USA > New Jersey > Salem County > History of the counties of Gloucester, Salem, and Cumberland New Jersey, with biographical sketches of their prominent citizens, vol. 1 > Part 33
USA > New Jersey > Gloucester County > History of the counties of Gloucester, Salem, and Cumberland New Jersey, with biographical sketches of their prominent citizens, vol. 1 > Part 33
USA > New Jersey > Cumberland County > History of the counties of Gloucester, Salem, and Cumberland New Jersey, with biographical sketches of their prominent citizens, vol. 1 > Part 33
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1829-33. Richard M. Cooper.
1883. Thomas M. Ferrell.
Isaac H. Lippincott.
John K. Clark.
1464 Joseph L. Reeves.
George Craft.
1776. John Cooper. 174. Joseph Ellis.
1777. John Cooper. 1795. Joseph Cooper.
1778. John Cooper. 1796. Joseph Cooper.
I-aac C. Dilkes.
John K. Clark.
Peter F. Locke.
17:0. John Cooper.
179. Thomas Clark.
1-1.5. Isaac C. Dilkes.
Joseph R. Paul.
Joseph Higgins
1782. Elijah Clark. 1:0)). Thomas C.ark.
Isaac HI. Lippincott.
Elwood J. Davis.
17:3. Elijah Clark. 1:01. Thomas Clark.
Jacob J. Hendrickson.
Ezekiel C. Mount.
Peter F. Locke.
175. Elijah Clark.
1803. Isaac Mickle.
1×66. Jeaac C. Dilkes.
Elwood J. Davis.
1756. Elijah Clark.
1501. Isaac Mickle.
Isaac Il. Lippincott. Jacob J. Hendrickson.
i Joseph Higgin -.
17-7. Joseph Ellis
1-05. Isaac Mickle. 1506. Isaac Mickle.
Ezekiel C. Mount Joseph Warringtou.
i Jolin Pierson.
1790. Joseph Ellis.
1867. David S. Adams.
Lewis V. Atkinson.
Elwood J. Davis. Joseph Biggins.
1791. Joseph Filis.
1-09. Richard M. Cooper.
1.52. Juseph Ellis.
Willian: S. Mattson. 1793. Joseph Ellis.
1810. Richard MI. Cooper. I811. Isaac Michle.
Isaac HI. Lippincott.
1869. Leonard F. Harding William Knight. Isaac N. Ilughes. Jobu R. Sickler.
Asa Coles
1870. William Knight. John R. Sickler.
1803. John Wilkins.
1846. Joseph Saunders.
1-31. Joseph Franklin.
1806. Amos Copper.
1SU7. Samuel W. Harrison.
1809. William Zine.
1.58. Woodward Warrick.
1861. Amos J. Peasle.
1.54. Woodward Warrick.
Elmund Jones.
1872. William Knight.
David B. Gill. Peter F. Locke.
Caleb C. Pancoast.
1855. Joseph Tatum.
Edmund Jones.
James MI. Roe.
George C. Allen.
Matthias R. Crane,
George II. Gaunt.
1856. Joseph Tatum.
13. Caleb C. Pancoast.
J. Alfred Bodine.
1764. Samuel Clement. Jr.
1766. Isaac Mickle.
1767. James Hinchman.
1820. Joseph Saunders.
1708. Samnel Harrison.
1 1835. John B. Harrisou.
James Chatten. John Buck.
David C. Wood.
John Piersou.
Jonathan H. Smith.
1877. Henry M. Leap.
Joseph T. Paulin.
David C. Wood.
John Pierson.
Jonathan H. Smith.
1878. Joliu Pierson.
1863. Joshua L. Reeves.
Samuel Hopkins. Joshua Richman
George Craft.
Benjamin Shoemaker.
1879. John Pierson.
Paul I. Richmond.
MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
Samuel llopkins. Isaac HI. Lippincott.
Satunel Hopkins.
Peter F. Locke.
1850. John Pierson.
William S. Mattson.
1761. Joseph Hugg. 1799. Thomas Clark.
1881. John Pierson.
1 William S. Mattson.
17-S. Joseph Ellis.
18-2. Peter F. Locke.
17-9. Juseph Ellis.
1807. Richard M. Cooper. 18us. Richard M. Cooper.
Joshua Riebman.
Samuel J. Fisher.
1862. John K. Sickler.
Samuel Hopkins.
Joseph L. Reeves. James Chattin. Joshua Richman.
1876. leury MI. Leap.
1775. Joseph Hugg.
1854. Joseph Z. Pierson.
Samuel Hopkins.
Samuel T. Miller. Henry M. Leap. Joseph T. Paulin.
1725. John Ladd, Jr.
1794. John Wilkins.
Charles B. Leonard.
1749. William Wood.
1798. Samuel W. Harrison. Benjamin Rulon.
Edmund Jones.
1811. Joseph Rogers.
1835. Joseph Tatum.
Isaac N. Hughes. Asa Coles. George F. Ford.
A-a Coles.
1504. Sanmel W Harrison.
: 1833. Wilbam R. Tatum.
D. R. C. Tatom. William Haines. William W. Pun.
:-* s. B. C. Tatem. Charles Etkinton. William Haines.
1-49. R. C. Tatem. William Haines. William W. Dunn.
Paul S. Richman.
1779. John Cooper. 1797. Juseph Cooper.
1784. John Cooper. 1502. Thomas Clark.
: 1810. Job Brown.
124
HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
1812. James Hopkins. 1813. James Hopkins. 1×14. Samuel W. Harrison. IS15. Samuel W. Harrison. IS16. Samuel W. Harrison. 1:17. Junes Matlack 1818. James Matla .k. 1819. John Baxter.
Ists, Jeremiah J. Foster.
182). Josoph haighn.
1920. John W Mickle.
1761. Samuel Clement
1,31. Joseph Kaighn.
1812. Joseph Kaighn.
1×33. John W. Mickle.
1844. John W. Mickte. 1835. John W. Mickle.
1820. John Daxter. 1:21. Michael C. Fisher. 1822. Michael C. F sher.
1836. John C. Smallwood 1:37. John C. Smallwood.
1828. John C. Smallwood.
1823. Joseph Kaight,
1539. Joseph Porter.
1821. Isaac Wilkins.
1810. Joseph Porter.
1825. Isaac Wilkins.
1541. William R. Cooper.
1826. John Moore White.
1842. Joseph Saunders.
1827. Christopher Sickler.
1843. Joshua P. Browning.
Under Constitution of 1:44,-Sonate.
1845. John C. Smallwood ( Pres.).
. 1864. Joseph L. Reeves.
1846. John C. Smallwood : Pres.).
1865. Joseph L. Reeves.
1847. John C. Smallwood (Pres.). : 1866. Joseph L. Reeves.
1848. John C. Smallwood (Pres.).
1867. Woodward Warrick.
1849. Charles Reeves.
1868. Woodward Warrick.
1780. John Sparks. Thomas Reunard.
1802. Saminel W. Harrison. Samuel French. Abel Clement.
1850. Charles Reeves.
1869. Woodward Warrick.
1951. Charles Reeves.
1870. Samuel Hopkins.
Isaac Kay.
1803. Joseph Cooper. Robert Newell. Richard Risley.
1853. John Burk.
1872. Samuel Hopkins.
Joseph Ellis. Joseph Cooper.
1804. Joseph Cooper. Richard Risley. Robert Newell.
1856. Joseph Franklin.
1875. Samuel flopkins.
Joseph Ellis. Joseph Cooper.
1805. Robert Newell. Reuben Clark. Samuel C. Champion.
1859. Jeptha Abbott .-
1878. Thomas P. Mathers.
1860. Jeptha Abbott.
1879. Jolin F. Bodine.
1861. John Pierson.
1880. John F. Bodine.
1862. John Pierson.
ISS1. John F. Dodine.
1863. John Pierson.
1882. Thomas M. Ferrell.
MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY
From the Surrender in 1702 to 1752. From the Western Division.
1703. Peter Fretwell.
1701. Joshua Wright.
Thomas Gardner.
1707. Peter Canson.
Thomas Lambert.
William Hall (of Salem).
William Biddle.
Richard Johnson.
William Stevenson. John Thomson.
1788. Thomas Clark.
Restore Lippincott.
Bartholomew Wyat.
Franklin Davenport.
John Kay.
John Wills.
Joseph Cooper.
Joseph Cooper.
Thomas Bryan.
1789. Franklin Davenport.
1811. Jacob Glover. Joseph B. Clark. Matthew Gill, JI.
John Mason.
Thomas Gardner.
John Smith.
John Kay.
1790. Joseph Cooper.
John Ilugg, Jr.
Philip Fawle.
Thomas Clark.
1704. Restore Lippincott.
1708-9. Thomas Gardner.
Samuel Hugg.
1613. Isaac Pine. Daniel Carroll.
Juhu Kay.
Hugh Sharp.
Thomas Clark.
Charles French.
John Smith.
Nathaniel Cripto.
John Black wood.
William II III.
John Ray.
1792. Joseph Cooper.
John Mason.
Jobn Kaighn.
John Black wood. Richard Somers.
1815. Isaac l'ine.
Robert Wheeler.
Nathaniel Breading.
1793. Joseph Cooper.
- Edward Sharp. Richard S. Risley.
Thomas Lambert.
John Lewis.
Abel Clement.
1816. Isaac l'ine.
Thomas Garduer.
--- Eldridge.
1794. John Black wood. Benjamin Whitall. Thomas Wilkins.
Richard S. Deley. Edward sharp.
From Glouc ster County.
1709. Jolin Kay. John Kaighn.
1730. William Harrison. - Joseph Cooper. 1738. Joseph Cooper.
Samuel French.
1710. John Kay.
Thomas Somers.
1818. Daniel Like.
John Kaight. 1716. Daniel Cox.
John Mickle.
1796. Abel Clement. Samuel French. Thomas Somers.
Model Kille. Samuel L. Howell.
Richard Bull.
1740. Joseph Cooper. John Mickle.
1797. Abel Clement.
1819. Samuel Kille. Jeremiah J. Foster.
1721. Samuel Cole. John Mickle.
1727. John Mickle. William Harrison.
1743. Joseph Cooper. John Mickle. Samuel French. Daniel Leeds. 1744. Joseph Cooper. John Mickle. 1708. Joshua L. Howell.
Thomas Garwood.
1820 John Wilson. William T.dem.
William Hall.
Samuel Jennings.
Joseph Cooper. Abel Clement.
1812. Isaac Pine. Joseph C. Swett. Daniel Carroll.
Jobn Hugg.
Thomas Rapier.
1791. Joseph Cooper.
1814. Charles French. Isaac Pine. Nicholas Rape.
Thomas Bryan.
Richard Johnson.
:
Peter Fretwell.
Hugh. Middleton.
John Blackwood.
1807. Jacob Glover. Benjamin Ralon .. Michael C. Fisher.
Joseph Cooper. Thomas Clark.
1808. Jacob Glover. Benjamin Rulon.
1786. Thomas Clark.
Thomas Doughty.
Franklin Davenport. Jobn Kille.
1787. Thoma- Clark.
Franklin Davenport. Joseph Cooper.
180G. Robert Newell. Renhen Clark. Samuel C. Champion.
1855. Joseph Franklin.
1874. Sammel Hopkins.
1782. Samuel Hugg.
1857. Joseph Franklin.
1876. Thomas B. Mathers.
1858. Jeptha Abbott.
1877. Thomas P. Mathers.
1783. Sumuel Ingg. Joseph Ellis. Joseph Cooper.
1784. Joseph Ellis. Joseph Couper.
Thomas Clark.
1.85. Joseph Ellis.
1852. John Burk.
1871. Samuel Hopkins.
1781. Samuel Hugg.
1854. John Burk.
1873. Samuel Hopkins.
- Isaac Tomlinson.
Thomas Wilkins. 1800. Samuel Harrison. Abel Clement. Samnel French.
1778. Elijah Clark. Joseph Ellis, "Joseph Couper.
1801. Samuel W. Harrison. Samuel French.
Isaac Mickle.
1779. John Sparks. Joseph Low. Thomas Kennard.
Since 1772.
1798. Samuel W. Harrison. James Wilkins.
1776. Richard Somers. Robert F. Price. Istar Mickle. 1799. Joshua L. Howell Samuel Harrison.
1777. Elijah Plark. John Wilkins, Jr.
1751. John Ladd. Samuel Clement
1745. Joseph Cooper. / Ebenezer Hopkins, 1746. Joseph Camper. Ebenezer Hopkins. 1749. Joseph Cooper. James Hochman. 3751. William Mickle. Joseph Ellis.
David Cooper. 176). Robert Friend P'rice. John Hinchman. 1772. John Hinchinan. Robert F. Price.
1817. Isaac Pine.
· 1795. Abel Clement.
Edward Sharp Jolin Estell.
1800. Joseph B. Clark. John Brick. Thomas Doughty.
1810. Benjamin Ruloo. Michael C. Fisher. Matthew Gill, Jr.
125
GENERAL HISTORY.
1.20. Jutt Moore White. 1821 Jul. R. scull.
1833. William R. Cooper. John H Scull.
Coarles C. Stratton. J.weth Kaight.
: 422. John R. Scull. - Ist Mickle. J -. ph Kaighu.
1835. Joseph Rogers. Sunnel B. Lippincott William E Cooper. Joseph Endicott.
1836. Joseph W. Cooper. Jamies W. C'aldwell. Divid C. Ogden. John Richards.
1825. Benjamin Cooper. John R. Scull. Charles French.
1837. James W. Caldwell. David C. Ogdet. Joseph Porter. Joseph W. Cooper.
1826. Charles French, Jr. Daniel Lake. Thomas Bee.
1838. Joseph Porter. Joseph W. Cooper. Charles Reeves. Elijah Rower.
1SS. Thomas Ber. Joseph Porter. John W. Mickle.
1.28. Joseph Porter. John Estell. Charles Stratton.
1839. Elijah Bower. Charles Reeves. Joseph Franklin. Richard W. Snowden.
1829. John W. Mickle. Isaac Hinchman. Japhet Ireland.
1840. Richard W. Snowden. Joseph Franklin. Charles Reeves. Elijah Bower.
1430. Japhet Ireland. Jacob Howey. Charles Reeves.
Robert L. Armstrong.
Is31. Jacob Howey.
Charles Reeves. Charles F. Wilkins. Samuel B. Westcott.
IS42. Thomas H. Whitney. Samuel C. Allen.
Thomas H. French. Richard W. Snowden.
1832. John Gill, Jr.
Charles F. Wilkins. Elijah Bower. Sammel B. Westcott.
Benjamin Harding.
Nathan T. Stratton.
1.33. Joseph Rogers. Jesse Smith.
Thomas B. Wood.
Constitution of 1844.
1845. Samnel Cooper.
1861. John Starr.
Benjamin Harding.
Joseph Duffield.
1846. Benjamin Harding.
1802. Allen Moore.
Samuel W. Cooper.
Thomas G. Batten.
1647. John B. Miller. John B. Hilyard.
E. C. Heritage.
14 .. John B. Miller. John B. Hilyard.
Elisha C. Heritage.
1-49. John Duell.
1865. Nathan S. Abbott. William D. Wilson.
John Burk.
1866. William Clark.
John Duell.
William D. Wilson.
le5]. Benjamin C. Tatem. Edmund Wetherby. 1552. Samnel Mayhew. David Campbell.
1868. Charles T. Moloney.
William B. Rosenbaum.
1:53. Jeptha Abbott. Julin V. Porch. 1854. Joseph Franklin. Benjamin Beckett.
1.70. Nimrod Woolery. Leonard F. Harding.
1855. Jacob G. Tomlin. JANIcs B. Albertson.
1871. Nimrod Woolery. John S. Rulon.
1636. James B Albertson. Jacob G. Tomlin.
1ST2. Jolin R. Middleton. Jolin S. Rulon.
1457. John H. Bradway. Benjamin Smith.
1873. Obadiah Eldridge. De Witt C. Hemingway.
1858. John F. Thomas. George C. Hewitt.
1-59. John F Thomas. George C. Hewitt. 1460. Jolin Starr. Joseph Ilarker (died ). Joseph Daffield.
1870. Thomas B Lodge. Samuel Minore.
1877. Caleb C. Pancoast.
1877. Samuel Moore. 1×80, "Thomas M. Ferrell.
1>>1. George Craft.
1578. Caleb C. Pancoast. Lawrence Locke. Thomas M Ferrell.
1579. Caleb C. Pancoast. Lawrence Locke.
1.50. George Craft.
1882. Abiich S. Hewitt. 183. Joh S Haines.
CHAPTER XXIX.
BENCH AND BAR OF GLOUCESTER COUNTY !!
THE separation of the present county of Camden from old Gloucester County took away from the latter county its largest and most thriving city, and with Camden a majority of the members of the bar of the old county, leaving it with a small population and no large towns; consequently, in the present county of Gloneester the business of the courts has been limited and the lawyers few in number. The : Woodbury bar has always been considered a fairly ¡ good one, and has had in its ranks many men of marked ability. Judges Moore and Carpenter, of the Supreme Court, went from this bar, and others of its members in the past have achieved a most enviable reputation in the courts of the State and nation. In 1872 Judge Carter, of Woodbury, a local historian of note, remarked in a publie lecture that " within this ( Woodbury ) court-house, during the last eighty- five years, not a small number of master-minds have !combated with each other. Here have practiced some of the most able lawyers, such as the Hon. Richard Stockton, grandfather of the commodore, and signer of the Declaration of Independence, Hon. Samuel L. Sonthard, Hon. Garret D. Wall, Hon. Charles Ewing, Hon. John Moore White, Hon. Peter A. Brown, Hon. Peter D. Vroom, Hon. David Paul Brown, and others of their time, as weil as our own day, eminent for learning and. venerable in years, of our town and State, whose noted ability has made their names as familiar to us as household words. It may be safely said, without any attempt at flattery, and as the opinion of those more competent to judge, that. generally speaking, the present younger practi- tioners of the Gloneester County bar (those who are in the habit of praetieing here) stand second to none in point of general legal ability, promptness, integ- rity, and courtesy, ambitious to make still more honorable a most honorable profession."
For a Inng period after the Revolution it was cus- tomary for the lawyers of the State to " go on cir- cuits;" that is, to go from county to county with the · Supreme Court judge and argue eases in which they were already engaged, or pick up any business they could during the continnanee of the term, and Gloucester County was visited in this way by many attorneys who became famous; besides those named in Judge Carter's lecture, such eminent legal light-
1 By Belmont Perry.
--
1863. Allen Moore.
1864. Nathan S. Abbott.
1830. Thomas Ga-kell.
1:67. William W. Clark. Jacob J. Hendrickson.
1869. Nimrod Woolery. Leonard F. Harding.
1874. Obadiah Eldridge.
De Witt C. Hemingway. 1575, Thomas B. Lodge. Simeon Warrington.
18'4 Joseph Rogers. Sammuel B. Lippincott. John R. Scull.
1.23. John Moore White. Charles (. Stratton. Julin Estell.
1.24. Benjamin B. Cooper. Th anas Chapnian. Puni-l Lake.
1841. Joseph L. Pierson. Thomas H. Whitney. John B. Miller. Charles Knight.
1843. Samuel It. Cooper.
120
HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
as James Kinsey, Lucius Stockton, Joseph W. Scott, L. Q. C. Elmer, William Griffith, Gen. James Giles. Joseph C. Hornblower, Abraham Browning. and Jere Słoan came frequently to practice here ; but the home bar, with its T. P. Carpenter, Franklin Davenport, John Moore White, Robert L. Armstrong, and others, was generally able to hold its own with the best of them.
Judges .- The courts of the county have been pre- sided over by some of the most learned of the State's judiciary. Chief Justice Andrew Kirkpatrick, of New Brunswick, presided here one or two terms prior to 1820. He was born in 1756, in Somerset County, and, like many other distinguished New Jer- sey jurists, was from Scotch-Irish stock. He was a Princeton graduate, and was designed by his parents for the ministry, but after a year's study of divinity he gave it up for the law, and after teaching school for a time studied law under ex-Governor William Pat- terson, at New Brunswick, receiving his license as an attorney in 1785. He was elected to the Supreme Court in 1797, and in 1803 was made chief justice, holding this position for twenty-one years. He was noted for his profound knowledge of the laws relating to real estate, and his opinions are regarded as models . holding this position for ten years. In 1845 he as- of deep learning and sound judgment. He died in 1831.
Another eminent jurist who frequently presided over the Gloucester courts was Chief Justice Joseph C. Hornblower, of Newark, who held hi- high office from 1832 to 18-16. His decisions during this period were marked by learning of a high order, and are frequently quoted in courts of law. He was a native of New Jersey, having been born at Newark in 1777. His father was a member of the Continental Congress. Judge Hornblower once gave a decision to the effect that Congress had no right to pass a fugitive-slave law. He was chairman of the New Jersey delega- tion to the convention that nominated Fremont for President, and was president of the New Jersey Elec- toral College in 1860. He died at Newark, June 11, 1864, in the eighty-eighth year of his age.
was noted for the great clearness of his decisions, and for the pointedness of his charges to the jury, never hesitating to inform them just exactly what he thought of the case under consideration.
Stacy Gardiner Potts presided over the Gloucester courts for seven years, commencing with 1853. He was a most excellent jurist and a very popular judge. Harrisburg, Pa., was his native city. He was born in November, 1799. His great-great-grandfather. Thomas Potts. came over from England in the famous ship "Shield," in 1678, landing at Burling- ton, N. J., this being the first vessel to ascend the Delaware above Philadelphia. His grandfather, Stacy Potts, was a tanner at Trenton, and in his family young Stacy was brought up. He attended the Quaker schools, and early in life entered a print- ing-office as an apprentice. When twenty-one years of age he became editor of the Trenton Emporium, and in 1823 entered the law office of L. HI. Stockton as a student, still editing his paper. Afterwards he became a law pupil to Governor G. D. Wall, and was admitted to the bar in 1827. In 1828 he was elected to the Legislature, and re-elected in 1829, and two years later was made clerk of the Chancery Court,
sisted ex-Governor Vroom, Chancellor Green, and William L. Dayton to revise the laws of New Jersey, and in 1852 Governor Fort placed him on the Supreme Bench, his circuit comprising Camden, Gloucester. Ocean. and Burlington Counties. He was a prominent member of the Presbyterian Church, and connected. as teacher and superintendent, with one Sunday-school for thirty-six years. He died at Trenton, April 9, 1865, a kindly, Christian man, loved and honored for his virtues and his ability.
From 1841 to 1846, Daniel Elmer, of bridgeton, was the Supreme Court judge assigned to the Glon- eester Cireuit. He was born in Cumberland County in 1784, and was admitted to the bar in 1805, and made a sergeant-at-law in 1828. He remained in practice at Bridgeton until 1841, when he was, by the joint meeting of the Legislature, elected a member of the Supreme Court. It was during his term that the Mercer case was tried. Hle resigned in 1846, on ac- count of ill health, and died in 1848.
Chief Justice Charles Ewing was in all probability New Jersey's ablest jurist. We find that he presided over our county courts on numerous occasions, and we also find his name appearing among the lawyers Then followed Judge Carpenter, whose sketch ap- pears among the lawyers of the county. who came to Woodbury, and also as assisting the prosecutor on two occasions. He was of Scotch- In 1852, Lucius (. C. Elmer was appointed a Su- preme Court judge, and presided in the Gloucester circuit for abont fifteen years thereafter. An extended Irish descent, and the son of James Ewing, who at the time Charles was born was living at Bridgeton, N. J. He graduated from Princeton College in . sketch of him will be found in the history of Cumber- 1798, and from the law office of Samuel Leake, of land County embraced in this work. He ranked as a very able and learned jurist. Bridgeton, three years later. The Legislature made him chief justice, in 1824, to succeed Judge Kirk- Chief Justice Edward W. Whelpley presided here for one term, and his strict rulings and dignified manner, as well as his ability, made the same impres- sion here as elsewhere where he presided,-that he was, in fact, one of the ablest jurists in the United States, having a wonderfully retentive memory, to- patrick, and seven years later he was re-elected by a Legislature opposed to him politically ; but he only lived a few months after his second election, dying in 1832, one of the first victims of the Asiatic cholera that visited New Jersey that year. Judge Ewing
127
GENERAL HISTORY.
gether with a sound and discriminating mind, and his whole bearing being that of a model judge.
frequently been mentioned for the Presidency, and his name always well received. In 1871 he was again elected Governor, and served another term of three years. In 1880 he was made a member of the
Hon. George Spotford Woodhull presided over the Gloucester courts for about fourteen years, commene- ing with 1867. He was born near Freehold, N. J., ; New Jersey Supreme Court, and assigned to preside over the counties of Camden, Burlington, and Glouces- ter, and his administration of this position has earned for him the reputation of a careful, wise, and prudent judge. Ile was married in 1843 to Maria MI. Gum- men, of Burlington, N. J.
and graduated from Princeton College in 1533. He studied law under Judge Richard S. Field, of Prince- ton, and was admitted as an attorney in 1839, and began practice at Freehold, where he remained until 1850, when he removed to May's Landing, Atlantic Co. lle was prosecutor of the pleas for this county for fifteen years, and for two terms held the same posi- tion in Cape May County. His first appointment to the Supreme bench came from Governor Marcus L. Ward, in 1866, and in 1873 he was reappointed by Democratie Governor Parker, although himself a Republican. He retired from the beuch in 1880, and died in 1881. He was a careful and accurate . judges of whom we have any record. They were on judge, and although slow in his manner, he generally rendered decisions that were acceptable and sound.
The Common Pleas courts of the county have been presided over most of the time by laymen, and a greater part of the County Court business has been conducted by them. The prominence and length of service of some of these deserve more than a passing notice. Thomas Thackara, Francis Collins, John Wood, and Andrew Robinson were the first of these the bench in 1686, when the courts were held at Gloucester and Red Bank, and it appears from the records of that year that Andrew Wilke was the first person indieted by the Gloucester courts. He had stolen overalls from Thomas Sins, of Philadelphia. But one term of the court was held at Red Bank, and it is supposed that this was held in a tavern that once stood near the mouth of Woodbury Creek.
Hon. Joel Parker is the Supreme Court judge who at present presides over the Gloucester County courts, and it may safely be said that the circuit never had a more careful, accurate, or painstaking presiding officer, or one whose rulings have given more general satisfaction. Judge Parker was born Nov. 24, 1816, in Monmouth County, N. J., very near the old " MIon- Among other early judges we find such names as Watkins, Hugg, Rambo, Cooper, Howell. Kaign. Whitall, Paul. Sharp, Mickle, Clement. Tatum, Sparks, Stratton. Hopkins, Pancoast, Gill, French, and others familiar throughout the county. Judges were plenty in early days, and we find that from 1686 to 1883 Gloucester County has had about four hun- dred Common Pleas judges. In one year ( 1812) -ev- enteen were appointed, and in 1813 sixteen more were appointed. Thomas Thackara. Gloucester County's first judge, was evidently a distinguished man in his day. for we find him a member of the first Legislature that sat in Burlington to frame laws for sible position. for these new-comers found themselves the inhabitants of a land withont a law, except so far as generally promulgated through the -original con- tical application of the principles therein embodied. Thomas Thackara was a native of Yorkshire, Eng- land, where the family suffered much religious perse- cution by reason of their adherence to the opinion- and practices of George Fox, the Quaker. In 1656, Thomas Thackara was taken from a religious meet- ing at Leeds, and confined for several weeks in York Castle. Ile is probably the same Thomas Thackara who arrived at Salem, N. J., in the pinke " Ye Own- er's Adventure," Nov. 18, 1681, and about the 1st of January, 1682, purchased a traet of land in the present Newton township, extending from Newton to Cooper's Creek. Together with Mark Newbie and William Cooper, he was appointed one of the judges of the court for the third tenth in the year 1682, and mouth battle-ground," and is a son of Charles Parker, a leading citizen in his day. Ilis grandfather was a Revolutionary soldier, serving throughout the war. llis father was sheriff, member of the Legislature, and State treasurer. Joel Parker attended the schools of Trenton during his younger days, and afterwards managed his father's Monmouth farm for three years. He graduated from Princeton College in 1839. His law studies wore prosecuted under the tutorship of Chancellor Henry W. Green, and he was admitted to the bar in 1842, and commeneed practice at Freehold, where he has resided ever since. In 1844 he entered political life as a public speaker on behalf of the . the province of West New Jersey. It was a respon- Democratic party, and in 1847 was elected to the Legislature. While in the Legislature he offered a bill to equalize taxation by taxing personal as well as real property. In 1851 he was made prosecutor of , cessions, which did not enter into detail or the prac- the pleas for Monmouth County, and served five years. In 1860 he was chosen a United States elector. casting his ballot for Stephen A. Douglas for the Presidency. For several years prior to the late war he was brigadier-general of the Monmouth militia, and took great interest in military matters. In 1861, Governor Olden made him major-general of the five counties of Monmouth, Middlesex, Ocean, Mercer, and Union, with a view to promote volunteering, and in this position he was highly successful. In 1862 he was nominated for Governor, and was elected over Hon. Marcus L. Ward by fourteen thousand six hun- dred majority. and his efficiency in this position during the trying war times is well known,-he is New Jersey's honored "war Governor." He has
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