USA > New Jersey > Union County > History of Union County, New Jersey > Part 14
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67
The correspondence carried on between yourself and my father, relative to the latter's "unequaled translations" of the "Dies Irae," has suggested the seemingly eminent propriety of giving to Trinity the bust of " that great composer by whose means this immortal poem has come to be worthily wedded to immortal music."
As a graduate of Columbia, I am personally gratified in knowing that my alma mater honored herself in honoring you, in 1851, with the degree of LL. D. Upon notifi- cation that the proffered gifts will be acceptable to the trustees of Trinity College, I will have the bust and its pedestal boxed by Messrs. Tiffany & Company, and sent as you may direct, by express, all charges prepaid. Awaiting your reply, I am, with great respect, Yours sincerely,
J. ACKERMAN COLES, Executor.
Replying to Dr. Coles, Ralph Birdsall, secretary to the Bishop, under date of August 7th, says:
" Bishop Williams thanks you very much for your kind proposi- tion, and when the fall term begins at Trinity College he will send notification, that proper action may be taken in the premises. It would be best not to send the bust until then, as there would be no one to receive it."
Under a later date George Williamson Smith, D. D., LL. D., president of Trinity College, writes to Dr. Coles, as follows:
"A letter just received from Bishop Williams informs me of your kind offer to present to Trinity College 'a life-size bronze bust of
113
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
Mozart ' from the estate of your father, the late Dr. Abraham Coles. We shall be very glad to have such a valuable addition to our rather meagre collection of objects of art, and place it in Alumni Hall, where the portraits of benefactors and presidents are hung."
September 23d, Dr. Coles replied:
"In response to your kind and courteous note, I have ordered the bronze bust of Mozart, and its marble pedestal, to be boxed and sent to you this day, by express, all charges prepaid. I will be glad to know of their safe arrival in 'Alumni Hall,' Trinity College."
From Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, October 2, 1897, President Smith wrote :
"Dear Sir,-The boxes containing the bronze bust of Mozart and its marble pedestal have been opened and the work is placed in Alumni Hall, where it attracts attention and awakens great admiration. I beg leave to thank you in the name of the college, and will report the gift to the trustees at their next meeting."
The New York Observer says: "Dr. Coles has given princely gifts of art to public and educational institutions, but none more appropriate or better appreciated than his latest donation to the public, of a superb bronze bust of his distinguished father, the late Abraham Coles, physi- cian, poet, author and scientist, which, with its pedestal of historic and religious interest, was unveiled in Newark, July 5, 1897."
Some weeks after the unveiling the following "Tribute," by M. Winchester Adams, appeared in the Newark Daily Advertiser:
With thankfulness for the sweet hymns To comfort "all the days," And admiration in our hearts, Upon his face we gaze. He is not dead-no one is dead- Whose voice speaks through all time In adoration, faith and love In ev'ry clime.
The little children whom he loved, Stop oft to read the song,
"The Rock of Ages," wondrous words, So true and grand and strong.
It gives the weary pilgrim strength, "God's mercy standeth fast,"
His promises "from age to age " For aye shall last.
"Ever with Thee," what perfect faith Abounds throughout the hymn ;
No more of sorrow, night or fear, Or tears the eye to dim.
"I will comfort many, long years hence,- Whose lives have shadows gray,-
And they will breathe a prayer of thanks, As I, to-day.
8
114
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
DAVID MAGIE MILLER, M. D.,
was born May 21, 1858, in Newark, New Jersey, and died December 3, 1895, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He was the son of Lebbeus B. Miller, superintendent of the Singer Manufacturing Company. His early education was received in the Hasbrouck Institute, in Jersey City, the Betts Military Academy, at Stamford, Connecticut, and the Pingry School, of Elizabeth, where he was prepared for college. From the last named institution he entered Princeton' College, where he pursued a three-years course. Having chosen the practice of medicine as his profession, lie became a student in the College of Physicians and Sur- geons, in New York, graduating in 1883. He then filled the position of resident physician in the Elizabeth General Hospital and Dispensary until December 31st of that year, having been then appointed assistant house physician and surgeon at the Colored Home and Hospital, in New York, where he served one year, the last six months as house surgeonl.
December 1, 1884, Dr. Miller returned to Elizabeth, and was appointed upon the dispensary staff of the Elizabeth General Hospital, holding this office until 1886, when he became a visiting physician of the same institution. Two years later he was appointed a visiting surgeon of the hospital, which position he occupied until the day of his deatlı.
Since 1888 lie had been the attending physician of the Elizabeth Orphan Asylum. He also filled the offices of city physician, coroner of
1
-
. .
CHARLES H. STILLMAN, M. D.
115
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
Union county, and visiting physician of the county jail. He was a member of the District Medical Society of the county of Union, and of the Clinical Society of the Elizabeth General Hospital and Dispensary.
During these eleven years he was successful in establishing a large practice, and kept in the front rank of the profession, by reason of his thorough study and intimate knowledge of the modern improvements in medicine and surgery. He was also in quite a rare degree a mechan- ical genius, so that his opinion and advice were often of great value, especially to his colleagues upon the staff of the hospital. He was a man of noble character, with a warm heart and broad views in his various relations in life. While of a modest and retiring manner, he always had the courage of his convictions and never wavered in his loyalty to the right.
He was exceedingly fond of music and played skilfully on several instruments, the flute, on which he was an expert performer, being his favorite. He was a member of the Elizabeth Music Club, in which he took an active interest.
Dr. Miller was married September 17, 1890, to Miss Julia H. Carmichael. He is survived by her and one daughter, now five years of age.
CHARLES H. STILLMAN, M. D.,
of New England ancestry, was born at Schenectady, New York, January 25, 1817, his parents moving to New York state from Westerly, Rhode Island. He was a brother of Thomas B. Stillman, for many years the head of the Novelty Iron Works, of New York, and of W. J. Stillman, the well known art critic and London Times correspondent, whose resi- dence is in Europe. Dr. Stillman early showed excellent mental powers, and entered the sophomore class at Union College, where he was gradu- ated in 1835, at the age of fifteen years. He chose the medical profes- sion, and removed to New York, where for three years he was a student in the office of Dr. Delafield. He then entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons and was graduated therefrom in 1840. During the fol- lowing two years he was a physician in the New York Eastern Dispens- ary. In 1842 he established himself in his profession in Plainfield, New Jersey, where he continued to practice up to the time of his death, December 11, 1881.
He was married, in July, 1842, to Mary E. Starr, of Hamilton, New York. Settling in the city of Plainfield, at the age of twenty-five years, and taking at once an active part in public affairs, he filled a large place in the history of the town, outside of the circle into which he was called by his professional duties. As a physician and surgeon he always had a reputation for learning and skill, which placed him in the front rank of his profession and gave him a large practice. No one comes nearer to
116
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
the life of a people than a family physician, and a long experience of forty years in a growing community like Plainfield must bring a physi- cian so in contact with that life as to make him, in an unusual sense, part of its history. As a surgeon he was very skillful, and for many years acted in that capacity for the Central Railroad, and many, doubt- less, remember his steady hand as a practitioner in an operation.
While his professional labors made his name a household word in so many families of his time, the crowning work of Dr. Stillinan's life was the public-school system of Plainfield, which laid the foundation for all that has been done in New Jersey in this direction, and the public schools of Plainfield are still designated as "School District No. I," showing that they were the first to be founded under school laws which he was instrumental in establishing. His disinterested and unbroken service of thirty-four years in developing that system, and his services during all that time as school trustee and president of the board of edu- cation, have won for his memory a most profound regard. Plainfield's school was the first free school founded in the state of New Jersey, and there was not even a law on the statute books of the state to provide for raising money to found and carry on such a school. His first step was to procure the necessary legislation, and in this he met not only the difficulties which always meet one in attempting the passage of important laws, but he soon encountered the difficulties which are more stubborn, namely, those which come from the prejudices of the people. The project of a free school seemed to the citizens an innovation which ought not to be toler- ated, and this prejudice had to be combated. He secured at length the passage of a law appropriating one hundred dollars to carry on the school for one year, and the three hundred dollars which the state had appro- priated in past years for poor children was also secured, through his agency, for the school at Plainfield, making in all the sum of four hun- dred dollars to begin work. The offices of township superintendents were also established by this same law, and Dr. Stillinan was elected to that position. The school was founded August 16, 1847, but as there was no suitable building in which to hold it, application was made to the legislature and authority obtained to raise two thousand dollars for the purpose of building a school house and defraying other expenses. It was not easy to accomplish this work, for it was necessary, in order to have the law passed, to present to the legislature a petition from all the influential citizens of the community, many of whom were opposed to it, especially among the fariners. To these Dr. Stillinan appealed, and it was one of the most trying experiences of his life, for he found them opposed to the scheme, deeming it the absurdest of things to give free schooling to anybody, but fortunately he obtained enough names to secure the passage of the law, and the appropriation was made, with the result that by the following fall a frame building was erected, at the cor- ner of West Fourth and Union streets, (now Arlington avenue), where
JAMES S. GREEN, M. D.
117
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
the "Franklin " stands. Chosen, in 1847, as township superintendent of schools, Dr. Stillman held that office for twenty years, or until the office was abolished. He was then elected, under the law, as school trustee, and held that position until his death. The success of his life work is best seen in our public schools, but he also held many other positions of trust and confidence.
He was elected mayor of Plainfield in 1872 and served the city in that capacity two years. He was one of the founders of the City National Bank, and continued as a director until his death. He was a member of the Seventh Day Baptist church and served as trustee therein for many years.
Surviving him are a widow and four children, one daughter and three sons.
JAMES S. GREEN, M. D.
The subject of this sketch was, at the time of his death, and for many years prior thereto, one of the most prominent physicians and surgeons, not only of the city of Elizabeth, but of the state of New Jersey, his reputation, in fact, extending beyond the state; for he was regarded by the profession generally, as a high authority in surgery and in the general practice of medicine.
Dr. Green was born at Princeton, New Jersey, on July 22, 1829. He was a son of Hon. James S. Green, who was one of the most distinguished members of the New Jersey bar, reporter of the supreme- court decisions, published in his name, in 1831-6, and was United States district attorney under appointment from President Jackson, and was also professor of law in Princeton.
Dr. Green's grandfather was Rev. Ashbel Green, D. D., LL. D., a distinguished Presbyterian clergyman, and one of the presidents of Princeton College. His mother's maiden name was Isabella McCulloh.
He received a collegiate education at Princeton College, graduating in June, 1848. His taste leading him toward the medical profession, he became a student of medicine, under the direction of Dr. John Neill, of Philadelphia, and attended lectures at the University of Pennsylvania, medical department, from which he graduated with the degree of M. D., in April, 1851.
Twelve months prior to graduating he had been appointed resident physician of the Wills Hospital for Diseases of the Eye, Philadelphia. This position he retained for six months after receiving his degree.
In the winter of 1850-51 he was appointed assistant administrator of anatomy in the University of Pennsylvania, and continued as such for three years. During the summer of 1853 he was resident physician of the Pennsylvania Hospital. In November, 1853, he removed to the
118
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
city of Elizabeth and commenced general practice. Having enjoyed exceptionable advantages for study and practice, and having thoroughly improved them, he soon acquired a high professional reputation. For a period of seven years he was associated in practice with Dr. Job S. Crane.
Dr. Green was not only eminent in his profession, but was also a man of large public spirit, and from his settlement in the city of Eliz- abeth he always manifested an earnest and active interest in its affairs. When the city was incorporated he was made the president of the first city council, and in the development of the city from that date he bore a prominent part. He not only served a number of years in the city council, but in 1878 succeeded Robert W. Townley as mayor. In the administration of the affairs of the city he evinced more than ordinary executive ability, and was instrumental in carrying out wise measures in municipal government. From the beginning he was one of the city's stanchest friends, and through the dark days of its financial embarrassment his advice was invaluable.
In politics Dr. Green was a Democrat, and, while liberal in his views, he was firm in his convictions. He was a leader of the party in this city, and his counsel was often sought and heeded by a large number. In business enterprises his earnest spirit and good sense in executive management made him invaluable. He was the originator and moving spirit in the formation and promotion of the Metropolitan Gas Light Company, the formidable opposition to the Elizabethtown Gas Light Company.
Dr. Green was a member of the American Medical Society, the Union County Medical Society, a fellow in the New York Obstetrical Society, a member of the New Jersey State Medical Society, occupying the position of president of that society during the last year of his life, and, at its annual convention at Atlantic City, delivering an address of great interest to the profession, only a week prior to his decease.
For four years Dr. Green was one of the board of managers of the New Jersey Asylum for the Insane, at Morris Plains, and was vice- president of the board,
He was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, and the first Worshipful Master of Washington Lodge, to which he belonged, and of which he was one of the founders. He was also a member of the Grand Lodge of the state.
It was through the instrumentality of Dr. Green that the Elizabeth General Hospital was founded and has reached its present standard of excellence and prominence. (Vide article upon Elizabeth General Hospital and Dispensary).
His death occurred suddenly, at his residence on Westminster avenue, on Saturday, July 2, 1892. On April 27, 1854, he was married to Fanny Winchester, daughter of Samuel Winchester, of Baltimore,
JOHN B. PROBASCO, M. D.
119
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
Maryland, who died in May, 1884. He left surviving a daughter and son.
JOHN BUCK PROBASCO, M. D.,
is a native of Greenwich, Cumberland county, New Jersey, where he was born June 12, 1842. He is the son of John S. and Mary H. (Bacon) Probasco, who were natives respectively of Middlesex county, New Jersey, and Cumberland county, New Jersey.
On the father's side there is Spanish blood in the veins, but the ancestor of this branch of the family came direct from Holland to the United States. The mother's family is also an old one in the history of New Jersey. The great-grandparents of the Bacon family in this state came from England to America in colonial times. John S. Probasco was a farmer in the county of Cumberland, where he resided until his death, which occurred in December, 1893. The mother died in 1849. Dr. Probasco was educated in the public schools and in Bucknall University, at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where he was grad- uated with the class of 1865. While at college he became interested in the struggle between the north and south, and, with his entire class and the students and professors of the university, joined the Twenty-eighth Pennsylvania Infantry, serving as commissary sargeant and in hospital service. In 1864 le again took part in suppressing the rebellion, and went out with an independent cavalry regiment to crush out the Fish- ing Creek confederacy, in Benton county, Pennsylvania, which had been organized to aid the southern confederacy and oppose the Union cause.
Soon after leaving college Dr. Probasco turned his attention to teaching, having charge for one year of one of the largest public schools in Cumberland county, New Jersey.
Having always had a desire to be a medical man, he began the study of medicine in the University of Pennsylvania, taking a three- years course, and was graduated from that institution in 1869. The practice of his profession was commenced in Plainfield, New Jersey, within the same year, and it has been continued there since that time.
Dr. Probasco ranks high in his chosen profession. He has an extensive practice, covering a wide area of this section of the country. He is the medical examiner of the Provident Life Insurance Company, the Penn Mutual, the New York Life, the Mutual Benefit, of Newark, New Jersey, the Mutual Life, of Portland, Maine, and the Metropolitan Life, of New York. He is also an attending surgeon at the Muhlen- berg Hospital, at Plainfield; is a member of the State Medical Society, Union County Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He has also served as president of the county medical association, and keeps up with the progress made in the science of medicine.
Dr. Probasco has always been deeply interested in educational
120
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
matters, and since 1888 has been prominently identified with the board of education of Plainfield. He was elected president of the board in 1894, and is still serving in that capacity.
Dr. Probasco was married, in 1871, to Miss Maria Boice, a daughter of Insley Boice, a farmer of Middlesex county, New Jersey, subse- quently a resident of Plainfield. Mrs. Maria B. Probasco died September 26, 1896. Five children were born of this union, three of whom are living: Frank Eugene, Norman Hayes, and Walter Ellsworth.
ERASTUS GAYLORD PUTNAM, M. D.,
was born near Dryden, New York, December 23, 1833. He was the second son of Hamilton Putnam and Jeannette Cleaveland, his wife, (daughter of Brigadier-General Erastus Cleaveland, who was stationed at Sacketts Harbor, New York, and received his colonel's commission during the war of 1812.)
The Putnams were of English descent, tracing back to Simon de Puttenham, A. D. 1199. John Putnam, of Aston Abbotts, county Bucks, England, married Priscilla Gould, in 1612, and they came to New England, with their four children, in 1634. They settled in Salem village, now Danvers, Massachusetts. Among their descendants were the celebrated Major-General Israel Putnam, and Brigadier-General Rufus Putnam. Dr. Putnam is descended from their third son, Captain John Putnam, who served in the Narragansett fight, and was deputy to the general court in 1679, 1680, 1686, 1691 and 1692. His great- great-grandfather, Captain Henry Putnan, was an officer in the French war. A short sword or sabre surrendered to him by a French officer at the capture of Louisburg, in 1745, is preserved in the family. At the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, although exempt from military duty, he was full of youthful fire in the cause. He accom- panied the troops, with his five sons (one being Eleazar, the Doctor's great-grandfather), to Lexington, and fell in action, April 19, 1775. His grandfather, Dr. Elijah Putnam, a graduate of Harvard College, moved from West Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1801, and settled in Madison, New York, where he practiced medicine for forty years. He was an organizer of the Madison County Medical Society, July 29, 1806, and "was an excellent physician, a worthy, respected man, and a Christian gentleman."
Dr. Putnam's parents removed to Cortland, New York, where he received his education at the Cortland Academy, and afterwards taught school. At the age of twenty-one he went to Cleveland, Ohio, at the invitation of his uncle, Erastus Gaylord, who was the head of a wholesale drug house. There he studied the business under an English chemist, and subsequently pursued the study of medicine.
ERASTUS G. PUTNAM, M. D.
F. W. WESTCOTT, M. D.
121
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
His health was too delicate to allow of his taking an active part in the civil war, but he served, under appointment of Governor Tod, of Ohio, on the sanitary commission, to find wounded Ohio soldiers and return them to their homes. He was offered the position of assistant surgeon but declined.
In 1863 his health broke down, and he went to his brother's home, at Eau Claire, in the pine region of Wisconsin, where he remained three years, with good results. On January 30, 1867, he married Miss Mary Nicoll Woodward, at her father's residence on the Hudson, "Keewaydin," Orange county, New York. They had two sons, and two daughters, who died young.
In the autumn of 1868 he accepted the position of business manager of Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, remaining there three years. He removed to Elizabeth, New Jersey, in June, 1872, having purchased the Library Hall drug store. He was appointed on the board of education in 1877, and elected thereto each year until 1887, when he declined renomination. He was president of the board the last year, being successful in establishing the high school that year, an object which he had long desired to accomplish. In November, 1887, he sold out his drug business. The next May (1888), he was elected health inspector, by the board of health, which office he has continuously filled to the present time.
On April 3, 1891, he was elected a member of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and joined the Elizabeth Town Chapter, No. I, on its organization.
FRANK W. WESTCOTT, A. M., M. D.
One of the most exacting of all the higher lines of occupation to which man may lend his energies is that of a physician. A most scrupulous preliminary training is demanded, and a nicety of judgment little understood by the laity. Then, again, the profession brings one of its devotees into almost constant association with the sadder side of life,-that of pain and suffering, -so that a mind capable of great self- control, and a heart responsive and sympathetic, are essential attributes of him who would essay the practice of the healing art. Thus, when professional success is attained in any instance, it may be taken that such measure of success has been thoroughly merited. The subject of this review has attained rank among the representative physicians of Union county, and, as he has been essentially the artificer of his own fortunes, gaining his success and prestige entirely through his own efforts, the record of his success is the more gratifying and instructive.
Frank W. Westcott is a native son of New Jersey, having been born at Bridgeton, Cumberland county, on the 9th of July, 1849, the son of Shepard B. and Phebe (Parris) Westcott. His father died when
122
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
our subject was but four years of age, and he had attained only the age of fourteen years when he was likewise deprived by death of a mother's care. The orphan boy went to live on a farm, and contributed liis quota toward carrying on the incidental work thereof. His ambition to secure an education was early quickened, and he not only availed himself of such privileges as were afforded him as a boy, but began to formulate definite plans which should enable him to compass the desired end-the securing of a good education. His preliminary disci- pline was secured in the public schools of his native town, and whien he had attained his legal majority, depending entirely upon his own exertions for the carrying through of his cherished plans, he became a student in the South Jersey Institute, at Bridgeton, New Jersey, where lie remained for a time, and then, in 1874, matriculated in Bucknell University, at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where lie graduated as a mem- ber of the class of 1878, securing the degree of A. B. In 1880 his alma mater conferred upon the Doctor the degree of A. M.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.