USA > New Jersey > Mercer County > Trenton > History of Trenton, New Jersey : the record of its early settlement and corporate progress. > Part 61
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JOSEPH B. RIGHITER was born in Denville, Morris county, New Jersey, December 23d, 1864. He gained what education was afforded by the schools of that village, and later devoted much of his spare time to acquiring a knowledge of those branches of study not included in the curriculum of the schools of his native town. His application has stood him in good stead, and has qualified him not only as a man of business affairs, but enabled him later in life to intelligently represent his county's interests in the Assembly of New Jersey. In politics he has always been a Republican, and ever taken an active part in the affairs of his town and county, although not aspiring to any office. He was elected to the Assembly of 1896, where he served on the Committees on Claims and Pensions and Miscellaneous Busi- ness and Riparian Rights. He was re-elected to the Assembly of the year following, receiving a total vote of 8,104, making a plurality of nearly 3,000 over Fitz Herbert, the highest candi- date on the Democratic ticket. He was appointed Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means and served on the Com- mittee on Claims and Revolutionary Pensions. During his entire legislative career, both in the House and on the com- mittees, his earnestness was apparent and often infectious. He JOSEPH B. RIGHTER, is a fluent and forcible speaker and very positive and out- spoken in his convictions. Mr. Righter was formerly a member of the firm of D. M. & J. B. Righter, who have done a general merchandise business in Denville since the year 1886. He withdrew from that firm in 1896, and is at present the Treasurer and General Manager of the American Metal Doormat and Carstep Manufacturing Company, of Rockaway, New Jersey.
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CHARLES FERN HOPKINS was born at Hope, Warren county, New Jersey, May 16th, 1842, and was educated at the district schools of that county. He has resided in Boonton, New Jersey, since 1859, and carries on the business of harness manufacturer. He was among the first to offer his services in defence of his country at the opening of the late war. On June 4th, 1861, he enlisted in Company I, First New Jersey Volunteers, of the famous "Kearney Brigade." At the battle of Gaines Mill, Virginia, June 27th, 1862, he won the Congressional medal of honor for carrying Sergeant Richard A. Donnelly (now Quartermaster-General) from the field under a terrible cross-fire, during which he was badly wounded. He was again wounded at the battle of the Wilderness, May 6th, 1864, and taken prisoner. He endured untold misery during his ten months' confinement in the prison pens of Andersonville, Georgia, and Florence, South Carolina, losing in weight during that comparatively short period over 103 pounds. In the affairs of Boonton he has long been a central figure. He was Town Committeeman from 1868 to 1873 ; Chosen Freeholder from 1871 to 1874 ; Common Council- man from 1870 to 1874; Mayor from 1880 to 1881, and again freeholder from 1881 to 1884, when he resigned. He was Post- master from 1884 to 1888, and again from 1892 to 1895. He is a member and Chief of the Boonton Fire Department. He was Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms of the New Jersey Senate from 1882 to 1884, when he resigned. Mr. Hopkins was elected to the Assembly of 1896, and served as Chairman of the Committee on Militia and as a member of the Committees on Railroads and CHARLES F. HOPKINS. Canals and Soldiers' Home. He was re-elected to the Assembly of 1897 by a plurality of 2,844 over the highest Democratic candidate, and served as Chairman of the Committee on Militia and as a member of the Committee on Railroads and Canals. His entire legislative career was one of pains- taking interest and marked by an extreme carefulness in looking after the welfare of the county he represented. His antecedents are those of the Mayflower Compact ; later and nearer the offshoot of Jonathan Hopkins, brother of Stephen Hopkins, signer of the Declaration of Independence.
MICHAEL J. COYLE was born in Ireland June 10th, 1852. His family came to America in the year 1857, and located in Brooklyn, New York. In 1866 they removed to Hoboken, New Jersey, where Mr. Coyle has since resided, and which has been the scene of his business and political success. His father dying when young Coyle was but a youth, the care of the family rested upon his young shoulders, and it was owing to his care and industry that he was able to assume the responsibilities necessary to the maintenance of a family of five. At a very early age he began to show an interest in local politics, espousing the principles of the Democratic party. His first political experience was in 1877, when he was elected a delegate to the Democratic State Convention, and labored to secure the nomination of Leon Abbett for Governor. For many years he has held the office of Police Commissioner. For fourteen years he was an active member of the old Volunteer Fire Department, and for two years was foreman of the Empire Hook and Ladder Company, No. 2, of Hoboken. In February, 1890, he was appointed a member of the Board of Freeholders to fill the MICHAEL J. COYLE. vacancy caused by the death of James Kenney. This appoint- ment was sustained by his election the following fall to the regular term. He was a member of the House of Assembly for the sessions of 1892 and 1893, and served on the Committees on Ways and Means, Elections and Railroads and Canals. Mr. Coyle is the standard-bearer of the M. J. Coyle Association, one of the foremost political organizations of Hudson county, and holds the office of Superintendent of the Hudson County Boulevard.
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FRANK PIERCE MCDERMOTT, of Freehold, son of William and Lydia E. (Thompson) McDer- mott, was born at Tennent, New Jersey, October 23d, 1854, and received his education at the Freehold Institute. He read law with Acton C. Hartshorne and ex. Judge Chilion Robbins, and was admitted to the New Jersey bar, at Trenton, at the November term, 1875, and as counselor at the same term, 1878. He was a Commissioner of the town of Freehold for four years, and has since represented that town in its litigation. Among the many cases in which he has appeared as counsel in the court of last resort, Blatchford v. Conover, 13 Stew. Eq. 205; Brown v. De Groff, 21 Vroom 409, and Snyder v. Insurance Company, 30 Vrooni 544, are noteworthy. Mr. McDermott, in 1894, opencd an office in Jersey City, where a large portion of his time is spent. On March 11th, 1880, Mr. McDermott was married to Miss Anna Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph C. and Elizabeth R. (Combs) Thompson, of Tennent, New Jersey.
FRANK PIERCE MCDERMOTT.
ARTHUR P. SUTPHEN, the subject of this sketch, traces his ancestry back to Dirck Van Zutphen, who emigrated to Manhattan Island from Holland in 1651. Dirck's son, Guisbert, moved to and settled in Mon- mouth county, and his son, Guisbert, moved to Bed- minster township, Somerset county, in 1733, where he did a large business in settling estates. He was created Justice of the Peace in 1770, but when the Revolution was declared he burned his commission and entered the Colonial army to fight for liberty. His son, Captain
Peter Sutphen, was a Justice of the Peace in Bedminster, and married Catharine Hunt, daughter of Colonel Stephen Hunt. Peter, the third son of Captain Sutphen and father of the subject of this sketch, married, first, Mary Melick, who was born in the "Old Stone House." Their issue were Dr. P. Theodore, a prominent physician of Bedminster township, and William P., who represented the First district of Somerset county in the Legislature of 1874 and 1875. Peter married for his second wife Sarah Smith. of whom Dr. Joseph S. Sutphen, of Newark, New Jersey, and Arthur P. are now the living children. Arthur P. was born in Bedminster township, October 3d, 1841. He married Hannah V. Potter, and they have living William R., Jennie P., Sarah Louise and Samuel P., all residing in Somerville, New Jersey. Mr. Sutphen was elected a Justice of the Peace in the spring of 1875, and has continued in office ever since. He has been Clerk of the Board of Chosen Freeholders for eighteen years, is Secretary of the Somerset County Bible Society, and has held numerous local offices. He is a member of the Holland Society, Sons of the American Revolution and the New Jersey Memorial Society.
JOHN ZELLER was born in New York City, December 16th, 1855. At the age of five years his family removed to North Bergen, and there young Zeller was educated. In 1872 he removed to Guttenberg, where he has ever since resided. He virtually grew up with that town, and has been identified with its public affairs since 1883. In that year he was made Assessor ARTHUR P. SUTPHEN. of the town of Guttenberg, to which office he was re-elected, serving until 1886. He was for three consecutive terms, a period of six years, a member of the Board of Council. Hc was elected to the Assembly of 1893 from the Eleventh Assembly district. That district was then composed of the townships of North Bergen and Union, the towns of West Hoboken, Guttenberg and Union and the North district of the township of Wechawken. Of the total vote cast (3,636) he received 2,170. He served on the Committees on Boroughs and Borough
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Commissions, Incidental Expenses, Lunatic Asylums and Federal Relations. He was again the Democratic candidate for the Assembly in the following year and was re-elected by a plurality of 1,089. He served as Chairman of the Committee on Boroughs and Borough Commissions, and on the Committees on Incidental Expenses and Towns and Town- ships. Mr. Zeller has held since 1894 the official position of Sergeant-at-Arms at the Jersey City Court House.
JOHN B. VREELAND was born in Newark, New Jersey, December 30th, 1852, and was educated in the public and high schools of that city. Upon completing his education he re- moved to Morristown, New Jersey, his present place of resi- dence. In 1870 he began the study of law in the office of Frederick G. Burnham, and afterward with the late Col. F. A. De Mott. He was admitted to the bar as an attorney and solicitor in Chancery in November, 1875, and as a counselor in June, 1879, and has long held a high rank at the bar of Morris county. He was appointed by Chancellor McGill, in 1892, a Special Master in Chancery.
In 1895 he was elected, on the Republican ticket, State Senator for Morris county, by a plurality of 1,526 JOHN ZELLER. votes, for the three-year term. He served as Chairman of the Committees on Revision of Laws and Unfinished Business, and as a member of the Committees on Finance, Education and Miscellaneous Business. Senator Vreeland has served as Deputy County Clerk and Prosecutor of the Pleas of Morris county, and as City Counsel of Morristown, and is promi- nently identified with the leading interests of his town. He is a man of deep religious tendencies, and is a leading and influential member of the South Street Presbyterian Church, of Morristown.
ROBERT E. HAND was born in Erma, Cape May county, June 28th, 1854. He was JOHN B. VREELAND. educated at the public schools, and still resides in his native town, where, by his more than ordinary business ability, he has built up an extensive business and has large property interests. He is engaged in oyster planting and gen- eral contracting. He owns many acres of valuable timber lands, from which he cuts railroad ties, piling, poles, &c., in great quantity, employing more labor than any other man in the county. He was for twelve years district clerk of the local Board of Education, and was an active and influential member of the Board of Freeholders from 1887 to 1892. In the latter year he was elected Sheriff after one of the most memorable campaigns in the history of Cape May county. Mr. Hand was a delegate to the National Republican Conven- tion held at St. Louis June 16th, 1896. In local and State political affairs he has ever taken a decided interest and each campaign has found him ardently espousing his party's plat- ROBERT E. HAND. form. He was elected to the Assembly of 1897 by a plurality of 469 votes over Roden, the highest candidate on the Democratic ticket. He served on the Committee on Boroughs and Borough Commissions.
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WILLIAM M. JOHNSON, son of Hon. Whitfield S. (Secretary of State from 1861 to 1866), and Ellen (Green) Jolinson, was born in Newton, Sussex county, New Jersey, December 2d, 1847. He received his preparatory education in the Newton Collegiate Institute and the State Model School at Trenton, to which latter city he removed in 1862. Graduating from Princeton College in 1867, he read law with the Hon. Edward W. Scudder, of Trenton, until the latter's appointment to the bench, and subsequently with G. D. W. Vroom, of the same city. He was admitted to the bar as an attorney in June, 1870, and as a counselor in June, 1873. He was a member of the law firm of Kingman & Johnson until 1874, when he removed to Hackensack, where he has since resided. His practice is extensive and he is deservedly recognized as one of the ablest lawyers in the State. In 1884 he was a member of the Republican State Committee and was a district delegate to the Republican National Convention at Chicago in 18SS. He was the first Republican Senator ever elected in Bergen county, carrying that county in 1895 by a plurality of 1,119. His entire legislative career was markedly prominent. Ile was a member of the most important committees, and served as Chairman of the Committees on Judiciary and on Appropriations. He was active in his efforts to secure certain needed amendments to the Constitution of the State, and his WILLIAM M. JOHNSON. masterly defense of his plan to change the judicial system formed the most conspicuous feature of the session of 1897. Senator Johnson is prominently connected with many business enterprises. He is a director of the Hackensack Bank, and holds an official position in several other corporations. He has been a School Trustee and a member of the Hackensack Improvement Commission.
WILLIAM J. KEYS was born at Dobbs Ferry, New York, April 13th, 1838. His father was one of the original builders of the old Hudson River railroad. At the age of thirteen the present Senator found employment in New York City, where he remained for a number of years. He was an active member of the old Volunteer Fire Department, and served for eleven years. During the war Mr. Keys, through the recommendation of Hon. Horatio Seymour and General John A. Dix, was awarded the contract for hauling and delivering the supplies, provisions, &c., for the Eastern Depart- ment. Chester A. Arthur then had charge of that department, and Mr. Keys was brought in close contact with the late President and a strong friendship was formed, which lasted until President Arthur's death. Mr. Keys' contract was a big one, and during those exciting days he had his hands full. It was during the draft riots that the greatest trouble was experienced, and the contractor had much difficulty in getting drivers for the wagons to deliver rations to the hungry soldiers stationed in and about New York City, as it was almost worth one's life to ride the streets in the interest of the government. On one particular afternoon, during a riot, an attempt was made to blow up the gas-house at the foot of East Twenty-first street, and a large body of soldiers was stationed at the arsenal on Seventh avenue, between Thirty-fifth and Thirty-sixth streets, in readiness to be called out at any time. A requisition was sent to the Battery Barracks for cooked rations to be delivered at the arsenal. The streets were lined with angry men, and not a driver would venture out with a team. The only way the rations could be delivered was for Contractor Keys himself to drive, and this he did. He ordered the best team hitched to a loaded truck, and, mounting it, he started out. Going up Greenwich street he was assailed from every side with stones, bricks and other missiles, and several shots were fired, but undaunted he urged on the team, and reached the hungry soldiers in safety, except for a few cuts about the head. On another occasion he made a similar trip to General Dix's headquarters, at the old St. Nicholas Hotel on Broadway. He was again attacked by a mob, but being recognized by some members of the fire department, they came to his rescue, declaring that "Bill' Keys should not be molested." He drove up to General Dix's headquarters in triumph, and received the thanks of that General and General Lew Wallace and others. Perhaps no man living, except Mr. Keys, can say that he stabled his horses in City Hall Park, on the very ground now occupied by the post-office. The government granted him that privilege during the
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early days of the war. Early in life he was engaged in the produce business in the old Washington Market, and later became connected with the Citizens' Steamboat Line, of Troy, and still has an interest in that and other lines. He also carried on a large livery business in the city. He has always been a staunch Democrat, and was a warm personal friend and a great admirer of Samuel J. Tilden. While in New York he took an active part in politics and was a member of Tammany. Always wanting to live on a farm, when the late Senator R. H. Veghte, of Somerville, who was his intimate friend, advised him to purchase a farm at South Branch, he did not ponder over the matter, but closed the bargain, and became a Somerset county farmer. He did not attempt to become conspicuous in Somerset politics, but it seems Somerset county Democrats know a good man when they see one, and in 1890, when that party was at sea for a winning candidate for Senator, on the very morning of the convention Mr. Keys' name was suggested, and the convention nominated him on the first ballot. The campaign was a very lively one, and Charles A. Reed, a young lawyer, was his opponent. It will be remembered that the Republican Executive Committee, in order to induce the voters to believe that to vote for Keys would be throwing their votes away, circulated on the very afternoon before election handbills and posters setting forth that Mr. Keys was not eligible to the office, not having lived, as they stated, in the county and State for the required number of years. With only a few hours in which to procure evidence to prove such statements untrue, Mr. Keys set about, and by morning the county was flooded with posters and such, denying the charge. This proved a boomerang for the Republicans, and Keys was elected by 394 plurality, in a county naturally Republican, and which had not sent a Democrat to the Senate in many years. The Senator's career as a legislator fully justified the expectation of his constituents. He served as Chairman of the Committees on Railroads and Canals and Commerce and Navigation and as a member of other committees of prominence.
CORNELIUS A. CADMUS was born in Saddle River township, Bergen county, New Jersey, October 7th, 1844, and after a common school education entered into mercantile business in New York City, where for a number of years he was a prominent produce merchant. He took up his residence in Paterson when young, and has always been identified with the progress of the city. He is now engaged in the grain and produce business. In 1883 he was induced to accept the Democratic nomination for the Assembly in the Third district of Passaic county, a district which had always given a large Republican majority. Such was his popularity that he easily overcame the Repub- lican majority and defeated a popular antagonist. After serving one term in the Assembly, he declined a renomination, which had been unanimously tendered him. In 1887 he was again induced to enter the political field, and accepted the Democratic nomination for Sheriff of Passaic county. The county had elected a Republican Sheriff three years before by over 2,000 majority, and had since that time given large majorities against the Democrats. On the part of any other person the acceptance of the nomination would have been foolhardy, especially as the Republicans were almost unanimous in the selection of their candidate. But Mr. Cadmus not only overcame the odds against him, but was elected by a majority of 1,885. Again he entered the field, as a candidate for Congress, in 1890, and was elected by a majority of 1,356 over a strong competitor in a district which two years before had returned a Republican by a plurality of 1,072. In 1892 he was re-elected to Congress over Henry Doherty, Republican, of Paterson, by a plurality of 1, 462.
PETER L. HUGHES was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, November 25th, 1857. He is a manu- facturer of boilers and a steam and gas fitter. Formerly he was a shipping clerk and boilermaker. He moved from Plainfield to Elizabeth at an early age, and received a common school education at St. Patrick's Parochial School, in the latter city. He entered the employment of William A. Morrell as a coal shipping clerk, at Port Johnston, and subsequently the New Jersey Central railroad as a boilermaker's apprentice, at their shops in Elizabeth. After eight years' service with that company he formed a co-partnership with Martin Kenely for the manufacture of boilers and as steam and gas fitters. Mr. Hughes still conducts that business, under his own name, and is recog- nized as one of the leading houses in his line in this State. He has been a conspicuous figure in local politics, and enjoys a large social and fraternal acquaintance. He was twice elected to the House of Assembly, serving at the sessions of 1885 and 1886. He was a member of the Com- mittees on Lunatic Asylums, Federal Relations and Engrossed Bills.
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SAMUEL BULLOCK was born at Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, on May 6th, 1863. He has resided in Paterson, New Jersey, for the past seventeen years. By occupation he is a silk twister, and has worked in various branches of the silk industry for over twenty years. In 1893 he ran for the Assembly in the old Second district of Passaic county, and was defeated by a plurality of 322. In the following November he carried Passaic county by a plurality of 3,193, his total vote being 10,517. In the House he served on the Committees on Labor and Industries and Miscellaneous Business. He was returned to the Assembly of 1896, running as an Independent, endorsed by the Democrats, by a plurality of 182 over Cox, the Republican candidate. He made an earnest fight for the bills favoring low fares on street railways, cheaper bread, semi-monthly payment of wages and kindred measures during his two terms.
ALLAN BENNY, of Bayonne, New Jersey, son of Robert and Agnes Benny, was born in Brooklyn, New York, July 12th, 1867. He was educated in the public schools of Bayonne, New Jersey, where he read law in the offices of Clemens & Benny, Hudspeth & Benny and James Benny, and was admitted to the New Jersey bar in February, 1889. Since then he has been in active practice in Bayonne. He served as a member of the Bayonne Common Council one term, or two years, and was a candidate for re-election. The counting of the votes showed a tie, one bearing only the name " Benny " being thrown out. Mr. Benny contested this action, claiming that that vote was intended and should be counted for him, and the case, argued before Judge Job H. Lippincott, resulted in the decision that he was not a citizen of the United States, because of the fact that his father, at the time of Allan Benny's birth, was not naturalized. The ease was carried to the Supreme Court, which reversed the decision, thus establishing the precedent as to what constituted citizenship. This is the only case of the kind on record in New Jersey, and probably in the United States, and is reported in 29 Vroom 36. Mr. Benny was elected to the New Jersey Assembly of 1898 by a plurality of 8, 623 votes over Mr. Lees, the highest candidate on the Republican ticket. He was one of the most aggressive and conspicuous members of that session of the House, and was mainly instrumental in having passed several important bills largely affecting the interests of his locality and of Hudson county generally. Mr. Benny was married in November, 1888, to Catharine W. Warren, of Pater- son, New Jersey.
ALVIN C. EBIE was born at Canton, Ohio, July 24th, 1864, and is a commercial traveler. Formerly he was a bookkeeper and cashier. He was a teacher in the public schools of Stark county, Ohio, from 1882 to 1886, when he came to Newark and took a course in Coleman's Business College. After finishing this he was employed as a teacher there until 1888, when he became a clerk in the freight department of the Central Railroad of New Jersey. In 1890 he accepted a situation as cashier and bookkeeper with the Standard Oil Company, and is now on the road for that company. Mr. Ebie has known President Mckinley from boyhood. He is Chairman of the Tenth Ward Executive Committee of Newark, a member of the Essex County Republican Committee and Presi- dent of the Tenth Ward Republican Club, of Newark. During the Presidential campaign of 1892 he was Chairman of his Ward Committee. He is a member of Pythagoras Lodge, No. 118, F. and A. M .; Apollo Lodge, No. 135, I. O. O. F .; America Lodge, No. 143, K. of P .; Corinthian Council, No. 644, Royal Arcanum, and also a member and auditor of the New Jersey Building and Loan Association. In 1896 he was elected to the Legislature by the handsome plurality of 21,373. He did not solicit the nomination, and only consented to accept it after his many friends in his ward had urged him a long time and promised him a solid delegation at the convention, which they gave him. He was re elected by a plurality of 6,925 over Osborne, the highest candidate on the Democratic ticket.
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