USA > New Jersey > Union County > History of Union County, New Jersey > Part 31
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mained in this work until 1831-2, when he was appointed one of the chief assistants of H. R. Campbell, chief engineer of the Philadelphia, German- town & Norristown Railroad, of which Peter Wager, of Philadelphia, was president. This road was opened for traffic in the fall of 1832. Of the many interesting reminiscences of Colonel Moore's career, mention may be made of his experience with one of the pioneer locomotives, "Old Ironsides," which was built by M. W. Baldwin, of Philadelphia, and be- gan to run in November, 1832. Mr. Moore was the third person who "engineered " this famous engine, and had it in charge for sixty consecu- tive days ; "and," as he observed, "I ended that service in a snow storm." "'This locomotive," he added, "is believed to have been the first one of any great commercial value built in the United States." It may be noted just here that Stephenson's engine, the " Rocket," was perfected in 1829, winning the five hundred pounds premium offered by the Liverpool & Manchester Railway for the most improved locomotive engine. In 1832 the " Old Ironsides" was working on the Germantown & Norristown road,-only three years following the English machine, with Watts and other steam experts on the other side of the ocean to further its develop- ment. This illustrates the quickness with which Americans took to rail- roading, and the remarkable genius displayed by this country in railroad extension ever since has fully kept pace with England's steamship supremacy on the seas. In thus dwelling upon Colonel Moore's early career, which is identical with the beginning of railroad construction in America, a vivid retrospect is obtained of the pioneer enterprises in this most important industry.
In the winter of 1832-3 Mr. Moore received the appointment of assistant chief engineer of the Philadelphia & Trenton Railroad, which was opened for business in 1833-4. At this time he was but twenty years of age, and was considered one of the most able engineers that the demands of railroad construction had developed. He succeeded to one position after another of increasing extent and importance, the history of which would fill a large volume. A brief mention only of the most extensive and noted roads can be given herein, but full reference to the subject, however, can be found in a sketch of Colonel Moore in Volume VIII. of the Magazine of Western History, which also includes an exhaustive chapter on early railroading in England and America, from the pen of the well known writer, Mr. J. H. Kennedy. This volume also has the biographies of the Vanderbilts, J. Edgar Thomson, and other railroad magnates, whose life-histories are so grandly interwoven with the railroad development of the United States. Following his position on the Philadelphia & Trenton road, Mr. Moore was next appointed assistant chief engineer of the Rensselaer & Saratoga, under his old chief, H. R. Campbell, with Le Grand Cannon, of Troy, as president. He then became chief engineer of the Philadelphia & Baltimore road, then chief engineer of the Elizabethtown & Somerville road,-completing the
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location of the line from Elizabethtown to Somerville,-ex-Governor Isaac H. Williamson, of Elizabethtown, being president. The road was constructed to Elizabeth and was equipped with yellow-pine stringers and an iron strap-rail, two and a quarter inches wide by five-eighths of an inch thick. The surveys were continued to Phillipsburg, on the Delaware river, a distance of sixty miles, when the panic of 1837 caused the work to be discontinued. Following this, Chief Engineer Moore contracted to build a double-track throughi-bridge over the Brandywine river, at Wilmington, and completed it in sixty days : this structure was five hundred feet long. Mr. Moore then returned to his old post in New Jersey and completed the road,-now the New Jersey Central,-by sections, as far as Plainfield and Bound Brook, thence to Somerville, and finally to Phillipsburg in 1852. In the fall of 1844 Mr. Moore was appointed chief engineer of the eastern division of the Morris canal,- fifty miles. In 1846 he became locating engineer of the Verinont Central Railroad, subsequently taking full charge as chief engineer, and completing the line from Burlington, Vermont, to the Connecticut river,-one hund- red and twenty miles. Upon the final opening of the road he was made general superintendent ; he also completed the branch road from Essex Junction to Rouse's Point,-forty-seven miles,-which was operated under a lease by the Vermont Central.
In the summer of 1854 Mr. Moore was called to a larger and still more difficult field for his matured powers and skill,-as general superin- tendent of the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana Railroad, of which John B. Jervis was president. In 1856 he resigned and returned to Elizabeth. In 1857 he contracted to build the East Pennsylvania road between Allentown and Reading,-thirty-six miles,-which was finally opened for traffic in 1859. In April, 1860, Mr. Moore engaged for the second time with the Central Railroad of New Jersey as chief engineer, and in the service of this extensive company continued eitlier as chief engineer, general superintendent or consulting engineer, until his death,-locating and constructing the main line and all its branches in New Jersey, a dozen in all, excepting only one, the Ogden Mine & New Jersey Southern.
Of the many difficult engineering tasks which Colonel Moore was called 11pon to carry out was the location and construction of the Raritan river bridge, on the New York & Long Branch Railroad. There was no safe bottom within reach, and the best of skill and judg- ment were required in deciding upon the length and number of the piles to be driven, -over six hundred of which are under the pivot pier, and averaging between seventy-five and eighty feet in length. The draw is of iron, and has two openings of two hundred feet each at right angles to the channel, and weighs seven hundred and fifty tons; it is four hundred and seventy-five feet over all, and was the longest draw known at the time it was built.
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On August 19, 1874, under the administration of President Grant, he was appointed chairman of three commissioners, to examine the Union Pacific Railroad, to determine whether it had been completed as required by law, and to report to the department of the interior, -which duty was duly performed.
From 1877 Colonel Moore was a member of the executive com- mittee of the Eastern Railroad Association, which represents special interests of about twenty thousand miles of railroad. He was also a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers for over a quarter of a century. As a resident of Elizabeth he always took an interest in the community, and its welfare-educationally, religiously and socially-was ever near to his heart.
A self-inade man in the most emphatic sense of the term, and famous in a profession noted for able and practical inen, Colonel Moore is associated in railroad history with a number of illustrious Americans whose energy and labor penetrated the wilderness and sent the iron horse throbbing with civilization over the land; and he was one of the favored few of that galaxy of engineers and projectors who lived to see the full fruition of great enterprises, which have grown and expanded far beyond his most sanguine expectations.
JOHN WILLIAMS CRANE
was born on the old family homestead, on Morris avenue, near the corporation limits of Elizabeth, in Union township, Union county, December 23, 1834, and still resides at that place. He is descended from one of the old families of New Jersey, the ancestry being traced back to Stephen Crane, who was one of the pioneers of this state, having become a resident of Elizabeth Town, as shown by records extant, as early as 1665. His son, Nathaniel Crane, who was born in 1680, and died in 1755, was the father of Caleb Crane, who married Elizabeth Townly, daughter of Charles Townly. Their son, Nathaniel Crane, married Sarah Miller, daughter of Elder Moses Miller, and one of their children, Moses Miller Crane, was the father of our subject. He was born December 16, 1799, and married Phebe Stiles Williams, a daughter of John Williams, of Morris county, who was born in Roselle, Union county. The Williams' farin took its name from this family. Mrs. Crane was born January 14, 1800, and by her marriage became the mother of five children, only two of whom are now living: Jane E., wife of J. N. Earl, who is living on Morris avenne, Union township; and John Williams Crane, of this review.
Moses Miller Crane was born in the house where our subject now resides, and obtained his education in the district schools such as were common at that day. Having attained his majority, he turned his attention to farming as a life work. His worth and ability were
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recognized by his fellow citizens who frequently called him to public position of honor and trust. In 1845 he was chosen one of the free- holders of Essex county, and for five years acceptably filled that position. When the rapid growth of the county caused great complica- tion in its judicial service, he advocated its division and the erection of
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JOHN WILLIAMS CRANE
a new county, to be called Union, and agitated the subject until the county was finally created by legislative action in February, 1857. He was elected the first county collector of Union county and served in that capacity from 1857 until 1861. In politics he was a stanch Democrat, and labored earnestly for the growth and success of his party. He was a recognized power in local affairs, a man of strong
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individuality and unswerving integrity, and in his business interests met with a well deserved prosperity. His death occurred November 27, 1874. For generations the members of the Crane family have been attendants on the services of the First Presbyterian church, of Elizabeth.
J. Williams Crane attended the public schools, pursuing his studies in the old "North End School House," and later continuing his education in the private schools conducted by F. W. Foote and James G. Nuttman. He early assisted in the work of the farm, and through- out his life has been identified with that industry. He has always lived upon the old homestead. In 1862 he was elected a member of the board of freeholders and served three terms. In November, 1862, when R. S. Green, afterward governor, was elected surrogate, Mr. Crane was chosen clerk and served in that capacity for about two years. In 1866 he embarked in the real-estate and insurance business in Elizabeth and has since continued operations along those lines. In May, 1886, he was appointed by Justice Van Syckle one of the commissioners to adjust the arrears of taxes and assessments of the city of Elizabeth, his associates on the board being ex-Governor George C. Ludlow, now a member of the supreme court, and F. L. Heidreitter. The work was successfully accomplished, and the result not only proved of great material benefit to the city, but also gained high public endorsement. In 1894 Mr. Crane was appointed, by Governor George T. Werts, judge of the court of common pleas for a terin of five years, and creditably filled that position for two years, when a legislative enactment brought about a change in the judiciary system of the state.
Judge Crane was married in Elizabeth, December 21, 1859, to Miss Anna E. Wilson, a daughter of John and Nancy (Lyon) Wilson, the former a native of England, and the latter a daughter of Amos Lyon, of Lyons Farm, Union county. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Crane are Moses M., clerk in the First National Bank, of Elizabeth, and Henry W., a plumber, of Elizabeth.
In his political views Judge Crane has been a life-long Democrat, and for twenty years has been a member of the Union county Democratic executive committee, while for fifteen years he served as its treasurer, With his family he attends the First Presbyterian church.
DR. WILLIAM D. HEYER,
principal of school No. 3, of Elizabeth, was born in Norwalk, Connecti- cut, in 1836. He is the son of the late Rev. William G. Heyer, D. D., a clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal church. He was educated in New York state and is a graduate of the University of the city of New York. He began his school work in a country school in Essex county, in 1854, and within the past forty years has held the following positions:
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Assistant in Grammar School, No. 17, New York city; principal of Grammar School, No. 4 (now No. 61); principal of Boys' High School, in New Orleans, Louisiana; professor of physics and astronomy in Homer College, Louisiana; city superintendent of Kingston, New York; and principal of Grammar School, No. 3, Elizabeth, -which last position he obtained as the result of a competitive examination, in 1873.
Dr. Heyer is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Microscopical Union, the Society of Pedagogic Research, the New Jersey Club of Scientific Review, and many other scientific and educational societies.
He is a prominent Mason, being a Past Master of Orient Lodge, a meinber of the Grand Lodge, and also of Washington Chapter and St. John's Commandery.
BARNABAS HOLMES,
county superintendent of schools, has been identified with educational work in Union county continuously since January, 1866. At that time he was appointed to the principalship of public school No. I, of Eliza- betli, and has since been continued in that position.
Mr. Holines began his work as a teacher in his native county of Plymouth, Massachusetts. He was born in Marion, formerly a part of Rochester, in 1833, and was educated in the academy at that place. On leaving that school he took a supplementary course,-first in mathema- tics, as a special study preparatory to a career at civil engineering, and later in the sciences, and finally in the law, which he studied while teach- ing. His first work as a teacher was done in the district schools about Marion, at the age of eighteen, and before leaving Massachusetts he taught in the schools at Marion, Randolph and Fair Haven. At Fair Haven he was admitted to the bar, and from there lie came to Elizabeth.
Mr. Holines was appointed county superintendent in June, 1889, and in September following entered upon the duties of his office, and con- tinned the good work inaugurated by his worthy predecessor. The old course of studies has been slightly revised and amplified. The township system provided for by the state has been fully inaugurated and is in successful operation. The school libraries provided for by the state and inaugurated early after the passage of the act have been contintied, and every school in the county lias availed itself of this privilege. The pedagogical libraries, as provided for under the rules of the state board, have been under careful consideration, and arrangements have been nearly completed for the establishment of such libraries in all the larger districts of the county. The seliool buildings of the county are generally in excel- lent condition, many of them being new, notably those at Fanwood, Westfield and Summit.
Mr. Holmes is a charter member of the Union County Teachers'
MRS. MARY N. PUTNAM
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Association, and has served as its president several years. He has been a member of the State Teachers' Association for twenty-five years, has served eight years on its executive committee, and has been its president. He has been treasurer of the New Jersey Teachers' Reading Circle, and a member of its executive committee also, and he is one of the original members of the New Jersey Council of Education.
MRS. MARY N. PUTNAM
was born at Ithaca, New York, October 1, 1834, and at an early age moved with her parents to New York city, where she was educated at St. Ann's Hall, corner of Eighth and McDougall streets, under the Rev. John Frederick Schroeder, D. D.
Her father, William Amos Woodward, born in New London, Connecticut, descended from Richard Woodward, who, with his wife, Rose, and twin sons, came over in the ship Elizabeth, A. D., 1634. His mother was Elizabeth Bailey, daughter of Thomas Bailey, who settled in New London, Connecticut, in 1651. Through these ancestors Mrs. Putnam is a member of the National Society of New England Women. Her father, Mr. Woodward, was commissioner of deeds and notary public in New York city, and became interested in western lands, through the location of land warrants for the soldiers after the Mexican war. It was by his foresight and advice that Ezra Cornell purchased the land scrip given by congress to the state of New York, and, by his admirable selection of pine lands in Wisconsin, secured such a substantial endowment for Cornell University.
Her mother, Frances Mary Evertson, descended from the famous Johan Evertson, admiral in the Dutch navy in 16 -. Her grandfather, Jacob Evertson, was delegate from Duchess county, New York, to the second provincial congress of New York, in 1775-6. Through this ancestor Mrs. Putnam is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Her maternal grandmother, Frances Mary Nicoll, descended from Matthias Nicolls, first secretary of the province of New York, and from his son, William Nicoll, member of the colonial assembly of New York twenty-one years, of which he was speaker sixteen years. He was an eminent lawyer, and was engaged by the residents of Elizabeth Town to go before the king in council, to settle the titles to their lands, which he did to their satisfaction. For this he was made an associate of Elizabeth Town, with a third-lot right. Through his wife, Anne Van Rensselaer, Frances Mary Nicoll descends from Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, patroon, 1631, and Oloff Stevenson Van Cortland, president of the council of "Nine Men," 1650. Through these and others, Mrs. Putnam is a member of the New Jersey Society of Colonial Dames of America.
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Frances Mary Nicoll also descends from Huguenot ancestors. Elie Boudinot, the ancestor of the Boudinots of New Jersey, fled from La Rochelle, France, after the revocation of the edict of Nantes, to England. There he married his second wife (also a refugee) Susanne, née Papin, widow of Benjamin D. Harriette, and came to New York in 1687. She must have been an ardent Protestant, as, in order to effect her escape from her native country, she was rolled down to the ship in a barrel. Their daughter, Madeleine Boudinot, married Thomas Bayeux, another refugee. Through these Mrs. Putnam is a inember of the Huguenot Society of America.
Mrs. Putnam received her commission as regent to form a chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, in March, 1893, from the national society in Washington, D. C. On September 27, 1893, she organized the Bondinot Chapter, with fifteen members, which has since grown to thirty-seven members. She has been elected each year since to the same office.
Mrs. Putnam is also an "hereditary life member " of the National Mary Washington Memorial Association and a member of the Revolu- tionary Memorial Society of New Jersey. She is also a member of the New Jersey Historical Society.
CAPTAIN JOHN P. LONG.
The police department of the city of Elizabeth is very fortunate in having in its service Captain Jolin P. Long. He has been identified with the force since 1891, when he received the appointment of captain of police from the civilian ranks. He has proved his faithfulness and efficiency as a police officer, and his administration of the affairs of his department has received commendation on every hand.
Captain Long was born in Elizabeth, September 25, 1856. He is a son of John Long, of Irish birth, who is a railroad conductor. The latter married Catherine Saunders, and Captain Long is the oldest of five children. Captain Long acquired the trade of a machinest in the shops of the Central Railroad Company, and continued in that capacity from the age of eighteen till his appointment as captain of police.
On November 23, 1893, Captain Long was married to Miss Mary McNamara, and they have two children, John J. and Arthur.
THOMAS HART BENTON,
contractor for river and harbor dredging, Elizabethport, New Jersey, has been a resident of Elizabeth, New Jersey, for thirty years. He was born December 20, 1830, in Herkimer county, New York, and spent most of his life in that state. He is a descendant of Edward Benton, who came from Surrey county, England, in 1639, and settled in Guilford, Con-
WILLIAM W. THOMAS
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necticut, and is the son of Abijalı K. Benton, who was born February 3, 1803, in Otis, Massachusetts, and died July 13, 1893, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The mother of our subject was Harriet Thatcher Benton, who was born March 7, 1808, in Lee, Massachusetts, and died August 26, 1886, in Elizabetlı, New Jersey. She was the granddaughter of the Rev. Roland Thatcher, of Wareham, Massachusetts, a graduate of Harvard. She went with her husband to settle near Cleveland, Ohio, but did not remain there very long.
Mr. Abijah Benton was a cabinet-inaker, and during the memorable gold excitement in California, in 1849, went to that region, where he became a prominent citizen. For several years he was assistant post- master of Oakland, California, and held other positions of honor and trust. He was a inan of remarkable physical vigor, and very active for one of his age. He was a writer of considerable ability, and contributed to several periodicals in San Francisco and other western cities. Captain Thomas H. Benton, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, and Miss Nellie H. Benton, of Brooklyn, New York, are his children.
Captain Benton married Miss Catherine Morgan, daughter of George and Mary Morgan, of New York city.
THE THOMAS FAMILY.
The Thomas family has been prominent in the history of Elizabeth from its earliest times. John Thomas, the first of the name in this vicinity, came to Elizabeth Town about 1689 with liis wife, "Fiftie," née Garretsen. He is supposed to have been the Johannes Thomassen who took part in Milbourne's expedition to Albany, and became involved in the troubles culminating in the death of Governor Leisler, when he removed to Elizabeth Town to escape the persecutions of this period.
Here he became one of the governor's party, as opposed to the early settlers, who were mostly of New England descent. His name, however, appears in the memorials of 1669 and 1700, which were in hostility to the claims of the proprietary government .* He died in 1712, mentioning in his will several children,-Edward, John, David, Margaret and Esther.
The family now residing in Elizabeth is descended from Edward Thomas, his eldest son. Edward Thomas inarried Sarah Drummond, daughter of Robert Drummond, a Scotchman of a family whose estates were confiscated after the battle of Killiecrankie, and who escaped, about 1689, to America, where he married Anna Evetts (then the widow of Richard Hall). His wife's sisters, Abigail, the wife of Charles Town- ley, and Sarah, the wife of Effingham Townley, were the daughters-in-
* See New Jersey Archives, Volume 1I., page 327.
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law of Colonel Richard Townley, and their husbands were half-brothers of Mrs. Philip (Governor) Carteret.
The grandfather of Mrs. Edward Thomas was James Evetts, a vestryman and warden of Trinity church, New York, an officer under the crown, and adjutant of the colonial army, at Albany, during the French and Indian war. Her father, Robert Drummond, before removing to Elizabeth Town, was high sheriff of New York (1713), and his descendants were prominent in New Jersey until the Revolution, when his son, Robert Drummond, notwithstanding his long term of service in the colonial legislature, joined the British army, was made major in the Battalion of Refugees, and died in exile in England.
Mrs. Drummond's children, by her first husband, on the contrary, married prominent patriots,-as for example, Elizabeth Hall, who married William Patterson, and Anna Hall, who married James Martin.
Little is now known of the brothers and sisters of Edward Thomas. John is said to have married a sister of a Colonel Whitlock, of the British army, and to have moved to Westchester county, New York. (This statement, which is found in the family bible of his nephew, Colonel Edward Thomas, has not been verified by the writer.)
Sufficient has been outlined to estab- lish the social position of this family, prior to 1700, by references to connections of local prominence, and to its early COLONEL EDWARD THOMAS association with the Episcopal church, both in New York and in this city, where the ground on which St. John's church was built was the gift of Charles Townley, Mrs. Thomas' uncle.
The children of Edward Thomas and Sarah Drummond were : (1) Rachel, who married Captain John Elwes, of the British army; (2) Sophie, who married John Trail ; (3) Sarah, who married Samuel Longworth ; (4) Anna, who married Lieutenant Nicholas Tiebout ; and (5) Edward, afterwards Colonel Edward Thomas.
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