USA > New Jersey > Union County > History of Union County, New Jersey > Part 12
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An allegorical representation of Columbia, the capitol at Wash- ington, the Emancipation Proclamation, the battle of Cherubusco, Washington crossing the Delaware, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers, and the landing of
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Columbus are the subjects of bas-reliefs, bronze medallions, surround- ing the centre of the shield. Portraits of Longfellow, Morse, Grant, Lincoln, Jefferson, Franklin, Garfield, and Washington are also worked in bronze.
Eight small shields bear the names and populations of the eight largest cities in the country.
Dr. Coles and his sister, Miss E. S. Coles, subsequently gave to the Newark Public Library, from the estate of their father, the statue of Benjamin Franklin and his whistle, executed in Carrara marble by Pasquale Romanelli. It was made in Italy, in 1863, and attracted much attention at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876.
It stands on a carved pedestal of dark marble. The figure is exquisitely graceful, and the execution shows the highest technical power. The conception is based on the incident described by Franklin himself, in a letter written to a friend in Philadelphia, in November, 1779.
"When I was a child," he wrote, "seven years old, my friends, on a holiday, filled my pockets with coppers. I went directly to a shop where they sold toys for children, and being charmed with the sound of a whistle that I met by the way in the hands of another boy, I voluntarily offered and gave all my money for one. I then came home and went whistling all over the house, much pleased with my whistle, but disturbing all the family. My brothers and sisters and cousins, understanding the bargain I had made, told me I had given four times as much for it as it was worth, put me in mind what good things I might have bought with the rest of the money, and laughed at me so much for my folly that I cried with vexation, and the reflection gave me more chagrin than the whistle gave me pleasure.
"This, however, was afterwards of use to me, the impression continuing on my mind so that often when I was tempted to buy some unnecessary thing I said to myself, 'Don't give too much for the whistle,' and I saved my money.
"As I grew up, came into the world, and observed the actions of men, I thought I met with many, very many, who gave too much for the whistle. * * In short, I conceive that great part of the mis- eries of mankind are brought upon them by the false estimates they have made of the value of things, and by giving too much for their whistles."
FRANKLIN AND HIS WHISTLE
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The New York Tribune, April 20, 1897, says : " The Newark Free Library, which is soon to occupy a new and handsome building, to be erected this year on a site selected, facing Washington Park, in Newark, has begun to receive gifts from citizens of wealth and culture. Yesterday the library trustees received, and placed in the library, two beautiful life-size medallions in high relief. Accompanying the gift was the following letter from the donor :
Prominent among the art treasures in the marble palace of the late A. T. Stewart, on Fifth avenue and Thirty-fourth street, in New York city, were two pieces of statuary, designated " Sappho " and " First Love," by the well known American sculptor, Richard Hamilton Park. Visitors to the Metropolitan Museum of Art will also remember this artist's beautiful memorial of marble and bronze, in " The Poet's Corner," to the memory of Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849).
Two other works, to some fully as interesting, and to many, perhaps, more fasci- nating, are his two beautiful life-size medallions, in Cararra marble, portraying in high relief the profiles of two little girls, appropriately designated, "Evening" and "Morning." The countenance of the one, as attractive as an evening sunset, bears the impress of weariness, attendant upon the close of a well spent day ; while that of the other, bright and joyous, after refreshing sleep, is equally suggestive of early sunrise and the singing of birds.
All who love children and their innocent pleasures will find in these two medallions much to admire, and it is, therefore, with a feeling of confidence and pleasure that I, presuming upon your acceptance of the same, have ordered theni, with their elegantly carved frames and pedestals, costing, originally, in Florence, Italy, about eight hundred dollars, to be sent this day as gifts to the Free Public Library of Newark, believing that visitors thereto will find in them additional incentives to the cultivation of the refined and beautiful in art.
Sincerely and respectfully yours,
Newark, April 19, 1897.
J. ACKERMAN COLES.
"A letter sent to-day," says the Newark Daily Advertiser, "by Dr. J. Ackerman Coles, to Principal Edmund O. Hovey, of the High School, announces the writer's gift to the school of an elaborate copper- bronze globe. A hint is also given of another gift for the new High School.
"Here is the text of the letter :
" My Dear Sir :- I am in receipt of your courteous letter, in which you kindly refer to the time when the late Dr. Abraham Coles, my father, was, for a number of years, a member of the board of education, chairman of the normal-school committee, and ever active in advancing the varied interests of the public schools of Newark.
"I appreciate your appreciation of the addresses you mention as made by him, in presenting to the president of the board of education, for graduation, the classes of 1872, 1873 and 1874.
"You, moreover, suggest the propriety of my giving something in bronze to remind the one thousand two hundred and four bright and intelligent boys and girls now in the high school, of the interest taken by Dr. Coles in the education of their parents, and in them, their successors.
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"Your letter reached me at an opportune moment, soon after the arrival at my office of a box, not yet opened, containing a large copper- bronze globe, with its stand, which I had been successful in obtaining as an intended gift for the new High School of Newark.
"This globe is a model of the earth, and is remarkably interesting as representing, as it were, a survey of the bottom of the sea, of the lakes and of the rivers. It also shows the comparative heights of the mountains and the depths of the valleys on land. It shows us what every man, woman and child has always been curious to know, viz .: How the bottom of the sea looks. Here we see the cause of the different currents, and the results of volcanic eruptions beneath the ocean's bed. It is interesting to note and compare the oceanic levels, also the sudden and gradual depressions, and the varied elevations of the two hemispheres.
"No school in New York city, nor in New Jersey, I am informed, has such a model of the earth, and it was, in a measure, due to my desire that the metropolis of New Jersey should continue to lead in educational matters, that caused me to purchase the same as a gift for its High School. When you get into your new fire-proof building, it may be my privilege and pleasure to donate something else. When agreeable to the board of education, I will send the bronze globe and its pedestal, and locate them where you desire."
" Another acceptable gift to the Newark Free Public Library," says the New York Tribune, "is announced in the following letter : "
Gentlemen,-Of the more than seven hundred sculptures in marble that line the walls of the Museo Chiaramonti, of the Vatican, at Rome, Italy, there is, probably, no one that receives more attention from, or is better remembered by visitors, thau the one known as the " Bust of Young Augustus," found at Ostia, A. D. 1808.
A beautiful life-size copy of this celebrated work, I was so fortunate as to discover a few days ago in the store of an importer, in New York city. Knowing the rarity and value of the bust, it being made of the finest Carrara marble, and of the same size aud finish as the original, I immediately purchased it, with a suitable marble pedestal, as a gift to the Free Public Library, of Newark, where, anticipating your acceptance of the same, it, with its pedestal, will probably arrive to-morrow. With great respect, I have the honor to be
Yours truly,
J. ACKERMAN COLES.
The trustees subsequently acknowledged the receipt of and accept- ance of the gift :
"To the New Jersey Historical Society," says the New York Commercial Advertiser, "for the erection thereon of a suitable fire- proof building, Dr. J. A. Coles has offered to give either one of two valuable plots of land in the city of Newark, fronting on and over- looking the Branch Brook Park. One plot is near its Sixth avenue entrance, with a frontage of fifty feet on the park, thence running back two hundred feet, to Fifth street, with a front thereon of fifty feet. The other plot is at the Boulevard entrance, and has a frontage
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of one hundred and twelve feet on the park, and fifty feet on Fifth avenue."
The Boston Evening Transcript, April 2, 1897, announced the gift, by Dr. J. Ackerman Coles, to the state of New Jersey, of Daniel Huntington's famous life-size painting, "The Good Samaritan," concerning which Harper's Weekly remarked : "New Jersey will get an admirable painting in memory of the late Dr. Abraham Coles, a good and distinguished citizen."
Following is a copy of the printed correspondence relating to the gift :
TO THE HON. JOHN W. GRIGGS, LL. D., GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY.
Dear Sir,-I am now the owner of the celebrated oil painting known as "The Good Samaritan," by our distinguished American artist, Daniel Huntington. The picture, with its frame, measures about nine feet in width by eleven feet in height, the principal figures being life size. It was executed by Daniel Huntington, in his studio, in Paris, France, in the years 1852-3, in fulfillment of an order given him by the late Marshall O. Roberts, Esq., of New York city. The choosing of a subject having been left with Mr. Huntington, he selected the pictorial illustration or interpretation of the second great commandment of the law : "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." That he succeeded in his effort has been conceded by critics, for here, with wonderful skill, is vividly portrayed the arrival at the inn, the sympathetic interest of the host, hostess and guests and the respectful attention given to the orders of "The Good Samaritan."
Mr. Huntington informs me that while engaged on this painting he was visited in his studio by Paul Delaroche, the emiuent historical painter of France, who took a deep interest in the progress of his work, and by friendly suggestions as to detail, color, etc., rendered him much assistance, a circumstance which adds immensely to the value of this picture, as it may be regarded as the joint work of these two great master minds. After its completion, requiring several mouths, it was, after attracting much attention in Paris, sent to this country, exhibited at the National Academy, then on Broadway, also at Mr. Roberts' private gallery on Fifth avenue, aud formed one of the chief attractions at the Sanitary Fair Exhibition of Paintings, held in Fourteenth street, New York city, during the late civil war.
Mr. Huntington, having learned that I contemplated giving this painting, through you, to the people of New Jersey, wrote to me a few weeks ago, suggesting that I should first send the canvas to his studio in New York city, and leave it with him for a month, in order that he might retouch and restore any injuries done by the hand of time. This I have done. I have also had its artistic and beautiful frame relaid with the best of gold leaf.
Upon receipt of word from yon that, as a gift, the painting will be acceptable to the state, I will, as soon as practicable, at my own expense, send it to Trenton, and have it hung in the place deemed most suitable for its reception in the capitol, a building asso- ciated with pleasant meetings therein of my father, the late Abraham Coles, A. M., M. D., Ph. D., LL. D., with his friends, some of whom are still living, while the portraits of others adorn its walls. It is with special pride I recall the recorded words of the late Governor Daniel Haines, and those of the late Henry Woodhull Green, chief justice and chancellor, who, in referring to the life and writings of Dr. Abraham Coles, affirm that "to him the world owes a debt of gratitude for his labor and research, which redound to the honor of our state." Awaiting your reply, I am, with great respect,
Yours sincerely,
J. ACKERMAN COLES.
NEWARK, N. J., March 29, 1897.
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Governor Griggs' reply is as follows :
STATE OF NEW JERSEY, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.
TRENTON, March 30, 1897.
DR. J. ACKERMAN COLES.
My Dear Sir,-I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your esteemed favor of the 29th inst., tendering to the state of New Jersey the painting known as "The Good Samaritan." I assure you nothing would delight me more than to accept at your hands such a valuable gift on behalf of the people of the state. The picture will be accorded the best hanging that can be selected for it in the state house, and I will have an engraved plate, if it meets your pleasure, placed upon it, giving the name of the generous donor. Permit me to say that your generosity and goodness to your native state are deserving of the highest appreciation on behalf of the people, and when the picture shall have been received, I hope to express to you in a more formal way, the thanks and gratitude of the executive for your generous donation.
Whenever it shall suit your convenience to forward the picture, it will be received and cared for with all the consideration that it deserves. Very sincerely yours,
JOHN W. GRIGGS, Governor.
A special to the New York Sun, dated Trenton, New Jersey, June II, 1897, says : " Daniel Huntington's painting, 'The Good Samar- itan,' was received at the capitol this morning.
"The painting is nine by eleven feet, so large that it could not be put in a freight car. It was brought here from Newark on a large truck, which started from Newark yesterday morning. A brass plate at the bottom of the frame bears this inscription : 'A gift to the people of New Jersey, in memory of Abraham Coles, A. M., M. D., Ph. D., LL. D.,' and this quotation, from one of Dr. Coles' works : ‘We can weigh actions better than we can motives. The hand of Omniscience needs to hold the scales when hearts are to be judged.' "
"The painting was hung," says the Home Journal (New York), "in the state house, opposite the front stairway."
On January 9, 1897, Dr. Coles received an engrossed copy of a resolution which read as follows :
"The Trustees of Columbia College, in the city of New York.
"At a meeting of the Trustees of Columbia College, held at the college on Monday, the fourth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven, the following action was taken :
"EXTRACT FROM THE MINUTES.
"Resolved : That the thanks of the Trustees be tendered to Dr. J. Ackerman Coles for his most welcome and valuable gift to the University of several bronze busts, handsomely and appropriately mounted.
"I. A copy of the Olympian Zeus, by Phidias.
"2. A copy of the bust of Plato, found in the house of the Papyri, Herculaneum.
"3. A copy of the Hermes of Praxiteles, found in the Temple of Hera, in Olympia.
" A true copy.
[SEAL. ]
"JOHN B. PINE, Clerk."
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Previous to the receipt of the above Dr. Coles had received a personal note, from President Seth Low, which read as follows :
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
President's Room, December 16, 1896.
MY DEAR DR. COLES :
I have just seen the bronzes in the library. They are beautiful, and I am very sure they will be accepted with gratitude. I had the pleasure of telling the Alumni last evening of your generosity, and in due time you will receive the formal thanks of the Trustees. The Alumni received the announcement with applause.
Yours faithfully, SETH Low, President.
On June 29, 1897, to Dr. Coles was sent the following, also beautifully engrossed :
"The Trustees of Columbia College, in the city of New York.
"At a meeting of the Trustees of Columbia College, in the city of New York, held at the college on Monday, the seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven, the following action was taken :
"EXTRACT FROM THE MINUTES.
" Resolved : That the thanks of the Trustees be tendered to Dr. J. Ackerman Coles, for his gift to the University of an heroic-size marble bust of the Parthenon Minerva, with its pedestal, bearing a bronze medallion portrait of Pericles, and also of an heroic bronze bust of Homer, a copy of the one in the Louvre which he has had cast especially for the University library building.
" A true copy.
[SEAL. ]
"JOHN B. PINE, Clerk."
The bust copy of the Parthenon Minerva was given by Dr. Coles, as executor of his father's estate; it was executed at Athens, Greece, by a native sculptor, L. Droses, for, and exhibited at, the Centennial celebration at Philadelphia, in 1876, where it attracted much attention, and was subsequently secured by Tiffany & Co. for the estate of the late Dr. Abraham Coles.
Since their father's death Dr. J. Ackerman Coles and his sister, Miss Emilie S. Coles, a successful writer of prose and verse, have given from his personal estate many valuable works of art to the various universities and institutions of learning, in which, during his lifetime, he was interested.
"To Princeton University," says the New York Observer, "Dr. Coles and his sister have given, with its marble pedestal, the magnifi- cent life-size marble statue of 'Nydia,' made of the best Cararra marble, by Randolph Rogers, in Rome, Italy, in 1856. Several copies of it were subsequently made. One was at the Centennial Exposition, and another in A. T. Stewart's collection. The one given to Princeton is
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the original. To this idealization of the blind girl of Pompeii is attributed the foundation of Rogers' fame as an artist and sculptor, securing for him the commission to design (1858) the bronze doors for the capitol at Washington, D. C., and to finish the Washington monument at Richmond, Virginia (1861)."
"The original statue of Nydia," says the American Register, Paris, France, "was given to Princeton University in appreciation of the mutual regard which for more than fifty years existed between the trustees, faculty and instructors of the College of New Jersey and the late Abraham Coles, A. M., M. D., Ph. D., LL. D."
From the president of the university the donors received the following acknowledgement :
PRINCETON, N. J., August 3, 1886.
MISS EMILIE S. COLES AND DR. J. ACKERMAN COLES,
Deerhurst, Scotch Plains, N. J.
MY DEAR FRIENDS :
At the meeting of the board of trustees of the College of New Jersey, held during commencement week, in June last, I had the pleasure of reporting to them that I had received, in behalf of the college, from you, the beautiful marble statue of Nydia, which you so kindly presented to the college out of the estate of your father, the late Dr. Abraham Coles.
The gift was very gratefully received by the trustees, and I was requested, in their behalf, to write to you expressing the very cordial thanks of the trustees for the beautiful statue which now adorns the Museum of Historic Art.
I have great pleasure in discharging the duty assigned to me by the trustees. Nydia will always be associated in our minds with the memory of your gifted father, and I venture to hope that the common interest which you and we have in this masterpiece of the sculptor's art will constitute a strong bond between you and Princeton University.
I trust that we may have the pleasure of seeing you at Princeton sometimes, and I beg to assure you that whenever you will honor us with a visit you will find a most cordial welcome in our home from Mrs. Patton and myself.
I am, very sincerely,
FRANCIS S. PATTON.
The Chicago Evening Post says, -" Princeton has a new and novel mascot. It was given to the college at the sesquicentennial celebration. It is an American tiger or jaguar, known for its great strength and fighting qualities. The specimen is an especially large one, being the one P. T. Barnumn had in his museum in New York. After its death it was stuffed, and figured in the procession celebrating the laying of the Atlantic cable. It also appeared at the Old Guards' ball in New York and at other festivities in that city. It has been handsomely fitted up by the person who gave it, and is now in the biological laboratory, from which it will be removed when other quarters are provided for it. The donor is Dr. J. Ackerman Coles, of Newark, N. J."
Prof. William Libbey, secretary of the committee on reception and entertainment, sesquicentennial exercises, College of New Jersey, wrote to Dr. Coles, October 16, 1896 :
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"We will be very glad to accept the historic tiger, and use it upon the occasion of the torch-light procession. I telegraphed you in order that there might be no delay in getting the animal packed 11p, so as to reach us in time. Permit me, on the part of the college, to thank you most cordially for this indication of your interest.
"Yours very truly, "WILLIAM LIBBEY, Secretary."
The tiger was carefully cased and sent under special guard to Professor Libbey. Extra precaution was deemed necessary to prevent its going to some other college. It took part in the procession, and Princeton has known no defeat at ball since its arrival on the campus.
From Ainsworth Rand Spofford, LL. D., the Librarian of Congress, Dr. J. A. Coles has received the following letter :
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, D. C.
DEAR SIR :
I have your much esteemed favor, proffering, as a gift to the congressional library, a life-size bronze bust, to be preserved in the new library building, in memory of your father. This generous offer is fully appreciated, and will be communicated to the joint committee of both houses of congress on the library when organized. Meanwhile I am authorized to receive the gift to be assigned an honorable and appropriate place in the new building of the library of congress, now completed.
Permit me to express my high sense of the literary value of Dr. Abraham Coles' fine translations of Latin medieval hymns and other works.
Very respectfully,
J. ACKERMAN COLES, M. D. Newark, N. J.
A. R. SPOFFORD, Librarian of Congress.
The University of Chicago was made the recipient of the bronze mentioned in the following correspondence.
To the president, William Rainey Harper, Ph. D., D. D., LL. D .; Dr. Coles wrote :
"Belonging to the estate of the late Abraham Coles, A. M., M. D., Ph. D., LL. D., my father, is a bust of Homer, of the best quality of bronze. It is of heroic size, and was cast for Messrs. Tiffany & Co., of New York city, at the celebrated foundry of Barbedienne, Paris, France. This, with its imported marble pedestal, I, as executor of my father's estate, my sister, Emilie S. Coles, cordially concurring, now offer as a gift to the University of Chicago, and upon notification that the saine will be acceptable to its board of trustees, I will send them thither by express, with all charges prepaid.
"I have just re-read in the magazine entitled 'The Old Testament Student with New Testament Supplement,' edited by yourself, your kind critical review of the 'New Rendering of the Hebrew Psalms into English Verse,' by Abraham Coles, a work which, I learn, has found its way into the university libraries of Oxford and Cambridge, England, and also into some of those on the continent of Europe, eliciting an endorse-
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ment of the criticisms uttered by yourself, while professor of the Semitic languages and Biblical literature at Yale University."
President Harper's reply is as follows :
"I wish to assure you of the appreciation of the university of the courtesy and kindness of yourself and sister in presenting to the university the bronze bust of Homer, with its marble pedestal. I cannot think of any gift which we would appreciate more, and I am very much pleased, indeed, that we may thus perpetuate the memory of your father in connection with the university. The boxes containing them may be addressed directly to me, in care of the university, and I will make the proper presentation to the trustees, and they will then acknowledge the gift officially. I am very much disappointed that I did not have the pleasure of meeting you at the Princeton sesquicentennial."
THE FLOWER GARDEN AT DEERHURST
The New York Tribune, in speaking of Harvard University, says : "Dr. J. Ackerman Coles, of Newark, whose gifts of valuable art objects to educational and public bodies have been generous, and who lately gave to the Chicago University a heroic bronze bust of Homer, has just presented to Harvard University a life-size bronze bust of Socrates. The bronze is part of the estate of the late Dr. Abraham Coles, of Newark, a well known classical scholar and author. It was made by Barbedienne, in France, for Tiffany & Co. The donor, in giving the bronze to Harvard, said that he desired it to be a reminder of the friendly relations that existed between his father and the officers, professors and graduates of Harvard, especially President Thomas Hill, Henry Wadsworth Long-
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