USA > New Jersey > Union County > History of Union County, New Jersey > Part 21
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On March 4, 1871, he came to Newark, New Jersey, and entered the law office of the late Judge Caleb S. Titsworth, who was connected with William H. Francis, the firm being known as Titsworth & Francis. At that time Mr. Titsworth was the prosecutor of pleas for Essex county, and Mr. Francis was corporation counsel for the city of Newark. Mr. Marsh assisted Mr. Titsworth as prosecutor, and also became more or less familiar with the duties of the office of corporation counsel.
In 1871 Mr. Marsh was admitted to practice as an attorney at law in the courts of New Jersey, and in November, 1874, he was admitted as counselor at law. He was subsequently appointed master in chancery, examiner in chancery and special master in chancery, by the chancel-
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lor, and was appointed notary public by the governor ; and supreme- court commissioner by the supreme court.
In 1874 Mr. Marsh was admitted as a partner in the firm of Tits- worth & Francis, which now became Titsworth, Francis & Marsh. In IS78 Mr. Francis retired from the firm and it became known as the firm of Titsworth & Marsh, and so remained until ISS4, when the firm was dissolved, since which time Mr. Marsh has been practicing by himself, in the same building, 75S Broad street, Newark, that he entered as a
FRANCIS E. MARSH
law student in 1871. His practice is a general one carried on in all the courts and covering the general field of law.
Mr. Marsh has always been a strong Republican in politics, and though he has never sought any office he has served as a member of the common council of the city of Plainfield for ten years, during two years of which time he served as president of the council. He lias been more or less active in political work in Union county and the city of Plain- field, having served on the Republican city executive committee in Plainfield for several years past.
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CHARLES J. MCNABB,
a promising young lawyer of Plainfield, of Scotch descent, is a native of Somerset county, New Jersey, and belongs to one of the old families of the state. He is the son of Robert and Sarah (Myers) McNabb, and was born in the year 1873. His paternal grandfather came from Scotland, and settled at Bound Brook, New Jersey. The internal grandfather, Myers, was a native of Union county, New Jersey, as was also the father of the subject of this review. Robert McNabb was a
millwright, and subsequently a contractor and builder, and is now living with his wife at Netherwood, New Jersey.
Mr. McNabb, the subject of this sketch, was educated in the public schools and in the New Jersey Business College, of Newark. He
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commenced his business life with the New Jersey Railroad Company, but only remained in that position one year.
In January, 1892, Mr. McNabb commenced the study of law in the office of William A. Coddington, of Plainfield, remaining under his tuition three years, and immediately afterward entered the University Law School of New York, where he completed his course of instruction, and was admitted to New Jersey as attorney-at-law in the month of February, 1896. On June 1, 1897, he entered into a law partnership with Mr. R. M. Clark, of Plainfield, under the firm name of McNabb & Clark.
GEORGE W. BIRD,
the second child and oldest son of Lewis M. Bird and Elizabeth Bird, was born February 21, 1871, at Gallia (formerly Mt. Bethel), Somerset county, New Jersey.
He received his education at the public schools, in the borough of North Plainfield, Somerset county, New Jersey, and from the high school was graduated in June, 1886, at the age of fifteen years.
At the age of seventeen years he engaged as a clerk in mercantile business, holding positions with various merchants in the hardware trade in the the city of Plainfield ; also with the Russell & Erwin Manufac- turing Company, of New York city. While with this company he attended classes at the V. M. C. A., in Plainfield, and became proficient in the art of stenography and typewritng.
On October 11, 1892, he entered the law office of Senator Charles A. Reed, who, with City Judge William A. Coddington, subsequently formed the law firm of Reed & Coddington. After serving a four-years clerk- ship,-two in the offices of Mr. Reed and two in the offices of Reed & Coddington,-he applied for admission to the bar, and on November 9, 1896, he was licensed to practice as an attorney at law.
January 1, 1897, he opened an office in the Shaw Building, 105 East Front street, Plainfield, New Jersey, and commenced the practice of law.
ROBERT MARTIN CLARK,
son of Robert, Jr., and Amanda (Martin) Clark, was born in Newark, New Jersey, November 2, 1875. His grandparents, Robert and Cather- ine (Williams) Clark, were born in Scotland and emigrated to this country in their 'teens. His maternal grandparents, Daniel 'Martin and Jeanette (Campbell) Martin, belonged to families well known in the vicinity of Plainfield. Mr. Clark lived in Newark until about eleven years of age, when his father purchased a place near Plainfield, in a suburb now known as Washington Ville, where he has since lived.
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Mr. Clark was graduated from the North Plainfield public school in June, 1890, and from Plainfield high school in June, 1893, and in July of that year began the study of the law in the office of J. B. Coward, of Plainfield. He was graduated from the law department of the New
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ROBERT M. CLARK
York University, with the degree of LL. B., in June, 1896, and admitted as an attorney-at-law on November 9th following, taking the five counselor's examinations and being at that time twenty-one years and seven days old. January 19, 1897, he was appointed master in chancery. He liad commenced the practice of his profession in January, 1897. He
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was elected assessor of North Plainfield township March 9, 1897. Mr. Clark is also an attorney, in Union and Somerset counties, for the United Lawyers, Merchants and Manufacturers' Collection Association. On June 1, 1897, he entered into a law partnership with Charles J. McNabb, of Plainfield, under the firm name of McNabb & Clark.
Mr. Clark is a member of the Midmer Glee Club, of Plainfield, and has sung in the choirs of this and other cities.
EDWARD NUGENT,
lawyer and ex-president of the board of education, at Elizabeth, New Jersey, was born in New York city, November 2, 1864. With his parents, John and Margaret Nugent, he resided at Troy, New York, and Harrison, New Jersey, attending the parochial and public schools in both places.
Through necessity he was obliged to leave school at thirteen years of age, and worked thereafter at various occupations until finally he entered the employ of the Singer Manufacturing Company of Elizabeth- port, New Jersey, in 1879, removing to Elizabeth, New Jersey, the following year. He learned the trade of machinist, and during his thirteen years' employment with that company he attended night school when the opportunity was afforded, and took an active interest in trying to obtain better educational facilities for himself and fellow workmen.
He was on that account elected a member of the board of education from the third ward of Elizabeth for the years 1889, 1890, 1891 and 1892, and during the years 1892 and 1893 was elected president of that board.
In 1891 he married Mary E., daughter of Adam and Magdalen Weirich, of Elizabeth, New Jersey. Through their material assistance and the kindly aid of Richard V. Lindabury, Esq., (then located at Elizabeth), who loaned him law books, and encouraged and assisted him in his studies, he began the study of law and entered Mr. Linda- bury's office, also attending the New York Law School, New York city, and was admitted to the New Jersey bar at the June term, 1896, when he opened an office in Elizabeth and is now engaged in success- ful practice.
In politics he is an active Democrat, and is an attendant of the Roman Catholic church, and connected with a number of fraternal organizations of the city of Elizabeth.
SAMUEL S. SWACKHAMER
was born August 7, 1859, at White House, New Jersey. He attended the district school during his boyhood, and was known more as a lover
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of fun than as a student. After entering his 'teens, he began to take a decided interest in study. He was aided by his father, R. S. Swack- hamer, an able instructor, who held the office of county superintendent of public instruction for two successive terms. Under his tuition the
SAMUEL S. SWACKHAMER
subject of our sketch advanced rapidly, taking special pains with polite literature, science and ethics. He mingled study ever with his amusements, and joined with several other boys in erecting a building, along the Rockaway river, which they named Ciceronian Hall, and in which they held debates, and incidentally feasted on contributions
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levied on the parties at their respective homes. At the age of eighteen Mr. Swackhamer began to teach school, and contiuned in this vocation several years. Meanwhile he took the Chatauquan University white- seal course. During this period he also organized debating societies, and argued current topics with some of the ablest debaters in the state.
He began the study of law with his brother, Austin H. Swack- hamer, of Woodbury, New Jersey, and was graduated from the office of Judge J. D. Bartine, of Somerville, New Jersey, being admitted to the bar in February, 1894, when he began the practice of his profession in Plainfield, New Jersey. He has advanced rapidly, being distin- guished as an advocate, in which character he shows dramatic power and oratorical ability. He has the faculty of carrying his opponents' arguments in his mind, thus obviating the necessity of notes. He is a stanch temperance advocate and a well known speaker at church ceremonials and anniversaries.
As a Democratic speaker he has stuinped the state in three presi- dential campaigns. Mr. Swackhamer is a close student of the law and is noted for the thorough preparation of his cases. He took the degree of counselor in February, 1897, and has recently taken into partnership his nephew, W. Gordon Williams. In 1894 he married Miss Lizzie Herr, also a resident of White House, New Jersey, and daughter of Rev. Martin Herr, of that place.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Swackhamer are inembers of the Methodist Episcopal church. They own a charming residence in North Plain- field, where they at present reside.
LEVI E. HART,
a brilliant but unpretentious member of the Union county bar, now living in Westfield, has won a liberal clientage, which well attests his ability, and the important litigation with which he has been connected indicates his skill in handling the intricate and complicated questions of jurisprudence. A son of Ebenezer Hart, he was born in Brooklyn, New York, and is now fifty years of age. His grandfather, Levi Hart, was one of the prominent and early citizens of Brooklyn, and owned a farm which includes the present site of the fountain which now stands at the entrance of Prospect Park. Upon that farm Levi E. Hart was born and spent his boyhood days. His mother was a daughter of Lemuel Hart, an extentive ship-builder of Long Island. In 1860 he accompanied his parents to Union county, New Jersey, the family locating on a farm near Plainfield, but the life of the agriculturist was not suited to his taste, and, at the request of Hon. John A. Lott, one of the judges of the court of appeals of New York, he was admitted as a student in the law office of H. C. Murphy & Sons, one of the leading law firms of the city of Brooklyn, the senior partner being the Hon. Henry C. Murphy.
I3
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For six years he continued his studies in that office, and was admitted to practice at the bar of the state of New York in 1867. Later he was licensed to practice in the United States courts and in the courts of New Jersey. In 1869 Mr. Hart was united in marriage to Miss Lizzie L. Pound, daughter of Jackson Pound, of Plainfield, New Jersey. They
LEVI E. HART
became the parents of a son and daughter, but the mother and children have all passed away. For his second wife, Mr. Hart chose Miss Carrie Brown, a daughter of Stephen Brown, a wealthy tanner and currier, of Bound Brook, and by her he has two daughters.
Soon after his second marriage Mr. Hart moved to Westfield, where he has since made his home. He is now largely interested in
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real estate there, and owns and handles some very valuable property. In addition he still continues the practice of his profession. He is a man of broad general information and ripe scholarship, and to this he has added a thorough knowledge of the law. Working earnestly for his clients' interests, he has advanced his own ; but whether it will be beneficial to him or otherwise, no trust reposed in him is ever slighted. There are many elements in his character essential to success- executive power, determination, and sound judgment of men and events. In his business dealings his methods are above question, and his word is as good as his bond. Kindly in manner, genial in disposition and of sterling worth, he makes many friends, and although a stanch Republican, he has many stanch friends in the Democratic party.
MELVILLE EGLESTON,
one of the leading citizens of Elizabeth, New Jersey, and for many years an eminent lawyer of New York city, is a son of the Rev. Nathaniel Hillyer Egleston, and was born in 1845, at Ellington, Connecticut,-his father's first parish. He is of Puritan stock, his ancestors being numbered among the first settlers of New England. Naturally of strong mentality, he was fitted by most liberal educational training for the duties of life. He pursued a course in Williams College, and then went abroad, con- tinuing his education at the universities of Berlin and Gottingen. Before going to college he had manifested his loyalty to his country by service in the Union army for a time during the civil war, and was mustered out with the rank of adjutant of a Massachusetts regiment.
Preparing for the bar, Mr. Egleston began practice in New York city and soon attained a desirable position as a representative of the legal fraternity in that city. His attention has been especially devoted to corporation law, and for a number of years he has been the general counsel of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company, commonly known as the "Long Distance" Telephone Company. He is also counsel of a number of local telephone companies doing business in New York and the surrounding country, and of other corporations.
In 1881 Mr. Egleston was united in marriage to Miss Jane Shelton Dunbar, daughter of the late George Curtis Dunbar, formerly of New York. He is a vestryman of St. John's Episcopal church, of Elizabeth, and takes quite an active interest in the affairs of the city, being president of the board of trustees of the Elizabeth Public Library, and president of the Town and Country Club.
CLARENCE D. WARD
has since his boyhood resided in Rahway, and at the bar of Union county has won a foremost place among the distinguished representatives
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of the legal profession. In no calling so much as the law does advance- mient depend upon individual merit ; mental acquirements cannot be gained through influence, but must come as the result of earnest, per- sistent effort, and in this quality Mr. Ward is particularly rich. He was born in the city of Newark about forty years ago. His
CLARENCE D. WARD
parents were Captain Samuel D. and Rebecca M. (Miller) Ward, the latter a daughter of Isaac Miller, a farmer who for some years resided in the outskirts of Newark. The paternal grandfather, Jacob Ward, was an agriculturist living in Hanover, Morris county, New Jersey. During his boyhood Clarence Ward accompanied his parents on their
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removal to Rahway, where the father engaged in the carriage business until his death, which occurred in 1883.
Residing continuously in Rahway, Mr. Ward, of this review, has witnessed much of its growth and taken an active interest in its pro- gress. Its public schools afforded him his early educational privi- leges, and later he attended a private academy here. Determining to make the practice of law his life work, he entered the Columbia Law College, of New York, and was graduated with the class of 1877, after which he was admitted to practice at the courts of the Empire state. He also studied law in the office and under the direction of J. R. & N. English, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, and was admitted to practice as an attorney in November, 1877, and as a counselor in November, 1881. In the former year he entered into partnership, for the practice of law, with ex-Senator B. A. Vail, and the relationship has since been maintained, the firm taking high rank in professional circles. He is careful and exact in the preparation of cases, clear and forcible in the presentation of his points, concise and logical in 'arguments, and seldom fails to convince. The litigation entrusted to his care has been of a very important character, attesting his ability before judge or jury.
Mr. Ward has been concerned in the management of various enter- prises which have been of material benefit to the city, and is now one of the managers of the Rahway Savings Institution, a director of the Workman's Building & Loan Association, of Rahway, and counsel for the Union Savings & Loan Asscoiation. He has also been promi- nently connected with municipal affairs, and in 1883 was elected a member of the common council of Rahway, which position he filled in a most acceptable manner for three years, when he declined a further nomination. He was also counsel to the board of chosen free- holders of Union county for five years, from 1887 to 1892. During that time he, with several others, was instrumental in securing the pas- sage of the act known as the county-road act, in the state legislature, whereby boards of freeholders were enabled to construct macadam roads at the expense of the county within which the roads were located. Under this act, and while Mr. Ward was counsel to the board of free- holders, the macadam roads in Union county were constructed, -a system of roadways unsurpassed by any in the state. Mr. Ward has ever been deeply interested in the movements tending to promote the welfare of the county, and has done all in his power for the material progress and culture of the community.
Mr. Ward has always given his political support to the men and measures of the Republican party, and gives of his time and influence for the furtherance of the cause. His home relations are very pleasant, and he and his family occupy an enviable position in the social circles of Rahway. He was married in June, 1886, to Miss Pauline Schu-
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macher, a daughter of Frederick Schumacher, of Rahway, and they now have two children, a son and a daughter.
HARRY CHASE RUNYON
was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, on April 16, 1869, being the youngest son of the late John Calvin Runyon, who, up to the time of his death, was publisher of the Central New Jersey Times. His mother, whose maiden name was Harriet M. Chase, came from Delaware county, New York state, and was the youngest daughter of Colonel Edward Chase. Mr. Runyon's mother is still living, and is a descendant of Richard Chase, who came to this country with Governor Winthrop and settled at Yarmouth, Massachusetts, in 1638. On his father's side Mr. Runyon's forefathers were among the first settlers in New Jersey, and located at Elizabeth Town. One of them, Ruene Runyon, a surveyor, because he refused to swear falsely in regard to the boundary line of Elizabeth Town grant, was compelled by the English to flee by night from the settlement, and took his wife and family to Piscataway township, Middlesex county, where he located a home, and it is from this branch of the family that the subject of our sketch comes. Mr. Runyon was educated in the Plainfield public schools and took a large interest in history and geography. He also had a large bump of argumentativeness, which showed itself early in life and caused friends of the family to predict his future profession and a brilliant career.
He left school at the age of fourteen and apprenticed himself as a compositor in his father's printing offices. At the age of seventeen he went to Newark, New Jersey, and accepted a position in a store, but tiring of the long hours and the arduous duties, his early desire to study law was soon gratified, and he accepted a position with Morrow & Schenck, a firm of Newark lawyers. After several years of study in that city he returned to Plainfield to continue his studies with Senator Charles A. Reed, until his admission to practice, in February, 1892. Here he has since been established, and has built up an excellent business in the line of his profession.
Mr. Runyon is a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Improved Order of Red Men, and at present holds the position of Prelate in the Improved Order of Heptasophs.
Mr. Runyon is an earnest worker in the church and in the cause of temperance, and is a member of the Park Avenue Baptist church, of Plainfield.
On December 28, 1896, he was married to Miss Louisa Baker, daughter of Genio S. and Amy J. Baker.
Mr. Runyon is a man of small stature, but well proportioned ; he is athletic and takes a lively interest in all manly sports and recreation.
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1
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HARRY C. RUNYON
His manner is prepossessing and his social qualities have won him many friends. He is genial and witty, and possessed of marked conversational powers, beng conversant with general topics and a master of general literature.
CHAPTER XVI.
FORMER FRENCH RESIDENTS OF ELIZABETH. [BY WARREN R. DIX, A. M., LL. D.]
HERE was a slight sprinkling of French in the first settlement of this ancient town. Governor Carteret was from the Isle of Jersey, whence our goodly state was named Nova Caesarea, and he, as most of its inhabitants, was French, although the island was always English governed. In the ship Philip, in 1665, came with him several persons of the old Jersey stock and one real French gentleman, Robert Vauquellin by name, Sieur des Prairie by title, who was from Caen, Normandy. He had much prominence in the infant period of the colony, of which Dr. Hatfield, in his elaborate work, has given some account, but the dark nimbus of an indistinctly recorded antiquity leaves little to be known, much to be guessed at, of that initial time. But about a century later came in here the distinguished French Protestant Huguenot family, the Boudinots. One of them, the Hon. Elias Boudinot, was a brilliant star in Elizabeth history. He was a member of the first and president of one congress, and a leader in every good word and work, both in church and state. As an evidence of his liberality and good taste, we may mention a pair of heavy, glass chande- liers, which he imported from Paris and presented to the First Presby- terian church in this town. For sixty or seventy years they hung from the ceiling of the church, not less ornamentally than usefully, but are now (1870) suspended in its stairways. But not until the close of the last century, and the expatriating, life-hunting period of French history was La Belle France, represented in Elizabeth in any mentionable degree. From that time on until as late as perhaps 1810 or 1814, when the Bonaparte dynasty was overturned, this place was a nucleus of many highly respectable and intelligent French families of the regime ancien. They were principally Catholics in religion, but not bigots in social life, and we may safely infer that, what with the sympathetic gayety of spirit, bonhomie empressement, and being not without that universal passport, la monnaie, they obtained a pleasant social position in their American home and were a very acceptable addition to the old borough circles. * * But they have left no souvenirs behind, scarcely in the grave, and where they lived, scattered around the town, is known by few living. They were worthy property-holders, and in the registry office at Newark you will find the only full record of their names. *
* The warm inter-attachments of those worthy refugees is
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attested by an incident first mentioned to me by a very respectable gentleman, one of our citizens, who states that about the year 1810, at which time those remaining here were much embarrassed in means by the fluctuation of affairs in France, several returned thither to obtain the desired relief. Passing one day the house next below St. John's church, then occupied by one of these families, he was witness to an affecting scene, when those going on this pressing embassy to their perturbed native land,-a future reunion so uncertain,-and those left behind found it hard to tear themselves from one another's arms in the midst of tears and tender adieus. My venerable informant himself could not recall this little incident with an unmoistened eye."
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