History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 27

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 27
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 27

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Similar testimonials were passed by the wardens and vestry of St. John's Church, of which from early life he had been an exemplary member, and for many years the senior warden.

He married, Aug. 6, 1808, Anne Crossdale, a daugh- ter of Rev. Cavalier Jouet (by his second wife, Mary Hampton), and had two sous,-the Hon. Benjamin (ex-Chancellor) and Isaac Halsted, Esq.2

COL. AARON OGDEN, a son of IIon. Robert Ogden, was a lawyer, Governor of the State, and United States senator. He was born in Elizabeth Town, Dec. 3, 1756, graduated at the College of New Jersey in 1773, joined the army in 1777, served with distinc-

1 Alden's Epitaphs, i. 101-5. Allen's Biog. Dict. Murray's Notes, pp. 85, 110-11. Trustees' Book of E. T. Church. N. J. Rev. Correspondence, pp. 346-47. Barber's New Jersey, p. 89.

2 O. S. Halsted's Commemorative Address, Corporation Records. l'arish Register and Records of St. John's. New Jersey Jourunl.

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BENCH AND BAR OF UNION COUNTY.

tion during the war, and at its close engaged in the practice of law. In November, 1796, he was chosen one of the Presidential electors of New Jersey, and Feb. 28, 1801, he was appointed to the United States Senate to fill a vacancy of two years. In 1824, Col. Ogden succeeded Gen. Bloomfield as president of the Society of the Cincinnati of New Jersey. He remained the president until his death, when he was succeeded by Ebenezer Elmer, the last surviving officer of the New Jersey line.

The Society of the Cincinnati was organized at the cantonment of the American army on the Hudson River in May, 1783. Like Cincinnatus, the illus- trious Roman, many of the soldiers had left the plow and entered into the service of their country, and they resolved on leaving the army to imitate his example by returning to their citizenship. Hence they called themselves the Society of the Cincinnati, basing their organization on immutable principles, viz. :

" An incessant attention to preserve inviolate those exalted rights and liberties of human nature for which they had fought and bled, and with- out which the high rank of rational being is a curse instead of a blessing. " An unalterable determination to promote and cherish between the respective States that union and oational honor so essentially necessary to their happiness and the future dignity of the American Empire.

"To render permanent the cordial affection subsisting among the officers, this spirit will dictate brotherly kindness in all things, and par- ticularly extend to the most substantial acts of beneficence, according to the ability of the society, towards those officers and their families who unfortunately may be under the neces-ity of receiving it.

"The general society will, for the sake of frequent communications, be divided into State societies, and these again into such districts as shall be directed by the State society."

There were originally nine or ten State societies, of which six, those of New York, New Jersey, Massa- chusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and South Caro- lina, still remain. The fund of the New Jersey society amounts now to $13,500, invested in United States bonds. A report made in 1866 showed that since its formation the society had expended for current ex- penses $11,821, and for benevolent objects $25,629.

In 1825, Col. Ogden was chosen vice-president of the general society, and was made president in 1829, succeeding in that office Gens. Washington, Alexander Hamilton, C. C. Pinkney, and Thomas Pinkney.

In October, 1787, soon after he commenced the practice of law in Elizabeth Town, Col. Ogden mar- ried Elizabeth, daughter of John Chetwood, Esq., an eminent member of the bar, and afterwards a jus- tice of the Supreme Court.

Of Governor Ogden's qualities as a lawyer Mr. Elmer speaks as follows : " He soon had a good prac- tice ; and whatever may have been his own reflections on the subject, I think, in view of what afterwards befell him, it is to be regretted that he did not adhere to that profession during his life. He was an accom- plished lawyer, and took a high position at the bar. Mr. Cox's Reports begin in 1790, and it appears that he was much employed in the most important cases argued before the Supreme Court."

We find him elsewhere characterized as possessed

of strong analytical and logical powers, taking a firm grasp of the underlying principles of law, and at the same time making himself thoroughly acquainted with the cases in which those principles had been applied. He was, therefore, both a thoughtful and industrious lawyer, never thinking his duty discharged to his client nor to himself while a single corner of the case committed to his care remained unexplored.

Governor Ogden died at Jersey City, April 19, 1839, aged eighty-three, and his remains were buried in the cemetery of his native town with civic and military honors on the 22d. He was honored by his alma mater in 1816 with the degree of LL.D.

AARON OGDEN DAYTON, named in honor of Gov- ernor Aaron Ogden, was a son of Elias B. Dayton, and was born in Elizabethtown in 1796. After the usual preparatory studies in the grammar school he entered Princeton College, where he graduated with the highest honors in 1813. He studied law with Governor Ogden, and was admitted to the bar in 1817. Immediately after he went to Cincinnati, with a view of practicing in that city, and was admitted to the bar there also, but he returned soon after and settled in Salem County, N. J. In 1823 he was elected from that county to the Legisla- ture, and although the youngest member of that body was recognized as one of its most influential members. The next year, declining to be a candidate for the Assembly, he entered with much spirit into the Jackson campaign, heing a member of the convention to nominate electors, and drafting the address sent forth by that body. Although Gen. Jackson failed to secure the requisite number of electoral votes that year, he received the popular majority, the vote of the largest number of States, and New Jersey was carried for him, very much to the surprise of the op- position. For that result a large part of the credit was due to the brilliant efforts of Mr. Dayton.

Removing to New York in 1826, with a view of es- tablishing himself as a lawyer in that city, he iden- tified himself with the Jackson party, who in 1828 put him in nomination for the Legislature. He was re- turned by a large majority, while his chief was tri- umphantly elected to the Presidency of the United States.

Mr. Dayton, although receiving the appointments of master in chancery and injunction master for the city of New York and Long Island, offices at that time of considerable importance, did not remain long in the practice of law, owing to a nervous disease which finally proved fatal. He accepted a position in the Diplomatic Bureau of the State Department at Wash- ington. In 1836 he was appointed chief clerk of the Department of State, for which office he was well fitted. In 1838 he was appointed fourth auditor of the Treasury, charged with the settlement of the navy accounts, and remained in that office through all the varying administrations until his death in 1858.

" He represented his father in the New Jersey So-

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HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.

ciety of the Cincinnati, and in 1835 delivered a very eloquent enlogy on Lafayette before that body. In 1839 he delivered the address before the societies of Princeton College. These were both productions ex- hibiting a high order of talent. Had his health per- mitted him to remain at the bar, there can be no doubt that he would have ranked among the most respectable advocates."

JUDGE JOHN ROSS was one of the judges of the Essex County Court and a master in chancery, He was a son of George Ross, and grandson of Deacon George Ross, who came to Elizabeth Town from New Haven about 1670. Deacon Ross married in New Haven Constance Little, in 1658. The son George, father of Judge Ross, died at Elizabeth Town in Oc- tober, 1750. Judge Ross was born in Elizabeth Town, and spent his life there. He was one of the charter aldermen of the borough in 1740. The New York Weekly Post- Boy, No. 204, contains the following obit- uary of Judge Ross :

"Elizabeth-Town, August 15, 1754. Wednesday morning last (7th) departed this Life, after a short but painful Illness, JOHN Ross, Esq. ; one of the Judges of Essex County Court, and a Master in Chancery : He was a Gentleman of a very affable and obliging Disposition, of steady and unshaken Principles, a strict Observer of Law and Justice, and a truly honest Man. In his Death the Country have really a sensible Loss, and a worthy Family an irreparable Damage; which nothing can so oruch alleviate, as the lively Hope and Assurance of his being trans- lated into a State of blessed Immortality :- This Testimony is now given of him, by a Friend to his Person and a Lover of his Virtues."

THOMAS CLARK, Esq., one of the judges of the County Court, died at Elizabeth Town, Dec. 11, 1765. In the case of his burial was first put in practice the principle of retrenchment in funerals, referred to in the following notice from one of the newspapers of the day :

" December 24, 1764: We hear from Elizabeth-Town that, upon the 29th of last Month, near fifty Heads of the principal families, in and about that Place, entered into an Engagement to retrench the present usual and unnecessary Expenses of Funerals aod Mourning, as the giving of Scarfs, Gloves, and Liquor at Funerals, and wearing black Ap- parel as Mourning, nothing but a black Crape round the Arm being allowed for the Future."

In a notice of the death of Judge Clark, Dec. 14, 1765, it is said,-

" He was decently buried, in the plain manner, by his own directions according to the new mode-none of his relations or friends appearing in mourning, though he was universally lamented by all who knew him, as he left the character of an honest man. We flatter ourselves that this landable example, so very sensonably set by people of fortune, will be imitated by all, especially by those iu slender circumstances (no liquor was given at the funeral)."1

Judge Clark was the father of Abraham Clark, the signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was one of the charter aldermen of the borough, and a magistrate from the time of its incorporation (1740)

until his death. He was also an earnest patriot, and had entered heartily into the agreement of the pre- vious November respecting the non-use and importa- tion of British goods.

BENJAMIN WILLIAMSON, LL.D., Chancellor of New Jersey, is the son of Hon. Isaac H. Williamson, Governor and Chancellor of the State from 1817 to 1829. He was born at Elizabeth Town, graduated at Nassau Hall in 1827, was admitted to the bar in 1830, and made a counselor in 1833. He began practice in his native town, where he has ever since continued to reside, and is still in the active practice of his pro- fession. For several years he was prosecutor of the pleas for Essex County, and in 1852 was appointed Chancellor of the State, succeeding Chancellor Oliver S. Halsted, whose term then expired. He filled this position with distinguished ability until the expira- tion of his term, and then resumed the practice of the law. "There were few cases of importance or interest arising in Mr. Williamson's section of the State in which he was not employed previous to his appointment as Chancellor, and on his return to the bar he at once secured a large and important practice extending over the whole State. . . . While he has avoided public office outside the line of professional service, he has on more than one occasion heen promi- nently urged by friends as United States senator, and they only failed of his election by a few votes in 1863 or 1864."

In 1860 he was a delegate at large from the State to the Democratic convention at Charleston, and in 1861 was appointed one of the delegates to represent New Jersey in the Peace Congress which met at Washington, composed of delegates from every State, and which was called in the hope and for the purpose of averting, if possible, the impending conflict be- tween the two sections of the country. Mr. William- son has been all his life identified with the interests of church, of education, and the development of the resources of the State. He has for years served as an officer of the church of St. John's Episcopal Parish, and of the Union County Bible Society, as trustee of the State Normal School, as director and counsel for the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey, of the State Bank of Elizabeth, and as director and trustee of the New Jersey Southern Railroad Company, as commissioner of the sinking fund of Elizabeth, and in other positions of trust both public and private. He still lives at Elizabeth, on the place formerly the residence of his father.

HON. JOHN CHETWOOD, a justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, was a son of Philip Chetwood, of Salem, N. J. (in 1700), and was born April 24, 1736. He came to Elizabethtown in his childhood, being an orphan. He married Mary Emott, granddaughter of James Emott, who came to Boston in 1678 from Lan- cashire, England. Her mother was a Boudinot. Their children were the following: 1. Anna Ashton, died in infancy ; 2. Thomas Bradbury Chandler, died in

1 The Old Merchants of N. Y. City, iii. 263-64. At the funeral of Phillip Livingstou, Esq , of New York, £500 were expended for the OCCA- slon of his burial. His son, Governor Willing Livingston (afterwards, and for many years a resident of Elizabeth Town) made an appeal to the public as early as June, 1753, in favor of putting an end to this kind of extravagance.

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infancy ; 3. Philip, died unmarried ; 4. William, mar- ried Mary, daughter of Col. Francis Barber ; 5. John, married Susan Jelf; 6. Elizabeth, married Col. Aaron Ogden ; 7. Mary Boudinot, married Capt. Cyrus De Hart; 8. Jane, died in infancy ; 9. Sarah, married John Stansbury.

WILLIAM CHETWOOD was a son of the Hon. John Chetwood, one of the justices of the Supreme Court of New Jersey. He was born at Elizabethtown in 1771, graduated at Princeton in 1792, and studied law with his father. During the Whiskey Insurrection he was a volunteer, and served on the staff of Gen. Lee, with the rank of major, by which title he was usually known. He was licensed as an attorney in 1796, as a counselor in 1799, and in 1816 was called to the degree of sergeant-at-law. He married a daughter of Col. Francis Barber, a distinguished officer of the Revolution, who was killed during that war by the falling of a tree. Mr. Chetwood practiced his profession in Elizabethtown, where he resided until his death, which occurred in 1857 at the ad- vanced age of eighty-six years and six months.

Mr. Chetwood was a man of great energy of char- acter. In his profession he was indefatigable, and achieved a high degree of success. During the Jack- son contest he was elected to Congress by the Demo- cratic party, and served in that body in 18 -. He afterwards, however, acted with the Whigs.

JOHN JOSEPH CHETWOOD was a grandson of Judge Chetwood, and a son of Dr. John Chetwood, of Eliz- abethtown, who died of cholera in 1832. The son was born in 1800, and graduated at Princeton in 1818. He studied law with his uncle, William Chetwood ; was admitted as an attorney in 1821, as a counselor in 1825, and as a sergeant-at-law in 1837. He mar- ried a granddaughter of Gen. Elias Dayton, and re- sided in Elizabeth, where he died in 1861.

Mr. Chetwood was a member of the Council and surrogate of the county of Essex. For several years he was prosecutor of the pleas of the county of Union, an active business man, highly esteemed both in and out of his profession, of a generous disposition, yet successful in the accumulation of property. He was a trustee of Burlington College, and active in every enterprise for the advancement of education. Few men have been more popular than Mr. Chetwood in the community in which he spent his truly useful life.

FRANCIS B. CHETWOOD was born Feb. 1, 1806, at Elizabethtown, and was the son of Hon. William and Mary (Barber) Chetwood. His grandfather, John Chetwood, was an assistant justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, and was of Quaker descent. He died in 1806 at Elizabeth, at the age of seventy- two years. Francis B. Chetwood was licensed as an attorney iu November, 1828, and as counselor in 1831. He commenced the practice of law with his father, with whom he continued until the latter re- tired. He then followed Ins professional pursuits

alone until about 1860, when he formed a partner- ship with William J. Magie which lasted several years, until he became associated in business with his son, Robert E. Chetwood. At different times during his life he held nearly all the local offices,-member of the City Council, mayor of the borough and the city of Elizabeth, prosecutor of the pleas for Essex County before the formation of the county of Union, member of the Legislature, etc. He was also one of the chief originators of the gas and water supply of the city, the orphan asylum, Evergreen Cemetery, and many other local measures and improvements. He died Jan. 13, 1875, leaving a widow, two sons, and one daughter; two sons had died some years previous.

ROBERT E. CHETWOOD is a native of Elizabethtown, where he was born Dec. 20, 1837. He is the son of Francis B. Chetwood, also a native of Elizabeth, and Elizabeth P. Phelps, who was of New England stock, born in Connecticut. After thorough preparation in the schools of his native city, Mr. Chetwood entered Princeton College, where he graduated in 1850, and immediately commenced the study of law in the office of his father. His progress was rapid and thorough, not only as a student, but after he entered upon his professional career it was no less successful than his early life had given promise of. He was licensed as an attorney in June, 1861, and as a counselor three years later.

In 1874 he was elected to the office of city attorney of Elizabeth, and discharged the duties of the office until Jan. 20, 1880. Politically he is of the Republi- can faith, and has been an active worker in that party since his majority. He was married March 5, 1867, to Kate A. McGowan, daughter of Capt. John Mc- Gowan, of the United States revenue service.

WILLIAM J. MAGIE, judge of the Supreme Court, was born at Elizabeth Dec. 9, 1832. He is the son of Rev. David Magie, D.D., a native of the same town, and for nearly forty-five years pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of that city. His mother, née Ann Frances Wilson, was also a native of Elizabeth. Young Magie entered Princeton College in 1852, and graduated in 1855; he studied law with Francis B. Chetwood at Elizabeth, and was admitted to the bar as an attorney in 1856, and counselor in 1859. For six years he was associated in practice with his preceptor, Mr. Chetwood, and subsequently formed a partnership with Mr. Cross. He was prosecutor of the pleas for Union County from 1866 to 1871. In politics he is a Republican, and has acted with that party since 1861. In 1875 he represented the county of Union in the New Jersey Senate, and was appointed chairman of the committee on the judiciary, in which capacity he served with marked ability. He, however, only accepted the senatorial nomination at the earnest so- licitation of friends.

Judge Magie married, Oct. 1, 1857, Frances Bald- win, of Elizabeth.

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HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.

HON. CORNELIUS BOICE, who for thirty-five years was identified with the various interests of Plainfield, and was the first permanently-settled lawyer there, was born at Green Brook, in Somerset County, N. J., Feb. 4, 1808. He was the son of David Boice and Elizabetlı Covert, who resided at Green Brook, were farmers, and reared a family of two sons and four danghters. The other son, David Patterson Boice, died in Plainfield in August, 1880. David Boice died at the age of eighty-two, and his wife at the age of ninety-five years.

Cornelius Bvice

Cornelius Boice received during his minority a good English and classical education, and became fully conversant with surveying. He studied law with Judge James S. Nevius, a prominent lawyer of New Brunswick, N. J., was admitted to practice as an attorney in 1829, and as counselor in 1832. Im- mediately after his admission as an attorney he set- tled in the practice of his profession at Plainfield, where he remained in continuous practice until his death, which occurred Sept. 6, 1864.

and died at his residence, where William McD. Coriell now resides, in Plainfield, Dec. 24, 1828, aged about eighty years. The children of Cornelius and Sarah Ann Boice are Anna E., wife of Lewis E. Clark, a justice of the peace of Plainfield ; Frances M., wife of John J. Bell, of New York; Sarah Azelia, wife of Joseph B. Coward, a lawyer of Plain- field ; Cornelia, wife of George S. Underhill, of New York; Mary E., wife of Robert C. Cook, a lumber and coal merchant of Plainfield; Cornelius C., a druggist of New York ; and Emma Hoyt, wife of Willard H. Young, of Philadelphia.

Mrs. Boice was born Dec. 4, 1811, and survives in 1882. residing in the Boice homestead, purchased and remodeled by them in 1847, and which was once the Fairchilds' private school.

For many years Mr. Boice was the only lawyer in Plainfield, and during his early practice he gave con- siderable attention to surveying. His name became widely known throughout this part of the State for his soundness of opinion on questions of law and business, and although he never gained prominence in his profession as an advocate, yet his thorough knowledge of the law, his unbiased judgment and discretion gave him rank among the first in his pro- I fession as a safe and judicious counselor. He was retained as attorney and counselor by the Central Railroad Company from the time of the construction of the road until his decease. For five years he served as surrogate of Essex County, and was twice elected from that county to the lower branch of the State Legislature, where he served with honor to hini- self and credit to his constituents. As a citizen, Mr. Boice was ever interested in all that pertained to the best interests of the community. He was identified with the early seminaries of Plainfield, and graduated all his daughters either in the schools at home or in other places, and he was one of the framers of the law for the present school system of the city. While he was prospered in his profession and in his business relations he never forgot to be a friend to the deserv- ing poor, who always found in him a ready and willing contributor to their wants pecnniarily, and a donor, as counselor, in settling their difficulties to avoid unnecessary litigation. His kindness of heart, his urbanity of manner, and his social and genial bearing always won him the respect of all who came in contact with him. During his early manhood and middle life he was an active member of the old Whig party, and remained true to its principles during his life. He was one of the founders of the First Presby- terian Church at Plainfield, and a contributor to and promoter of religious and moral sentiment in the community.

The same year of his settling in Plainfield, on No- vember 25th, he married Sarah Ann, eldest daughter of Abraham and Anna (Lenox) Cadmus, who resided near Plainfield, and carried on a farm and mill prop- erty. Her only brother, Andrew A. Cadmus, suc- ceeded to the homestead property, where he resided until his death. Her only sister is Rachel Cadmus, At a meeting of the bar held in the court-room of Union County on the 6th day of September, 1864, the Hon. Daniel Haines in the chair, and Robert S. Green secretary, it was unanimously resolved, "That unmarried. Her father died Feb. 20, 1845, aged seventy-two years, and her mother died Jan. 24, 1862, aged over eighty years. Her maternal grandfather, Levi Lenox, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, , we have heard with sorrow of the death of our late

BENCH AND BAR OF UNION COUNTY.

117

brother, Cornelius Boice, Esquire ; that his personal intercourse and professional relations with us for many years have been characterized by a fraternity uniformly generous and confiding; that his profes- sional labors have always been marked by a true, commendable zeal for all who committed their rights and interests to his eare, and in the public fiduciary position which he filled for a number of years with unwavering fidelity and with a watchful and zealous regard of the rights and interests of the widow and the orphan."

EDWARD YOUNG ROGERS, for many years the only lawyer in Rahway, and one of the leading members of the bar of New Jersey, was fourth son of Warren and Sarah (Ogden Platt) Rogers. He was born in New York City, June 21, 1812, and died in Rahway, Oct. 13, 1868. He was graduated at Rutgers College in the class of 1830, studied law with William Chetwood,

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of Elizabeth, N. J., and was admitted to practice as an attorney in 1833, and as counselor in 1836. Im- mediately after his admission to the bar he com- meneed the practice of his profession in Rahway. After a couple of years he formed a law partnership in Newark, but subsequently returned to Rahway, where he continued in the practice of law during the remainder of his active business life. For many years he was prosecutor of the pleas, and during his ineum- beney of that office his marked ability, his desire for impartiality and justice in the trial of a canse, his careful preparation of each and every case within his jurisdiction, and his impassioned advocacy of what he

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History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 27

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