USA > New Jersey > Union County > History of Union County, New Jersey > Part 46
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JAMES F. HUBBARD
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success is the unfailing reward of capable management as combined with superior business ability.
Mr. Kirk has never been an office-seeker and has never had political preferment until November, 1896, when he was elected to the office of sheriff, by a majority of forty-three hundred, a vote which at once indicates his personal popularity and the trust reposed in him by his fellow citizens. Out of the three thousand votes cast in Plainfield, he received two thousand and three hundred. He is a member of the Union County Country Club, the League of American Wheelmen, and a valued representative of the Matano Club, of Elizabeth. He has made his home in Plainfield since 1883, his mother living with him, until her death, on May 4, 1897. In the city he is greatly respected for his sterling worth, his manly bearing and his many excellencies of character.
JAMES FRANKLIN HUBBARD.
James Franklin, son of James and Amy Carpenter Hubbard, sprang from the best of New England Puritan stock. He was born in Berlin, Rensselaer county, New York, in June, 1827. His father was a carpenter and joiner. Soon after the birth of James the family removed to Scott, Cortland county, New York, where he was taught the trade of his father, with that care and painstaking which laid the foundation for future fidelity and success. Two other children came to the Hubbard home, -Joseph A., who resides in Plainfield, New Jersey, and Mrs. Mary A. Pratt, of Scott. The father died in 1855. The mother remained until 1886, reaching the ripe age of eighty-three years.
James F. was educated in the common and academic schools of central New York. At the age of twenty-two he removed to Allegany county, and opened business as carpenter and builder. In 1849 he married Miss Elizabeth Grace Green, whose ancestors were among the oldest settlers of Rhode Island. Seeking a larger field of activity, Mr. Hubbard came to Plainfield in 1854, since which time he has been a resident of that beautiful city. He carried on business as carpenter and builder until 1862. Born to be a patriot, Mr. Hubbard enlisted in the Thirtieth New Jersey Infantry, and was elected captain of Company H at the organization of the regiment. He commanded his company at the second battle of Fredericksburg, and at Chancellorsville. He was mustered out at the close of his term of enlistment, and for a time thereafter was engaged in raising troops.
In 1865 Captain Hubbard went into the printing-press business with Charles Potter, under the firm name of C. Potter, Jr., & Company. He continued in this relation until 1879. Since that time he has been fully occupied in public business and places of trust. He was made a director of the City National Bank, of Plainfield, at its organization, in 1875, which place he still retains. He has also been a director in the Dime
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Saving Institution since 1884, and he is now vice-president of both these institutions. He has been a freeholder of Union county for twenty-nine years, and director of the board for ten years.
Captain Hubbard began political life as a Whig, passing to the Republican party at its organization. He still honors the Republican name. The Captain is a member of Major Anderson Post, G. A. R., and of Loyal Legion Commandery, of New York. He has served Union county for many years, and no man is better known or has a more unblemished record. His practical business methods and his devotion to every trust confided to him have saved the people many thousand dollars. His name is the guaranty for efficiency, integrity and trust- worthiness.
Captain Hubbard's first wife died in 1864. His present wife was Mrs. Isabell (Randolph) Titsworth, a member of one of the old and honored families of Union county. They are both members of the Seventh-day Baptist church, of Plainfield.
RANDOLPH MANNING STELLE.
The Stelle family trace their ancestry to Poncet Stelle, a French Huguenot, who came to America at an early period in colonial times. Six sons were born to him in the state of New York, but after reaching manhood they all settled in Monmouth county, New Jersey, with the exception of Benjamin, who moved to Middlesex county, New Jersey, and from whom Manning Stelle, the father of our subject, was, a descendant.
Manning Stelle, son of Isaac Stelle, was the youngest of a family of five sons, all of whom grew up and became large landowners and business men in this part of the state. Benjamin, Samuel, and John owned and operated a general store on First street, in the earlier days of Plainfield. Manning Stelle began his business career in Plainfield, but in 1826 he purchased a farm of one hundred and fifty acres, and followed farming until his death, which took place in 1890, at which time he had attained the age of eighty-nine years, his wife having died in 1887. He was a director of the old Union County Bank when organized, and continued in office for many years after it was incorporated as the First National Bank of Plain- field. He was a member of the First Baptist church, of which he was a deacon all his life.
Mr. Stelle first married Rachel Runyon, who bore him two children, Almira and Julia. By his last marriage he became the father of two children, the subject of this sketch being the only one living.
Randolph Manning Stelle was born in Plainfield, in the house in which he now resides. He is the son of Manning and Jane (Molleson)
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MANNING STELLE
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Stelle, and was reared in the city of his birth. He attended the public schools of Plainfield, supplementing this course of instruction with one at an institution of learning at Flushing, Long Island. Upon leaving school Mr. Stelle entered upon the commission business in a house in New York, but afterward returned to Plainfield, and for a period of twenty years, commencing in 1871, carried on the drug trade. In 1891 he began developing the real estate belonging to the family, largely handling his own property, along Stelle avenue, the finest part of the town.
Mr. Stelle has been a Republican all his life, but no office-seeker. In 1896 he was married to Miss Clara Mathey, of Hoboken, New Jersey, daughter of August Mathey, an old settler in the state.
Mr. Stelle is a warm-hearted gentleman, is fond of field sports, and is a member of the Union County Club, of the Crescent Club, of Brooklyn, and the Magantic Fish and Game Club, of Maine and Canada. He is also a member of the Baptist church of Plainfield.
JOHN BAYARD BROWN,
one of Plainfield's well known citizens, was born at Somerville, New Jersey, nearly opposite Washington headquarters, May 19, 1823. His father was a resident of New Brunswick from 1828 to 1836, where he attended school with Drs. Cannon and Newall, and subsequently attended school at the district school house, two miles north of Somer- ville, New Jersey, with DeWitt Talmage and his brothers and sisters, the father of the Doctor being the teacher.
In 1836 Mr. Brown's father removed to his farm, one mile north of Somerville, where he remained till 1839. Twice a week for two years the subject of this sketch carried the mail, on horseback, from Somerville to Pluckemin, Kline's Mills and New Germantown, after which he learned the trade of carriage-making and followed that occu- pation in New Brunswick for four years, at twenty-five dollars a year.
In 1845 he was married to Miss Maria Homan, of Somerville, New Jersey, and in 1846 he came to Plainfield and located on the same lot where he still resides. Upon coming to this city he began work for Heath & Dunning, but in 1848 started in business for himself, carrying on carriage-making and general blacksmithing until 1875, when his health failed, and he retired to a quiet life. Four children were born to him, but two of them died young, and in 1885 the mother died. Whitfield N. Brown, member of the Consolidated Exchange, New York city, and Mary E. Brown, both of whom are single, reside with their father in Plainfield.
Mr. Brown joined the Methodist Episcopal church in 1841, and has been an officer in the church for many years, serving as steward, class- leader and trustee.
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In politics he affiliates with the Democratic party, and while he has never sought office, yet positions of prominence have been offered him by both the old parties. In 1861 he was appointed a member of a committee to raise a company of volunteers for the war, Abraham Runyon being chairman of that committee. In 1869 he was elected to the common council, and served in that capacity until 1880, refusing to
JOHN B. BROWN.
accept the office thereafter ; but he was elected city collector in 1882. In 1887 he was nominated for mayor, and although waited upon by Democrats, Republicans and temperance committees, he declined the noinination. Mr. Brown is a member of the League of American Wheelmen and although seventy-four years of age still enjoys riding his wheel.
James Clarke
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James Brown, the ancestor of this family in America, was a resident of Albany, New York. John Brown, the grandfather of Jolin Bayard Brown, was a sea captain. He sailed from New York city in 1798, and was captured by a French privateer and taken to St. Bartholomew. He was a Mason, and affiliated with Royal Arch Lodge, No. 2, of Free and Accepted Masons of the state of New York. He died at his home in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. His wife, Nancy Brown, was of Frenchi lineage, and she died in 1876, aged ninety-seven years; her son, John Francis Brown, died in 1872. He was the father of the subject of this sketch, and his wife died at the age of eighty years. Her maiden name was Phebe Van Dike. She was a daughter of Cornelius Van Dike, Sr. He was a farmer who lived near Somerville, New Jersey, and was a pensioner of the Revolutionary war. He was one of the guides to General Washington on his march by night from Somerville to New Brunswick, New Jersey. His son, Cornelius Van Dike, Jr., was a pensioner of the war of 1812. The wife of Cornelius Van Dike, Sr., died in 1833, aged eighty-one years. He died in 1840, aged ninety-two years. His wife's maiden name was Mary Brokaw. Her ancestor came to this country from Holland, in the latter part of the sixteenth century, and settled two miles north of Somerville, New Jersey. He brought with him farming utensils, pictures, bricks for fireplace, and also some furniture, now in the possession of Mr. Brown. He had three children, -Richard, Isaac and Mary. Richard was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Isaac was a clock-maker and lived at what was then known as Bridge Town, New Jersey.
JAMES CLARK.
A noted citizen of the county is James Clark, whose business career has been a proud one, showing the possibilities and results of diligence and honesty. He was born in Westfield, Union county, in 1821. His parents, Ephraim and Phœbe (Clark) Clark, both natives of New Jersey, were of Scotch and English descent. He is a descendant of Abraham Clark, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, who is buried in the old cemetery at Rahway.
Ephraim Clark, father of the subject of this review, was strictly attentive to his business, and was a highly respected and well known resident of Westfield until his death, which occurred in 1875, at the ripe age of eighty-three years.
James Clark learned the currier's trade, at Newark, New Jersey, and soon after went to St. Louis, where he joined an older brother, who had preceded him. In 1824, when the subject of our sketch was but twenty- one years of age, he entered into partnership with his elder brother, E. D. Clark, forming the firm of E. D. Clark, manufacturers of leather and dealers in leather and shoe-findings. This was the commencement of a
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business which was destined to become one of the most important of its kind in that section of the country. E. D. Clark died in 1846 and James Clark continued the business alone intil 1860. In that year he admitted as a partner a brother, D. B. Clark, changing the name of the firm to James Clark & Company. This firm established a flourishing business, which expanded from year to year until it became one of the most important in the city of St. Louis. Frank L. Clark, a son of James Clark, together with Cyrus E. Clark, a son of D. B. Clark, were subsequently admitted to the firm, which continued business until December, 1895, when the firin sold out to a corporation which was organized to continne the business, as the James Clark Leather Company. D. B. Clark, who had been associated with James Clark in the firmn for so many years, died September 23, 1895.
Mr. Clark assisted many employes to establish themselves in business. In 1853 A. P. Thomas, who had been in the St. Louis house, was joined by Mr. Clark in establishing the house of A. P. Thomas & Company, of Keokuk, Iowa. This was the start of a flourishing house, dealing in leather, shoe-findings and saddlery hardware. Mr. Thomas died in 1856, and W. H. Van Nostrand, also an employe of the St. Louis house, took Mr. Thomas' interest, and the firm became Clark & Van Nostrand. At the expiration of two years Mr. Van Nostrand retired from the firm and H. H. Clark, another employe of the St. Louis house, became a partner, and the firm of J. & H. H. Clark did a prosperous business until about 1868, when H. H. Clark retired from the firm, and Newton E., a brother, and James E. Clark, à son of James Clark, became members of the firin of Clark Brothers & Company. This business continued until about 1885, when the Keokuk house sold out and closed up their business interests there. It will thus be seen that Mr. Clark has aided many persons to establish themselves in life, and the business established by him in St. Louis, was so well known, by its long and honorable record, that the corporation succeeding him retains his name, as it had been for years a synonym for commercial probity and honor.
Mr. Clark still owns valuable real-estate interests in that city, and has a wide acquaintance among its leading men. He joined the frater- nity of the I. O. O. F., in St. Louis, in 1844, and in 1894 the lodge of which he was a member united in celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of that occasion, by giving him a "Golden Jubilee." This was the first one hield in that state and was an affair of great interest. On this occasion Mr. Clark was presented with an engrossed and illustrated album, containing an account of the function, with many autograph letters from his old fraternal friends. This is superbly illustrated and ornamented, and is highly prized by him.
Mr. Clark has made his home in Plainfield since 1860, and is one of the best known citizens of the section in which he resides. He has an elegant home on Seventh street.
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Ing'D/ H B Halls Sons. New York
EINETR. ACKERMAN.
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Mr. Clark is a man possessed of a vigorous and sturdy constitu- tion, and his years sit lightly upon him. He is of a genial nature, and one who commands the respect and esteem of all who know him. Coming from a line of long-lived ancestry, he has doubtless many years yet to enjoy the wealth that he has accumulated by years of hon- orable business life. Mr. Clark has two sons, Frank L., a resident of St. Louis, and James E., a business man of Boston.
Mrs. Clark, whose maiden name was Mary A. Ferguson, isa native of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Clark are members of the Crescent Avenue church, and enjoy high social position in Plainfield.
ERNEST R. ACKERMAN.
The subject of this review stands as a representative of one of the old families of the state of New Jersey. A native of the city of New York, Ernest R. Ackerman was born on the 17th of June, 1863, the son of J. Hervey Ackerman and Ellen (Robinson) Ackerman, a memoir of the former of whom appears on another page of this volume. His father became one of the prominent and influential men of Union county, having been called upon to serve in positions of public trust and confidence. His parents removed to Plainfield when Ernest R. was five years of age, and here he secured his preliminary educational discipline, completing the high-school course and graduating with honor as a member of the class of 1880. It was his privilege, during the same year, to enjoy the broadening influences of foreign travel, for, in company with Bishop John H. Vincent, of the Methodist Episcopal church, and his son George, he made a tour through England, Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. Mr. Ackerman is an enthusiastic traveler, and during the decade from 1887 to 1897 he traveled extensively in the United States, Europe and Asia, Africa, South and Central America.
As a citizen of Plainfield, Mr. Ackerman has naturally been looked to as an eligible candidate for offices of honor and trust. In 1888 and 1889 he was repeatedly solicited to serve lis ward in the common council of the city, but he declined all overtures in this direction, as his private affairs placed imperative demands upon his time and attention. In 1890, however, he consented to accept the nomination of the Republican party for the office mentioned and, being elected, faithfully served his constituents, not absenting himself once from the council meetings during the many sessions that were held within the year. In the council he served as chairman of the finance committee, and was active and uncompromising in opposing the attempt of the "Big Six" to fasten upon the city an unnecessary water and sewerage system. His arguments, which were timely, well directed and clearly defined, had much to do with defeating the ill advised proposition. Pressure of business interests impelled him to tender his resignation at
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the expiration of one year's service. He has maintained a lively interest in political affairs, and is in close touch with the important questions and issues of the hour. He has appeared before both the Democratic and Republican committees charged with the consideration of the tariff, and the facts and arguments presented by him had much weight with the members of the congressional committee on ways and means. Mr. Ackerman has been a delegate to many conventions of the political party in whose support he is arrayed; has frequently been called upon to serve as chairman of such assemblies, and, in 1894, was prominently mentioned as the Republican candidate for congress. He would unmistakably have been the nominee of the Republicans of his congressional district had he not withdrawn his name early in the contest on account of pressing business exigencies.
In the campaign of 1896 he was heard from on the stump, as advocating the principles of the Republican party, and being well . fortified with facts obtained during his travels in China, Japan and India, he was in a position to effectively combat the statements made by the free-silver orators. Numerous articles showing the fallacy of the princi- ples involved in the free-silver movement constantly appeared in the press over his signature, and many thousands of his pamphlets, explain- ing the inevitable sequela of the adoption of a free-silver standard, were distributed throughout the Union. His prominence and influence in the councils of his party are again shown in the fact that he represented the eighth congressional district in the electoral college which gave its vote for Mckinley & Hobart for the respective offices of president and vice- president of the United States, and he served as secretary of the electoral college in New Jersey. In 1896 he was tendered the nomination as the Republican candidate for mayor of Plainfield, but again business reasons led him to decline the honor. Mr. Ackerman controls large financial and business interests and is distinctively a man of broad capacity and marked executive ability. In 1891 he was elected president of the Lawrence Cement Company, of New York.
Mr. Ackerman is a member of the New Jersey Historical Society ; the Hillside Tennis and Golf Club ; the Union County Country Club and the Park Club, of Plainfield ; the Lincoln Association, of Elizabeth ; the Lawyers' Club, of New York, and the Building Material Exchange, of New York. For fifteen years he has served, as a representative from the Crescent Avenue Presbyterian church, on the board of directors of the Young Men's Christian Association of Plainfield, and his interest in all that concerns the material and moral advancement of the city of his home is unflagging. Despite his activity as a business man, Mr. Ackerman is a well known philatelist, being a member of the London Philatelic Society and the Dresden Society, as well as the Collectors' Club, the National Philatelic Society aud the Philatelic Club,-all of New York city,-and the American Philatelic Association.
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JARED KIRTLAND MYERS.
J. K. Myers, assistant treasurer and one of the trustees of the American Bank Note Company, New York city, was born in Platts- burg, New York, in 1843. The Von Moyers, his great-grandparents, came from the Hague, Holland, in colonial times, and, landing at Perth Amboy, New Jersey, located in Herkimer, New York. The Kirtlands, the mother's family, came to America from England, in colonial times, and settled near Saybrook, Connecticut. Their descendants were patriots in the Revolutionary struggle.
Mr. Lawrence Myers, the father of our subject, was a merchant, for half a century, in Plattsburg, New York, where he resided mintil his death, in 1871. The mother died in 1864. Six sons were born of this union, three of whom are now living. William W. Myers, a broker of New York, also resides in Plainfield, and Michael P. Myers, a merchant, resides in Plattsburg, New York.
Jared K. Myers received his education in the public schools of his native city, and subsequently spent several years in his father's store and office in Plattsburg. In 1864 he came to New York city and entered the office of I. B. Kirtland, banker, on Pine street, where he remained until 1869, when he commenced the bank-note business. In 1867 Mr. Myers renioved to Plainfield, where he has resided since
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that time, and where he is recognized as a prominent and useful citizen.
In1 1871 Mr. Myers was married to Miss Mary A. Stillman, of Plainfield, daughter of Dr. Charles H. Stillman, a sketch of whose life is published in another part of this work.
Mr. Myers is a member of the Sons of the Revolution, is a member also of the Masonic Order, belongs to the Union County Country Club and has been a trustee of the Crescent Avenue Presbyterian church for many years.
HON. BENJAMIN A. HEGEMAN, JR.,
ex-mayor of North Plainfield, is a descendant of one of the oldest settlers in the state of New Jersey. The old Hegeman homestead, in Somerset county, has been in possession of the family about two hundred and fifty years. Benjamin A. Hegeman, Jr., is a son of Benjamin A. and Jane (Roome) Hegeman, of New York city, the father being a member of the board of managers of the Traffic Association, and traffic manager of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company; and Mr. Hegeman, the subject of this sketch, is the general manager of the Lackawanna Live Stock Transportation Company.
Mr. Hegeman, Sr., was born in the city of New York, June 26, 1820. His wife was a daughter of the late Judge Roome, of New York. Of the five children born of this union only two are now living,-W. J. R. Hegeman, agent for the Lackawanna and Great Eastern Fast Freight Lines, and the subject of this sketch.
Benjamin A. Hegeman, Jr., was born in New York city, July 14, 1860. He was educated in the public and private schools of New York city, and at the Mount Washington Collegiate Institute, of that city.
For several years he was connected, in various capacities, with the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, until 1886, when he accepted a position as assistant secretary and cashier of the Citizens' Mutual Life Insurance Association, of New York city. In 1888 he severed his connec- tion with that association, and took the position of general manager of the Lackawanna Live Stock Express Company, which has since been reorganized as the Lackawanna Live Stock Transportation Company, he still retaining the position of general manager.
Mr. Hegeman is a strong Republican, and has always been active in the councils of that party. In 1888 he was elected by the council of the borough of North Plainfield to fill a vacancy in that body, and was re-elected in March, 1890, by the people, as councilman for the full term of three years. In 1895 he was, without opposition, elected mayor of the borough of North Plainfield, for the term of two years. Mr. Hegeman is a strong partisan, and has served efficiently as a member of the Republican executive committee of Somerset county for a number of
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years, treating with the greatest respect the views of his political opponents.
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