USA > New Jersey > Union County > History of Union County, New Jersey > Part 58
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1873, Prospect school house built.
1874, July 27th, Rev. Alexander McKelvey installed (see picture.) Mr. McKelvey was of Scotch-Irish descent, a fine orator, scholarly, tender-hearted and refined. Although he remained but two years in Westfield, he made a host of friends, and during his administration a very thorough revival swept over the church. His son Joseph is an efficient pastor at Plainfield, New Jersey.
1876, November 9th, fire department organized. It has a hook-and- ladder, hose, engine and two chemical companies.
1878, January 25th, Rev. Wm. H. Gill, D. D., installed (see picture.) A native of Ireland, he came to this country in early youth, educated at Beaver, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Jefferson College in 1864. He then spent one year at Princeton and two years at Western Theological seminaries. First pastorate at Greensburg, Pennsylvania ; next at St. Joseph, Missouri ; then at Allegheny and Westfield. During his pastor- ate here a new organ was purchased and the church property greatly improved. Resigning in February, 1882, his next charges were Owego, New York, and the Church of the Evangel, Philadelphia. His published works are : "The Temple Opened," "Credimus," "The Bible Catechist," and "The Junior's Jesus."
1879, African Methodist Episcopal Zion church (now Baptist, see above, 1866.)
1880, June, "Congregational Church of Christ" organized in Aeolian hall. Church dedicated in 1882; cost eight thousand dollars. Pastors : Henry Neill, Cornelius H. Patton, 1887 ; Henry Ketchanı, 1896.
1880, December 23d, first issue of a regular weekly paper, the Westfield Monitor. Editor, Sydney Genung.
1882, July 25th, Rev. Newton W. Cadwell installed. (See biography.)
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Revival in 1883; one hundred and seventeen unite with the church, ninety on one Sabbath. 1887, church remodeled ; cost, nine thousand dollars. 1888, new parsonage built ; cost six thousand dollars. Decem- ber, Building and Loan Association organized. It has put out over eighty thousand dollars. 1890, forty iniles of Telford macadam roads built in Union county. 1892, January 3d, greatest fire in the history of Westfield, when Arcanum hall, the Standard and a block of business property destroyed. 1893, the Suburban Electric Company, of Elizabeth, begin to light our streets. 1894, Westfield secures its water supply from the Union Water Company, of Elizabetlı. 1895, Westfield builds and owns a sewer system.
REV. NEWTON W. CADWELL.
" He who does not think of his ancestors will be negligent of his posterity."-Freeman's " Cape Cod." The "Caldwell Records " * say that the name Caldwell indicates, doubtless, a watering place. Nichols in his "Leicestershire" says that the import of well, as a part of a name, is the abundance of springs or wells. The name of a place became oftentimes a family designation, and this may be true of Caldwell. Lower, in his Patronymica Britannica, gives " Caldwell, the cold well." Ancient designs and armorial bearings of some families of the name, are wells, fountains, waves of the sea, fishes,-each suggestive of a locality near water.
The name is spelled variously. In Domesday Book it is written Caldeuuelle ; it may be likewise found-Caudwell, Cadwell, Colwell, Coldwell, Caldwell, Cauldwell. The nationality of the Caldwells is not evident. The words cold and well, in sound and meaning, are common to several languages. The name, applied to place and family, can be traced to England, Scotland, Ireland and France for several centuries. In England the name, applied to place, appears in the time of William the Conqueror, 1066-83. In Scotland the Caldwells, of Cald- well in Ayreshire, had become a prominent family as early as 1349. They furnished at that date a chancellor to Scotland. Caldwells from Mount Arid, near Toulon, went into Scotland in the reign of Francis I. Caldwells from England, Scotland and Ireland emigrated to America and established homes in various localities.
The records say that the Caldwells " came into England, from Nor- mandy, with William the Conqueror, 1066, and transferred to Scotland in the reign of David I., 1124." A long list of Caldwells who became rectors, priests, bishops, authors, etc., is a matter of English history. The family was " of some note in Scotland as early as 1349. In this year we find William Caldwell, prebendary of Glasgow, lord chancellor of
* This article furnished by request of the publishers.
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REV. NEWTON W. CADWELL
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Scotland. The Caldwell estates were in Ayr and Renfrew. These estates were acquired by John Mure, 1539, by marriage with the heiress of Caldwell. The coat-of-arms of the Ayrshire Caldwells is thus described: "Az, three cold wells, or. Crest: out of a ducal coronet, or. a dexter hand, ppr. holding a cross calvary, in bend, sinister, gu." The grandmother of Oliver Cromwell was "Ann of Caldwell," and the name, Oliver, was doubtless given him from his ancestor, Oliver Caldwell, one of the most famous and powerful chieftains of France, then Scotland, then Ireland. History says that six Caldwell brothers "went with Oliver Cromwell to Ireland, and, after his promotion to the protectorship of England, remained there in his interests until the restoration of the crown and Charles II."
In this country we read that "in 1849, Mrs. Lydia E. Caldwell, sister of the late President James K. Polk, married Major Edmund Richmond."
John Caldwell, the great-grandfather of Rev. Newton Woodworth Cadwell, was born November 27, 1761, in Connecticut, probably in or near Hartford, "Old Harford." He married Rosannah Adams, relative of President John Quincy Adams, February 6, 1786. History says that "Mrs. Caldwell was one of the brightest women of her day." Her husband served in the continental army during the whole seven years, and afterward drew a pension. Ephraim Wood- worth was drum major in our army, and his farm was located on Bemis Heights. After the battle of Saratoga between six and seven hundred bullet holes were found in his barn, which at one time became the centre of the engagement. His daughter Jerusha was the wife of Thomas Hunt, who was a captain and also drummer in our armny. He was present at the surrender of General Burgoyne, his drum corps following immediately behind the general's carriage. He said that "on that glorious day he carried a bass drum, and at every beat he lightly struck the spokes of the general's wheel and never lost a stroke." He said that his great shame was that all his brothers were tories, and that they fatted and grew rich in feeding the British army." His daughter Mahala, grandmother of Newton W., was present when, after the war, one of these brothers was seen approaching his house. Promptly seizing his rifle, he charged him with being a "tory and traitor to his country." Then he warned him to "leave at once, and, if he ever returned, he would shoot him as quickly as he would shoot a dog, as dog he was." Before the war he had been a "seafaring man for seven years, having sailed around Cape Horn, to China, and twice to the East Indies." After his death his widow drew a captain's pension, receiving at one time five thousand eight hundred dollars.
Ephraim Woodworth Cadwell, a son of Thomas Adams Cadwell and Mahala Cadwell, daughter of Thomas Hunt, was born January 7,
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1827; married Phebe, daughter of Oliver Stone, May 29, 1850. Oliver Stone was a private in the war of 1812, and after his death his widow drew a pension. Ephraim W. Cadwell became a teacher, then inspector and commissioner of schools, and was one of the founders of Hillsdale College, Michigan. Children, Newton Woodworth and Phebe Alice.
Newton W. Cadwell was educated at Auburn High School, Munro Collegiate Institute, Falley Seminary, Hamilton College and Auburn Theological Seminary. While in college, having shown considerable aptitude for criminal law, and urged by professors and friends to make it his profession, he made of it a special study, and was subsequently admitted to the bar. Fond of oratory, he won first oratorical prizes both in preparatory school and college. With A. K. Goodier, Mr. Cadwell was one of the founders of Richfield Springs Seminary, where he taught 1876-9. After graduation at Auburn, in 1882, and receiving four unani- mous calls to the ministry in quick succession, he finally located in Westfield, New Jersey. During these fifteen years the church has been remodeled, a new parsonage built, a union chapel erected at Willow Grove, and six hundred and fifty-five added to the membership.
On May 14, 1883, he married Jane Worrall Criswell, of Shippens- burg, Pennsylvania, valedictorian of the first class graduating from Wil- son College, at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Had children: Mary Lee, born April 20, 1884; Jeanie W., born December, 26, 1886: died June 30, 1887; and Paul Newton, born June 9, 1889.
CHARLES N. CODDING.
One who has won distinction in the profession of law, who has served with marked ability and honor in positions of public trust and responsibility, and who is recognized as one of the representative citi- zens of Union county, it is manifestly consistent that in this connec- tion be accorded a review of the life history of him whose name initiates this sketch. Charles Nelson Codding was born at Collinsville, Con- necticut, on the 21st of December, 1861, being the son of Samuel Nelson Codding and Fidelia Smith Pettibone Codding. Samuel N. Codding was for seventeen years judge of probate for the district of Canton, Connecticut, being repeatedly the nominee of both political parties, and retiring only when the constitutional age limit of seventy years was reached. He was also for twenty years treasurer of the Col- linsville Savings Bank, being a man of most inflexible integrity, of exceptional ability, and retaining the respect and confidence of all classes in the community where he so long lived and labored to goodly ends.
After a preliminary course of educational discipline in Phillips Academy, at Andover, Massachusetts, Charles N. Codding matricu- lated at Yale University, where he graduated in 1886, with the degree
CHARLES N. CODDING
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of A. B. He then entered Columbia Law School, from which he received the degree of LL. B. in 1888, being admitted to the bar of the state of New York in the same year. With the exception of the time passed in school and college, Mr. Codding retained his resi- dence in Collinsville until 1886, when he took up his abode in New York city, where he remained two years, after which he removed to Westfield, Union county, New Jersey, where he has ever since made his home.
Mr. Codding has been continuously engaged in the practice of his profession in New York since 1888 and, fortified by inherent ability and thorough technical knowledge of the law, he has attained a due measure of success. He is also a member of the bars of the states of Connecticut, New Jersey and Illinois. Recognition of his eligibility for offices of public trust has naturally been accorded. He became the nominee of the Republican party, and was elected a member of the house of assembly of New Jersey from the old third assembly district of Union county, assuming the discharge of his duties in 1894,-the year memorable for the " rump" senate contest in the state legislature. He was re-elected from the county at large, and served during 1895, after which he was unanimously renominated for a third term, but declined. He has been for several years, and is at the present time, chairman of the Union county Republican committee, and is an important factor in the political affairs of the county.
Mr. Codding was the leading spirit in promoting the organization of the old Westfield Athletic Club (now the Westfield Club), and within the time that he was president of the same the handsome club house was built. An excellent illustration of this building appears on another page of this volume. In his fraternal relations Mr. Codding is identified with Fireside Council, Royal Arcanum, and with the Elizabeth City Lodge of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.
At Beverly, New Jersey, on the 18th of October, 1888, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Codding to Miss Adele C. Bonfield, and they are the parents of three children: Charles N., Jr., who was born August 4, 1889; Harriet McElroy, born November 28, 1890; and Adele Bonfield, born January 15, 1892.
FREEMAN BLOODGOOD
has long been actively associated with the leading interests of two states, New York and New Jersey. He maintains his residence in Westfield, but more than half a century ago he located in New York city and soon rose to a place among her prominent business men. His is the honorable record of a conscientious man, who by his upright life has won the confidence of all with whom he has come in contact. He has rounded
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the psalmist's span of three score years and ten, and although the snows of many winters have whitened his locks he still has the vigor of a much younger man, and in spirit and interests seems yet in his prime. Old age is not necessarily a synonym of weakness or inactivity. It need not suggest, as a matter of course, want of occupation or helplessness. There is an
FREEMAN BLOODGOOD
old age that is a benediction to all that comes in contact with it, that gives out of its rich stores of learning and experience, and grows stronger intellectually and spiritually as the years pass. Such is the life of Mr. Bloodgood, an encouragement to his associates, and to the young an example well worthy of emulation.
Mr. Bloodgood was born in the township of Perth Amboy, Middle- sex county, New Jersey, June 4, 1820, and was a son of William Blood-
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good, who was a farmer and was born on the farm of his father, Aaron Bloodgood, who was a seafaring man, but owned a homestead in New Jersey. The ancestry of the family can be traced back still farther to William Bloodgood, the great-grandfather of our subject, who was a tanner by trade, and in the year 1737 removed from Flushing, Long Island, to Perth Amboy township, Middlesex county, where he purchased property on the Woodbridge road. Two of the deeds of purchase are now in possession of Freeman Bloodgood of this review. The mother of the last named bore the maiden name of Doziah Freeman. She was a native of Metuchen, New Jersey, and lived to attain the extreme age of one hundred years and two months.
Freeman Bloodgood attended the common schools in his youth, but the advantages there afforded were very ineager, and his education was limited to instruction in the "three R's." Experience, observation and reading in later life, however, have supplied the lack of earlier years, and a good practical business education lias enabled him to win an enviable degree of success in the world of trade. He worked on the farm through the summer months until April, 1838, when, wishing to learn a trade, he went to New York city and there learned the mason's trade and building of all kinds. That proved the beginning of his later extensive business. Thoroughly mastering all details of the builder's art, he began contracting on his own account, and the excellence of his workmanship, his promptness and his thorough reliability soon brought to him a liberal patronage. Many of the finest buildings of the mnetrop- olis stand as monuments to his skill and ability, including the Berkley House, at the corner of Fifth avenue and Ninth street ; the Potter building, at the corner of Astor and Lafayette places; the James L. White building, at the corner of Franklin street and Broadway ; the auction house of Brown & Secomb, at the corner of State and Bridge streets ; the A. H. Hatch building, in Greenwich street, near Beach, and many other public buildings and residences of lesser importance. He has for many years been recognized among contractors in the city, and a liberal success has crowned his efforts.
In September, 1849, Mr. Bloodgood joined the General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen in New York and almost continuously since has been a member of one or another important committee of that organ- ization, thus largely advancing its usefulness for the public good. The only enterprise with which he has been connected outside of his build- ing interests is that of mining coal and manufacturing oil therefrom. To this he gave his attention from 1856 to 1860, when the oil fields of Pennsylvania were discovered, and this, combined with the opening of the civil war, made the oil industry in Kentucky no longer profitable, and operations were suspended. Mr. Bloodgood has never traveled beyond Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois and Michigan, but has always lived a quiet, retired life. During his long residence in New York city he changed
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his place of abode five times, living in one house for twenty-six years. He has never sought nor desired political preferment, but has always been true to the duties of citizenship, and has exercised his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Republican party since voting for James Buchanan.
In October, 1845, Mr. Bloodgood was united in marriage to Miss
MULFORD M. SCUDDER
Matilda Whitaker Raynor, by whom he had three children. Her death occurred in November, 1860, and in June, 1866, Mr. Bloodgood was again married, his second union being with Eliza Ann Curtiss, by whom he has three children. All are yet living, and five of his family are now married. He now lives in a pleasant home in Westfield, surrounded by
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the comforts and conveniences that a successful business career has enabled him to secure, enjoying the confidence and respect of neighbors and friends, and the love of those who are bound to him by the ties of kinship.
MULFORD MARSH SCUDDER
is a leading resident of Westfield, New Jersey,-his native town. His life journey has been directed along the beaten paths of earnest, honest endeavor to the goal of prosperity. He was born on the 15th of June, 1845, a son of Amos Picton and Susan Aymar Scudder, and began his education in the public schools of Westfield, later supple- menting his early privileges in that direction by a course of study in Woodbridge, New Jersey. When he laid aside his text books, he began to learn the more arduous lessons of the school of experience; and industry and perseverance have characterized his business career. For many years he was engaged in the real-estate and insurance business in New York city, and by his well directed efforts, his unflagging industry and his good business ability he won a fair degree of success. In 1894 he was appointed by President Cleveland to the position of postmaster of Westfield and has since served in that capacity, discharging his duties with marked fidelity and promptness.
Mr. Scudder has also been one of the chosen freeholders of Union county, and in his official capacity, as well as when holding no office, he has labored earnestly and efficiently for the welfare and progress of his native town. His political support has ever been given the Democracy and he is deeply interested in the growth and success of his party.
THE LAMBERT FAMILY.
One of the oldest and most prominent families now living in West- field bears the name that appears at the head of this review and traces its origin in this country back to some time previous to the year 1673, when Roger Lambert emigrated from England and settled in this city, here taking the oath of allegiance to the Dutch government, as required by law, the Hollanders having regained all their former possessions in New York, including New Jersey. In the following year the English proprietory government was restored, and on the 2d of August, 1676, Roger Lambert received a patent for his land from Sir George Carteret, Philip Carteret being governor.
Roger Lambert's wife was named Eleanor, and they had only one son, John. In 1712 Roger and John Lambert, with their wives, Eleanor and Hannah, sold land to John Dagworthy, and the latest date of any deed signed by Roger Lambert is 1716. By the will of John Lambert it appears that his eldest son was named John, following whom he
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mentions his son Richard, then his son David, and makes an appropria- tion for the maintenance of his "poor, infirm son," Solomon. He gave land at Ash Swamp to his grandson, John Lambert, the child of his eldest son, John ; and his townright of common and undivided land in Elizabethtown he gave to be divided between his three sons,-John, Richard and David. The will of Hannah Lambert, of Elizabethtown, mentions her grandsons John and Samuel, and granddaughters Margaret and Huldah, and sons Solomon and David. The instrument is dated 1748, Isaac Winans, executor.
In the agreement of the first settlers of the land lying in Rahway, then a part of Elizabethtown, and dated November 18, 1721, appear the names of John, Richard, David and John Lambert (3d). In 1736 David Lambert was overseer of highways in Elizabethtown, and in 1838 John Lambert (3d) was appointed to the same office. Samuel Lambert, who was a merchant in New Haven, Connecticut, came from Essex county, New Jersey, and his will was proved in the province of New Jersey, county of Essex, on the 10th of March, 1718. He was probably a son of Richard or David. Samuel Lambert, of Elizabethtown, in his will, of date 1756, mentions a number of children, but does not give their names. His mother he designates by the name of Joanna. Joseph Lambert died intestate (widow Elizabeth, administratrix), August 17, 1758. In 1699 Daniel Lambert bought of Benjamin Thorp land lying in Elizabethtown (state records Lib. G, page 90). Edward Lambert, of Freehold, Mon- mouth county, in his will, dated December 4, 1714, directs his land to be sold and half the proceeds to be given to his brother, Jonah Lambert, and the other half to be put to interest for the benefit of his nephews, John and Joseph, children of his brother John, deceased. John Lambert, of the borough of Elizabeth, county of Essex, in his will, dated August 21, 1778, gives his wife, Mary, her support, and mentions his sons David and Daniel, his grandson John, son of his son Joseph, deceased, his granddaughter Esther, daughter of his son Simeon, deceased, and Hannah, daughter of his son Enoch, giving legacies to his grandchildren, Phebe Rogers and Joseph Lambert, and fifty pounds to the Baptist church at Scotch Plains. This will was proved on the 27th of June, 1779. (Records of wills in Trenton, Lib. 21, page 178.) Administration granted to James Lambert in estate of James Lambert, deceased, late of Essex county, February 18, 1789 (Lib. 22, page 34), and administration granted Andrew Lambert, of Essex county, in the estate of Jonathan Williams, June 21, 1784.
The foregoing is a record of the history of the Lambert family up to 1784, the members of which lived in what was then Essex but is now Union county.
Simeon Lambert, son of James, married Miss Freelove Littell and lived on his father's farm in Westfield, known as the "Old Wind-mill Farm," the old mills of which were replaced in 1840 by water power,
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the latter being still in use. He acquired considerable property in stocks and bonds, but lost heavily during the panic of 1872-6. Mr. Lambert filled prominent county offices for many years and was conspicuous in the public affairs of his day. He and his wife becaine the parents of ten children, of whom we make brief record, as follows : (1) John Lambert married Susan Ann Hetfield and they became the parents of the follow- ing named children : Ira C. married Ella M. Folsom and they had children-Theodore F. and Harold ; James B. married Saralı Jane Harris, their children being James Leslie, Newton, Percy, Lilian, and Helen ; Simeon Wallace Lambert married Estelle May Harris, by whom he had children-John Raymond, Emma DeCamp and Chauncey Ripley ; Laura is not married ; Julia married George Westervelt ; Isaac H. married Ella Louise Darby and had children-Howard, Willard and Walter M .; Phebe H. married William DeWitt Pierson ; Ada M. married Ambrose Smalley ; Anna S. married Edward Gilby ; Clarence, not married. John Lambert, son of Simeon, married for his second wife Mary Elizabeth Frazee; they had no children. (2) Freelove. (3) Rachel, who married Eliphalet DeCamp. (4) Julia married D. S. Scudder. (5) James. (6) Martha Ann married George Merrick. (7) Isaac married Huldah Melick and they became the parents of children- William, who married Kate Thomas, who bore him five children; Lucy, who married Daniel Terry and became the mother of seven children; Alice, who married Douglas Darby and is the mother of three children; Albert, who married Fanny Darby, by whom he has two children, Albert and Ruth; John; Rachel, who married Alex. Neuman and had children; and Charles, who married Elizabeth Sedann, of whom three children have been born. Isaac Lambert, son of Simeon, consummated a second marriage, being united to Elizabeth Cooper, and the children of this union are Adelaide, Matilda, Grace, Caroline, Josephine, Mary Elizabeth, Julia and Pearle,-none of them being married (1897). (8) Sarah Elizabeth married D. B. Hetfield. (9) Matilda married Moses Pierson. (10) Irene married Charles R. Clark. John is living on the old homestead, and the others or their descendants reside in Union or adjacent counties.
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