USA > New Jersey > Warren County > History of Warren County, New Jersey > Part 41
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The death of Dr. Clark, which occurred November 23, 1885, was felt by the entire community as a personal bereavement. Universally respected for his many sterling qualities, the large circle to which he had so long and so faithfully ministered mourned him as a dear and honored friend.
Dr. Clark married Jane Clyde Kennedy, daughter of Dr. James Clyde Kennedy, a prominent physician of Stewartsville, New Jersey. Mrs. Clark died in 1898. Their only child, Mary Sherrerd, resides on the homestead at Belvidere.
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John Barber, the first member of this family of whom we have definite BARBER information, was born in 1719, and died at Uniontown, Warren county, New Jersey, Decemher 13, 1777. He settled between 1735 and 1750, at the base of Scott's Mountain, now Lopatcong township, Warren county, New Jersey. There are several distinct families of this name in the United States. It is probable that John Barber was a descendant of Thomas Barber, one of the settlers of Windsor, Connecticut, in 1635. The family is of English extraction. He was an earnest Pres- byterian in days when religious ministrations were hard to procure. He was a farmer.
He married Margaret - -, who was born in 1719, and died May 3, 1804. Children : Phineas, married Ann Kennedy; Jesse, referred to below; Mary, born March 24, 1757, died November 24, 1808, married Alexander Inness.
(II) Jesse, son of John and Margaret Barber, was born at Lopatcong township, Warren county, New Jersey, in 1754, and died August 22, 1839. Like his father he was a Presbyterian, but he lived to see more regular privileges of worship. He practiced farming at the southwest base of Scott's Mountain. He married Joanna, daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Matthias Shipman and Margaret (probably Sharpenstine) Ship- man, who was born at Port Warren in 1757, and died at Uniontown in 1838. Her father was born at Saybrook, Connecticut, in 1736, being descended from Edward Shipman, who settled at Saybrook in 1635. The Shipman family is of Norman descent; its founder was knighted by King Henry III in 1258. Matthias Shipman was brevetted lieutenant-colonel in the Second Sussex Regiment. Margaret (Sharpenstine) Ship- man was a daughter of Jacob Sharpenstine. Children of Jesse and Joanna (Shipman) Barber : John, settled near Genesee, New York, and among his descendants is Will- iam Barber, of Goodland Station, New York; William; Phineas, married Catharine McIntire; Edward Barber, of the Barber-Hartman Company, Philadelphia, is a de- scendant ; Matthias, died without issue; Jesse, removed to California; Lydia, married Jacob Mellick; Margaret, married Joseph Scholey; Peter; Isaac; Elizabeth, married Philip Insley; Mary; George Washington, referred to below.
(III) George Washington, son of Jesse and Joanna (Shipman) Barber, was born at Uniontown, Warren county, New Jersey, January 2, 1802, and died at Stewartsville, Warren county, New Jersey, August 25, 1883. He was a farmer, residing at various times at Uniontown, New Jersey; Forty Fort, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania; Belvi- dere and Stewartsville, New Jersey. He was a Presbyterian in religion and a Repub- lican in politics. He married, March 30, 1826, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas and Margaret (Stewart) Kennedy, who was born at Stewartsville, January 6, 1805, and died there, September 14, 1889. Her father, in the revolution, drove a supply wagon in the Kennedy brigade of teams. One of his sons, a brother of Elizabeth (Kennedy) Barber, was the Hon. Robert S. Kennedy, United States marshal of New Jersey, judge of the court of errors and a member of the constitutional convention of 1844. Thomas Kennedy was the son of James and Jane (Maxwell) Kennedy; his grandparents on his father's side were William Kennedy, born in Londonderry, Ireland, in 1695, and Mary (Henderson ) Kennedy; they came to this country in 1730. Jane Maxwell was a daugh- ter of John and Ann Maxwell; her father was born in county Tyrone, Ireland, and came to Greenwich township in 1747, bringing his wife and four children: William, a brigadier-general in the revolutionary army; John, a captain in the Sussex volunteers; Robert, a lieutenant; and Jane. Elizabeth Kennedy's mother was born February 4, 1759, and was a member of a large family which settled at Stewartsville, coming from Tinicum, Bucks county, Pennsylvania; this family is also of Irish origin. A brother of hers is the ancestor of Charles Stewart, of Easton, Pennsylvania, who has been publishing historical articles in the daily papers. Children of George Washington and Elizabeth (Kennedy) Barber : Robert Kennedy, referred to below; Thomas Kennedy, born November 17, 1828, died April 14, 1852; Jesse, born November 25, 1830, died Sep- tember 7, 1852; Sarah Jane, born October 13, 1832, died March 12, 1853; Isaac, born
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July 12, 1834, died July 12, 1854; Joanna, born April 3, 1837, died November 18, 1858; James Kennedy, born July 18, 1839, died June 29, 1905, married Hettie Kennedy Mar- tin; Maxwell, born December 2, 1841, died April 27, 1859; Stewart, born December 2, 1841, died April 4, 1862; Charles Dennison, born June 17, 1846, died June 25, 1875, mar- ried in 1872, Etta Stewart.
(IV) Robert Kennedy, son of George Washington and Elizabeth (Kennedy) Barber, was born at Uniontown, Warren county, New Jersey, February 16, 1827, and died at Port Warren, August 6, 1907. He was a farmer; a Presbyterian in religion; and a Democrat in politics. His principle residence was at Port Warren, Warren county, New Jersey. He married, at Luzerne, Pennsylvania, Mary, daughter of Henry and Margaret (Kreidler) Stroh, who was born at Luzerne borough, Pennsylvania, and died at Port Warren, New Jersey. Her father was a soldier in the war of 1812. Her grandfather, Henry Stroh Sr., was a sergeant, born 1792. With two brothers he settled in New Jersey, where they were millwrights and started a forge for the manufacture of mill irons. This resulted unsatisfactorily in consequence of legislative difficulties and they removed to the neighborhood of Chester. Henry Stroh Sr. afterwards settled at Chestnut Hill, Monroe county, Pennsylvania. He served in the revolution under General Anthony Wayne and was wounded at the battle of Trenton; this wound made him permanently lame. The Stroh family has an association at Wilkes-Barre and holds an annual reunion. Henry Stroh Sr. married Helena Christina Philipina Elizabeth Johanetta Straus, who was born at Strasburg, in January, 1743, and came to America in 1747. Margaret (Kreidler) Stroh was of a family which, coming from Germany, settled in Northampton county, Pennsylvania. The original immigrant, Frederick Kreidler, was born in Germany, came to Northampton county, Pennsylvania, lived, married and died there, had a son Frederick, born at Nazareth, Pennsylvania. He had five children : Daniel, born in 1770, died in 1855, married Catherine Hartzell; Fred- erick; George, born 1783, died in 1855, married Rebecca Hartzell; Peter, and Elizabeth, married Transue. George and Rebecca (Hartzell) Kreidler were the parents of Margaret ( Kreidler) Stroh; John, who married Christina Ransom; Catharine, mar-
ried Nicholas --; Arthur; Hannah, married (first) Burton Downing, (second) R. -; Daniel, married Mary H -; George, married Mary Hunter; Isaac, mar- ried Catherine C -. Rebecca Hartzell was a daughter of Jonas Hartzell, who late in the eighteenth century was prothonotary of Northampton county; a member of the committee of safety for Northampton county; state senator in 1805, representing Northampton, Carbon, Luzerne and Pike counties; and associate judge of Lehigh county in 1812. Children of Robert Kennedy and Mary (Stroh) Barber: Isaac, re- ferred to below; William, born February 9, 1866; Thomas, May 1I, 1868; Margaret (twin), November 4, 1871; James (twin), November 4, 1871, died August 27, 1872; Mary (twin), bern May 16, 1874; Robert (twin), May 16, 1874, died September 20, 1878.
(V) Isaac, son of Robert Kennedy and Mary (Stroh) Barber, was born at Forty Fort, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, September 4, 1854. He received his early educa- tion in the public schools, after which he attended Blair's Presbyterian Academy to prepare for college. In 1872 he entered Lafayette College, from which he graduated in 1876. He studied medicine under Professor Trail Green, of Easton, and in 1879 graduated with the degree of M. D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He served for one year as a medical referee for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in New York City, and in July, 1880, he settled at Phillipsburg. He is one of the most influential citizens and holds a high rank in his profession. He has served as city physician and was for several years a member of the board of health. Dr. Barber has also taken an active part in politics, being an ardent Democrat; and during the admin- istration of President Cleveland he was appointed pension examining surgeon, July 18, 1893. Having been elected senator, 1896, he resigned the former position, June 1, 1897;
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reelected senator in 1902. He served on various committees of importance: railroads and canals, public grounds and buildings, labor and industries, also agriculture; also member of the usual medical societies. In 1908 he was candidate for congress; carried Warren county by a majority of two thousand four hundred and thirty votes, the largest majority ever received by anyone in Warren county, New Jersey. He is a Presbyterian in religion. He is a member of many fraternal societies, including the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Montana Lodge, No. 23, Knights of Pythias; and Ortygia Company, No. 10, Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias, in which organization he has filled the position of brigade surgeon. He married, July 26, 1902, Bridgie, daughter of Patrick and Catherine (McShane) McIllhaney, who was born in Phillipsburg.
Matthias Shipman, the first member of this family, of whom we have SHIPMAN definite information, was born in 1726, died January 12, 1812. He is said to have come from Saybrock, Connecticut, in 1747, to German Valley, New Jersey, removing thence to Lopatcong township. This family is of Norman descent and must not be confounded with the Shipman family in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, which is of different origin. The English founder of the Shipman family was knighted by King Henry III., in 1258.
The founder of the family in America was Edward Shipman, or Shipton, made a freeman of Saybrook, Connecticut, in 1667, who inherited three thousand acres of land near Hartford, from the famous sachem Uncas. He died September 15, 1697, and was buried at Haddam, Connecticut, and his gravestone is one of the few still standing in the old cemetery. He married (first), in January, 1651, Elizabeth Comstock, who died in July, 1659, and (second), July 1, 1663, Mary Andrews. Children, three by first mar- riage : Elizabeth, Edward, William, John, Hannah, Samuel, Abigail and Jonathan.
The original deed to Matthias Shipman for a tract of land in Greenwich township, near Stewartsville, is in the possession of Philip K. Shipman, of Port Warren, who holds one hundred acres of the original tract, lying between Phillipsburg and Stewarts- ville. In the will of Matthias Shipman, dated December 12, 1807, he bequeathed to his children as follows: To Jacob two hundred acres in Pennsylvania, valued at one thousand dollars: to Matthias Jr. two hundred acres, valued at six hundred dollars; to Isaac two hundred and thirty-three acres of timber lands, valued at four thousand dollars. His son John was deceased when the will was made. He appointed his son Isaac, and his son-in-law, Jesse Barber, as his executors, and gave in his will two shares of his property to his sons and one share to his daughter. Matthias Shipman was breveted lieutenant-colonel in the Second Sussex Regiment.
He married Margaret - -- , who was born in 1729; died June 7, 1801. Children : Jacob; Matthias, probably married a daughter of John Scharpenstine, and had a son Christian; Isaac. referred to below; John; Catherine; Mary; Paul; Ichanah; Sarah; Margaret ; Elizabeth.
(II) Isaac, son of Matthias and Margaret Shipman, was born in 1767; died in 1853. Children : Matthias, died young; Isaac, referred to below; Philip; John T .; Jesse; William.
(III) Isaac (2), son of Isaac (1) Shipman, was born April 13, 1803; died at Lo- patcong township, in 1879. He married, December 26, 1822, Rachel Smith, born January II, 1806. Children: Peter Smith, referred to below; Mary Elizabeth, born May 16, 1827, married Thomas Stewart; Isaac, October 1, 1830; John, November 24, 1834, died April 4, 1837; Jacob Sharp, March 21, 1837, died October 18, 1849; Sarah Ann, Novem- ber 5, 1840.
(IV) Peter Smith, son of Isaac (2) and Rachel (Smith) Shipman, was born in Greenwich, near Stewartsville, October 1, 1823; died December 27, 1890. He was a farmer, a Lutheran in religion, and a Republican in politics. He married, December
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15, 1847, Theodosia Ann Carter, born July 20, 1826; died January 13, 1895. Children : Joseph Carpenter, referred to below; Isaac Sharp, referred to below.
(V) Joseph Carpenter, son of Peter Smith and Theodosia Ann (Carter) Shipman, was born in the old homestead in Greenwich township, September 19, 1848. In early life he was a merchant, keeping a store at Bloomsbury. Having moved to Phillipsburg, he was clerk for a few years in a grocery store, after which he was for several years foreman in the lumber yards of the John H. Hagerty Company. He now holds a similar position with a lumber company in Bayonne. He married Ella, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Cline. Children : Cora Elizabeth, Isabella, Frank Cline, referred to below; Russell.
(VI) Frank Cline, son of Joseph Carpenter and Ella (Cline) Shipman, was born at Bloomsbury, April 16, 1880. His parents moved to Phillipsburg, and he attended the public schools there, graduating from the high school in 1899. He took the four years' classical course at Lafayette College, from which he graduated in 1903. The next year he spent in teaching at a private preparatory school at Towanda, Pennsylvania, after which he entered at once upon the study of medicine, and with small means at his com- mand, but with tenacious purpose, he went through the first year at the New York Homeopathic Medical College. At the end of the year he found himself well up in his class with limitless enthusiasm for his chosen profession, but somewhat in debt; during his vacation he nursed in Dr. Kinney's sanitarium at Easton. It was a question whether he could continue his course at that time despite his determination to forge ahead without delay. A wealthy relative, knowing his intense desire and unquestioned scholarship, voluntarily offered him financial aid, which was gladly accepted, and with tutoring, ushering, commissary work for a fraternity club and vacation work, enabled him to complete his course. Dr. Shipman stood second in his class, only one-tenth of a degree behind the first. In May, 1903, he entered the Cumberland Street Hospital, Brooklyn, for an eighteen months' course in the six wards, and by taking advantage of every opportunity, he was able to finish this course in ten months. The following six months he took the practices of various physicians while they went away to rest. The deep interest in and love for his work, which had marked him from the first, won him the approval of all with whom he came professionally in contact, and in October, 1909, he opened an office at 54 Grace street, Jersey City. In the following September he felt warranted in taking unto himself a worthy helpmate in the person of Helen Myers, who had been a high school classmate of Dr. Shipman, and after graduation took the two years' course of training at St. Luke's Hospital, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. From 1902 to the time of her marriage, she successfully followed her profession. Being of a genial, but quiet gentle, sympathetic, unassuming nature, to know Dr. Shipman is to love him. He is characterized by self reliance, ready adaptability and a high moral and religious code. He is not the first physician in this family; Dr. William Shipman, who died in 1893, was his great-great-uncle. Dr. Shipman is a Presbyterian in religion and a Republican in politics. He is a member of Alpha Sigma, which is a medical fraternity.
He married, September 14, 1910, Helen Marcella, daughter of Samuel and Martha Ann (Sciple) Myers, who was born in Phillipsburg, October 31, 1880. Her father served in the civil war. Rev. E. Clark Cline, a great-uncle of Dr. Shipman, who served as a chaplain in the civil war, officiated at the wedding.
(V) Isaac Sharp, son of Peter Smith and Theodosia Ann (Carter) Shipman, was born January 26, 1853. He spent his whole life as a farmer, and owned, until recently fifty acres of the original tract belonging to Matthias Shipman. He now resides at Stewarts- ville, where he has purchased his present home. He married, November 14, 1872, Mary Eleanor, daughter of George and Sarah Ann (Jones) Stryker, who was born January 6, 1842, died July 20, 1905. Children: Bertha Elizabeth, referred to below; George Stryker, born September 15, 1875, died March 23, 1879; Isaac, born January 28, 1877, died in infancy.
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(VI) Bertha Elizabeth, daughter of Isaac Sharp and Mary Eleanor (Stryker) Shipman, was born February 23, 1874, and now lives with her father at Stewartsville. She has always been interested in the preservation of the family history and her labors in this cause should be greatly appreciated, not only by those living to-day, but by unborn generations. The publishers of this work are greatly indebted to Miss Ship- man for assistance. She was educated in the public schools, the Phillipsburg high school and the State Normal School at Trenton, graduating from this institution in the class of 1894. She has taught school for six years. Miss Shipman is a member of St. James' Lutheran Church.
On her mother's side Miss Shipman is descended in the tenth generation from Jan van Strycker. The line is as follow: (I) Jan, horn in 1615, died in 1697; (II) Peter, born 1653, died 1744; (III) Jan, born 1684, died 1770; (IV) Abraham, born 1715, died 1777; (V) Johannes, horn October 18, 1747, died March 29, 1776; (VI) Garret, born August 27, 1769, died May, 1821 ; (VII) John, November 10, 1792, died May 23, 1840; (VIII) George, March 4, 1815, died November 28, 1881; (IX) Mary Eleanor, born January 6, 1842, died July 20, 1905, married Isaac Sharp Shipman; (X) Bertha Eliza- beth.
VANATTA John K. Vanatta, the first member of this family of whom we have definite information, was born at Roxburg, Warren county, New Jer- sey, May 24, 1829. He was a son of Isaac and Hannah ( Bird) Van- atta. He married Catharine Miller, of Harmony township, in 1849 or 1850, and moved to Oxford, Warren county, New Jersey, where he followed the trade of cooper. He did not remain long in Oxford, but came back to Roxburg in two or three years, and shortly afterward (in 1856) went west and took up his abode in Schoolcraft, Michigan. He often talked of the kindly manner in which he was received by these hardy but hospitable people of the near west, who, living in a sparsely settled country, warmly welcomed each newcomer. But, as well as he liked the people, he could not endure the climate, and with a system weakened by the ague of this then marshy land he was stricken with typhoid fever, and barely recovering after a long illness came back east with his family in 1860. George M., referred to below, was his only child. He took up his resi- dence at Roxburg after returning from the west, and afterwards moved to Harmony. He served eleven years as assessor for Harmony township. He gave up his trade in later years, and after the death of his wife, in 1888, lived mostly with his son, George M., at Martin's Creek, New Jersey, where he died at the age of seventy-nine years.
George M. Vanatta was born at Oxford, New Jersey, November 12, 1851. When his parents returned from the west he was nine years old, and had not yet learned to read. But at this early age he was athirst for knowledge, and how well he took advan- tage of his opportunities may be judged from the fact that at the age of fifteen he was teaching school. He obtained his education at Roxburg Academy, under the tutorship of Professor E. M. Allen. Professor Allen was a hard task-master, but he produced results, and Mr. Vanatta has often been heard to warmly praise him for his thorough- ness and for the chance to obtain a practical education that stood him in good stead in later years. After teaching school for a few years he began his long railroad career on April 3, 1869, at Belvidere, New Jersey, as a mail-carrier and baggage-master for the Belvidere division of the Pennsylvania railroad. Close application to his duties gained the approval of John A. Anderson, then superintendent of the Belvidere division, and he was made agent at Martin's Creek, New Jersey, July 1, 1875. When he assumed the agency at Martin's Creek this place was the only outlet for the Bangor slate trade. Slate was hauled by mule teams from Bangor, Pennsylvania, to this point for many years. After the Bangor and Portland railroad was built this station became an import- ant forwarding point. It was necessary for the agent to be a telegraph operator in those times, and this, coupled with other demands upon his time, made the position no
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sinecure. He held this position thirty-one ycars, in which time the business of the station was increased tremendously. In 1906 ill health compelled him to give up active connection with the company.
. Mr. Vanatta has always lived at Martin's Creek, Warren county, New Jersey, since he was made agent at the station there. In his business ventures he has been very successful. He belongs to the Presbyterian church at Harmony, New Jersey, and is a member of the Masonic Lodge at Belvidere. Since leaving the railroad he has devoted his time in superintending his farms and looking after his property. He has always voted the Democratic ticket, and is an ardent admirer of William J. Bryan and Woodrow Wilson.
He married Annie Frances Oberley, October 4, 1877. Children : Florence (Mrs. James Osmun), John O., Leon M., Bessie K., all of whom are living.
Adam Ramsay, the founder of this family, was born in county Tyrone, RAMSAY Ireland. Coming to America, he settled first in Greenwich township, Warren county, New Jersey, and afterwards at Phillipsburg. Here he was a merchant in the old stone building at the corner of Main street and Reese's Court. He was a member of the Presbyterian church at Easton, where Dr. Gray was minister. Besides his business as merchant, he owned two farms. He is buried in the Greenwich cemetery, between Stewartsville and Bloomsbury, New Jersey. He married (first) Mary, daughter of Brigadier General Maxwell, and (second) Ann, cousin of his first wife. General Maxwell came to Greenwich township in 1747. Children, three by first marriage: Jane; John Maxwell; James; Adam Jr., referred to below; Mary Ann.
(II) Adam (2), son of Adam (1) and Ann (Maxwell) Ramsay, was born' in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, in November, 1807, and died March 16, 1879. He succeeded his father in the general store. He was also postmaster. He was a Presbyterian in religion, although not a church member; and a Republican in politics. He was a resi- dent of Harmony all his life. He married, November 21, 1830, Anna M., daughter of Wilson and Abbie (Laury) Housel, who was born in 1811, and died in 1877. Children : Edmund, born June 14, 1835, now residing at Philadelphia; William, born July 26, 1837, died in April, 1907; Wilson H., born December 5, 1839, died September 26, 1841 ; Robert, born October 13, 1842, now residing at Mt. Pleasant, New Jersey; Theodore, born Au- gust 28, 1845, now residing at Philadelphia; Charles, referred to below.
(III) Charles, son of Adam (2) and Anna M. (Housel) Ramsay, was born at Harmony, Warren county, New Jersey, August 7, 1848. He was educated in the public schools of Harmony, and at Eastman's Business College, Poughkeepsie, New York. He was a clerk in a general store at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and then traveled as a salesman. Returning home in 1871, he entered the general store at Harmony, with which three generations of the family have thus been connected, and has continued in this business to the present day. Since 1879 he has been postmaster of Harmony, to which office he was appointed by Postmaster General Key. He is a Republican, has served on the election board, and has always been active in the affairs of the township, and in efforts for its improvement and welfare. He is a member of Rappahannock Tribe, Independent Order of Red Men, of Rocksburg, New Jersey, and of the Royal Arcanum, Greenwich Council. He has also served as elder of the Presbyterian church at Harmony.
He married, at Uniontown, New Jersey, February 18, 1874, Madeline, daughter of Joseph A. and Sarah E. (Smith) Holden, who was born at Frenchtown, New Jersey, August 2, 1847, Rev. H. E. Spaid officiating. Mrs. Ramsay is the fifth of eight children, the others being: Mrs. John Allen, deceased; Joseph O., of Belvidere, New Jersey; James, of Milford, New Jersey; Mrs. Adam Rhinehart, deceased, mother of Charles Rhinehart, of New York City; William, deceased; Jacob, deceased; Thomas, of Easton, Pennsylvania. Children of Charles and Madeline (Holden) Ramsay: I. Mary, born
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