USA > New Jersey > Warren County > History of Warren County, New Jersey > Part 39
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(III) Jacob (3), son of Jacob (2) and Sarah (Castner) Vosler, was born about 1781, and died in January, 1862, aged eighty-one years. He lived at Spruce Run, New Jersey. He married Margaret Oakerman, who was born about 1786, and died in June, 1858, aged seventy-two years. Children : George, referred to below; Sarah, married James Hazlett; Robert; Katharine, married John Barnes; James; Delana, married John Moore; Daniel; John.
(IV) George, son of Jacob (3) and Margaret (Oakerman) Vosler, was born in Spruce Run, New Jersey, October 26, 1805. Owing to the straightened circumstances of his parents and the long distance between his home and the nearest school, he re- ceived but slight educational advantages, and learned at an early age the value of self- reliance, industry and economy. For the first four years after his marriage he lived on a leased farm, but in 1830 he purchased one hundred and thirty-seven and a half acres of land in Bethlehem township, Hunterdon county ; and a few years later, having paid off the mortgage on it, he purchased an adjoining farm of the same size. In 1861 he removed to Washington township, Warren county, New Jersey, and buying a third farm of one hundred and thirty-three acres of land near Port Colden, spent the re- mainder of his life there. Mr. Vosler joined the Lutheran church of Spruce Run in carly life, was a member of its building committee, served for thirty-five years as one of its trustees, and for many years was treasurer of the congregation. He was a Dem- ocrat in politics, cast his first vote for Andrew Jackson, and held a number of town- ship offices, besides serving as a judge of elections and township committeeman. He married, May 6, 1826, Mary Ann, daughter of John and Ann (Moore) McDonald, who was born April 26, 1809, and died before her husband, February 14, 1871. Children : Andrew M., born December 17, 1826; Jacob, referred to below; Sylvester, born April 27, 1833; Elizabeth, born April 23, 1839, married James Anthony; Margaret Ann, born January 19, 1845, married (first) Jacob Wyckoff, and (second) John H. Weller, of Jackson Valley.
(V) Jacob, son of George and Mary Ann (McDonald) Vosler, was born in Beth- lehem township, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, November 10, 1830. He received his
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education in the public schools of Hunterdon county, and removing to Warren county with his father, built himself a house on the farm near Port Colden, purchased by his father, and lived and died there. He was a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Lutheran church. He married, December 1, 1864, Rachel, daughter of Morris and Mary Ann (Fitts) Martinus. Children: Edward J., referred to below; Uriah P., born May 10, 1868, died December 20, 1907; William L., born June 17, 1874, died in infancy; Caro- line B., born December 16, 1878, died in infancy.
(VI) Edward J., son of Jacob and Rachel (Martinus) Vosler, was born near Port Colden, Warren county, New Jersey, July 2, 1866, and is now living on the old homestead there purchased by his grandfather. He received his education in the public schools of Port Colden, and started in life working on his father's farm. He is a Democrat in politics, and has been quite active and prominent in local affairs. He served for three years as a member of the Port Colden school board, and in 1905 was appointed tax collector of Washington, New Jersey, to fill the unexpired term of Daniel Fritts. In 1906 he was elected to fill the office for the full term, and in 1909 he was reelected. He has also served one term as commissioner of appeals. He is a Presby- terian in religion, and a member of Ute Tribe, No. 180, Improved Order of Red Men, of Washington, New Jersey.
He married, December 26, 1888, Elizabeth, daughter of John and Mary (Dern- berger) Hann, of Anderson, Mansfield township, Warren county, New Jersey, who was born there, July 5, 1866. No children,
Jacob Petty, the first member of this family of whom we have definite PETTY information, was born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey. He was among the early settlers of the county and was a farmer. He may have been a grandson or great-nephew of the John Petty, of Burlington, New Jersey, "wool comber," for the administration of whose estate, William Petty, of Burlington, "brick- maker," gave his bond, December 23, 1730. If so, he was undoubtedly related in some way to the Anna Petty, who died in 1746, as the widow of Job, son of Richard and Abi- gail Stockton, the founders of that family in New Jersey. This Job Stockton was a great-uncle of the Hon. Richard Stockton, the signer of the Declaration of Inde- pendence. Jacob Petty removed from Warren county, New Jersey, to Michigan, with his family, and died there, some time about 1835 or 1840. Among his children was John, referred to below.
(II) John, son of Jacob Petty, was born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, and died in Michigan. Among his children was Aaron, referred to below.
(III) Aaron, son of John Petty, was born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, May 19, 1814, and died in 1887. He was born on a farm near Belvidere, and the greater part of his active life was spent in farming, and the grounds of Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, are part of the land included in one of the farms on which he lived in early life. He received a common school education at Rocksburg and Belvidere, and when he was about thirty years old left the neighborhood and purchased a farm near Washington. He was the owner of four farms, ranging from seventy to one hundred and twenty acres in area, and of woodlands in Hunterdon county, the total being about five hundred acres of land in all. He was a Democrat in politics. He was an attendant of the Presbyterian and Methodist churches. He married Jane Hill, who was born at Spruce Run, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, in 1814, and died in February, 1890. Children : Edward, born in 1834; John, born in 1836; Sarah, born in 1838; Emeline, born in 1840; Hiram, born in 1841; Theodore, born in 1843; Jacob M., referred to below; Aaron, born May 8, 1847; Mary Jane, born in 1851; Robert M., referred to below.
(IV) Jacob M., son of Aaron and Jane (Hill) Petty, was born on his father's farm, near Easton, Pennsylvania, June 2, 1845. He received his education in the public
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schools and business college of Newark. After farming for himself for nine years he embarked in the mercantile business, and for seven years kept a general store at Townsbury, and another for four years at Rocksburg. In 1891 he settled at Washing- ton, where for a number of years he was engaged in the mercantile business and the manufacture of piano backs with the Washington Manufacturing Company. He has also been a member of the General Manufacturing Company, which manufactured models exclusively. Since November, 1908, he has been a manager of the Tidings Publishing Company, of Washington. He purchased his present residence in Washington in 1910. He is a Democrat in politics; he and his family are members of the Presbyterian church. He married, in November, 1872, Clara, daughter of Nelson and Caroline B. (Stinson) Vliet. Children : Carolyn V .; Luella; Raymond V.
(IV) Robert M., son of Aaron and Jane (Hill) Petty, was born at Changewater, Warren county, New Jersey, September 13, 1858. He was educated in the public schools of Changewater. Brought up on a farm, he followed that vocation until 1885, working for himself after 1880. With his subsequent diversity of business interests, he has never ceased to be engaged in agriculture; he still farms more than four hun- dred acres of land. In 1885 he went to Rocksburg, where he erected a store building and kept a general store for three years; the building is now being used by the Red Men for a hall. He came to Washington in 1892, where he engaged in the raising of peaches and conducted a general fruit farm, one of the largest of its kind in New Jersey. For a short time afterwards he was a butcher and meat dealer in Washington and became one of the greatest promoters of enterprise in that town. In the face of severe opposition he founded, in 1898, the Washington National Bank, of which he is now president, and built the Opera House in the same block. The next project in which he was concerned was the building of the trolley line which now runs from Phillipsburg to Port Murry. This also met with strong opposition and delays. The eighteen miles now in operation form only a portion of the proposed line, and it is intended to connect with the lines running to the seaboard cities and to extend the tracks both north and south of Washington. Mr. Petty is president of this company also. He started the Washington Automobile Company, the Washington Wagon & Harness Company, and the Washington Piano Company. He is president of the Metropolitan Building and Loan Association, of Newark; the Washington Manufactur- ing Company, of Hanover, Pennsylvania; the Oxford Iron & Steel Company, of Ox- ford, New Jersey; the Washington Gas Company; and is the leading factor in the Washington Tidings Publishing Company, and is intimately connected with many other interests. He is a director in the Northampton, Easton & Washington Traction Com- pany of New Jersey; Northampton Traction Company of Pennsylvania; Montgomery Traction Company, of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, and the New Jersey Fire Insurance Company, of Newark.
Mr. Petty is an ardent and active Republican, and although Washington is a Dem- ocratic stronghold, he has been mayor of the borough and has a strong following. His political career began in 1885, when he served as clerk of the board of directors of the county almshouse, which position he held for three years. When he first came to Washington he served three years in the borough council, and was in the council when the streets were improved in the borough, and has always been an active and earnest supporter of good roads. It was also during his term in the council that the electric lighting franchise for the town was granted, and he was interested in the opening and extension of Lincoln avenue. He was for four years mayor of Washington, and during this term assisted in the purchase of land for a public park. Another street was opened from West Washington avenue, named Wandling avenue. Mr. Petty was appointed on the board of registration and served five years. His party nominated him in 1908 for state senator, and he made a "fine run." His activities in real estate and other lines have been highly beneficial to the community. As far back as 1884 he was one
Rm Petty
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of the first builders of houses on upper Broad street, which was then farming land and is now one of the best residential sections of Washington. He has a large interest in the Washington National Bank. The opera house was built by Mr. Petty, who thereby doubled the taxable value of that site. He purchased and remodeled the Hotel Wind- sor and enhanced the value of that property. Since the passing of the trolley line through the town real estate has advanced in value nearly one-third, and a great public benefit to the section of which Mr. Petty was the pioneer, was his bank, the first in the county to obtain interest for depositors. Mr. Petty is a member of the Presbyterian church. He is connected with the following secret societies in Washington: Mans- field Lodge, No. 36, Free and Accepted Masons; Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Knights of Pythias; Junior and Senior Order of American Mechanics; the Royal Arcanum, and the Order of Elks.
He married, in December, 1879, Mary S., daughter of Samuel and Mary (Feit) Vanatta, of Rocksburg, New Jersey. Children : 1. Floyd, died in infancy. 2. Arthur, born at Changewater, New Jersey, April 12, 1892; he is a graduate of Wenona Military Academy, class of 1910, and is at present employed as bookkeeper at the Washington National Bank.
SCRANTON George Whitfield Scranton, founder of the city of Scranton, Penn- sylvania, was descended from John Scranton, who settled at Guil- ford, Connecticut, in the autumn of 1639. The pastor of the settle- ment was the Rev. Henry Whitfield. Most of the planters had emigrated from Sur- rey, England, and the records show that they were possessed of considerable property, some of them being wealthy. In 1669 and 1670 John Scranton was a member of the general court. He was twice married. His first wife was Joanna whom he probably married in England, and his second was Adaline Hill. Only three children are mentioned, one of them being a son, John (2), whose son, John (3), was the father of Ichabod Scranton, of Madison, who was born February 19, 1717 (O. S.), and served with the rank of captain in the French war, participating in the Louisburg cam- paign. He also served in the revolutionary war, being present at the taking of Fort Ticonderoga. He married Chloe Fowler, born at Guilford, March 3, 1723.
(V) Theophilus, son of Ichabod and Chloe (Fowler) Scranton, and fifth in de- scent from the immigrant ancestor, was born December 1, 1751, in Madison, Connecti- cut, and was a farmer by occupation, a Whig in politics and a member of the Congre- gational church. He married Abigail Lee, born July II, 1754, and their children were: Erastus, Parnel, Jonathan, Charlotte, Chloe, Theophilus, mentioned below; Hubbard, Leman, Ichabod Lce, Henry and Abigail Lee.
(VI) Theophilus (2), son of Theophilus (1) and Abigail (Lee) Scranton, was born April 13, 1786, at Madison, Connecticut, and owned a line of stages that carried the mail between New Haven and Saybrook, Connecticut. He was a member of the Congregational church. He married, July 2, 1810, Elizabeth Warner, born at Guil- ford, Connecticut, October 26, 1788, and their children were: George Whitfield, men- tion below; Selden Theophilus, born October 13, 1814; Amelia, April 10, 1818; Caroline E., February II, 1820; Charles, June 23, 1822; William Lafayette, April 19, 1824; Sarah Warner, April 30, 1830.
(VII) George Whitfield, son of Theophilus (2) and Elizabeth (Warner) Scran- ton, was born May 23, 1811, in Madison, Connecticut, and attended the schools of his native place, whence he passed to the Academy of Madison, then an institution of note, presided over by Major Robinson. In 1828 he went to Belvidere, New Jersey, where he was employed by his uncle, Chapman Warner. He afterward conducted a store in partnership with Judge Kinney and also engaged in agriculture. He then went to Oxford Furnace, New Jersey, where he engaged in the manufacture of iron, under the firm name of G. W. & S. T. Scranton, the partners being also very extensive land-
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owners. He afterward went to Pennsylvania, where he founded the city of Scranton, which was named in his honor. He was the promoter of large rolling mills, coal mines and other forms of industry. To him also belongs the honor of the inception as well as the completion of a locomotive-engine road from Grant Bend to the Delaware Water Gap, now the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western railroad. While a resident of New Jersey he served as colonel on the governor's staff, and he was twice elected to congress from Luzerne county, Pennsylvania. He was a member of the First Presby- terian Church of Scranton, which was organized and held its first services in his house.
Colonel Scranton married, January 21, 1835, at Belvidere, New Jersey, Jane, born in 1811, in that town, daughter of George and Jane (Loder) Hiles. Mr. Hiles was a wealthy farmer and landowner of Belvidere, donor of the site of Warren county court- house. He was one of the few who voluntarily emancipated their slaves, for which reason his name is worthy of being held in great and lasting honor. The Hiles and Loder families were of Dutch origin, having emigrated from Rotterdam, Holland. Colonel Scranton and his wife were the parents of the following children: I. Eliza- beth Warner, born March 17, 1838; married G. A. Fuller; children : George W. Scran- ton, Jane Hiles, William Augustus and Lawrence Barnard. 2. William Hervey, June 13, 1840; married Rosalie Paul. 3. James Selden, November 3, 1841; married Kate Laurens Rayner; children : Kate Rayner, Anna Kimball, Elizabeth Dickson, George Whitfield, Grace Florence and William Henry. 4. Ellen, May 19, 1845; died July II, 1845. The death of Colonel Scranton occurred in 1861. His name is honored as that of a pioneer and legislator and also as that of an exemplar of all the civic virtues, a promoter of industry, education and religion.
(VIII) William H., son of George Whitfield and Jane (Hiles) Scranton, was born January 13, 1840, and the same year the family removed from Belvidere to Scran- ton, where the son was educated, completing his course in 1860, after five years' study in the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He then settled at Oxford, New Jersey, as civil and mining engineer for the firm of G. W. & S. T. Scranton, which became, in 1863, the Oxford Iron Company. In 1873 he became general manager for the company, an office which he resigned in 1885. The following year he accepted the position of general manager of the Fall River Iron Works, in Massachusetts, but soon returned to Oxford, where he practiced as a consulting engineer, also occupying himself with professional investigations and engaging in commercial undertakings on his own account. One of the latest of these was the introduction into the United States of the Wenstrom Magnetic Separator. Mr. Scranton was an accomplished draughtsman, designer and architect. A lasting monument of his skill is the large blast furnace at Oxford, for which he made the plans and of which he superintended the construction in 1872, remodeling and improving the work in 1885. As a manager of workmen his success was extraordinary, as the confidence of the eight hundred-sometimes one thousand-workmen in his employ constantly testified. The principal contribution made by Mr. Scranton to the cause of his profession was connected with the use of the magnetic needle in the survey of iron ore deposits, a subject in which he had for a long time been deeply interested. Mr. Scranton died June 11, 1889, at Oxford, New Jersey. Upon the monument of his father, in the family plot in Dunmore cemetery, at Scranton, are engraved these words:
"Kind-hearted, benevolent, genial and true in his relations with his fellow men; a man of noble purposes and high Christian character; he was called to his reward in the midst of his usefulness, loved and mourned by all who knew him."
William H. Scranton married, November 6, 1867, in the Second Presbyterian Church, Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Rosalie Paul, born at "Hazeldene," the country home of her parents, near Attleboro, Pennsylvania, now Langhorn, May 3, 1842, daughter of Thomas and Sara T. Paul.
William Hl. Scranton
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The late Dr. William Henry McGee, for more than thirty years one of McGEE the leading and most successful physicians of Warren county, was a grand- son of Patrick McGee, a native of the North of Ireland, who emigrated to this country early in the nineteenth century. His occupation was that of a linen- weaver and he settled at Paterson, New Jersey, at a time when the weaving industry of that place was in its infancy.
(II) William C., son of Patrick McGee, was born in 1818, and was a graduate of Princeton University and a minister of the Presbyterian church. He was for many years pastor of the Yellow Frame Church at the place in New Jersey, to which it has given its name. In politics he was a Republican. He married, in May, 1841, Anne, Sherrerd, born April 15, 1817, daughter of the Rev. John Flavel and Mary (Sherrerd) Clark, and granddaughter of the Rev. Joseph Clark, who was a student at Princeton at the outbreak of the revolutionary war. When the news came of the fight at Lexing- ton he promptly deserted the class-room for the camp and was one of those who served under Washington. He has left a full diary of his experiences in the war, giving a most interesting account of his life in the army. Mr. and Mrs. McGee had two chil- dren : John Flavel, born April 6, 1844, a prominent lawyer of Jersey City; William Henry, mentioned below. Mr. McGee died in 1868.
(III) William Henry, son of William C. and Anne Sherrerd (Clark) McGee, was born June 1, 1848, at Yellow Frame Church, New Jersey, and in 1869 graduated from Blair Hall, Princeton University. He then entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York City, and in 1871 received from that institution the degree of Doctor of Medicine. From that time until the close of his life he was continuously engaged in professional labors in his native state and county. For several years he practiced with his uncle, Dr. Samuel S. Clark, whom in the course of time he succeeded, building up, in addition to this practice, an extensive one of his own and making for himself a high place in the ranks of his profession. He was surgeon for the Pennsyl- vania railroad. He was a member of the American Medical Association, New Jersey Medical Association, and was president and treasurer of the Warren County Medical Society. His political principles were those advocated by the Republican party. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, of Belvidere, serving on the board of trustees.
Dr. McGee married, May 13, 1875, near Belvidere, Mary Catherine, daughter of Merari and Phobe . (Rosenburg) Gulick, the former a well-to-do farmer of Mount Bethel, Pennsylvania, and they became the parents of two daughters: Anne Clark, graduated from Blair Hall, in the class of 1898; Helen, graduated from Belvidere high school, in the class of 1904, and then attended Blair Hall. The death of Dr. McGee occurred June 10, 1904, while he was still in the prime of life and at the zenith of his usefulness. He left behind him the name of a broad-minded and skillful physician, a noble man and an exemplary citizen.
Thomas Pursel was born near London, England, and came to America PURSEL in 1635, in the ship "Constance," and upon landing bought several large tracts of land on Long Island. He was a man of considerable wealth when he came to America, and lived the life of a farmer. He married Christana Van Houten, and had children: Thomas, John, Henry, Catherine and William.
(II) Thomas (2). son of Thomas (1) Pursel, came from Long Island and settled in Somerset about 1681. This is the first known ancestor of this family in New Jersey. Children : Thomas, John, Henry, William and several others.
(III) John, son of Thomas (2) Pursel, was born in Hunterdon county about 1690. He had a large family of children, one of whom, John, was an elder of the German Lutheran church, at Readington township, Hunterdon county, New Jersey. He also had a son Jonathan, mentioned below.
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(IV) Jonathan, son of John Pursel, was born about 1730. He married (first) Ann Moon; (second) Esther Children, all by second wife: John, Daniel, and several others.
(V) John (2), son of Jonathan and Esther Pursel, was born in Alexandria town- ship, 1768, died March 28, 1850. He lived on the homestead. He married Mary, born June 26, 1771, daughter of Peter and Leah Haughawout. They had children: I. Jona- than, born August 30, 1788; went to Lockhaven. 2. Leah, born December 10, 1789; married William Carfary. 3. Lefford, born August 19, 1791; married Mary Shipman. 4. John, born July 29, 1793; mentioned below. 5. Daniel, born March 12, 1795; married --. 6. Peter, born December 14, 1796; married Ann Wilson. 7. William, born November 15, 1798; married (first) Mary Ann Iliff; (second) Mary Stiers. 8. Sarah, born January 15, 1800; married John L. Cooley. 9. Esther, born March 15, 1803. 10. Jacob, born December 21, 1804. II. Charles, born August 1, 1807. 12. Eli, born March 5, 1810; married Jane Searfoss. 13. Mary, born April 11, 1813; married William Vleit. 14. Rebecca, born January 19, 1815.
(VI) John (3), fourth child and third son of John (2) and Mary (Haughawout) Pursel, was born July 29, 1793, near Milford; died December 14, 1860. He settled at Carpentersville, New Jersey. He married Elizabeth Fine, born January 27, 1797; died November 7, 1876. Children: I. Catherine, born December 8, 1817; married John Melick. 2. John. 3. Andrew, born January 8, 1819; married Margaret Lockwood. 4. Philip Fine, mentioned below. 5. Sarah, born June 10, 1830; married Isaac Thomas- ton, April 10, 1862. 6. Hannah, born 1833; died 1893; married E. C. Dalton, March 28, 1850. 7. Stewart C., mentioned below. 8. James, married Julia Black.
(VII) Philip Fine, son of John (3) and Elizabeth (Fine) Pursel, was born near Carpentersville, New Jersey, April 6, 1828; died April 24, 1882. He was educated at the public schools, and taught school for a number of years at Carpentersville. He was later a merchant shipper on the Morris and Lehigh canals, and in 1860 sold out to his brother, S. C. Pursel, and then went into the milling business at Springtown, New Jersey. In 1864 he removed to one mile below Phillipsburg, near Greensbridge, and continued the same business until his death, which occurred April 24, 1882, the mill being still known as Pursel's mill, and the business was continued long after by his son, Thomas Stone Pursel. He married, October 13, 1856, Mary Louisa, daughter of John and Margaret (Bougher) Stone. Children : I. Thomas Stone, born July 25, 1857; mar- ried Ella F. Patterson, November 4, 1881. 2. Andrew, born October 2, 1864; died De- cember, 1906; married Ada Slacker, December 16, 1884. 3. Seth Stewart, born January 8, 1866; died April 1, 1905; married Maria Moore, September 15, 1892. 4. Elizabeth, born October 12, 1868; married, December 15, 1887, William S. Shimer; child, Isaac Sharp Shimer, born October 2, 1890. 5. James, born Angust 8, 1872; married Georgina Skinner, November 27, 1906.
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