History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 196

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 196
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 196

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Mr. Carroll was pastor until Feb. 2, 1858. Rev. William M. Wells, of the theological seminary, Princeton, was called August 10th following, at a salary of five hundred and fifty dollars, and ordained and installed November 4th, Rev. P. O. Studdiford, D.D., preaching, Rev. T. D. Hoover charging the pastor, and Rev. R. Taylor the people. Rev. Mr. Wells ended his pastorate July 1, 1869. Rev. B. S. Everitt, of Montelair, N. J., was called Nov. 2, 1869, and installed Jan. 4, 1870, Rev. J. L. Kehoe, Rev. A. P. Cobb, and Rev. F. Chandler taking part in the exercises.

During Rev. Mr. Carroll's pastorate the church prospered, and at its close had a membership of one hundred and twenty-nine. Notwithstanding that during the first two years of his connection with the church twenty members were dismissed and four died, the labors of Rev. Mr. Wells were so successful that in the third year of his pastorate the church num-

bered one hundred and thirty-five, and at the time of his departure one hundred and sixty members, though during his stay sixty-five had united with other churches and twenty-six had died. In 1864 the present parsonage was purchased, and in 1867 the church was enlarged at an expense of about twenty- five hundred dollars, and Feb. 8, 1868, rededicated by Rev. R. M. Patterson, of Philadelphia. As a result of the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Everitt the membership of the church has been increased to three hundred and ninety-eight. The parsonage has been enlarged and repaired, the seating capacity of the main audi- ence-room of the church has been increased, and the lecture- and Sunday-school rooms built in 1871 and dedicated November 30th, at an expense of about five thousand dollars, and a considerable sum in the aggregate has been otherwise expended in improving and beautifying the church property, which is now valued at fifteen thousand dollars.

The present elders are Joseph C. Magee, William H. Courter, C. W. Johnson, John Pierson, Alfred W. Dey, James P. De Hart, J. B. Tallman, and William H. Mount. The trustees are T. Wilton Hill, presi- dent ; John D. Courter, secretary and treasurer ; and Nelson B. Smock, Garret G. Davison, James Vande- ripe, and Robert M. Cole. .

The Presbyterian Sunday-school was organized in 1847, with Alexander Redmond as superintendent. John D. Buckelew has been superintendent since 1854. The membership is one hundred and sixty- five, exclusive of officers and teachers. The library contains about three hundred and fifty volumes. William H. Courter is first and J. C. Morgan second assistant superintendent. John D. Courter is secre- tary and treasurer, and Thomas J. Parks librarian.

METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH, UNION VAL- LEY .- Rev. (better known years ago as " Daddy") Perkins, a circuit preacher, organized a class at Union Valley in 1840, with the following named per- sons as members : Brittain Clayton, Eliza Clayton, Lydia Robbins, Maria Rue, Matilda Jamison, Alfred Jamison, David Dey, Sarah Ann Dey, Mary Dey, Eliza Laning, Caroline Laning, and Daniel I. Dey.

During the ensuing year the class met weekly at the house of Daniel I. Dey, and services were led by Mr. Perkins. Local preachers held meetings more or less frequently during the succeeding five years, and in 1846 a wooden church, thirty feet by twenty-two, was built by subscription at a cost of about five hun- dred dollars. The present house of worship, a wooden building forty-four feet by thirty-six, was erected in I866-67, also by subscription. The pulpit was filled by local preachers until 1867, when Rev. Elias D. Stults became pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. J. Leuppie, the present pastor, about three years since. The membership is eighty. The trustees are J. W. Stults, R. Applegate, J. L. Brown, G. McDowell, T. Hulit, George Dey, and R. I. Reed. John Wolf, George McDowell, and John M. Stults are stewards.

John Paxton

811

MONROE.

ST. JAMES THE LESS CATHOLIC CHURCH, JAMES- BURG .- This church, on Lincoln Avenue, Jamesburg, was erected in 1878, on a lot donated for that purpose by the Buckelew estate, and consecrated in December that year by Bishop Corrigan, now Archbishop of New York. The congregation was organized in 1865, and then consisted of ten families, including those of Richard Lewis, Patrick Pierce, John Coyne, Patrick Connaty, John Connaty, John Breene, and John Cal- lahan, and meetings were held in private houses until the erection of the church. The congregation now numbers forty families.

The successive pastors have been Fathers O'Don- nell, Moran, Kivolitz, and Joseph Russing.

A Sunday-school was organized in 1879 with fifty scholars. John Pierce was the first superintendent. The present superintendent is William Breene. The library contains one hundred and fifty volumes.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

JOHN PAXTON.

Edward Paxton, the grandfather of John, whose life is here briefly sketched, was of Irish birth, and having decided to seek a home on American shores, left his native city of Dublin and sailed (probably in the "Mayflower") for the New World. He chose Trenton, N. J., as a place of settlement, and there located as a shoemaker. He was married to Eliza- beth Cunningham, of Trenton, and had children, nine in number, as follows : William, David, Hugh, Ed- ward, John, Mary (Mrs. Clun), Elizabeth (Mrs. Lock- ard), Catherine, and Sally.

Edward, of this number, joined Gen. Montgomery's expedition, having as its purpose the storming of Quebec, and was while en route accidentally killed at St. John's by the bursting of a bomb.

Jolın was born at Allentown, Monmouth Co., and after being apprenticed to a tailor removed to New York, where he pursued his trade. He later returned to Allentown and followed the same industry. Mr. Paxton was married to Theodosia Tindall, of New Jersey, and had children,-Catherine (Mrs. J. V. An- derson), Mary (Mrs. Peter Casler), Margaret, Eliza- beth (Mrs. Peter Casler), William, Edward, John, and James. Mr. Paxton finally abandoned his trade and followed farming pursuits at Matchaponix, where he reared his family of children and lived until his death.

His son John was born at the latter place, May 3, 1813, and remained with his parents until his twenty- eighth year, having been engaged in labor upon the farm. He then decided upon the purchase of land, and with a capital of four hundred dollars secured a farm valued at two thousand four hundred dollars. Industry and frugality soon enabled him to liquidate

the indebtedness upon the property, which he subse- quently sold and removed to Trenton. Here he made a second purchase, and after a residence of eight years disposed of the land at an advance of thirteen thousand dollars. He then removed to Matchaponix, now Monroe township, Middlesex Co., where he still resides and is actively engaged in agricultural em- ployments.

Mr. Paxton was married March 4, 1846, to Miss Theodosia, daughter of Daniel Ivins, of Mercer County, who is the mother of three children,-Eve- line (Mrs. C. M. Johnson), Mary E. (Mrs. David Kirkpatrick), and Rebecca V.

Mr. Paxton is in his political views a Republican, and while a strong advocate of the principles of his party, is never an aspirant for party favors, his time and energies being given rather to his daily routine of farming avocations. The family worship at the Reformed (Dutch) Church at Spottswood, of which the daughters are members.

HON. JOSEPH C. MAGEE.

Mr. Magee's progenitors were for many years resi- dents of the north of Ireland, his grandfather having been Richard Magee, whose children were James, Erick, John, Jonathan, and Barbara, who became Mrs. Emmons.

Jonathan, one of these sons, was born near Free- hold, Monmouth Co., and married Miss Mary Hulse, of the same county. Their children were Margaret, (Mrs. Stultze), James, William, Lydia (Mrs. Taylor), and Alfred.

Mr. Magee spent his life in farming pursuits, but at a later period removed to the home of his son in Jamesburg, where his death occurred.

Joseph C. Magee was born in Monmouth County, Oct. 8, 1821, and at the age of nine months was de- prived by death of the tender care of a mother. His boyhood was passed with his father on the farm until his twelfth year, when he was apprenticed to Elias C. Clayton, of Manalapan, Monmouth Co. After a service of six years, and on attaining his eighteenth year, he engaged as a clerk for the same gentleman, and at the expiration of five years was admitted to a partnership. After a business connection of four years with Mr. Clayton he formed a copartnership with John E. Hunt, and three years later removed to Jamesburg, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits.

Mr. Magee was married in March, 1846, to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Daniel Van Artsdalen, of West Philadelphia, Pa., to whom were born children, -Harriet C. (Mrs. Perrine), Mary E. (Mrs. Finley), deceased, Eugene V., Anna B., and George, who died in infancy.

The death of Mrs. Magee occurred in 1866, and Mr. Magee was again married in April, 1871, to Mrs. Eleanor B. Perrine, of Monmouth County, who is the mother of one daughter, Alice.

812

HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.

Mr. Magee has during the whole of his life, and particularly since his residence in Jamesburg, been an active business man. He has contributed largely to the growth and enterprise of the place, having been instrumental in the erection of many of its dwellings.

In politics he may be mentioned as an Andrew Jackson Democrat. He was during the years 1874-75 a member of the State Legislature, and served on the important Committee on Railroads and Canals, of which he was chairman during the last year of his official service.

He has been for two years chosen freeholder of Monroe township, and held various other minor offi- ces. He is president of the Jamesburg Mutual Build- ing and Loan Association, a director of the Princeton Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and also one of the founders and a director of the First National Bank of Jamesburg. He has been active in the temperance organization of the village, and one of the chief promoters of the cause of temperance in the township.

Mr. Magee is a Presbyterian in his religious faith, and was one of the founders of the First Presbyte- riau Church of Jamesburg, of which he is both elder and trustee.

JAMES BUCKELEW.

The Buckelew family is of Scotch extraction, their progenitor in America having been Frederick Bucke- lew, a Scotch emigrant, who fled from his native land to avoid religious persecution. He sailed from Inver- ness, Scotland, in 1715, on the ship " Caledonia." It will be remembered that in 1711, shortly after the union of England and Scotland, patronage in the Presbyterian Church was re-established by royal command, minis- ters of the Church of Scotland being appointed by the government in the same manner as in the Church of England. Frederick Buckelew became identified with those who objected to the taking away of a right that the Scotch Church had enjoyed for over a century, and rather than be subjected to what he believed to be a wrong determined to leave his native land. He landed at Perth Amboy, in New Jersey, and a short time af- terwards selected a permanent settlement near the present village of Jamesburg, Middlesex Co. His two sons were Frederick and John, the latter of whom was also born in Scotland, Feb. 14, 1705, and ten years of age when his father sailed to America. John subsequently married Isabel Dove, a Scotch lady, who was a passenger on the same vessel with the elder Frederick's family to America. Their children were Abram, James, Thomas, John, Samuel, Frederick, Jane, who became Mrs. Gilland; Percilla, who was Mrs. Westlack; and Mary, who became Mrs. Hol- lingshead.

Of this number Frederick was born Feb. 14, 1756, upon the fifty-first anniversary of his father's birth.

He married Margaret, daughter of William Dunn, of Staten Island, March 4, 1784, just after the close of the Revolution. They had eleven children,-Nancy, Frederick, Margaret, Mary, James, Robert, and five who died in childhood. James, who is the subject of this sketch, was born Aug. 13, 1801, in that portion of South Amboy township now known as Monroe township, Middlesex County. His early advantages of education were limited to the ordinary instruction afforded at a country school.

He entered into business at the age of twenty, and after eight years of experience married, Dec. 12, 1829, Margaret, daughter of Isaac G. Snedeker and Ann Sal- ter, of Cranbury, N. J. Their children are Isaac Sned- eker, John Dunn, Margaret S. (deceased), Frederick Lemuel, Mary G., married to George H. Townsend, of New Haven, Conn., and Ida (deceased).

James Buckelew at first engaged in milling and farming operations at the homestead bordering the Manalapan stream, four miles above Jamesburg, aud in 1832 purchased the property at Jamesburg then known as "Gorden's Mills," and afterward called Buckelew's Mills until 1847. In 1846 the school dis- trict was divided, the trustees having refused to admit a colored boy to the school. This was a violation of Mr. Buckelew's views on a subject which a quarter of a century afterwards caused the great civil war, and he erected at his own expense a brick school-house, which was used by the district free of charge during his life. In it a stone was placed bearing the inscrip- tion, " Jamesburg," in honor of Mr. Buckelew's Chris- tian name James.

The Camden and Amboy Railroad was being built when he removed to Jamesburg, and Mr. Buokelew was one of its few early friends. While the enemies of the road cried monopoly and ridiculed what they thought a wild and visionary scheme, he with the re- markable foresight that characterized so many acts of his life saw in the railroad the great civilizer of the nineteenth century, and welcomed the arrival of the iron horse.

Mr. Buckelew's milling and farming operations proved to be financially successful. His early intro- duction of that great New Jersey fertilizer, marl, on his farm lands in and around Jamesburg added greatly to the value of the many acres that he gradually ac- cumulated. The marl was conveyed from the Squan- kum marl pits, near Farmingdale, about twenty miles from Jamesburg, and during the winter months one hundred mules were often employed in carting this valuable fertilizer to different portions of the Buckelew farms. With the completion of the Camden and Amboy Railroad and Delaware and Raritan Canal, in 1834, the tide of passenger travel from Philadel- phia to New York via South Amboy, and the carrying of freight by canal via Bordentown, New Brunswick, to New York, began, and during the next five or six years the business rapidly developed. In 1840, Mr. | Buckelew obtained the contract for team-towing on

Joseph b. maged Josef

813

MONROE.

the canal, which he continued for twenty-five years. This business increased proportionally with the great freight traffic on the canal, and at the time of his transfer of interest to other parties in 1866 seven hundred mules were employed on the forty-three miles of tow-path between Bordentown and New Brunswick. In 1845 he in connection with Nathaniel S. Rue, Esq., now President of the First National Bank of Hightstown, N. J., established a stage-route between Jamesburg and Freehold, it being the first link in the chain of the great route from Philadelphia to Manas- quan, Ocean Grove, and Long Branch.

This became a very popular route, and carried five thousand and seventy-four passengers during the second year, as many as thirty coaches being run in one day during the height of the summer travel be- tween Philadelphia and Long Branch. His ideas of personal advancement, even in this particular, yielded to the public good, and in 1851 he was first and fore- most in his efforts to establish the Freehold and Jamesburg Agricultural Railroad, giving it the right to his stage-route in 1853, when the road was opened, free of charge. As time advanced the value of marl as a fertilizer began to be realized by the farming community, and the demand for it by persons living at a distance led him to undertake the construction of a railroad from Freehold, nine miles, to the Squan- kum marl pits. This road was opened for travel in I869, after a most bitter opposition from those who were not willing to sacrifice personal interest for a great public good. At the beginning of the war Mr. Buckelew placed himself on the roll of earnest friends of the government.

When the national banking law went into effect, in 1862, he was among the first to see its advantages, and in 1864 established the First National Bank of Jamesburg, of which institution he was a director until the day of his death. Mr. Buckelew was also a pioneer in the cultivation of cranberries, which has developed into one of the most important industries of the State. The extensive bogs, which during the picking season afford employment to hundreds of persons, are on the north side of the railroad from Jamesburg to South Amboy, and embrace perhaps the largest single tract of land now in cranberry culture in the State. These were laid ont and cul- tivated to a limited extent during Mr. Buckelew's lifetime, and have become one of the most valuable legacies to his children. Mr. Buckelew possessed a well-balanced mind, an indomitable will, and a firm- ness of purpose which, in the Scotch character, is nearly allied to stubbornness. He was a man of much public spirit, and all projects which resulted in benefit to the public received hearty encouragement from him. In his efforts for the public good he was 52

frequently involved in legal contests, and his advanced ideas did not at all times receive the cordial sympathy they merited. A man of deeds rather than words, the utility of his various projects was demonstrated more by successful accomplishment than plansible argument.

Liberal without ostentation, the land for the Pres- byterian Church parsonage and cemetery were among his gifts to Jamesbnrg. Among his friends, of whom he had many, his advice and connsel was frequently asked, and his residence at Jamesburg was for many years the headquarters where were frequently assem- bled those who were prominent and instrumental in the construction of railroads and other improvements. About his table were discussed many of the early plans of the managers of the pioneer railway between New York and Philadelphia, the direct management of which was given to his son, Col. Isaac S. Buckelew, when the Pennsylvania Railroad leased the United Railways of New Jersey in 1871, and who was snper- intendent of the Freehold and Jamesburg Railway from the date of its completion.

The historian who desires to record the acts of the men who are identified with the progress of the times is apt to select those whose political experience, sci- entific knowledge, or early surroundings have placed them upon a plane higher than their fellows. The subject of this sketch, however, rose to a place in the front rank of the citizens of Middlesex County with- out any of these substantial aids. While having strong political convictions, being first a Whig and then a Republican, he never aspired to place or power, though the aid he rendered the cause which he esponsed was valuable, and recognized as such by his political friends. His advantages of edu- cation, while of the most ordinary character, were sufficient to develop a kind of mental strength pecu- liar in character, bnt invaluable to those who.are en- dowed with it, a discernment by which he was able to judge in advance and act in accordance with his judgment.

With no distinguished ancestry to point to with pride, he chose to earn the esteem of his contempo- raries and to point to the future consummation of his plans. In all his business relations he observed the strictest probity, and at his death on the 30th of May, 1869, had amassed a considerable fortune, which he accumulated by unnsnal sagacity in his financial op- erations. Not one cent of this came to him by means that were ever questionable.

Mr. Buckelew's remains were interred at Fernwood Cemetery, in Jamesburg, on the land that originally belonged to his great-grandfather. A substantial monument marks the last resting-place of one to whom the people of Middlesex and adjoining coun- ties owe much of the prosperity which they enjoy.

814

HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.

CHAPTER CII.

MADISON.1

Situation and Boundaries .- Madison is situated on the eastern border of Middlesex County, some- what south of the centre, and is a little more than eight miles long, measuring from its northern to its southeastern extremity, its average width being four miles or thereabout. It is bounded north by South Amboy and Raritan Bay ; southeast by Matawan, Marlborough, and Manalapan townships, Monmouth County ; southwest by Monroe; and northwest by East Brunswick and South Amboy.

Physical Features .- The area of Madison is 19,560 acres, and much of it is quite heavily wooded. The surface is rolling, and broken by several streams.

The largest stream flowing through any portion of the township is Cheesquake Creek, rising in the northern part and emptying into the Raritan at the northwestern corner, forming for a short distance the boundary line between Madison and South Amboy. The Cheesquake has its source in several smaller streams rising about Jacksonville and flowing to- gether a little north of that village, and is navigable nearly to its head-waters.

Deep Run, a mill stream of considerable import- ance, is fed by several little streams rising or having their sources mostly in the eastern part of the town- ship, their confluence being within a short distance of their several sources. This creek affords good water- power in the western part of Madison, and empties its waters into South River just northwest of the township line.

Tenant's Creek rises south of Jacksonville, and flowing northwest empties into South River near where the latter receives Deep Run, providing a good water-power not far from the boundary line.

Iresick Brook is formed by the confluence of Grog Brook and another unimportant rivulet southwest of Deep Run, and flows into South River near the Brookfield Mills.

Matchaponix Creek and South River wash about two-thirds of the western border of the township, and the juxtaposition of the latter has been a source of material prosperity to its inhabitants.

Barclay's Brook is a small tributary to the Matcha- ponix, near the southern extremity of the township.

That portion of Madison bordering on Monmouth County is considerably elevated above those portions lying contiguous to South Amboy, East Brunswick and Monroe, and the land there is more valuable for agricultural purposes than that watered by the streams referred to. The soil is composed of red shale and sandy loam, and west of Cheesquake Creek are lo- cated some extensive and valuable beds of fire and potter's clay, which is a leading article of commerce.

The timber native to Madison is pine, cedar, maple,

ash, and nearly all the various kinds of oak. Some of it has been found well adapted to ship-building purposes, and has at times commanded a ready and profitable sale. The smaller trees have been exten- sively cut into wood, and so sold in immense quan- tities.

The Camden and Amboy branch of the Pennsyl- vania Railroad runs along the northwestern border of the township for quite a distance, Old Bridge, Spotts- wood, and Bloomfield Mills being convenient stations.

The two principal highways are the Mount Pleasant and Old Bridge turnpike and the South Amboy and Mount Pleasant road, which form a junction near the eastern border, between Jacksonville and Matawan, Monmouth Co.

Early Settlement .- On account of the intimate natural and business connection which has so long existed between Amboy and the region bordering on the Cheesquake, the carrying trade by way of that stream forming the connecting link, settlement and improvement naturally began at Jacksonville and near the head of navigation. It was in that vicinity, on the Old Bridge road and in the Browntown neigh- borhood, that most of the pioneers located. The most diligent inquiry has in most cases failed to elicit any definite information as to the dates of the settle- ment of the few who were pioneers in Madison, and in some instances it is not certain that the fathers of some who are supposed to have been pioneers did not come into the township previous to the latter's birth.

.The first land-owners in Madison were not settlers there, and probably purchased the land which bor- dered on the Cheesquake and Raritan Bay with a view to disposing of it advantageously at some future time, when the manifest advantages offered by the section for commercial transactions should render it desirable property to enterprising settlers. By some of these grantees this hope was doubtless realized to a certain extent, but it is probable none of them had in view the future value of the sand and clay, which could not at that time have been regarded as particu- larly desirable. It is thought, rather, that the con- tiguity of these lands to Perth Amboy, then looked upon as the future metropolis of the New World, and with some show of reason, and their convenience to navigable waters, were the considerations upon which was based a conviction of their ultimate value.

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History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 196

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