USA > New Jersey > Union County > History of Union County, New Jersey > Part 18
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Mr. Williamson's career as a private citizen, as a member of the bar and as chief executive of the state, was a continued success. A man of affability, of extreme good nature, and of eminent ability, he performed all his duties, no matter how disagreeable or distasteful, with cheerfulness and urbanity. As a lawyer he was wonderfully successful, owing to his keenness of discernment, his power of quickly grasping a situation and applying to it those principals of law with which he was so familiar, and his strong sense of justice. Before a jury his pleasing eloquence had a powerful effect, and he was always listened to with pleasure and respectful attention by all who were for- tunate enough to be present when he was speaking. He was a man of distinguished appearance, dignified in bearing, affable and pleasant to
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all, no matter how lowly their station in life. He was exemplary in his private habits. From early life an ardent Christian and member of St. John's church, Elizabeth, and for some years its senior warden, Mr. Williamson was a perfect type of the old-style Christian gentleman. After his death the New Jersey bar passed a resolution which embodies, briefly, succinctly and beautifully, an appreciation of those virtues for which he was admired and loved. It was as follows :
The state mourns his loss. In all the relations of life, public and private, he has bequeathed to his countrymen an illustrious example. As a friend he was faithful and sincere ; as a statesman, enlightened and patriotic ; as a judge, profoundly learned, incorruptibly pure, inflexibly just. The inimitable simplicity of his character, the art- lessness of his life, the warmth and purity of his affections, endeared him to the circle of liis friends ; his high and varied attainments command the respect of his associates. His long and eminent public services, his dignified and enlightend and impartial adminis- tration of justice demand the gratitude of his fellow citizens and of posterity.
He married, on August 6, 1808, Anne Crossdale Jonit, by whom he had two sons, the Hon. Benjamin (ex-chancellor) and Isaac Halsted.
HON. BENJAMIN WILLIAMSON.
There could, perhaps, be no greater tribute paid to the memory of a citizen than that paid to the memory of Hon. Benjamin Williamson when, on January 2, 1893, the Union County (New Jersey) Bar Asso- ciation unanimously adopted the following resolution :
"Resolved, That to the members of the bar of our county Benjamin Williamson had been up to the time of his death a lawyer whose pro- fessional advice and instruction were eagerly songht, and from which there was seldom felt any disposition or courage to appeal.
" He was a resident of Elizabeth for nearly all the present century, and during our primary studies, in onr early professional struggle, in the triumph and disappointments of professional manhood, we always had Chancellor Williamson as an interested helper, a strong champion and wise adviser.
"We had opportunity to estimate his worth as a citizen, neighbor and lawyer, and his unfailing exhibit of the virtues and beliefs of a Christian, and we can not fail to miss his presence from among us more than that of any other citizen. We have lost the consistent and honorable example of his daily life for all the time that we may live,- his constant kindness, his unfailing urbanity and the stimulus of his professional character. But we recognize that he had 'attained unto the days of the years of the life of his fathers,' and that these years had been filled with usefulness ; and, while we deplore our loss, we should not fail to be keenly sensible that the mind we had admired so long remained undimmed while his life lasted, and that the powers we had so often felt never suffered impairment through his long and vigorous life. "
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BENJAMIN WILLIAMSON
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
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RESIDENCE OF THE LATE BENJAMIN WILLIAMSON
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Mr. Williamson was a son of Governor Isaac Halsted Williamson. Born at Elizabethtown in 1809, his early life was spent in earnest study and preparation for his long and useful career. He entered Nassau College, from which he wa's graduated with honors in 1827. Upon his graduation he immediately undertook the study of law, for which pro- fession he was eminently fitted, and was admitted to the bar of New Jersey as an attorney in 1830 and as a counselor in 1833. He took up the practice of law in his native town and was exceptionally successful for a number of years, when his ability as a lawyer had gained such widespread recognition that he was appointed chancellor of the state, in 1852, to succeed Oliver S. Halsted, which position he filled with distinguished ability until the end of his term. His decisions while occupying this honorable and important office are widely quoted and are masterpieces of keen discerninent and brilliant as essays upon the points of law involved. His retirement to private life was much regretted by the members of the bar, who recognized that in him the judiciary of the state had lost a distinguished and learned jurist and an affable, pleasant and impartial judge. He continued to practice law until his death, which occurred December 2, 1892.
Mr. Williamson during his long life occupied many positions of trust, both public and private, and the duties involved were faithfully and honorably discharged. He was for many years counsel for the Central Railroad of New Jersey, and in this capacity he deservedly earned a widespread reputation as a pleader. His distinguished bearing and forcible arguments had a noticeable effect upon the jury, and he met with remarkable success. It is said of him that his knowledge of the law was so great that he frequently successfully conducted the most intricate of cases without preparation or notes.
Though Mr. Williamson never sought public office, his fellow citizens frequently chose him to represent them in distinguished gath- erings, - notably : as a delegate-at-large from New Jersey to the national Democratic convention which met at Charleston in 1860, and as a delegate to the famous "peace convention " which was held at Washington, D. C., in 1861, and at which every state in the Union was represented. The object of this convention was to avert, if possible, the impending conflict between the north and south. He was also called upon to act as prosecutor of the pleas of Essex county, before the formation of the county of Union, and in 1863 was prominently mentioned for the United States senate, but was defeated by a few votes. He was interested in many large corporations, and acted for inany years as a director and trustee for the Southern Railroad Com- pany. He was also an officer of the Union County Bible Society, and a trustee of the State Normal School.
As a private citizen, as a lawyer and as a judge Mr. Williamson was sincere, conscientious and untiring. He won in early life the
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بنادق
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ROBERT S. GREEN
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respect and confidence of his fellow citizens, and these were not only retained but strengthened with the passage of years. In his private life he was retiring, and he loved his home and his family more than the wild excitement of the political campaign,- and the affection of his wife and children more than the applause of large assemblies. He was an earnest Christian man, and for a number of years was an officer in St. John's church, Elizabeth, with which he united himself when a young man, but for a few years before his death he was a communicant of Trinity church, Elizabeth, from which he was buried with distin- guished honors and in the presence of a multitude of his fellow townsmen, who sought to pay a last tribute to him upon whom they had been taught to look with admiration and love, and who throughout a long life had lived among them, respected, honored and admired, and who then, though cold in death, lived in the hearts of all who knew him in life.
Mr. Williamson married Elizabeth Swan, daughter of the Rev. Frederick Beasley, D. D., an eminent Episcopalian clergyman, who was for many years provost of the University of Pennsylvania, and his quiet devotion to her is perhaps one of the most beautiful illustrations of that characteristic which made him so popular and so loved.
A man of sterling integrity, of broad and liberal ideas, of calm and dignified demeanor, of deep learning and of lovable disposition, the people of New Jersey, indeed, met with a severe loss when God, in His wise providence, gathered his faithful servant to Himself, and Benjamin Williamson will always be pointed to with pride as one of New Jersey's great men.
ROBERT STOCKTON GREEN,
governor of New Jersey from 1887 to 1890, was born at Princeton, New Jersey, March 25, 1831, and died at his residence in Elizabeth, New Jersey, May 7, 1895. His father, James S. Green, was supreme-court reporter from 1831 to 1836. His grandfather was the Rev. Ashbel Green, president of Princeton College, and his great-grandfather, Rev. Jacob Green, was a member of the provincial congress of New Jersey and chairman of the committee of that body, which prepared and reported the first constitution of the state, on July 2, 1776.
Robert S. Green was graduated from Nassau Hall in 1850 and was admitted to the bar in 1853 as an attorney, and in 1856 as a counselor. In the latter year he removed to Elizabeth, and was largely instrumental in securing the passage of the act creating the county of Union. For ten years he was city attorney of Elizabeth, and for five years a member of the city council. He was elected surrogate of Union county in 1862, and was appointed presiding judge of the county courts in 1868. In the succeeding year he was sent by Governor Randolph to the commercial
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convention at Louisville, as a representative of New Jersey. He was the solicitor of the National Railroad Company in the famous litigation with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, in 1872, and was prominent in the contest, in the succeeding legislature, which resulted in securing the passage of the general railroad law. In 1873 he was appointed by Gov- ernor Parker, and confirmed by the senate, as one of the commissioners to suggest amendments to the constitution of the state. In this conven- tion he was chairman of the committees on bill of rights, rights of suffrage, limitation of powers of government and general and special legislation.
In 1874 Judge Green was admitted to the bar of New York and became a partner in the firm of Brown, Hall and Vanderpoel, which was afterward changed to Vanderpoel, Green & Cuming. He continued in active practice at the New York bar, though residing in New Jersey, until 1884, when he was elected a member of the forty-ninth congress, from the third district of New Jersey, then composed of the counties of Mon- mouth, Middlesex and Union. Before the expiration of his term he was elected governor of the state, by 8,020 plurality, over ex-Congressman Benjamin F. Howey, of Warren county. Governor Green's administra- tion was characterized by an earnest effort on the part of the executive to reduce the expenses of the state, to maintain the non-partisan character of the judiciary, to preserve the rights of the state in its lands under water, to establish an intermediary prison and to secure a free and uncorrupted ballot by reform in the election laws. He urged this latter reform at each session of the legislature, but it was not effected until after the expiration of his term.
Representing the state, and personally in command of the New Jersey troops, Governor Green participated in the centennial celebrations at Philadelphia in 1887 and at New York in 1889, entertaining, at his residence, in Elizabeth, President Harrison and his party, en route to the latter place. Governor Green was chairman of the various meetings of the governors of the thirteen original states to promote the erection of a centennial memorial in the city of Philadelphia.
Governor Green was always identified with the Democratic party. He was a delegate to the national convention, at Baltimore, in 1860, which nominated Stephen A. Douglas for the office of president. He was also a delegate to the national Democratic convention, at Cincinnati, in 1880, and was chairman of the New Jersey delegation at St. Louis in 1888. In 1890 he was appointed one of the vice-chancellors of the state, and in 1895 a judge of the court of errors and appeals.
WILLIAM F. DAY
for many years prior to his decease was one of the most prominent, as well as greatly beloved, lawyers and citizens of the city of Elizabeth.
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Solvants Tracy.
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He was born in the township of Union, August 26, 1818, and was the son of Foster Day, of that place.
He was a member of the class of 1833 in Princeton College, but was unable to graduate, owing to ill health. After several years of college life, he read law with Chancellor Halsted, of Newark, and was admitted to the bar of this state, as a counselor at law, in November, 1841. He carried on the practice of his profession in Elizabethtown from that time until the year 1869, with the exception of a year or two, when he resided temporarily in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was at one period prosecuting attorney for the county of Union. He was tendered a position on the supreme-court bench by Governor Ward, but declined the appointment, owing to his distaste for public life. In his profession he was prominent and successful, and was characterized by strictest integrity, unequaled industry and fidelity to every interest entrusted to him. His clientage was large, but in the latter part of his professional career his time was chiefly devoted to real-estate business, in which he was pre-eminent. He was a man of noble and generous qualities, of wide benevolence and public spirit. He was a wise adviser and faithful counselor, and his death, in the fullness of his powers, was deeply felt throughout the community.
He was a patriot and philanthropist, and throughout the war assisted liberally in furthering his country's cause. In politics he was an ardent Republican, and was a warm friend of the black race at a time when it was unpopular to be so. He was a director of the National Fire and Marine Insurance Company, and vice-president and a director of the Dime Savings Institution, of Elizabeth, besides being connected with various others of the public institutions of that city. He was one of the founders of the Westminster Presbyterian church, and was ever keenly interested in its well-being, but while a communicant of that church, and for several years superintendent of its Sunday school, he was of very catholic spirit, religiously.
In 1869 Mr. Day resigned the arduous duties of his profession, to accept the vice-presidency of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, of Newark, and he exercised the duties of that important post until the date of his death, which occurred suddenly on April 6, 1870.
On June 8, 1841, he was married to Mary Almira Kellogg, daughter of Elijah Kellogg, of Elizabethtown. He was survived by his widow and five children.
JEREMIAH EVARTS TRACY,
son of Ebenezer Carter Tracy and Martha Sherman Evarts, * was born in Windsor, Vermont, January 31, 1835. He is of an old New England
* Martha Sherman Evarts was a daughter of Jeremiah Evarts and Mehetabel Sherman, and a granddaughter of Roger Sherman, who, among the patriots of the Revolutionary period, has the unique distinction of having been the only signer of all four of the great national compacts, to wit: The Association of 1774, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution of the United States.
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family, being sixth in lineal descent from Stephen Tracy,* who came, in the ship " Ann," from England to Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1623.
Mr. Tracy's father was the founder, editor and publisher of the Vermont Chronicle, a religious newspaper of extensive influence through- out the state, which he conducted for more than thirty years, and until his death, May 15, 1862. His mother died April 10, 1889. Mr. Tracy is one of eight children, three of whom have died, one in infancy, and another, Martha Day, at the age of nineteen. The third, William Carter, was an officer in the Union army, and was killed in the war of the Rebellion. He has living one sister, Anna, wife of Rev. George P. Byington, a clergyman settled in Vermont, and three brothers,-Roger Sherman, a physician, now registrar of records of the department of health in New York city ; John Jay, a lawyer in Tennessee ; and Charles Walker, who is in business in Portland, Oregon.
Jeremiah Evarts Tracy received his academic education in his native state, Vermont. At an early age he began the study of the law in the office of his uncle, William M. Evarts, in the city of New York, and continuing his studies in New Haven, Connecticut, he received from Yale College the degree of LL. B., in 1857, having previously, in 1856, been admitted to the bar in New York, a few days after attaining his majority.
Upon leaving New Haven he became an assistant in the office of his uncle, William M. Evarts, in New York, and June 1, 1859, was admitted to partnership with him in the practice of the law. This partnership with Mr. Evarts and others has ever since continued, -the present business firm being known as Evarts, Choate & Beaman, and consisting of William M. Evarts, Joseph H. Choate, Charles C. Beaman, J. Evarts Tracy, Treaswell Cleveland, Prescott Hall Butler and Allen W. Evarts.
Mr. Tracy was married September 30, 1863, to Miss Martha Sherman Greene, and has nine children,-Emily Baldwin ; Howard Crosby, a lawyer practicing in New York city ; Evarts, an architect in New York city; Mary Evarts ; Margaret Louisa; Robert Storer, who has recently been graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York, and is now an assistant on the surgical side in the New York Hospital ; Edith Hastings ; Martha, now a student in Bryn Mawr College ; and William Evarts, now a student in Yale College.
In 1874 Mr. Tracy removed his residence from New York to Plainfield, New Jersey, which has since been his home. While con- tinuing the practice of the law in the city of New York, he has not failed to manifest interest in the affairs of Plainfield. He has served at
1 * As follows : Stephen, as above ; John ", who married Mary Prence, a daughter of Thomas Prence, who came from England in the ship " Fortuna," in 1621, and afterwards became governor of Plymouth Colony ; Stephen (2d) 3 ; Thomas 4; Joseph 5 ; Ebenezer Carter 6; Jeremiah Evarts 7.
Mason Whiting Tyler
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different times as a member and as president of the common council of the city, and has been for many years one of the directors of the Plainfield Public Library and one of the governors of Muhlenberg Hospital, located there.
He is a member of the New York city and state bar associations, of the committee of counsel of the Lawyers' Title Insurance Company of New York ; of the Yale Alumni Society and of the New York Law Institute. He is also a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States and of the Empire State Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.
COLONEL MASON W. TYLER.
Mason Whiting Tyler was born June 17, 1840, in Amherst, Massachusetts, and is the son of Professor William S. Tyler, who occupied the chair of Greek in Amherst College for sixty years, and is now (1896) living at Ainherst, eighty-six years of age.
The earliest American ancestors of the Tyler family came to this country in 1640, when they settled in Andover, Massachusetts. The mother of the subject of this sketch was a descendant of Governor Brad- ford, of the Mayflower, and of Major-General John Mason, who com- manded the expedition against the Pequot Indians in the war in which that tribe was exterminated. She was also a descendant of Rev. Jonathan Edwards, president of Princeton College and greatest of American theologians.
On the father's side the Tylers are descended from Rev. Thomas Thacher, who was the first pastor of the "Old South Church," Boston. Hon. Jeremiah Mason was a cousin of Colonel Tyler's grandfather, and Aaron Burr was a cousin of his grandmother, on his mother's side. His mother is a descendant of Governor John Ogden, of Elizabeth, New Jersey ; she is still living at the advanced age of seventy-seven years. His ancestors on both sides were conspicuous in the history of the country from the earliest times.
Colonel Tyler was graduated from Amherst College in the class of 1862, and immediately entered the army, enlisting in July, in Company F, Thirty-seventh Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. This company was raised by himself and thereof he was made second lieutenant. From that office he gradually rose, until he had held every command up to that of colonel. His regiment belonged to the Sixth Corps in the Army of the Potomac; he was with Sheridan in the Shenandoah valley, and took part in all the engagements of his regiment until the latter part of March, 1865, when he was disabled by wounds. Colonel Tyler was wounded several times. In the battle of Winchester his chin was pierced with a piece of shell, and when at Fort Stedman, before Petersburg, in March, 1865, he was wounded in the knee, causing
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his first absence from his regiment. He participated in thirty battles in all. His regiment was among the "three hundred fighting regiments of the war," and lost in its list of those who were killed or died of wounds twelve and seven-tenths per cent. of its entire number.
At the close of the war Colonel Tyler entered Columbia College law school, and later the office of Evarts, Southmayd & Choate of New York. He was in this office two years as managing clerk, gaining a thorough knowledge of the profession. In 1869 he formed a partner- ship with General H. E. Tremain, which practically still exists ; General Tremain, as counsel, is connected with the present firm of Tyler & Durand, whose offices are in New York. This firm was engaged in many highly important cases, such as the Marie Garrison case, and the famous hat-material suit, which involved millions of dollars ; the A. T. Stewart kid-glove cases ; the cases involving the rights of sugar importers to exemption from duties by reason of favored nation clauses in treaties, etc.
Colonel Tyler is a director in the Rossendale-Reddaway Belting and Hose Company, of Newark, New Jersey, and a director in the Columbus and Hocking Coal and Iron Company. He also was president at one time of the Cumberland Coal and Iron Company. He is a member of the Union County Club ; and Lawyers Club, and Psi Upsilon Club, of New York.
Colonel Tyler was married in December, 1869, to Miss Eliza M. Schroeder, daughter of Rev. Dr. John F. Schroeder, formerly rector of Trinity church, New York. Mrs. Tyler's mother was a daughter of Hon. Elijah Boardman, United States senator from Connecticut. They have two sons : William Seymour, a student of law at Columbia College, and Cornelius Boardman, a junior in Amherst College. The family are mem- bers of the Holy Cross church. Colonel Tyler has resided in Plainfield since 1871. He has a fine residence, in one wing of which he has his library, which contains a large collection of rare and valuable works.
Colonel Tyler has served his city in two important offices,-one, as member of common council, two terms; the other, as member of the board of education, five years. He is member of the Winfield Scott Post, G. A. R., of Plainfield, and of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, New York Commandery. He is also a member of the Society of May- flower Descendants and of the Society of Colonial Wars. He started the movement for a public library in Plainfield, has always been a member of the board, and is its president.
Colonel Tyler was one of the early trustees of the Muhlenberg Hospital, serving as such several years. He was president of the Music Hall Association when the Stillman Music Hall was erected. He is a member of the advisory committee of the Children's Home, is also a member of the Town Improvement Association and president of the Organized Aid Association of Plainfield, and a member of the New
Charles hfowler
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Jersey Historical Society. In all movements in behalf of public improvement he has been prominent. He was president of the Plainfield branch of the anti-race-track association. He has drafted inany of the city bills for presentation to the legislature.
CHARLES NEWELL FOWLER,
present member of congress from the eighth congressional district of New Jersey, was born November 2, 1852, at Lena, Illinois, being the son of Joshua D. and Rachael (Montague) Fowler, both of whom are now dead. The Fowler and the Montague families are of English descent, and were quite prominent in the earlier colonial days of the republic. The ancestors of the former settled in the state of Vermont in 1632, and within the same year the Montagues settled in Massachusetts. In 1837 Joshua D. Fowler, the father, removed to a farm in Illinois, where he died in 1881. The mother died in 1854.
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