USA > New Jersey > Union County > History of Union County, New Jersey > Part 20
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
WILLIAM M. STILLMAN
was born in the city of Plainfield, New Jersey, of New England ances- try, November 23, 1856. He was the youngest son of Dr. Charles H. Stillman and Mary E. Stillman. His father was one of the best known men of Plainfield, having been a physician in that city for forty years, but his best reputation grew from his connection with the public schools, as he became known as the founder of the present school sys- tein of New Jersey. On his mother's side he is a direct descendant of Elder Brewster, of the Mayflower.
William M. Stillman was graduated at the Plainfield high school in 1872, and for one year thereafter was in business at Peter Hender- son's seed and plant store, at 32 Courtlandt street, New York. He then entered the freshman class of Rutgers College, graduating from that institution in 1877. In college he took high rank as a student, and in the active business of the institution. He was graduated at the head of his class, besides taking three prizes in composition and literature. He also served as president of his class, was editor for two years of the college paper and was several times elected as delegate to represent Rutgers at inter-collegiate conventions. On his graduation he was elected to the honorary society of Phi Beta Kappa. He then entered the Columbia Law School, which was under the able manage- ment of Professor Theodore Dwight, and from this institution was graduated in 1879. Subsequently he entered the law office of William J. Magie, now chief justice of the New Jersey supreme court. He then having been admitted to the bar in 1880, opened a law office in Plainfield, where he has practiced ever since, and where he has built up a large and lucrative business. He has been successfully engaged in a
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
177
number of important law suits,-notably, the Job Male case, the Lucy Burlingham and James Brand will cases ; and has acted as counsel and director for the First National Bank for ten years past. At the present time he is executor of the estate of the millionaire, George H.
-
-
WILLIAM M. STILLMAN
Babcock, and of the large estate of Peter Wooden. He was city judge of Plainfield during the years 1889 and 1890, and for fifteen years back has been a director and secretary of the board of directors of the Plainfield public library and reading room. He also fills the position of trustee of the American Sabbath Tract Society, is one of
12
178
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
the board of trustees of the S. D. Baptist Memorial Fund, and trustee of the S. D. Baptist church of Plainfield, of which church he has been a member for twenty-five years. He is also counsel and director of the Home Building and Loan Association, a large and substantial society of Plainfield.
Mr. Stillman married Elizabeth B. Atwood March 3, 1886, but has no children. His residence, on West Seventh street, is a home- like and cosy one, and he is the owner of considerable real estate in different parts of the city.
He is a member of the Camera Club, of the New Jersey Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and of the Elizabeth Chapter of the same society.
WILLIAM REUBEN CODINGTON,
member of the New Jersey legislature, and formerly city judge of the city of Plainfield, was born in Somerset county, New Jersey, February 24, 1853. He is the son of George W. and Jane (Codington) Codington, and is a descendant of John Codington, who came to America in 1730, and whose descendants settled in New Jersey prior to the Revolutionary war. The father, who was a farmer, resided in Somerset county, New Jersey, until his death, which occurred in 1893. The mother is still living, and is a resident of Millington, New Jersey. Six children, five of whom are now living, were born of this union.
The subject of this sketch was reared in Somerset county, where he attended the public schools. He subsequently took a course of instruc- tion in the State Normal and Model School, at Trenton, New Jersey. In 1881 he began the study of law in the offices of Suydam & Jackson, of Plainfield, and was admitted to the bar in 1883. About this time Mr. Suydam died, and Mr. Codington then formed a partnership with Mr. John H. Jackson, under the firm name of Jackson & Codington.
In 1893 Mr. Jackson's health failed, and the partnership dissolved, the junior member of the firm continuing the business alone, and build- ing up, by his own industry, a large practice. He was associated with ex-Chancellor Runyon in the celebrated Lee will case, one of the most noted of its kind in the state. Mr. Codington has been a hard student, and has become distinguished as an advocate.
In politics he has always been a Republican, and, though not an aspirant for office, was elected city judge in 1889, and served as such one term of three years. In 1895 he was elected to the state legislature and is still serving in that capacity, having been re-elected in 1896, and is the recognized leader at this time in the house. He is chairman of the city executive Republican committee, and is now county attorney, having served several years in that capacity. He is a director and the treasurer of the American Mutual Fire Insurance Company, director, solicitor and
WILLIAM R. CODINGTON
179
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
the treasurer of the Plainfield Building and Loan Association, and is also a director of the First National Bank and counsel for various corporations.
Mr. Codington is a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he has been a member since his boyhood. He enjoys great popu- larity, and is noted for his liberality and readiness to give his aid in every effort to promote the public welfare.
Mr. Codington inarried Miss Rachael Runyon, daugliter of Isaac S. and Rachael (Stelle) Runyon, of Somerset county. Her father is a man of worth and high standing in his county. Two children, Martha and Albert Isaac, were born of this marriage.
Mr. Codington is a member of the Mystic Shrine, Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
A. EDWARD WOODRUFF.
The well known name of Woodruff has figured prominently in the history of Elizabethtown from the middle of the seventeenth century, the original progenitor in this country being John Woodruff, who was conspicuously identified with public affairs of his day, and his descend- ants have in a like manner become important factors in both mercantile and professional circles.
A. Edward Woodruff was born in Rahway, New Jersey, on the 27th of October, 1846, being the son of Jonathan and Alvira (Martin) Woodruff. The maternal grandmother's name was Crowell, and she was a descendant of Edward Crowell, who came to America from Scot- land, in the good ship Caledonia, and settled in Middlesex county, some time between 1600 and 1700, and there his descendants have attained considerable prominence. Mr. and Mrs. Woodruff had four children, the others being the following daughters : Mrs. Rufus Edgar, now deceased ; Mrs. David Jones and Mrs. R. M. Huntting. The subject of this review received his preliminary mental discipline at the private school of Rev. Dr. Pierson, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, supplementing the same by a course of study at Princeton College, and finishing his education in Europe. Upon returning home he entered the Columbia College law school, at which institution he read law under the precept- orage of the late Professor Theodore W. Dwight, received his diploma in 1874, and in the same year he was admitted to the New York bar and at once began the active practice of his profession. Success was his almost from the start, his signal ability, strong mentality, and inher- ent knowledge of his calling in all its branches, gaining for him a dis- tinct prestige, which he has retained throughout his long career of nearly a quarter of a century at the bar. He has taken a prominent part in the extended litigation between the abutting-property owners and the elevated railroad in New York city, and he has been closely identified with life-insurance cases, especially the rights of policy-hold-
180
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
ers in assessment-insurance companies. His office is in the Equitable Building, New York, where he has been located for over twenty years. In his political belief Mr. Woodruff is allied to the Republican party, but he has never sought nor desired official preferinent, nor permitted his name to be used in connection therewith, as he has always preferred private life and the devoting of his time to the practice of his pro- fession.
Mr. Woodruff has been a member for upwards of forty years of the Second Presbyterian church, of Rahway, in which his father was an elder for over thirty-five years, and in which he hiniself was elected an elder, but felt constrained to decline, though fully appreciating the honor of the office. For upwards of thirty years he taught in the Sab- bath school of his church, and many of the young men connected with his class are now holding positions of honor and influence in the church and business world.
The marriage of Mr. Woodruff was celebrated in 1874, when he was united to Miss Macie Outen Stanly, daughter of Hon. Edward R. Stanly, of New Berne, North Carolina, and they have become the parents of the following five children : Alvira, Edward Stanly, Graham Crowell, Clifford Stanly, and Harriette Stanly. Of these the three lat- ter survive. Graham, the eldest, is a student at Rutgers College, for which he was prepared at Rutgers Preparatory School, at the early age of fifteen, and he entered the college with the intention of ulti- mately graduating from Princeton, his father's alma mater.
Mr. Woodruff is the owner of extensive real estate in Rahway, his father, Jonathan Woodruff, having been one of Rahway's most influ- ential citizens and a large property-owner. The property includes the handsome Exchange Building, and the old historic Woodruff home- stead, on Main street, formerly the Peace Tavern, where General La Fayette, while on his visit to this country, in 1824, was given a bril- liant reception and ball by citizens of Rahway.
HENRY C. SUYDAM
was born at Flemington, Hunterdon county, New Jersey in April, 1853. His parents were Daniel and Mary Suydam; the family having long resided in Hunterdon county and being well known residents of that community. The early American ancestors of the Suydam, family were among the first settlers of New York, migrating from Holland in the seventeenth century. The subject of this sketch acquired his early edu- cation in the public schools at Flemington, was prepared for college at Peddie Institute, Hightstown, New Jersey, and was graduated from Brown University, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in the class of 1876. Mr. Suydam studied law in the offices of Vice-Chancellor John T. Bird and George A. Allen, Esq., at Flemington, and was admitted to
Edward J. Savage
181
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
the bar of New Jersey as an attorney in 1879, and a counselor in 1884. In 1881 he began the practice of law at Bound Brook, where he has resided since that date, and conducted important legal business for clients in Somerset county, where his acquaintance is extended and his law practice is constantly increasing. Mr. Suydam has always taken an active interest in the affairs of his town and county, being prominent in organizing and carrying into effect the borough form of government for Bound Brook. He has been counsel for the Bound Brook Building Loan Association since its organization, and the association is now the largest and strongest financial institution in the place. Mr. Suydam has never sought or held political office. In September, 1895, he opened a law office in the Babcock Building in Plainfield, and still conducts the same, retaining his office at Bound Brook as heretofore.
In 1881 Mr. Suydam married Emily, the oldest daughter of the late Avery Parker, Esq., of Flemington. The Parkers were early settlers of Middletown, Connecticut, and have been for many years prominently identified with the affairs of that state.
EDWARD S. SAVAGE,
of Rahway, is a native of the city in which he resides, and whose fortunes are identical with his own. He is of sturdy Puritan stock, being a lineal descendant of Samuel Phillips Savage, who was a prominent man in New England before the war of independence, and who presided at the meeting in Boston where it was decided to throw the tea overboard, and which is historically regarded as one of the first overt acts of the colonists asserting their disinclination to further suffer British oppression. His son, Joseph Savage, was an officer in the war of the Revolution, and afterwards commander at West Point.
The subject of this sketch is the third son of George W. Savage, who came to Rahway from New York, in 1852, and resided there for over forty years. For the greater part of his life George W. Savage was prominently identified with the fire-insurance interests of New York, was president of a fire-insurance company, and at various periods was treasurer, secretary and president of the New York Board of Fire Underwriters. He was twice honored by appointments in the consular service of the United States, serving as consul at Belfast, Ireland, and at Dundee, Scotland, where he died in 1894, being succeeded in the consulship by his son, John M. Savage. George W. Savage left five sons, -George W. Savage, Jr., Joseph W. Savage, Edward S. Savage, Samuel Phillips Savage and John M. Savage, -three of whom are members of the legal profession.
Upon his graduation from Columbia Law School, in 1876, Edward S. Savage was admitted to the bar of New York ; he had previously read law in the office of Cortlandt Parker, in Newark, and was
182
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
admitted to the bar of New Jersey in 1877. He practiced his profession in Newark until 1881, when he removed his office to New York and formed a copartnership with George W. Miller, which continued for twelve years. In 1884 and 1885, he was a member of the legislature of New Jersey, and was chairman of the committees on banks and insurance, and railroads and canals, of that body. In 1887 he was the leading spirit in bringing about the reorganization of the Union County Bank, of Rahway, being elected its president, which position he still holds. The bank has flourished under his supervision, and has become one of the strong institutions of the state. The wide and varied legal and business experience of Mr. Savage, and his enviable reputation as a lawyer, have brought him into relations with the leading men of not only his native state, but of the metropolis of New York. In 1895 he was chosen vice-president of the American Union Life Insurance Company, and was elected counsel of the company (as well as vice-president) in 1897, still holding both offices.
Mr. Savage has been most active in the improvement of Rahway, in which he holds large real-estate interests ; he has built a number of houses, opened up a section of the city, and has been instrumental in inducing numbers of people to choose it for place of residence, as well as bringing to it several industrial establishments, -notably the Johnson Signal Company, and the New York Carbon Works. Mr. Savage is a genial gentleman, and with his interesting family occupies a prominent place in business and social life in New Jersey.
CHARLES LEONARD MOFFETT,
the subject of this sketch, is a prominent lawyer of Plainfield, New Jersey. His first American ancestor caine to America before the war of independence, and served in the army of the Revolution. His grandfather, John Moffett, was of Scotch descent. He was a farmer residing at Mt. Horeb, New Jersey. He married Miss Sarah Tunison, who was of old New Jersey stock. They had nine children. The youngest son, Dennis Moffett, born in the year 1816, was a farmer, and followed that occupation in Middlesex and Union counties, New Jersey. He is now living in retirement in Plainfield, New Jersey. His wife, Charlotte Wilcox, was of an old English family of Union county, New Jersey. She died in 1889. Of their ten children seven are now living, the youngest of whom is the subject of this sketch.
Charles Leonard Moffett was born in Plainfield township, Union county, New Jersey, September 24, 1865. After receiving a good public-school education, he attended the Rutgers College grammar school, at New Brunswick, New Jersey, and afterward pursued the study of the classics and higher branches of mathematics, under the
183
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
instruction of a prominent professor, and in these he became very proficient. Subsequently he began the study of law in the office of Hon. John Ulrich, where he remained two years, and afterward spent two years in the office of Nelson Runyon, ex-city judge, when he was admitted to the bar, in February, 1892.
Mr. Moffett has a large and lucrative practice, having made a specialty of the law relating to real estate. Having had considerable experience in this line of practice, he has become recognized authority on legal questions of realty.
Mr. Moffett was married, in October, 1892, to Miss Marian C. Runyon, daughter of the late Jolin C. Runyon, formerly a prominent
CHARLES L. MOFFETT
man of Union county, and editor of the Central New Jersey Times, a leading Republican paper at the time of his death. They have one child, Flossie. Mr. Moffett is a member of the Presbyterian church.
JAMES H. DURAND.
Few men are more prominent or more widely known in New Jersey than this gentleman. He has been an important factor in professional circles, and his popularity is well deserved, as in him are
184
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
embraced the characteristics of an unbending integrity, unabating energy and an industry that never flags. He is public-spirited and thoroughly interested in whatever tends to promote the moral, intellec- tual and material welfare of Rahway, where he makes his home ; he stands to-day as one of the ablest representatives of the legal profession in Union county ; and has gained in Masonic circles preferment which places him among the distinguished representatives of that order in the United States.
Mr. Durand was born in Rahway, on the 26th of June, 1847, and is a son of John H. and Catherine S. (Martin) Durand. His father was for many years a prominent carriage-manufacturer of Rahway, where he died in 1886, his wife passing away in 1890. The paternal grand- father was Caleb Durand. The maternal ancestry of our subject can be traced back to an early epoch in American history, at which time the first of the name to cross the Atlantic left their native England and took up their residence in New Hampshire. John Martin, in 1667, removed from the Granite state to New Jersey, and thus for more than two centuries John Martin's family and descendants have been identi- fied with the progress and development of this state. Isaac Martin, the great-grandfather, resided in Woodbridge township, Middlesex county, and married Catharine Skinner, whose father, Richard Skinner, was a captain in the First Regiment, New Jersey Militia, in the Revolutionary war, and was killed by the British, June 29, 1779, at the Six Roads, near Rahway. Britton Martin, the grandfather, married Susannah Burwell, daughter of Robert Burwell, of Rahway Neck, Middlesex county, who was a private in Captain Ashier Fitz Randolphi's company of the New Jersey militia in the Revolu- tionary war.
James H. Durand was educated in the Rahway public schools and under the perceptorage of private teachers, and before attaining his majority engaged in teaching for a time, but he sought in the broader realm of the law a field for the exercise of his powers, and began his preparation for the legal profession by reading in the office and under the instruction of Thomas H. Shafer, an eminent attorney of Rahway. In November, 1868, he was admitted to the bar of New Jersey, and for the past twenty-five years has been associated in practice with his former preceptor, under the firm name of Shafer & Durand. During that time he has been connected with much of the important litigation that has been heard in the courts of this district. He is most careful and painstaking in the preparation of his cases, and rests his cause on a plain statement of facts and the justice of our laws. He loses sight of no point that will advance the interest of his client, and is widely recognized as a lawyer of eminent ability and unquestioned integrity.
Mr. Durand has never been unmindful of his duty to his fellow men, and in his life exemplifies the spirit of the ancient and benevo-
JAMES H. DURAND
185
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
lent order of Freemasonry. In this fraternity he has achieved distinc- tion and honor. In 1871 he was made a member of LaFayette Lodge, No. 27, F. & A. M., of Rahway, and in 1875 was its Worshipful Master. He was made a Royal Arch Mason in LaFayette Chapter, No. 26, of Rahway, in 1872, and served as its High Priest from 1873 to 1876, inclusive. He held various subordinate positions in the Grand Chapter, including Grand Scribe, Grand King and Grand High Priest, and became Grand High Priest of New Jersey in September, 1879. He is now (1897) chairman of the committee on constitutions of the Grand Chapter. He is also a member of St. John's Commandery, No. 9, K. T., of Elizabeth ; of Kane Council, No. 2, R. & S. M., and of all the Scottish Rite bodies in the valley of Jersey City, up to and includ- ing the thirty-second degree, in most of which he has been prominent and active. In the Grand Lodge of New Jersey he served successfully as Senior Grand Warden, Deputy Grand Master and Most Worshipful Grand Master, filling the latter position in 1893 and 1894. His two terms in the last named office were characterized as two of the most progressive and prosperous years in the Masonic history of the state, and reflect great credit upon his masterly administration of the affairs of the order. His annual addresses to the Grand Lodge not only pre- sent, clearly and concisely, its affairs during the preceding twelve months, but are models of literary skill and scholarly thought. On his retirement from that exalted office, in January, 1895, the Grand Lodge presented him with a valuable jewel, as a token of esteem and appre- ciation. He is now a member of the committee on appeals and griev- ances, and is often called upon to address Masonic gatherings through- out the state.
Mr. Durand is a speaker of unusual force and power and an orator of rare attainments. In politics he is a Democrat, and, although never an aspirant for political honors, at the repeated solicitation of many political and personal friends he became a candidate for the mayoralty of Rahway in 1886, but was defeated. He was appointed by Justice William J. Magie one of the commissioners under the "Martin act" to adjust taxes and assessments in the city of Rahway, his colleagues being Judge John D. Bartine, of Somerville, and Nathan V. Compton, of Rahway. The work of that commission has accomplished much for that city, and to it and to the wise and intelligent action of the boord of finance, of which Mr. Durand subsequently became a member, by appointment of the mayor, that city is indebted for the restoration of financial credit and for renewed prosperity.
Mr. Durand is president of the National Assured Home Company, of New Jersey, a director of the New Jersey Building, Loan & Invest- ment Company, of Trenton, and is solicitor for the Workmen's Build- ing & Loan Association of Rahway, which is a most carefully managed and extremely successful institution. He is also a member and secre-
186
HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
tary and treasurer of the advisory board of the Children's Home and Orphan Asylum Association, of Rahway, and is deeply interested in all that has for its basis humanitarian principles. Since 1880 he has been a ruling elder in the Second Presbyterian church, has served as secre- tary and later as treasurer of the board of trustees, and for seventeen years has been superintendent of the Sunday school. He has also for many years been clerk of the session of that church.
On the 30th of June, 1892, Mr. Durand was united in marriage to Miss Josie E. Blanchard, a daughter of William E. and Mary (Clark) Blanchard, formerly of Brooklyn, New York. They have two chil- dren, Elsie B., born in September, 1893, and James Blanchard, born in August, 1896. Mr. Durand finds his chief and most abiding source of enjoyment in his home life. In the pleasures that have their root in family affection he spends the hours spared from professional duties, and in the home circle he finds the needed rest and relaxation from the stress and strain of business life.
FRANCIS E. MARSH,
son of Elston Marsh, was born at Plainfield, New Jersey, November 2, 1845, and has always made his home there. After four years' study at the Flushing Institute, Flushing, Long Island, Mr. Marsh entered Princeton College, in the year 1863, and was graduated there, among the honor men, in 1867.
On leaving college he decided to enter the profession of the law, and accordingly attended Columbia Law School, in New York city, and was graduated there in 1869. At that time the law school was under the charge of Professor Dwight, an instructor of rare ability, and the students during that period came in daily contact with him and were under his personal supervision, -an experience that Mr. Marsh always highly prized. In 1869 Mr. Marsh was admitted to the bar of New York, of which he is still a member.
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.