USA > New Jersey > Mercer County > Trenton > History of Trenton, New Jersey : the record of its early settlement and corporate progress. > Part 42
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THE PRINTED CHARTERS AND FIRST ORDINANCES.
Regarding the city charters and carly ordinances, it may be said that on November 13th, 1792, there was passed "An act to incorporate a part of the township of Trenton, in the county of Hun- terdon." The charter, acts and ordinances later in force were printed by Sherman, Mershon & Thomas, printers to the city, 1799, by order of Common Council. In 1814, the acts and ordi- nances of the city of Trenton, to which were prefixed the acts of the Legislature of the city, were published by order of Common Council. On March 7th, 1837, there was passed "An act to incor- porate the city of Trenton," repcaling the act of 1792. This charter and the ordinances of Common Council and acts of the Legislature relative to the city were revised by James Ewing, Esquire. They were printed by Phillips & Boswell, Trenton, 1842. In 1847, the ordinances of Common Council, passed since 1842, and the acts of the Legislature relative to the city, passed since 1840, were printed by Phillips & Boswell. In 1856, Phillips & Boswell published the ordinances of Common Council, passed since May 25th, 1847, and the acts of the Legislature relative to the city subsequent to the same period. March 15th, 1866, "An act to revise and amend the charter of the city of Trenton " repealed the charter of 1837. This later charter was printed by the "True American " in 1866.
On March 19th, 1874, the present city charter, under the legislative title "An act to provide for the more efficient government of the city of Trenton," was passed. In 1875, this charter and the supplements thereto and the ordinances then in force were ordered printed by Common Council. Upon the first of January, 1889, the Hon. Garret D. W. Vroom and ex-Judge William M. Lanning prepared a well-edited volume under direction of Common Council. It contains, beside valuable historical matter, the charter of 1874 and its supplements, the revised and consolidated "Ordinance concerning the general municipal officers of the city of Trenton" (October 16th, 1888), special ordinances, laws and ordinances relating to water works, laws and ordinances relating to schools, the ordinanec establishing the local Board of Health, the sanitary code and the acts and ordinances relating to the excise department. Since 1889, the ordinances of the city have not been compiled in book formn.
CHAPTER XXXV.
INTRODUCTION TO GENERAL BIOGRAPHIES.
SHORT SKETCHES OF THE MEN WHO HAVE BEEN PROMINENTLY IDENTIFIED WITH THE COMMERCIAL AND SOCIAL GROWTH AND PROGRESS OF TRENTON.
F A TRAVELER, standing upon a great height, overlooks the central valley of the Delaware and sees a great city pulsating with activity, his first sensation would be that of profound wonder-amazed that from so humble a beginning Trenton should have grown so great and opulent. Yet, all this marvelous development is not by chance ; no race of giants, in a single night, created so pleasing a prospect. This centralization of effort-our municipality-a capital of economic and social as well as of political creation, is the sole result of individual effort. Each citizen, however humble or however prominent, has a share in this upbuilding process. Without the individual the city could not have existed.
With particularity, we have discussed the details of the vast structure of the municipality ; let us now consider the architects and those who have built this fair edifice. Here, then, are autobiographical mentionings of men of Trenton. Here are the records of the individual, his education and its results, the story of the fulfillment of aims and ambitions. Mayhap, there are allusions to the stock whenee he came, so that the student of the science of man can traee in the story of successes of individuals the elements of prenatal influence and environment. Most fittingly this story of the concrete completes the record of the abstract, and gives the touch of human nature to those material, yet inanimate, evidences of Trenton's progress.
EMORY N. YARD, present Mayor of Trenton, is a native of this city. His father, Joseph B. Yard, built the first two brick houses erected on Perry street cast of Montgomery street, and it was in one of these that Mayor Yard was born on May 18th, 1847. He was educated at the public schools and at the Trenton Academy. Leaving school at the age of seventeen, he went to Denver, Colorado, where he was for two years connected with the tobacco firm of H. J. Brendlinger & Company. The next three years of Mr. Yard's life were spent on the plains, between Texas and California, driving cattle for Wolfskil & MacGeary, a California firm of drovers. Mayor Yard traveled that wild country nine times in the saddle, necessarily suffering much privation and hardship. Tiring of frontier life, he returned to Tren- ton, but after a short stay returned West. He located in Chicago, and seeured a position with the Chicago Lumbering Company. For two years he was in the lumber region of northwestern Michigan. Since then he has resided continuously in Trenton, and has been active in its commercial and political life. In politics, Mr. Yard has always been a staunch Republican. He
EMORY N. YARD.
295
THE CITY OF TRENTON.
has served on the City Executive Committee and also on the Mercer County Executive Committee. He was five years on the city police force and afterward traveled for the New Jersey Pottery Company. In 1881, he was appointed Deputy Warden of Mercer county, serving in this capacity three years. He then became associated with his father in the manufacture of iron railings until April 11th, 1889, when he was appointed Deputy United States Marshal by Hon. W. Budd Deacon. In 1893, Mr. Yard was re-appointed by the present Democratic Marshal, Hon. George Pfeiffer, Jr. In 1895, Mr. Yard was nominated as the Republican Mayoralty candidate, and was elected by the handsome majority of two thousand two hundred and fifty-four votes. His wide and varied experience eminently fits him for the responsible position, and the citizens of Trenton are to be congratulated that their municipal affairs are directed by such an able, conservative and reliable man. Mr. Yard was a member of the Common Council of the borough of Chambersburg for two years, having a seat in that body when the borough was annexed to the city of Trenton. At the next election he was elected to represent his ward (Ninth) in the city Common Council, and served for three years, declining a re-election. On account of his practical experience in the police department, he was given the Chairmanship of the Police Committee of the Council. This committee caused the new Police Station to be built, thus removing the department from the City Hall ; they also succeeded in having the police department taken out of politics. Mr. Yard was married December 18th, 1872, to Rebecca A., daughter of Otis Claflin, of this city. They have had three daughters, all of whom are living-Mary E., wife of Frederick B. Biles ; Elyonta R. and Mabel A.
WILLIAM S. YARD was born in Trenton, November 2d, 1823. He was sent to the common schools of the city until he was fourteen years of age, when he entered the grocery store of Evan Evans. After serving as clerk in this store for three years he became apprenticed to the black- smithing trade, and served four years. For twelve years he car- ried on the blacksmithing, carriage-making and iron-railing business in connection with his brother, Joseph B. Yard, who is now the sole proprietor of the business. In 1857 he was elected Superintendent of the Public Schools of the city, and served as Trustee and Superintendent for seventeen years. He was elected to the lower branch of the State Legislature in 1860 on the Democratic ticket, from the Second district. He was again a member of the Legislature in 1877. In 1865 he was made Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Mercer County, and held the position five years. He was again appointed Judge by Governor McClellan in 1878, and has been continued in that position until the present. Judge Yard has been active in many move- ment that looked to the advancement of his native city. His name is prominently connected with many benevolent and charitable institutions which have been started here within the last forty years. He was one of the incorporators of the Riverview WILLIAM S YARD. Cemetery Association, and is the only survivor. He was also one of the incorporators of the Ocean Beach Association, and has held the office of President since 1872. He is a charter member of the Trenton Battle Monument Association, charter dated May 7th, 1884, and also a member of Mercer Hospital Association. When a young man he joined the Greene Street Methodist Episcopal Church of Trenton. At that time it was the only Methodist church in the city. He soon connected himself with the Sunday-school, and has continued his connection as teacher, Treasurer, Superintendent and Superintendent of Bible class department to the present time. He was appointed class leader in 1847, and is still continued in that office. He has also been one of the Trustees of Pennington Seminary for over twenty years. On March 27th, 1845, he married Mary M., daughter of Samuel Hamilton, of Lancaster, Pa. They have five children-Mary E., Caroline N., William H., Jane F. and George B. Judge Yard resides at No. 132 East Hanover street, where he has lived for many years. He is very much interested in the carly history of Trenton, and has done much to preserve the records of its settlement and development.
296
THE CITY OF TRENTON.
GEORGE T. CRANMER was born at Barnegat, Ocean county, New Jersey, December 6th, 1848, and is the son of Captain George and Charlotte S. (Collins) Cranmer. His family is of English origin and settled at Little Egg Harbor in the early part of the year 1700. Captain Cranmer dying at the age of twenty-six, the responsibility of George T. Cranmer's training fell to his mother, who devoted all her efforts toward securing for him the advantages of a good education. After availing himself of the facilities afforded in his native village, he entered Pennington Seminary in his four- teenth year and remained there until his sixteenth. He then entered the counting-room of a large mercantile establishment at Eatontown, New Jersey, where he remained about five years. He resided in Trenton from 1871 to 1876, and then returned to his native village. In 1878 Mr. Cranmer was the Republican candidate for member of Assembly from Ocean county, but was defeated by ex-United States Senator Rufus Blodgett. In September, 1879, he was appointed by President Hayes, Collector of Customs for the District of Little Egg Harbor, which office he resigned July 1st, 1880. In 1882 he was elected a member of the Assembly. He was, in 1883, unanimously nominated for Senator, and after an exciting contest, was elected. He was re-elected Senator in 1886 and again in 1889. Senator Cranmer was prominent in the proceedings of the Upper House, serving upon the most in- portant committees of that body. For four years he was Chairman of the Senate Republican caucus and of the joint Republican caucus. In the session of 1889, he was unanimously nomi- nated by the Republican caucus for President of the Senate. His term expired in January, 1893, after a continuous service of one year in the House of Assembly and nine years in the Senate. He was an Alternate Delegate-at-Large to the National Republican Convention at Chicago in 1888, and also to the Minneapolis Convention in 1892. Having a taste for military affairs, he became a mem- ber of Company A, Seventh Regiment, N. G. N. J., at Trenton, March 17th, 1873, and on August 9th, 1875, was appointed Quartermaster of the regiment, which position he still holds. He has been a prominent member of the Order of the Knights of Pythias, and served as Grand Chancellor of the State for the year ending in February, 1895. He was appointed Clerk of the United States District Court in January, 1893, to succeed Linsly Rowe, Esquire, resigned. He was married April 6th, 1893, to Tacie Margaret Conrad, daughter of Wilkinson G. and Martha C. Conrad, of Barnegat, New Jersey.
WILLIAM S. STRYKER, New Jersey's historian of the American Revolution, was born in Trenton, June 6th, 1838. His early education was obtained at the Trenton Academy. The Stryker family left Holland in 1652, and settled in New Amsterdam, where, in the colonial affairs of early New York, the name became promi- nent. General Stryker graduated from the College of New Jersey in the Class of '58. He immediately commenced the study of law, entering the office of the late Barker Gummere, at Trenton. In response to the first call for troops, William S. Stryker enlisted as a private, April 16th, 1861. He assisted in organizing the Fourteenth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers. In February, 1863, he was ordered to Hilton Head, South Carolina, and made Major and Aide-de-Camp to Major-General Gillmore, then in command of the Tenth Army Corps. He participated in the capture of Morris Island and the bloody night attack on Fort Wagner. Subsequently he was transferred to the North, on ac- count of illness, and placed in charge of the pay department, United States army, at Parole Camp, Columbus, Ohio. In 1866 General Stryker was made counselor-at-law of the State of Ohio. He was brevetted Lieutenant-Colonel for meritorious ser- WILLIAM S STRYKER. vices during the war, and resigned in June, 1866. Soon there- after he returned to New Jersey and was placed on the military staff of the Governor. Since April 12th, 1867, he has been Adjutant-General of New Jersey. In February, 1874, he was brevetted Major-General by the State of New Jersey. In the financial life of Trenton General Stryker has acted as President of the Saving Fund Society, and of the Trenton Banking Company. To hin New Jersey is indebted for some of the most comprehensive monographs which have yet been issued in this country. From information drawn from his library, rich in Americana, and from the State
HON. GEORGE T. CRANMER.
297
THE CITY OF TRENTON.
archives, General Stryker has compiled a "Register of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolution " (Trenton, 1872), the initial work of its kind in America, and a "Record of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War" (1876), as well as the following historical studies : "The Read Controversy," "Trenton One Hundred Years Ago," "New Jersey Continental Line in the Virginia Campaign of 1781," "The Princeton Surprise," "Washington's Reception by the People of New Jersey in 1789," "The Capture of the Block House at Toms River, New Jersey," "New Jersey Continental Line in the Indian Campaign of 1779," "Old Barracks at Trenton, New Jersey," "The New Jersey Volunteers-Loyalists." General Stryker has now in the press a notable work, dealing with the battle of Trenton, which will be the most complete work of its kind in this country.
JOHN TAYLOR was born in Hamilton Square, New Jersey, on October 6th, 1836. His father died when Mr. Taylor was fourteen years old, leaving only a legacy of struggle for the family. Until he was seventeen Mr. Taylor remained in a brickyard, when he secured a position as clerk in a retail grocery. Two years later he was given an interest in the business. Mr. Taylor continued this connection for a year, when he associated himself with Mr. James Ronan in the retail grocery business. This partnership lasted two years, when Mr. Taylor purchased Mr. Ronan's interest. In 1860 he allied himself with the late D. P. Forst. The firm continued prosperously until 1872, when Mr. Taylor sold out to engage in the pork-packing and cattle business " on an extensive scale. This he conducted with varying success for fifteen years. He is now at the head of the Taylor Provision Company. In all public enterprises he has been a leading factor. Associated with D. P. Forst and Ferdinand W. Roebling he built the City Market. In 1866 Mr. Taylor organized the Trenton Hall and Building Association, for the erection of an opera-house and assembly-rooms. Mr. Taylor has ever since been President of the association. He organized, on the stage of the theater, Trenton's Board of Trade, and was elected its first Vice President. Company A, Seventh Regiment, National Guard of New Jersey, also owes its existence to his efforts. In June, 1888, a meeting of well-known business men was called by Mr. Taylor at the State Street House, and he laid before them a proposition to organize an inter-state fair association. Within two weeks after- ward a capital of $50,000 was subscribed for the object. Mr. JOHN TAYLOR. Taylor, as a Republican, has served several terms in the City Council, where for three years he was Chairman of the Finance Committee. After a year of opposition he secured the removal of the market from the center of Broad street. He was elected to the State Senate from Mercer county in 1880, served three years and declined a renomination. In 1883 he was urged by his party leaders to become a candidate for Governor, but on the eve of the gubernatorial nominating convention he concluded not to allow his name to come before the convention, though supported by the Mercer county delegation. Without any agency of his own, Mr. Taylor was made the Chairman of the con- vention. At the State Republican Convention in 1884, to form an electoral ticket in the Blaine cam- paign, Mr. Taylor was honored by being made a Senatorial Elector, or Elector-at-Large. He is one of the members of the Trenton Battle Monument Association. At one time he had the controlling interest in the Union Pottery Company, and was a Director of the First National Bank and of the People's Electric Light Company. In 1860 he married Catherine Rowley, of Trenton, New Jersey. He has two sons, Harry C. and William T., both of whom are associated with him in business. Harry C. Taylor is also the Manager of Taylor Opera House.
THOMAS S. CHAMBERS was born in Lawrence township in 1852. He is the youngest son of John S. Chambers and Emma Maria Fish. His paternal ancestors were Scotch-Irish, having come from the county of Antrim, and settled in Trenton in the year 1729. His maternal ancestors were of English origin, of the county of Kent. In the year 1637 they landed at Lynn, Massachu- setts. Thence, in 1639, they removed to Newtown, Long Island, where they were prominent in its settlement. They then emigrated to New Jersey, where they purchased land in Trenton township,
N
298
THE CITY OF TRENTON.
now Ewing township, in 1740. under Mr. George S. Grosvenor.
Colonel Chambers was educated at the Trenton Academy, Upon leaving that institution he entered the employ of the Trenton Gas Light Company, in January, 1870. lle is to-day Secretary of the company. He is a Republican, and has always been prominent in party deliberations. HIe is a member of the Mercer County Republican Ex- ceutive Committee, and has for several years filled the position of Secretary. He was one of the organizers of the Republican Club, and, succeeding Colonel Skirm as its President, held that office for three years. In the year 1889 he was elected a member of the Legislature, and took an active part in its session. In 1882 he was appointed by Mayor Vroom a member of the City Board of Health, and has been several times re-appointed upon the expiration of his term. He is now the senior member of the board. Having a taste for military affairs, he enlisted in Company A, Seventh Regiment, National Guard, March 17th, 1873, and served as a private until March 28th, 1878, when he was elected Second Lieutenant. On February 18th, 1880, General Sewell appointed him an Aide-de-Camp on his staff, with the rank of Captain, and on June 30th, 1881, THOMAS S. CHAMBERS. promoted him to Lieutenant-Colonel and Assistant Adjutant-General of the Second Brigade, which posi- tion he now holds. Colonel Chambers is one of the Directors of the Trenton Banking Com- pany, where his business experience has been of much value to that reliable institution. He is a member of the Trenton Battle Monument Association, having served on the Building Committee. Ile was Chairman of the Committee of AArrangements on the laying of the corner-stone, and also was a member of the Dedication Committee. He was one of the committee to secure appropria- tions from the original thirteen States, and as such secured financial aid from the Legislatures of Connecticut and Pennsylvania. He has been Treasurer of the First Presbyterian Church for the past ten years, a position which his great-great-grandfather Chambers held for a period of thirty years.
BENJAMIN FISH, who died June 22d, 1880, was for many years one of Trenton's most noted citizens. Strong morally and physically, there are few lives about which more of local reminis- cence elings or which were longer or more closely identified with the history and prosperity of Trenton. His paternal ancestor came from England and settled at Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1637. The Fish family are believed to be a branch of the old Saxon family of Fisch. The grandfather of our subject, who also bore the name Benjamin, settled in Trenton township (now Ewing), New Jersey, about 1745. Benjamin Fish, the subject of this sketch, was born November 15th, 1785, in Ewing township, about five miles from the city of Trenton. His education was obtained at the district school in that neighborhood. He came to Trenton in 1808, when the city contained only thirteen hundred inhabitants. For a time he was engaged in the hotel and livery stable business. At the commencement of the War of 1812 he established a line of vessels between Bloomsbury (now South Trenton) and Philadelphia. These were designed for the transportation of general merchandise for the public. When the British held possession of Sandy Hook, thereby blockading the entrance to New York harbor, Mr. Fish rendered most valuable assistance to the United States Government in transporting commissary and ordnance stores by the New Jersey overland route. He employed forty huge Conestoga wagons, each drawn by four horses, in conveying heavy cannon and other material from his boat-landing to New Brunswick, where they were again loaded on boats and shipped via the Raritan and Hudson rivers to the United States troops in northern New York. At the close of the war he became interested with the late George S. Green in the lumber business, continuing this interest until three years before his death. In 1825 Mr. Fish became partner and one of the managers of the Union Line Stage and Steamboat Company, the other partners being John, Robert L. and Edwin A. Stevens. This line carried all the mail, passengers and merchan-
BENJAMIN FISH.
299
THE CITY OF TRENTON.
dise that were transported between Philadelphia and New York until the Camden and Amboy rail- road was built. Mr. Fish was a Director of the latter company from its organization in 1830 until the time of his decease. He was one of the original stockholders in the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company, a Manager of the Trenton Saving Fund Society from June 14th, 1847, a Director of the Trenton Banking Company, organizer and Director of the Philadelphia Ferry Company, President of the Merchants Transportation Company, projector and President of the Trenton Dela- ware Bridge Company, besides holding prominent offices in many other large State corporations. He attended the First Presbyterian Church, where he was an active Trustee for fifty-five years, serving about twenty-five consecutive years as President of the board. Mr. Fish died suddenly in Trenton, in the ninety-fifth year of his age. One child only survived him, a daughter, Emma Maria, wife of John S. Chambers, Esquire, General Manager of the Trenton Gas Light Company.
JAMES W. LANNING was born in Trenton, New Jersey, June 23d, 1853, and has ever since lived in Trenton or in this immediate vicinity. His early advantages were meager. While yet young he was forced to leave school and apprentice himself to E. P. Herron, learning the car- penter trade. In 1885 he associated himself with William Hunt, under the firm name of Hunt & Lanning, contractors and builders. After about two years this firm was dissolved, and since then Mr. Lanning has been carrying on the business alone. In 1880 and 1881 he served as a member of the School Board of this city, and later was a member of the Excise Board. He also served a term of two years as member of the New Jersey Legislature, in 1892 and 1893. While a member of the New Jersey Legislature Mr. Lanning became the father of several important bills, among them being the act constituting the Board of Works, a statute reducing the number of Freeholders and an act reducing the number of members of Common Council, and had the satisfaction of seeing every bill which he offered pass both Houses, receive the Governor's signature, and thus become law. Mr. Lanning was a member of the Legislature during the famous race-track fight, and when requested to do so by some of the leading citizens of Trenton he promptly changed his vote and became opposed to all race-track legislation. Mr. Lanning did not make many speeches on the floor of the House, as he is a man of deeds rather than words. JAMES W. LANNING. His record in the Legislature was highly creditable to himself and pleasing to his constituents. October 31st, 1877, he married Sophie, daughter of Michael Staiger, of Trenton. As to his ability and experience as a contractor, the New Jersey State Hospital, the Mount Holly Presbyterian Church, the New Jersey Assembly Chamber, the New Jersey State Building at the Chicago Exposition, an addition to the State Normal School Boarding Hall, the gymnasium in connection with the State Schools, the Electrical Building and the addition to the Scientific Building at Princeton, speak his praise.
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