USA > New Jersey > Mercer County > Trenton > History of Trenton, New Jersey : the record of its early settlement and corporate progress. > Part 50
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The important legislation of 1898 included the enactment of measures introduced by com- missioners appointed by former Governor Griggs. They were codifications of various laws, and so well had the work been accomplished that the results met with little opposition. A bill drawn and introduced by Senator W. M. Johnson, providing for the creation of a Railroad Commission, failed to pass, although it was the Senate Republican leader's chief ambition of his two terms. Another measure introduced by him permitting Supreme Court Justices to decide, upon request of munici- palities, how railroad crossings shall be made safe for people crossing them, was passed, and it became a law. This bill covered one of the important points of the Railroad Commission bill.
Senator Daly, the Democratic leader, succeeded in getting several new laws through, and aided in defeating many not regarded as proper legislation. One of the longest and most eloquent speeches of the session was delivered by him against the bill permitting foreign companies the privilege of filing articles of incorporation in New Jersey without divulging the addresses of their stockholders. In fighting this measure, Senator Daly took the stand that such secrecy would enable undesirable enterprises to seek shelter under New Jersey laws. The bill was beaten by one vote.
The first lively tilt between Gledhill and Allen, the leaders of the Assembly, was precipitated by the former's motion for the appointment of a committee to investigate alleged corruption in the courts of Hudson county. Allen wanted Camden and other counties included in the investigation. He was temporarily defeated, but not long afterwards the investigating committee was empowered to extend its work into any county where evidence of bribery and fraud in the courts was alleged.
Equal taxation was side-tracked in 1898 for fights over trolley roads, and many of them were spirited. One of the features of the session was a bill introduced by Assemblyman George S. Squire, of Union county. It gave municipalities power to sell trolley franchises to the highest bidder, and was fought tooth and nail up to the end of the session, when it was passed.
The strained relations between the United States and Spain, caused by the war in Cuba and the demolition of the United States warship "Maine" in the harbor of Havana, gave the legisla- tors of 1898 an opportunity to show that however parsimonious New Jersey appeared in the matter of appropriations for ordinary purposes, her representatives yet were liberal when national honor was at stake. In a few hours after the situation first appeared to be critical, a bill appropriating $250,000 for the Governor to draw upon in case of war was started for a quick trip through both Houses, and a sum sufficient to put the National Guard of the State on a war footing was provided for by the Joint Committee on Appropriations.
The Legislature of 1898 adjourned sine die March 25th, with both the Republicans and Democrats well satisfied that they had left behind them records which would be of value to their respective parties the next fall in a contest for supremacy more interesting than any in the State's history. At the time of the adjournment of the Legislature, John Kean was regarded as the probable Republican successor of United States Senator Smith, if his party at the next elections secured a majority on the joint ballot of the Senate and Assembly. There were few who predicted that Senator Smith would not succeed himself in the event of Democratic success. Foster M. Voorhees was looked upon by a large majority of his party as the probable Republican nominee for Governor, and Congressmen Pitney and Gardner, Franklin Murphy and Judge J. Franklin Fort also had legions of friends advocating their fitness to serve as the party's standard-bearer. On the Democratic side, the party, having been defeated in the last campaigns, had not settled down in real earnest to decide which of its many available men would be the one likely again to capture the government taken from it by such an overwhelming majority by John W. Griggs. Senator Daly was the only avowed candidate, and among others looked upon as possessing strength and merit sufficient to enter the probably fierce struggle were Justice Garrison, of the Supreme Court ; Richard A. Donnelly, Quartermaster-General of the State ; and E. F. C. Young, of Jersey City.
JOHN W. GRIGGS, ATTORNEY-GENERAL,
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LEGISLATIVE AND BIOGRAPHICAL SUPPLEMENT.
JOHN FAIRFIELD DRYDEN, President of the Prudential Insurance Company of America, was born near Farmingham, Maine, August 7th, 1839. His parents were New Englanders of old Eng- lish origin, his mother's family coming to this country as early as 1640. Even as a boy on his father's farm young Dryden gave evidences of those qualities and characteristics which have enabled him to take his place among the foremost and most successful men of his time in the whole life insurance world. These were a studious and reflective temperament, quickness of perception, great energy and indomitable perseverance. As the field of labor most suited to the logical and analytical bent of his mind, the law was fixed upon by his parents, when the time came to choose a career. In 1861 he entered Yale College. Here Mr. Dryden pursued his studies with such ardor and devotedness that his health gave way ; and just as he was approaching the period of graduation, with every expectation of coming out of the scholastic competition with high honors, he was com- pelled to abandon his studies and return to his home for rest and recuperation. While thus engaged, he became interested in life insurance, and, as was his wont with anything that par- ticularly excited his interest, went into the subject thoroughly. He obtained all the literature that was to be had bearing upon it ; "devoured," as he says himself, every book that he could get on the subject. Thus was laid the foundation of his lifework. From theory he passed into practice, and became a life insurance operator, with the view of mastering the whole subject. About 1865, a report made by the late Elizur Wright, then Insurance Commissioner of Massachusetts, was made to the Legislature of that State. It embodied a reference to industrial insurance as prac- ticed in England, and remarked that because such a system was operated successfully in Great Britain, it was no reason, necessarily, why a similar system should succeed in this country. Mr. Wright was rather inclined to think it would not, owing to the differences existing between England and America, their peoples, habits, customs. institutions, &c. It required courage in those days to differ with Mr. Wright upon matters of this sort. Mr. Dryden had this courage. He differed radically from the Massachusetts official on the point in question. As he had done with life insurance generally, so he did with this industrial plan wholly new to America. IIe secured all the printed matter obtainable on the subject ; went into the whole history of Friendly Societies, out of which was finally evolved the industrial system, and ended by becoming thoroughly con- vinced he could devise a system that could be applied and successfully operated in this country. He set himself the task to think out such a plan. He devoted several years to the work, and fixing upon Newark, New Jersey, put his plan to a practical test. What followed is shown in an article published on pages preceding this. The facts there narrated make plain that the little tree planted in 1875, under conditions that made prudence and economy of the closest kind prerequisites of primary management, and that seemed to all but the little band of pioneers engaged in the work to be full of insurmountable difficulties and all sorts of discouragements, grew, from the first, with steady growth, and has reached proportions that now place it in the front rank of the greatest insti- tutions of the kind in the world. In summing up the character and extent of Mr. Dryden's life- work, it is not enough to give him his share in the creation of the Prudential Insurance Company of America. To him is also to be justly ascribed the honor of being the chief pioneer of the indus- trial form of insurance in America, a system which was wholly unknown to the masses of this country in 1875, but which is now operated by eleven companies, large and small, whose combined force of field and office employes number fully 30,000 persons ; whose policy-holders aggregate about 8,000,000 ; whose total amount of insurance in force reaches nearly a billion of dollars, and whose total payments to policy-holders foot up not far from $100,000,000. Another highly signifi- cant and suggestive fact resultant from the introduction in this country of the industrial system is this : The number of persons insured in America has been increased from about two per cent. of the population in 1875, to about fifteen per cent. in 1897. As was the case from the start of the great Newark institution, Mr. Dryden continues to bear his full share of the work of its direction and management. While Mr. Dryden has never obtruded himself in public life, but rather has seemed to studiously avoid mingling in it, he nevertheless all his life has been a deep and interested student of public affairs, and as a life-long member of the Republican party has quietly and nnostentatiously fulfilled every obligation as a good and dutiful citizen. In token of the esteem in which he is held by his party and the people of New Jersey, at the Presidential election of 1896, Mr. Dryden was chosen Presidential Elector-at-Large for New Jersey by a majority of 87,000-the first and only public office held by him. Mr. Dryden is a member of the Directorate of a number of leading financial institutions of Newark besides the Prudential.
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JOHN F. DRYDEN.
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LEGISLATIVE AND BIOGRAPHICAL SUPPLEMENT.
DR. LESLIE D. WARD, Vice President of the Prudential Insurance Company of America. Few men are better known in connection with the establishment of industrial insurance in the United States than the subject of this sketch.
In 1875, at the urgent solicitation of Mr. John F. Dryden, who was seeking to organize the Prudential in Newark, New Jersey, Dr. Ward threw himself into the work, and rendered, at the very start, most efficient service in getting the company under way. His interest, once aroused, never slackened. Through all the difficulties which beset the promoters of the Prudential, he stood firm in the faith that industrial insurance had a great future before it on this continent, and that the Prudential was the company to demonstrate this.
Dr. Ward was well fitted for the task he had undertaken to assist in. He came of sturdy stock, his ancestors having been among the first settlers of Newark, New Jersey, who came from Con- necticut in 1666. He was born at Madison, New Jersey, July 1st, 1845 ; prepared for college at the Newark Academy, but owing to a call by President Lincoln in 1864 for additional troops, his studies were interrupted. He enlisted in the Thirty-seventh Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers, under Colonel E. Burd Grubb, who was afterward made Brigadier General, and recently United States Minister to Spain. On returning from the army he studied medicinc, graduated in 1868 from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, of New York, and was at the time he became interested in the Prudential, one of the prominent physicians in Newark. Physically strong, and with an active, well-disciplined mind, he was especially qualified to give support to the company. He was one of the original Directors ; was Medical Director from the beginning, and in this capacity he examined applicants, passed upon the various applications, looked up data and made investigations on which to base rates for various classes of risks. Dr. Ward was an indefatigable worker and took pains to keep in touch with the business of the Prudential in all its departments.
In 1884 he was elected Vice President, retaining also the office of Medical Director. The duties of the two positions were such that he had to relinquish a lucrative practice, and since then he has devoted his whole time to the management of the company's business.
Vice President Ward is in charge of the Prudential's field force, which counts up in the thou- sands, and has general supervision of the large clerical force in the Home Office. The position of a Vice President who deals with the Agency staff is an arduous one, involving plenty of hard work and some hard thinking, to decide on the vexed problems which arise. He must adjudicate quickly, fairly and kindly. Vice President Ward is a great friend of the field force. So far as lies in his power, he does all he can to make the path of the true Prudential man smooth and pleasant. Every incentive is given to long service with the company, and honest service is always rewarded.
He also has ever had in mind the benefit of the policy-holders, has always been in line with any movement for their advantage, and heartily favors any concession which can be made to them.
Dr. Ward has a very frank manner, a magnetic presence, which invites confidence, and those who know him, even at long range, can tell there is an honesty of purpose about his utterances and actions which is wonderfully encouraging to men who are loyal to and zealous in advancing the welfare of the Prudential.
He is broad-minded, liberal in his views, reaching out for the right, not solely as a matter of policy, but because it is the right ; and by the exercise of qualities which win the estimation and support of business associates and friends, has gained a high place in the world of life insurance. In addition to his positions with the Prudential, he has interest in and is on the Directorate of some of the prominent financial and business institutions of the city of Newark.
Dr. Ward married Miss Minnie Perry in 1874, and has two sons. The elder is now employed in the office of the Prudential, and the younger is a student in Harvard University. He resides in Newark during the winter, and has a summer home at Madison.
DR. LESLIE D. WARD.
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LEGISLATIVE AND BIOGRAPHICAL SUPPLEMENT.
ELIAS S. WARD was born in the Ward homestead, in Afton, near Madison, Morris county. His father, Moses D. Ward, came of a family identified with that section of New Jersey from its earliest settlement and having a widespread connection. He was a farmer of the type found at intervals in New Jersey during the prosperous days of agriculture, and to a powerful frame was added an equally strong will and intellect. Elias, the subject of this sketch, was born in 1842, and spent his boyhood and youth upon the farm. He was entering upon young manhood before opportunity offered to engage in broader business pursuits than farming afforded. Entering a New York house, dealing in fancy leather goods, he was given a subordinate position, but at the end of two years he had mastered the details of its various departments and was raised to the position of traveling man, in which capacity he passed several years. Nature had eminently qualified him for the duties assigned him. His geniality, enterprise, conscientiousness and exhaustless vitality all contributed to make him one of the best-known salesmen in his line, and subse- quent events made his name familiar to every commercial trav- eler in the country. Through his efforts was conceived the forma- tion of the Commercial Travelers' Association, and his refusal to submit to the special tax levied in several States upon salesmen from other States, led to a suit, carried on in his name, which was decided in his favor by the United States Supreme Court, and such taxes have not since been levied.
For a number of years he was connected with T. P. Howell & Co., and thus became practically familiar with the patent and enameled leather trade. This connection was pleasantly severed with the estab- lishment of the firm of E. S. Ward & Co., of which he afterward be-
came the sole owner. The firm ELIAS S. WARD. confined their business to supplying the fine leather trade, and the superior quality of their goods made them in demand both in this country and Europe. Mr. Ward was for many years, and up to the time of his death (December 23d, 1896), a director and a large stockholder in the Prudential Insurance Company. He was a member of its Executive Committee and intimately connected with the building of its present Home Office. Of every public enterprise, Mr. Ward was either an officer or director, and his reputation as a practical business man was second to none in this State. The limits of this space will not permit of the exhaustive sketch which the subject deserves. The city of Newark and the State at large sustained a great loss in the passing away of Elias S. Ward.
7
LEGISLATIVE AND BIOGRAPHICAL SUPPLEMENT.
GOTTFRIED KRUEGER was born in Baden, Germany, November 4th, 1837. He came to America February 13th, 1852, and settled in Newark, New Jersey, where he has ever since resided. He began his business experience as an apprentice to the brewing firm of Adams & Laible, Newark, and when that firm was dissolved he was made foreman of the new brewery established by Mr. Laible. He held that position until 1865, when he formed a co-partnership with Gottlieb Hill, purchasing the old brewery in which he served his time and the adjoining property. Thus began a business which has rapidly increased, until the brewery, which now bears his name, ranks among the foremost of the State. Mr. Hill retired from the con- cern in 1875, and Mr. Krueger became the sole proprietor. Mr. Krueger has been a life-long Democrat. He was chosen by his party in 1872 as a mem- ber of the Board of Chosen Freeholders, and in 1880 was chosen Presidential Elector, casting his vote for Hancock and English, the Presidential nominees of the Democratic party. He was a member of the New Jersey Assembly in 1877 and 1880, and served upon the most important committees, both Standing and Joint. In 1891 he was appointed Judge of the Court of Errors and Appeals by Governor Abbett to succeed the late Judge John McGregor. His term expired in 1897, but he was re-appointed by the Republican Gov- ernor, John W. Griggs, which in itself was a high testimonial to his ability and fitness for the office he had so long GOTTFRIED KRUEGER. honored. Not only is Judge Krueger one of the city of Newark's representative citizens, but he is one of its most charitable as well. His name is connected with the leading charities of that city, and what he is known to have done openly in the cause of humanity is inconsiderable when compared with the sum-total of his unos- tentatious gifts to every kind of deserving charity.
8
LEGISLATIVE AND BIOGRAPHICAL SUPPLEMENT.
BENEDICT ULRICH was born in the Thirteenth Ward of the city of Newark, August 7th, 1859. He was educated at St. Peter's School of that city, and afterward entered the employ of Williams & Plum, job printers, with whom he remained about five years. He then began an engagement with the firm of T. P. Howell & Co., patent leather manufacturers, which lasted from 1875 to 1884, when he formed a co-partner- ship with Joseph Denninger, under the firm name of Denninger & Ulrich, as funeral directors and embalmers, which is still con- tinued. In 1889 Mr. Ulrich was elected Alderman in the Thir- teenth Ward for a term of two years. He was the first Democrat elected in ten years, and that, too, in a ward where the Repub- lican majorities had hitherto run from 800 to 1,000. During his term in the Board of Aldermen the franchises to the electric street railways were given. In the fall of 1891, Mr. Ulrich was elected a member of the New Jersey Assembly, by a majority of 394, where he served on the Ways and Means, and on the Banks and Insurance Committees.
EDWARD LEWIS CONKLIN, Auditor of Essex County, was born at Paterson, N. J., June 12th, 1841. His education was confined to the public schools of Paterson, leaving which he BENEDICT ULRICH. learned the trade of sash and blind making in the factory of William King. At the outbreak of the Rebellion he joined the Second Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers, Kearny's Brigade, in which he served during the war, passing unscathed through the great battles of Bull Run, Pines, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancel- lorsville, Second Bull Run, the battles of the James, Spottsylvania, Crampton's Pass, South Moun- tain, Gettysburg, Cold Harbor, and, in fact, all the principal battles of the Army of the Potomac, together with twenty-three so-called skirmishes, many of which were of sufficient severity to entitle them to names.
At the close of the war he returned to Newark and re-entered the establishment of William King & Co. as business manager, holding this position until 1873, when he took an interest in the business, with which he continued until 1889. During this time he was a member of the Board of Chosen Freeholders six terms, and was on its Finance, Building and Jail Discharge Committees and was chairman of the Building Committee two years. In the interim the County Hospital was erected. Mr. Conklin was appointed by President Harrison Postmaster of Newark. In 1894 he was elected Auditor of Essex County, which office he still holds. Mr. Conklin was Treasurer eight years of the City and County Republican Committees, and has been a member of the County Com- mittee twenty-five years. Mr. Conklin belongs to the Masonic Eureka Lodge, to the Friendship Lodge, I. O. O. F. ; Corinthian Council, Royal Arcanum ; Centennial Knights of Honor, Repub- lican Indian League, Republican County Society ; Post No. 11, G. A. R. ; Union Veteran Legion, No. 100, and Newark Lodge of Elks, No. 21. He was married in 1865 to Miss Leonora K., daughter of William King. They have four sons, three now engaged in business. Lewis, the eldest, is in the lumber business, and was his father's assistant as Postmaster, remaining a year under the succeeding Postmaster. The youngest son is in college at Boston. Mr. Conklin's venerable mother is still living at the old homestead in Paterson.
9
LEGISLATIVE AND BIOGRAPHICAL SUPPLEMENT.
FRANK M. McDERMIT was born in the city of Newark on September 2d, 1861, and was edu- cated at St. Benedict's College in that city. He was elected to serve three terms in the Legislature of this State in the years 1887-8-9. During the year 1888 he was the Democratic leader in the House of Assembly, and some of his speeches during debate were regarded as equal to any speeches ever made in the New Jersey Legislature. After leaving college, at the age of thirteen, he entered the law office of Runyon & Leonard. He was admitted as an attorney-at-law in November, 1882, and as a counselor-at-law in November, 1885. He is a son of William McDermit, and old resident
of Newark, who for thirty years was a constable attached to the Court House. His father is still living at the age of eighty, and enjoys excellent health.
Nowadays when one drops in un- observed on Mr. McDermit in his handsome and finely-furnished offices on the fourth floor of the Globe Build- ing, the lawyer is generally engrossed in professional affairs, within a fortifi- cation of law books and law papers. The past years have been very suc- cessful ones with him, and yet he can find a few odd hours in which to discuss politics. The trials and tribu- lations of the Democracy in national affairs have no terrors for him, know- ing as he does that the Democratic party, historically, is the most impor- tant of American political parties, and has enjoyed a continuous existence for over one hundred years. He believes in the chief tenets of the party, and has implicit faith in the ultimate set- tlement of all differences to the utmost satisfaction of all concerned. Having been a newspaper publisher, Mr. Mc- Dermit takes a broad view of all things. In the good old "Sunday Standard," which he owned, and in the " Newark FRANK M. MCDERMIT. Morning Times " and "Sunday Times- Standard," of which he was part owner, it was often laid down to certain men as an iron-clad rule that when duty called they must obey, and so it is that the erstwhile newspaper proprietor and popular lawyer may again enter the field of politics and become the standard-bearer of his party for its senatorial honors. If young blood is needed, and talents, perseverance and activity are appre- ciated, there could not possibly be a better selection. Mr. McDermit was counsel in the celebrated murder case of Henry Kohl, tried in Essex county, New Jersey, and the long and various stages of the case from New Jersey courts to the Federal courts, and the successful culmination of this great murder trial, made a national reputation for Mr. McDermit as a criminal lawyer.
B
FRANKLIN MURPHY.
11
LEGISLATIVE AND BIOGRAPHICAL SUPPLEMENT.
JOHN FRANKLIN FORT was born in Pemberton, Burlington county, New Jersey, March 20th, 1852. He is the only son and eldest child of Andrew Heister and Hannah Ann (Brown) Fort, and is descended from Roger Fort, who came from Wales to Pemberton (then called New Mills) in 1696.
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