History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 164

Author: W. Woodford Clayton, Ed.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia: Everts
Number of Pages: 1224

USA > New Jersey > Middlesex County > History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men > Part 164
USA > New Jersey > Union County > History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men > Part 164

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Abel S. Runyon was a farmer and carpenter. He purchased a part of the Manning homestead after his marriage, and there resided most of his life afterwards. He was a man of decided and positive convictions, plain and unostentatious in his ways, and possessed sterling integrity in all of his business relations. He never sought political place among his fellow-towns- men, and never held office except to fill some minor offices in his township, although he was always inter- ested in local matters and somewhat active in pro- moting measures tending to the best interests of his political party and the election of honest men to official place. He was a contributor to and pro- moter of religious work in the community where he resided, and for many years a member of the First Baptist Church of Piscataway. For his second wife he married Mercy, danghter of Reune Runyon, of the same place, who died in 1841, leaving the following children : Catherine A., widow of Henry Branting-

" At a special meeting of the board of directors of the National Bank of New Jersey, beld on the second day of March, 1874, it was resolved aud declared --

"That this board of directors are deeply impressed with the loss of thia institution in the death of our beloved and honored president, John B. Hill, whose wise forecast, sonud judgment, unswerving rectitude of heart and life, and conscientions devotion to duty established him firmly in public confidence, and contributed largely to the prosperity and useful- Dess of this bank.

" That in a wider sphere of duty the community in which be lived 60 loug aod honorably will miss and mouro him as a sagacions aod valn- able associate in the administration of public affairs.

674

HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.

ham, who was killed at the battle of Fredericksburg in the late civil war; Julia A., wife of George Drake, of Piscataway ; Adeline, wife of George Heath, of Tarrytown, N. Y. ; and Mercy, wife of Lewis Walker, of Piscataway.

Mahlon, son of Abel S. Runyon and Catherine Manning, was born March 29, 1824. His boyhood was spent in the routine of farm-work and attending school during the winter months. At the age of six- teen he came to New Brunswick and became a clerk in the store of his uncle, Clarkson Runyon, with whom he remained one year, when, his uncle selling out his goods, he remained in the same store for two years more. In 1843 he established mercantile busi- ness in New Brunswick on his own account, which he successfully carried on until 1856. For eleven years following he was a grain merchant here, and in 1867 he purchased a country residence in his native town- ship on the Raritan River, which he has improved and made one of the most desirable outside of the city, and which he has kept as his family homestead since. Since his first coming to New Brunswick Mr. Runyon has been interested in the various enterprises of the place and a contributor to its worthy local objects. He was elected a director of the National Bank of New Jersey at New Brunswick on May 7, 1867, and succeeded Mr. James Dayton as its presi- dent on Dec. 7, 1875, which position he fills in 1882.

Mr. Runyon was united in marriage in 1848 to Susan, daughter of Judge Peter P. Runyon, of New Brunswick, who was alderman and recorder of the city for several years, justice of the peace, and for thirteen years served as judge of the Court of Com- mon Pleas. He was one of the most zealous and in- fluential members of the Baptist Church in the State, a Sunday-school worker and superintendent for many years of his life, and from 1830 until his death in 1871, at the age of eighty-four, treasurer of the Baptist State Convention.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Mahlon Runyon are Mary, wife of F. R. Stout, of New Brunswick ; Charles H., a lawyer of the same place ; Deborah A., wife of Dr. Samuel Long, of New Brunswick ; and Lillie A.

NEW BRUNSWICK SAVINGS INSTITUTION .- This savings institution was incorporated March 15, 1851, by an act of the Legislature that Littleton Kirk- patrick, John Acken, Peter Spader, James Parker, John W. Stout, David F. Randolph, Peter Conover, William Dunham, John R. Ford, Charles D. Deshler, Robert Adrain, Moscs F. Webb, Theodore G. Neilson, David Bishop, Peter V. Miller, William Boylan, and their successors shall be and are hereby constituted a body corporate and politic by the name of "The New Brunswick Savings Institution," and by that name shall be capable of purchasing, taking, holding, and enjoying to them and their successors any real estate in fee simple or otherwise, etc. Their banking- house is No. 17 Albany Street. President, Garret G.

Voorhees; Vice-President, Clifford Morrogh, M.D .; Secretary and Treasurer, Neilson Dunham; Managers, Theodore G. Neilson, Henry H. Palmer, Clifford Morrogh, M.D., Lewis T. Howell, Henry L. Jane- way, Daniel M. Vail, Garret G. Voorhees, Azariah D. Newell, M.D., William Rust, Andrew Agnew, Abra- ham Voorhees, William H. Acken, Gustavus Auten, John T. Hill.

DIME SAVINGS-BANK .- An act to incorporate the Dime Savings-Bank of the city of New Brunswick, N. J., approved Feb. 7, 1871 : Be it enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey, that Levi D. Jarrad, Lyle Van Nuis, A. V. Schenck, Henry De Hart, Henry K. How, Garret G. Voorhees, Jehiel K. Hoyt, Robert G. Miller, Peter I. Stryker, Uriah De Hart, John V. H. Van Cleep, Henry N. Marsh, Adrain Vermuele, George C. Lud- low, Amos Robins, Joseph L. Mulford, Jacob E. Stout, Garret Conover, John M. Connell, Miles Ross, and their successors shall be and are hereby consti- tuted a body corporate and politic by the name of " The Dime Savings-Bank" of the city of New Brunswick. Their place of banking business is situ- ated at 137 George Street. Open daily from 9 A.M. to 1 P.M. and from 2 to 4 P.M., and on Monday even- ing from seven to eight o'clock. Deposits received from ten cents upwards, and interest allowed on de- posits from the first of every month, and the interest credited on the second Tuesday of January and July. Lyle Van Nuis, president ; Arthur G. Ogilby, secre- tary and treasurer ; John Wycoff, assistant secretary ; Board of Managers, Lyle Van Nuis, Henry R. Bald- win, Willard P. Voorhees, James P. Langdon, Adrain Vermuele, Runyon R. Outcalt, Robert J. Hannah.

New Brunswick Gaslight Company .- About the year 1850, our city having about ten thousand in- habitants, was looked upon as a proper place for the introduction of gas, and a company was formed and chartered, the majority of whose corporators were residents of other places. They had estimates made, but these were so large that the company relinquished their franchises, and in 1851 the following residents were authorized by legislative charter: John W. Stout, E. M. Patterson, Peter Spader, David Bishop, Benjamin D. Steele, and Moses F. Webb, and in the same year the company organized with the following officers : President, John W. Stout; Secretary, Su- perintendent, and Engineer, John G. Hall ; Treasurer, Jonathan C. Ackerman; Board of Directors, J. W. Stout, J. R. Ford, J. C. Ackerman, M. A. Howell, and David Bishop.

The erection of the works was immediately pro- ceeded with, and were built at less than half the cost of the estimates of the former company. Since 1868, when Col. J. W. Newell was appointed, and who still retains the position of secretary, treasurer, superintendent, and engincer, the works have been improved beyond recognition. Nearly ten miles of pipes have been laid in the city, and about one hun-

Al Rimayou

675

CITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK.

dred thousand dollars have been spent, including the new holder at a cost of fifty thousand dollars, on the corner of Water and Washington Streets, of nearly one hundred and seventy thousand feet capacity, and Col. Newell has brought the company to a very pros- perous condition. There are several minor points abont the works it is not necessary to mention. It is sufficient to say that with an ample force of twenty or thirty men the works are kept in good condition. The present board of directors are : President, Henry Richmond; Secretary and Superintendent, John W. Newell ; Treasurer, Lewis Applegate ; Directors, Henry Richmond, Henry L. Janeway, A. B. Newell, Christopher Meyer, Johnson Letson.

Water Supply .- The water for the supply of the city is taken from Lawrence's Brook, at Weston's Mills, southeast of the city limits. The water is raised by two pumps. One is driven by a fifty-four- inch turbine-wheel, and supplies the city from No- vember 1st to June Ist, or during that portion of the season when there is sufficient water to run the wheel. The other is a steam-pump (capacity two million four hundred thousand gallons per twenty-four hours), used when pumping by water is not practicable. The reservoir is located at the head of Comstock Street, two basins, total capacity fourteen million gallons. The works were constructed in 1864. There are at present twenty-two miles of mains. For fire purposes steam fire-engines are employed.

The New Brunswick Water Company transferred their works to the city on April 30, 1873. Since then they have been managed by a board of water com- missioners, two of whom are appointed each year to serve for three years.

Present officers : Joseph Fisher, president ; Arthur G. Ogilby, secretary ; A. J. Jones, treasurer and su- perintendent.

CHAPTER XCVI.

CITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK .- ( Continued.)

Educational Institutions. - EARLY PRIVATE SCHOOLS .- Of the early private schools of New Bruns- wick little is known previous to the year 1800. During the half-century following (1800 to 1850) private schools were taught by Messrs. Charles Poole, Samuel Seymour, Charles Burnham, John G. Tarbell, Charles Spaulding, Luke Egerton, Aaron Slack, Thomas Ho- bart, Benjamin Mortimer, Miss Mclaughlin, Miss Sally Vickers, Mrs. and Miss Bell, Miss Johnson, Abram Ackerman, Samuel Walker, and Prof. David Cole. The foregoing taught hoys mostly, though some taught both boys and girls. As teachers of girls ex- clusively during the same period may be mentioned Miss Hays, Madame Mckay, Miss Nancy Drake, Miss Whiting, and Miss Hannah Hoyt.

Lancasterian School .- One of the earliest private !

schools in the city, which is still in existence, has a semi-public character, and is known as the " Lancas- terian." In the last will and testament of Mr. William Hall, made in 1803, after various bequests, he dis- posed of the remainder of his property " to Thomas Grant and his son Ebenezer, and to the survivors of them, in trust to be expended by them in educating poor children in the City of New Brunswick." Eben- ezer Grant declined the trust, which amounted to a little more than four thousand dollars, and obtained an act from the Legislature creating a board of trus- tees to be composed of two persons of each of the churches then in the city. Under this act the follow- ing gentlemen were appointed : John Neilson and Moses Guest, from the Presbyterian Church ; James Schureman and Staats Van Deursen, from the Re- formed Dutch Church ; Robert Boggs and William P. Deare, from the Episcopal Church. This board had its first meeting June 8, 1809, but it was not till April 6, 1814, that the first teacher, Mr. Shepard John- son, was appointed, at a salary of one hundred and fifty dollars per year and house rent. The building known as the "Queen's College" was removed from where the Second Presbyterian Church now stands to its present site on Schureman Street, and on June 1, 1814, the school was opened with thirty-five free and six pay pupils. The school was conducted for many years on the " Lancasterian or monitorial plan." Many of the oldest citizens of New Brunswick at- tended this school ; one of them who rose to the dig- nity of monitor gives the following as striking in- stances of the methods of teaching and discipline in vogue in this famous institution three-quarters of a century ago :

On the form or desk in front of the pupils there was a depression of about six inches in width and a quarter of an inch in depth, filled with sand. When the writing exercise was about to begin the monitor, with a ruler, would stroke the sand as we do a meas- - ure of grain, making it smooth. Then each pupil, provided with a stick resembling a butcher's skewer, imitated in the sand the copy placed before him by the monitor. Corporal punishment was inflicted in the following novel manner : A pupil guilty of an of- fense which merited punishment was called out and forced to mount upon the back of the general moni- tor, when the principal, with a rattan about three feet in length, administered the penalty-in a striking manner.

Mr. Johnson resigned his position Nov. 20, 1816, | and Mr. Henry B. Poole was appointed his successor. The latter resigned June 30, 1818, and was succeeded by Mr. Zenophon T. Maynard, who resigned July 7, 1824. His successor was Mr. Harrison, who retained the position of principal until the close of 1831, and Feb. 25, 1832, Mr. Elihu Cook Was appointed to the place. He resigned in 1838, and April 4th of that year the present principal, Mr. A. W. Mayo, was ap- pointed.

676

HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.

At the opening of the Bayard Street school in 1853 this school became so small that it was suspended, and so remained until Dec. 1, 1855, when it was re- opened. Mr. Mayo took charge of the school forty- four years ago, and since that time his best energies have been freely given to promote its interests. That he has given satisfaction is abundantly shown by the fact that during the whole period of his service his board of trustees have cheerfully sustained him in every act involved in the discharge of his duties as principal of the school.

Public Schools.1-The history of the public schools of the city of New Brunswick is embraced in two periods : first, that from April 22, 1851, to May 14, 1855, when the schools were under the control of three trustees; and second, that from May 14, 1855, to the present time, during which the schools have been in charge of twelve gentlemen, who compose the Board of Education.

On April 22, 1851, three gentlemen, Messrs. James Bishop, Henry Sanderson, and Moses F. Webb, met at the house of Mr. Bishop and organized the first board of school trustees in the city of New Brunswick. They elected James Bishop chairman and Henry San- derson secretary. To this board belongs the credit of inaugurating the public school system of the city. They fought its first battles, and laid its foundations firm and strong. At the first meeting a resolution was passed that the board be incorporated, and that its corporate name be the New Brunswick Public School. May 27th a certificate of incorporation was adopted and ordered to be recorded in the county clerk's office.

Mr. A. W. Mayo, who had been appointed to take the census, reported in the city 1754 children between the ages of five and eighteen years, and that 757 of the same had received instruction during some por- tion of the year in the various private schools. The following notice was ordered published : " A meeting of the taxable inhabitants of School District No. 1 of the township of North Brunswick will be held at the City Hall on Tuesday evening, June 3, 1851, at eight o'clock, at which time the trustees will ask authority to purchase a lot and erect thereon a suitable building for a public school for said district."

The board met August 18th, and after much consid- eration of various lots offered for a school site the lot then known as the " old jail lot" was selected. Sep- tember 5th the board met, and Mr. Jackson was ap- pointed a teacher of a public school to be opened in the First Ward, at a salary of two hundred dollars for six months. This was the first appointment of a teacher of a public school in the city; but Mr. Jack- son declined, and September 10th Miss Anna Molleson was chosen to fill the place at a salary of one hundred and twenty-five dollars for six months. October 17th

the board adopted the plan of a Brooklyn school building, which with some slight changes constitutes the present Bayard Street school-house. On May 25, 1851, a contract was made with Messrs. J. B. Inslee, P. N. Wyckoff, and Jeptha Cheesman to erect the building complete for school purposes for the sum of seven thousand one hundred and ten dollars. Miss Molleson not finding the daily walk of a public school teacher a bed of thornless roses, resigned her position Jan. 26, 1852, receiving the first public money paid for teaching a public school in the city of New Bruns- wick. She was succeeded by Mr. John Taylor, at a salary of three hundred and fifty dollars a year.

June 2, 1852, a communication was received from Messrs. C. L. Hardenbergh and Judge Terhune, ask- ing that a portion of the public school money be given for the support of the Lancasterian school. This communication showed that the full scope of public instruction was not understood at that time. Many thought public schools were charity schools, pauper schools, and only designed for those who were unable to pay for their own children. They did not understand that the State proposed to give this education for its own benefit; that is, for the benefit of all classes, whether rich or poor, bond or free. The State recognized no sect or class, but gave the opportunity of an education to all. The trustees, understanding the design of the school law, respect- fully declined the request for the division of the public money, on the ground that the Lancasterian school was not a public school under the control of the Board.

On Dec. 10, 1852, Mr. Silas S. Bowen, of the State Normal School, was appointed principal of the New Brunswick public school in Bayard Street, at a salary of twelve hundred dollars per year, and on Feb. 15, 1853, the Bayard Street school was opened for pupils. July 8, 1853, Mr. Bowen resigned, and on August 2d Mr. John S. Clark, of Lyons, N. Y., was appointed to fill the vacancy.

On Sept. 1, 1853, the board finding that the Bayard Street building could not accommodate those desiring to attend the public schools, obtained and opened the session rooms of the Presbyterian Church for the re- ception of pupils. April 20, 1854, the board passed a resolution requiring the teachers to meet every Tues- day evening at the Bayard Street school-house for normal instruction. July 21, 1854, the board re- solved to purchase a lot on the "old Trenton road" (now French Street) for $500 for a colored school, and on September 10th they made a contract for the erec- tion of a building for the same for the sum of $1050.

Jan. 13, 1855, Miss McLaury was engaged as assist- ant in the highest female department, and among her duties she was required to give instruction in draw- ing and embroidery. Drawing is retained in the school, though embroidery has been discontinued. Jan. 22, 1855, the first public school for colored chil- dren was opened, and on the evening of the same day

1 From data furnished by Prof. H. B. Pierce, superintendent aud prin- cipal of New Brunswick High School.

677

CITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK.

the first night school was established for those who were unable to attend the day school. April 23, 1855, a public exhibition of the schools was held in the Presbyterian Church, and an address was delivered by Rev. Dr. Davidson. This celebration was a fit closing of the first period of public instruction in New Brunswick.

The second period commenced May 14, 1855, when, under the provisions of a special act passed March 3, 1855, the following-named persons were elected the first Board of Education : First Ward, Elias Ross, one year, J. B. McGuiness, two years; Second Ward, Charles Dunham, one year, Henry Sanderson, two years ; Third Ward, Randolph Martin, one year, A. D. Newell, two years; Fourth Ward, Moses F. Webb, one year, George Janeway, two years; Fifth Ward, John B. Hill, one year, A. V. Schenck, two years ; Sixth Ward, George H. Cook, one year, William J. Thompson, two years.

The board organized by electing Henry Sanderson president, John B. Hill, treasurer, and Dr. Charles Dunham, clerk. On June 1, 1855, they adopted a set of by-laws and rules for the government of the schools, which with some slight modification remain in force till the present time. October 8th com- plaints from various citizens were reported by the Grievance Committee that their children had been suspended from school because of their failure to get singing-books, in accordance with the regulations of the board. The following resolution, touching the subject, was adopted :

" Resolved, That the principal be authorized to suspend pupils who neglect to procure books or ulenails after two days' notice, and report the same immediately to the Committee on Books and Stationery, and if in their opinion the parents or guardiana are able to procure the neces- sary booka, such pupila shall remain auspended until the meeting of the board, unless they shall before such meeting report themselves to the principal with euch hook and utensils."

April 5, 1857, Mr. Clark resigned the principalship, and was succeeded by Mr. Charles S. Wright. Mr. Wright resigned Dec. 23, 1859, giving place to Mr. Mervin Hollister as his successor, who had charge till Dec. 21, 1860, when he resigned on account of ill

health, and was succeeded by Mr. Caleb M. Harrison, ; one of the finest edifices of the kind in the State. Jan. 1, 1861.

On June 12th of this year the board purchased a lot on the corner of Carman and Neilson Streets for $750, and Aug. 27, 1862, Mr. Mabey, chairman of the com- mittee, reported that contracts had been awarded to Mr. E. B. Wright for carpenter-work, Mr. John Chees- man for mason-work, and Mr. John Johnson for paint- ing, at an aggregate cost of $3126.

the pupils were thoroughly graded, and a course of study was adopted by the board. In 1872 the lot on Livingston Avenue was purchased, and March 6, 1875, contracts for the erection of the building were made with Messrs. Bessonett & Meagher, mason- work, Mr. E. B. Golten, carpenter-work, and Mr. Hugh McKeag, steam-heating, plumbing, and gas- fitting, at an aggregate cost of $47,712. The plans were prepared by Mr. Stephen H. De Hart, architect. Early in the spring ground was broken, and the work of laying the foundation commenced May 10th. The building was completed and dedicated as a centen- nial memorial May 4, 1876, being one of the most auspicious events in the history of public schools in New Brunswick. On that occasion Prof. Pierce read a historical sketch of public schools in New Bruns- wick, from which the facts have been taken for the present article. In closing he said,-

"This, then, in brief is the history of public in- struction in the city of New Brunswick from its in- ception in 1851 to 1876. In 1851 the first board of trustees was elected and organized. There were one thousand seven hundred and fifty-four children of school age, but no public school, no school property, no building, and no system of instruction. To-day there is a Board of Education, composed of twelve members, two from each ward, who have charge of property worth $150,000, and who have control of forty-one teachers, who give instruction to nearly twenty- five hundred different children during the year. There is also a system of public instruction which | embraces a course of study requiring twelve years for its completion, divided equally into primary, grammar, and high school periods. Truly are the children of our city to be envied in their educational advantages, and truly are our citizens to be congratu- lated in possessing them. As the completion of the Livingston Avenue building ends the second period of public instruction in New Brunswick, its occupants in this our centennial year begin the third period. Its history is yet to be made, but it commences with aus- picious prospects."

The Livingston Avenue public-school building is It stands in the central part of the city, on a lot that cannot be excelled for healthfulness, beauty of loca- tion, and pleasant surroundings, conditions which will not be without their effect in stimulating both teachers and pupils to the high and noble endeavors required by a true education. The dimensions of the entire building are seventy-one feet front by one hundred and thirty-nine feet deep and sixty feet high, with a balustrade around the top four feet high, and a tower projecting in front of all five feet and rising to the height of one hundred feet from base to apex, above which a weather-vane spire rises ten feet, making the total height one hundred and ten feet.

Mr. Harrison resigned the principalship in July, 1864, and was succeeded by Mr. Henry Waters, who resigned Oct. 1, 1865, when the present principal and superintendent, Mr. Henry B. Pierce, took charge of the schools. At the outset of his administration he advocated similar accommodations to those now fur- On the 1st of July, 1869, the closing exercises of the nished by the Livingston Avenue building. In 1867 | first graduating class of the High School took place,

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 164

Author: W. Woodford Clayton, Ed. Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia: Everts Number of Pages: 1224

Author: W. Woodford Clayton, Ed.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia: Everts
Number of Pages: 1224