasurer, Lloyd H. Rockhill ; Captain, Fred. F. C. Woodward, and Ensign, I. Scott Scammell.
CHAPTER XXV.
THE BENCH AND BAAR OF TRENTON.
THE CAPITAL THE MECCA OF THE PRACTITIONERS OF NEW JERSEY-DIGNITARIES OF REVOLUTIONARY DAYS AND THEIR IMMEDIATE SUCCESSORS-THE BAR OF THE CITY OF TO-DAY.
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HE RECORD of Trenton relating to the eminent Jerseymen who have graced the bench or adorned the bar, is the record of the State. Even in colonial times, when the Legislature met alternately at Burlington and Perth Amboy, the Supreme Court sometimes sat in Trenton, and at least the county courts of Hunterdon were held in this, her shire town. During the Revolution and until 1791, when the movement to make Trenton the State capital crystallized, the various State courts met in Trenton, and after 1792 we find the sessions of the Supreme and Chancery Courts are held regularly in this city. Thus until to-day Trenton has been the Mecca of the legal fraternity. Here meet the Court of Errors and
Appeals, the Court of Pardons, the Supreme Court, in bane and in branch, the Chancery Court, of the State organization ; the Circuit, Common Pleas, Criminal and Orphans' Courts of the county system, and the Circuit and District Courts of the United States. Here are located the Clerks of all these courts, and here judgments, involving the rights of the citizen, of the corporation or of the commonwealth, are pronounced.
The men composing the bar of the city of Trenton of to-day are the inheritors of a distinguished past. The brightest stars which ever graced the legal heavens of the bar of New Jersey have shone in Trenton. In the early days of the Revolution could be seen on the city streets the form of Richard Stockton, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and one who declined in 1776 the Chief Justiceship of New Jersey. Although a resident of Princeton, he and his student-at-law, Jonathan Dickinson Serjeant, afterward Attorney-General of Pennsylvania, were in attendance upon the courts held in Trenton. Samuel Witham Stockton, the younger brother of Richard, was a negotiator of a treaty with Holland and returned to New Jersey in 1779. He was one of the Secretaries from New Jersey to ratify the Constitution of the United States ; appointed Secretary of State after removing from Princeton to Trenton. He, in 1795, lost his life in this city by being thrown from a chaise.
Colonel David Brearly, outlawed in the "times that tried men's souls," served as the Chief Justice of New Jersey, 1779-1789, and was one of the convention to draft the Constitution of the United States. He was a Judge of the United States Court upon the occasion of his death in 1790. The eccentric Samuel Leake, of Cumberland county, became a resident of Trenton in 1785, where he remained until 1820, when he died. Richard Howell, Governor and Chancellor of New Jersey, 1792-1801, of a Delaware family, commenced his official career as Clerk of the Supreme Court in 1788, and resided during the rest of his life in Trenton. Governor Howell's patriotic services to New Jersey place him among the foremost rank of her honored sons. William Churchill Houston, the literateur and patriot, was Clerk of the Supreme Court from 1781 to 1788, and resided in this city. John Rutherford, at the age of thirty, in the year 1790, became a United States Senator. He was a man of wealth and ability, and had a residence at Trenton on the Delaware, from 1798 to 1808. Lucius Horatio Stockton, brother of the "Duke," who succeeded his father at Morven, was District
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Attorney for New Jersey. President Adams nominated Lucius Stockton as a Federalist, for the position of Secretary of War, which, with his eccentricities, gave great offense to President Jefferson. Mr. Stockton, in Trenton, acquired a large practice. Of a man pre-eminent at the Trenton bar- Aaron Dickinson Woodruff-it may be said that he was born September 12th, 1762 ; delivered the Valedictory at the Princeton Commencement of 1779; was admitted to the bar 1784; was made Attorney-General of the State in 1792, and annually re-elected, except in 1811, until his death. He also served in the Legislature, and was influential in having Trenton selected for the State capital. He was buried in the Trenton churchyard, where his epitaph records that, "For twenty-four years he filled the important station of Attorney-General with incorruptible integrity. Adverse to legal subtleties, his professional knowledge was exerted in the cause of truth and justice. The native benevolence of his heart made him a patron of the poor, a defender of the fatherless ; it exulted in the joys, or participated in the sorrows of his friends."
The men who next appear upon the field of action were those who were born during the Revo- lution, and came to manhood in time to enjoy its first fruits. The opening of the present century in Trenton finds James Ewing in the city, and his son Charles, afterward destined to become Chief Justice of New Jersey, just graduated from Princeton and studying law with Samuel Leake. Although much in the active political life of his time, he did not fail to cultivate belles-lettres, and became, in short, one of those men truly beloved and honored. By untimely death, his life was shortened in 1832. An associate of Chief Justice Ewing was the brilliant Samuel L. Southard. Serving as Law Reporter, Prosecutor of the Pleas, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, United States Senator, Secretary of the Navy, Attorney-General of New Jersey, he claimed Trenton as his residence from 1816 to 1838.
Governor Peter Dumont Vroom, son of Lieutenant-Colonel Peter D. Vroom, was the leader of the bar during the middle of the present century. At the age of thirty-eight, he became the Executive, and was re-elected until 1836, when he was compelled to decline future honors on account of ill health. He was a participant in the " Broad Seal War," as Congressman-elect from New Jersey, where he became the hero of the contest. From 1853 to 1857, Governor Vroom was Minister to the Court of Berlin, after having been a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1844, and having declined the portfolios of Attorney-General and Secretary of the Navy. Governor Vroom, one of the most distinguished men of this century of national history, died at his home in Trenton in 1874.
Quartermaster-General Samuel R. Hamilton, although by birth a Princetonian, later resided in Trenton, and was the possessor of a large practice throughout this section of the State, being noted as a trial lawyer. Colonel William Halstead, editor of the reports which bear his name, resided in Trenton, where he was interested in claim cases brought against the Camden and Amboy railroad.
Chief Justice Henry Woodhull Green, a Circuit practitioner, in Hunterdon and Burlington Circuits, eschewed the politieal aspirations of his associates and devoted himself solely to the prac- tice of his chosen profession. As a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1844, as Chief Justice and Chancellor, he carved for himself a name which has far more than local import. He twiee married daughters of Chief Justice Ewing, who was his legal preceptor. By the names of Vroom, Green and Southard, we find that of William Lewis Dayton, who, after an eventful life, died as Minister to France in the year 1864. Mr. Dayton's political career was long and honorable, and bears a striking resemblance to that of his kinsman, Samuel Lewis Southard. A man of strong will and great intellectuality, he filled the most important positions in New Jersey, and through sheer ability gained instant recognition at home and abroad. Stacy Gardiner Potts, editor, author, Clerk in Chancery, Law Reviser, Supreme Court Justice, was a resident of Trenton during sixty years of the present century. He was an able lawyer, one of the earliest collectors of books in the city, and a man of sterling integrity. His brother, Joseph C. Potts, the editor of the "New Jersey Register " (1837), was a lawyer of this eity. Of other men of this period there were James Wilson, first Prosecutor of the Pleas of the county of Mercer, Clerk of the Supreme Court, and for many years the oldest members of the Trenton bar. Isaac W. Lanning was admitted to the bar in 1834, and became one of the most distinguished practitioners in the State. Within the memory of even the youngest members of the bar are the names of Caleb Smith Green, Lay Judge of the Court of Errors and Appeals, whose services to Princeton University and the Green Foundation School at Lawrenceville, are his enduring monument ; of Augustus G. Richey, whose association with financial
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institutions and whose legal abilities won him a place as counselor and director with railroad corpo- rations ; of Edward Wallace Seudder, whose fairness in decision and courtesy to the bar, leave only the happiest recollections ; of Barker Gummere, the last great tower of legal strength to be shattered by the Destroyer, after a record honorable alike in politics and at the bar ; of the late Judge John T. Nixon, of the United States District Court, whose activity in politics in the southern portion of the State, and his honesty and ability gained him prestige ; of Frederick Kingman, who began life as an assistant to James Wilson, in the Supreme Court Clerk's office, refused political preferment, and died full of years and honors.
Such are some of the men who have made the bar of the city of Trenton famous. Could an analysis be made of all the incidents of their lives-varied and complex as they were-it would be a picture of State progress. But what has been done can be re-accomplished. The bar of this city occupies a position second to none in the State-not only for integrity and ability, but likewise for its general reputation throughout the State and nation.
GENERAL JAMES F. RestING was born at Washington, Warren county, N. J., April 14th, 1834, but his father, Gershom Rusling, removed to Trenton, N. J., in 1845. He was sent to Pennington Seminary in 1850, and graduated with first honors in 1852. Immediately afterward, he was admitted to the Junior Class at Dickinson College, and graduated there with honors in 1854, and delivered the Master's Oration and received his degree of A. M. there in 1857.
Soon after graduating he was elected Professor of Natural Science and Belles-Lettres at Dick- inson Seminary, Williamsport, Pa., and served there efficiently from 1854 to 1857. At the same time he read law, and was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1857, and to the New Jersey bar in 1859. Hle settled in Trenton in 1859, and continued to practice law there until August, 1861, when he entered the Union army as First Lieutenant, Fifth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers. Hle served all through the Civil war in the Army of the Potomac, to the fall of 1863; in the Department of the Cumberland, to summer of 1865 ; and in the United States War Department, to September, 1867, when he retired as Brigadier-General, United States Volunteers (Brevet). "for meritorious and distinguished services, war of 1861." He was thus five times promoted on the recommendation of such officers as Generals Mott, Berry, Sickles, Hooker, Mcclellan, Thomas, Sherman and Grant, and served in succession at regimental, brigade, division, corps, army, department and general United States Army headquarters-a record unequaled in kind by any New Jersey officer. Returning to Trenton he resumed the practice of law, and in 1868 was nominated for Congress by the Republican party, Second New Jersey District (over ex-Governor Newell), but was defeated by a small majority, this district being heavily Democratic, as then con- stituted. In 1869 he was appointed United States Pension Agent for New Jersey by President Grant, and re-appointed until 1877, when the New Jersey agency was abolished, with others, by consolidation. Since then he has been engaged in general law practice and real estate business, making a specialty of pension cases, and is now counselor-at-law in all New Jersey and United States courts. Of literary proclivities, as an author he has written considerably for various periodicals : for the "Quarterly Review," 1859-1863 ; "United States Service Magazine " and "Harper's Maga- zinc," 1863-1866 ; "Century," "Christian Advocate," and other newspapers frequently, to date. In 1875 he published a volume entitled "Across America, or the Great West and the Pacific Coast," being an account of his travels there when Inspector United States Army, which the press noticed very handsomely, and which passed through two editions. In 1886 he wrote a "History of State Street M. E. Church, Trenton, N. J.," with a summary of the carly history of Methodism in Trenton and New Jersey, containing information of great value.
In 1876 he delivered the annual address at both Dickinson Seminary and Dickinson College, and in 1888 the annual address before the Alpha-Omega Society of Pennington Seminary. In 1889 he delivered the Fourth of July oration at Occan Grove, N. J., in 1894 an address there on the " March of Methodism," and has been a frequent speaker at literary, political and religious gather- ings in New Jersey since 1859. He received the degree of LL. D. from Dickinson College in 1890. He was President of the Mercer County Sunday-School Association 1875-1876, and Trustee of Pennington Seminary 1868, and, with the exception of a year or two, has been Trustee ever since, and President of the Board of Trustees since 1888. In 1888 he founded the "Rusling Medal" for good conduct and scholarship there. He joined the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1848, and is
GENERAL JAMES F. RUSLING.
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now a member and Trustee of the State Street M. E. Church of this city. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all Methodists before him for a century or more. He was elected one of the General Managers of the General Missionary Society M. E. Church 1889, and Vice President 1892, and made a Manager of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, New Jersey, 1891. On January 1st, 1858, General Rusling married Miss Mary F. Winner (daughter of Rev. Isaac Winner, D. D. ), who died the same year. On June 30th, 1870, he married Miss Emily W., daughter of Isaac Wood, Esquire, of Trenton, N. J. Two children are the fruits of this latter marriage-James W., and Emily W .- the former now a Sophomore at Princeton University. General Rusling has always been greatly interested in everything that pertains to the growth and progress of Trenton. He was one of the earliest members of the Board of Trade, and has looked well after the interests of the city. For a number of years he has been engaged in opening up tracts of land in the old borough of Chambersburg (now one of the most rapidly-growing parts of Trenton), and in Hamilton township adjoining, and selling them off in lots, enabling the thou- sands of Trenton's workingmen to provide themselves with comfortable homes at moderate cost. General Rusling has organized and managed the Linden Park, Hamilton Avenue, Greenwood Avenue and East State Street, and the Board Street Land Associations, and in this way has placed upon the market over two thousand building lots, most of which have been sold and many of them improved. He also opened to the free use of our citizens Broad Street Park, or Spring Lake Park, as it is sometimes called. This park, for natural beauty and charm of lake and woods, is superior to Cadwalader Park, the pride of our city, and being at the extreme other end of Trenton, it affords an opportunity for an outing to thousands who could never take advantage of Cadwalader Park. He has been an earnest advocate of our electric street railroads, and an ardent friend of our public schools and High School, and also of our State Normal and Model Schools. He has spoken for good roads, good streets, good sewers and electric lights, and may always be counted on as on the side of progress and reform. Some men as they grow old become conservatives or "old fogies," but General Rusling, though advancing in years, is always abreast of the times, if not ahead of them, and few of our citizens are more active and enterprising. General Rusling has always been prominently identified with the benevolent enterprises of Trenton. He has given largely to the erection and support of churches in this city and elsewhere, and is widely known as a Christian gentleman. No good man or good cause, of whatever denomination, fails to receive his sympathy and support, here or elsewhere, to the extent of his ability.
WILLIAM L. DAYTON was born in Trenton, New Jersey, April 13th, 1839. He was educated at the Trenton Academy and graduated from the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, in 1858. For two years he studied law in this city under the tutorship of his father, Hon. William L. Dayton, who was for many years a prominent lawyer in this city, and who died while holding the important position of United States Minister to Paris during the Civil war. In 1861 he accompanied his father to Paris, and served as Assistant Secretary of the American Legation there until 1865. Returning to Trenton, he resumed the study of law under ex-Governor Peter D. Vroom, and was admitted as an attorney the following year, and as counselor in 1869. In 1866 Gov. Marcus L. Ward chose Mr. Dayton as his Private Secretary during his term of office. Twice he has served as City Solicitor. For three years he was a member of Common Council, and enjoyed the unusual distinction of being President of that body during the whole time. He has had the high distinction of being United States Minister to The Hague from 1882 to 1885, under the Arthur administration. He is the counsel for the Trenton Banking Company, and WILLIAM L. DAYTON. has for several years been one of its Directors. He is also a Director of the Trenton Saving Fund Society. Mr. Dayton was one of the organizers of the new Mercer Hospital, and is President of its Board of Directors. He has long been an active member and Trustee of the First Presbyterian Church.
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