Memorial cyclopedia of New Jersey, Volume I, Part 27

Author: Ogden, Mary Depue
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Newark, N.J. : Memorial History Company
Number of Pages: 980


USA > New Jersey > Memorial cyclopedia of New Jersey, Volume I > Part 27


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62


Governor Ward was placed upon the Re-


171


1


11


CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY


publican National Committee in 1864, and two years later was chosen chairman of this body. In this capacity he made the prelim- inary arrangements for the National Con- vention of 1868, which nominated General Grant for the presidency of the United States. His part in the campaign was a prominent one, tended greatly to the success of the party whose cause he championed, and his services and efforts were fully ac- knowledged.


A few years were now spent by Governor Ward in a partial retirement, but this was frequently interrupted by attendance to du- ties of a public character. He was the first president of the Newark Industrial Expo- sition, and was an important factor in the success of this enterprise. The Soldiers' Home of Newark, of which he was the originator and always an earnest worker in its interests, for many years one of the managers, and the treasurer, until the time of his death, honored him by the adoption of his name; and "Ward's Hospital" be- came known as one of the finest institutions of its kind in the country. It appeared both natural and proper that the men who, during the war, had protected the interests and family of the loyal soldier, who had provided him with the care and attendance of a hospital when sick and wounded, should, when the war was over, still secure him, crippled and maimed, the comforts of a "Soldiers' Home."


During the presidential campaign of 1872, Governor Ward was nominated for Con- gress by the Republicans of the Sixth Dis- trict of New Jersey, and was elected by more than five thousand majority. Upon taking his seat in the House of Represen- tatives he was recognized as one of its most highly valued members. He was appointed to the Committee on Foreign Relations, where his influence was felt, and always in the direction of public interests. Gover- nor Ward made no pretensions to the role of speaker, but on the few occasions when he addressed the House, he commanded its


attention by clearly expressed views and the thorough honesty of his convictions. In 1874 he was unanimously renominated for Congress, but the condition of the country was unfavorable for success. Financial dis- aster disturbed all the marts of trade, and the large manufacturing district he repre- sented was most severely affected. Thou- sands of laborers were unemployed, and the hope that a political change would cause prosperity to return influenced their action. The tidal wave that swept over the strongest Republican states submerged his district al- so, although, as usual, he stood the highest on the Republican ticket. The confidence and attachment of the people were never shown more clearly than in the regret and disappointment which this defeat occa- sioned. After the expiration of his con- gressional term, he was tendered by the President the important post of Commis- sioner of Indian Affairs, but declined this, while he fully appreciated the intended com- pliment. Private affairs claimed the atten- tion of Governor Ward during the next ten years, during which he made two trips to Europe and enjoyed these to the fullest ex- tent. In March of 1884, while apparently in excellent health, he took a trip to Florida with several members of his family. While there he contracted malaria, was taken to Washington, D. C., then to his home in Newark, where he passed away, although all that medical skill could do was done for him. Universal and sincere grief was the result of the announcement of his death, the minutes of the institution with which he had been so long connected containing a suita- ble record, and that of the managers of the Soldiers' Home being especially eloquent.


Governor Ward married, June 30, 1840, Susan Longworth, born November 15, 1815, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Long- worth) Morris, and a descendant of John (Thomas) Morris, of the Milford colon- ists. Children: Joseph Morris, born Au- gust 2, 1841, died May 19, 1911; Eliza- beth Morris, born February 2, 1843, died


172


1


CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY


December 27, 1843; Frances Lavinia, born October 23, 1844, died August 2, 1846; Mar- cus L., Jr., born September 13, 1847; Cath- erine Almira Morris, born October 28, 1849, died June 17, 1860; Nicholas Longworth, born January 15, 1852, died July 28, 1857; John Longworth Morris, born February 24, 1854, died October 14, 1855; Francis Brown, born January 17, 1856, died Janu- ary 13, 1864.


The life of Governor Ward was singu- larly free from difficulties and anxieties. Ac- cumulating by care and prudence a large fortune, his life was full of deeds of con- siderate charity, which were as numerous as they were blessed. Many a struggling artist has received from him the generous order which did not degrade the spirit, while relieving the necessity. His charities were pursued for years, unknown to the world, the result of the innate kindness of heart which characterized him. Few men ever brought to public duties a greater amount. of conscientious principle. Every public act was governed by that law of justice and of right which would stand the test of the closest scrutiny. Popular in the highest and purest sense of that term, he would not sacrifice his judgment or his convictions to the caprices of the multitude. His man- ners were unassuming and popular, but he attained his position because of the posses- sion of qualities which should command it. He preferred the true to the false, the sub- stantial to the pretentious, and his life was one which may be studied with advantage by all who seek distinction and success in public life.


SINNICKSON, Andrew,


Lawyer, Representative of an Ancient Family.


Founded in New Jersey long before the fertile valleys and wooded hills of Penn- sylvania were known to the "Great Found- er," Penn, the family of Sinnickson has since that early day occupied leading position in


South Jersey. Just as the records of Salem county, New Jersey, show large lands and possessions held in the family name as early as 1645, so do those of nearly three cen- turies later contain often the name, in many cases making the descendants of those pio- neers the present holders of the land tilled by their fathers generations removed. Tru- ly, when Anders Sinicksen (Andrew Sin- nickson) came to America from Denmark and founded his line in New Jersey, he did build for "all time," and although numer- ous family names planted in New Jersey at that and later times have become extinct and long forgotten, that of Sinnickson has increased and flourished, giving to the State and nation men of strong moral fibre. From the time of the founding of the family in its new home until the Revolutionary period, there was little in the lives of the members thereof that greatly distinguished them from their neighbors. The work they then per- formed was not of a spectacular nature, for the building of homes and the establishing of a community are tasks requiring honest industry and energy rather than talent or brilliance, but when the misrule of Great Britain roused the colonies to indignation, protest, and war, then did many bearing the name Sinnickson come into their own as patriots and leaders. At this time, so influ- ential were they in colonial councils, that two of Andrew Sinnickson's sons, Thomas and Andrew, were placed upon a list of twenty of the citizens of Salem as the "first objects to feel the vengeance of the British nation," and Lord Howe placed a price of £100 upon the head of Thomas Sinnickson, "dead or alive." These lists, as deadly as the proscription lists of Marius and Sulla, were veritable rolls of honor in American eyes, and testified eloquently to the patriot- ism and sturdy independence of those whose names there appeared. Legislative service, prominence at the bar, distinction on the bench, and honorable record everywhere, is attributed to the line of the late Andrew Sin- nickson, of Salem, New Jersey, and the


173


1


-


-


---------


---


-


.


---


--


-


CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY


following brief chronicle will be ample jus- tification for such renown.


The Danish Book of Heraldry shows that Andreas Sönnichsen in 1450 was ennobled by Duke Adolph of Sleswig, and that in 1452 a coat-of-arms was granted him by King Christian I. of Denmark. In 1550, Sinnich Sönnichsen was advanced to the rank of noble by King Ferdinand II. of Denmark, and was granted territory in Angeln, Denmark, as his estate; and in 1600, through the death of Sinnich, his son Carlen became owner of the property. Car- len was the father of Anders Sinicksen, as his name appears, the American ancestor of this line. Anders Sinicksen (Andrew Sin- nickson, the modern version of his name), came to America about 1638 with sons An- ders (2) and Broor, in company with the earliest Swedish immigrants who sailed up the Delaware river to what is now Wilming- ton, Delaware. The first Anders soon died, and about 1640 Anders (2), his son, crossed the river to New Jersey, settling in the locality now known as Penn's Neck township, Salem county, New Jersey, pur- chasing a large tract of land in the section called by jts Indian name, Obisquahassit, a part of which is yet held in the family name. Upon the arrival in 1675 of John Fenwick, who came to take up his lands in West Jer- sey, Andrew (2), son of the founder, se- cured a quitclaim from the new proprietor by the annual payment of three shillings. Broor, son of the immigrant, who accom- panied him to America, became the ancestor of a large Delaware family, who favor the spelling Sinnixon. From Andrew (1) the immigrant, the line descends through An- drew (2), Andrew (3), Sinnick, to Andrew (4). It is evident that the first Sinnick- sons were men of wealth, for they brought with them from across the ocean an iron treasure chest about three feet long and eighteen inches wide. This has been hand- ed down in the family as an heirloom, and is now in the possession of a descendant. In 1901 the Colonial Dames of Delaware ded-


icated a monument on the spot at Wilming- ton that was the landing place of the first Swedish settlers, at which dedication ad- dresses were made by Chief Justice Lore, of Delaware, and by Judge Clement H. Sin- nickson, the latter a descendant of Anders Sinicksen.


Andrew (4) Sinnickson, was born in 1718, and died August 20, 1790. He gained prominence in his community, was raised to the bench, and from 1762 to 1790 was judge of the Court of Common Pleas at Salem, part of the time under the royal rule of George III. He was a deputy to the Provincial Congress of New. Jersey, May 23, 1775, a deputy to the State Convention in the following year, and was a member of the Legislative Council which formed the State government of New Jersey in 1776, also being one of the nine men who pledged a large sum of money for the relief of the suffering soldiers at Valley Forge until such time as the Legislature could devise means of State relief. So active were he and his sons in the cause of Amer- ican independence that Colonel Mawhood, of the British army, in his proclamation of March 21, 1778, marked two of his sons, Andrew and Thomas, among a score of cit- izens of Salem, for special punishment for their treason. Andrew (4) Sinnickson mar- ried Sarah Giljeansen, and at his death be- queathed valuable properties to his children, a part of which is yet held in the family name. His son Thomas raised a company in Salem county and fought with Wash- ington at the battle of Long Island, where the company was practically annihilated. He was at Trenton, Princeton, and Monmouth ; was appointed a naval commander of the western district of New Jersey, and partici- pated in the engagements around Glouces- ter. It was he for whom "dead or alive," Lord Howe offered fioo, but, despite the roy- al displeasure, he continued in his country's service and was a member of both provin- cial and State Legislatures, and a member of the first United States Congress after the


174


1


-


CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY


adoption of the Constitution, also serving as Congressman in 1797-99. For many years he was treasurer of Salem county, sheriff, justice of the peace, and judge, and resided in Salem, where he had important business and mercantile interests.


first private dwellings erected in Salem. He died in January, 1719, aged seventy years. His wife, Mary Grover, whom he married in Salem, 6th month, 1682, died in 1714, and both are buried in Friends' churchyard, Salem. Robert, son of Richard and Mary Johnson, born in 1694, married, in 1717, Margaret, widow of Joseph Sayres. He died December 13, 1728, his widow surviv- ing him two years. Their son, Judge Rob- ert Johnson, was born in 1727, died De- cember 28, 1796. He was a judge and a justice of the peace from 1761 to 1780, a man of strong character and wide influence, one of the largest landowners in Salem county. He married (first) Margaret Mor- gan, at Marcus Hook, December 18, 1732, who died in her twenty-fourth year, leav- ing a daughter, Margaret, born August 2, 1756, who became the wife of Andrew (5) Sinnickson, as stated.


Andrew (5), son of Andrew (4) and Sa- rah (Giljeansen ) Sinnickson, was born on the old Obisquahassit estate in 1749, and died in Salem, July 20, 1819. He was a captain of the First Battalion, Salem Militia, fighting at Princeton and Monmouth, the sword he wore now the property of Judge Sinnickson ; and was paymaster for Salem, Cumberland and Cape May counties. He was four times married ; his son John was a child of his second wife, Margaret John- son. Margaret (Johnson) Sinnickson was a daughter of Judge Robert and Margaret (Morgan) Johnson, the latter a resident of Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania. A romantic tradition exists that Margaret first declined Andrew (5) and Margaret (Johnson) Sinnickson had three sons: Robert, died in Philadelphia, in 1803, unmarried; Judge Thomas, of whom further ; John : Mary, the only daughter, married John, son of John and Millicent Smith, of Alloway's Creek. the hand of Robert Johnson, not wishing to be so far from her friends as Salem coun- ty then appeared to be. Robert took her refusal much to heart and left home, go- ing to Europe. On his return voyage, when the ship touched at Chester, he saw a slave Thomas, son of Andrew and Margaret (Johnson) Sinnickson, was born in Lower Penn's Neck township, Salem county, New Jersey, December 13, 1786, and died Feb- ruary 17, 1873. His early educational op- portunities exhausted, he became identified with the mercantile establishment of his uncle, Thomas Sinnickson, attained prom- of the Morgans, who told him his young mistress was unmarried. He again sought the young lady, pressed his suit, and was accepted. This Robert Johnson was a de- scendant of Richard Johnson, an English- man, born in 1649, becoming a resident of Salem county, New Jersey, in 1675. He was one of the burgesses of the town of Sa- - inence in public life, and for several years lem after the incorporation as a borough in 1693, was one of the judges of the Salem courts and of the quarter-sessions from 1710 to 1719. He was a member of Salem Meeting, Society of Friends, and paid £15 toward the erection of the first meeting house. In 1707 he represented Salem in the Colonial Legislature, along with William Hall, Bartholomew Wyatt, senior, and John Thompson, a qualification being the owner- ship of one thousand acres. His house, a two-story brick structure, was one of the occupied the position of president of the Court of Common Pleas, also being presi- dent judge of the Court of Errors and Ap- peals of New Jersey. A member of the State Legislature, he was elected to mem- bership in the Twentieth National Congress, serving in both bodies ably and faithfully. He was one of the most active leaders of the Federal party in Salem county, and sub- sequently yielded allegiance to the Whig and Republican parties, remaining througli- out the Civil War a loyal and ardent Union


175


CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY


supporter. For many years he was a warden and vestryman of St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church, which his fathers attend- ed from the time of its establishment. Thomas Sinnickson was a man of masterful bearing and imposing presence, yet despite a dignified reserve required by his station in life was delightfully cordial and pleasantly genial. He married Elizabeth, daughter of John and Mary ( Brinton) Jacobs, of Ches- ter county, Pennsylvania, born August 3, 1786, died August 19, 1849. They were the parents of four children, the youngest An- drew, of whom further.


Andrew, son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Jacobs) Sinnickson, was born on the home- stead in 1817, died in Salem, December 2, 1902, on the forty-third anniversary of his marriage, the oldest member of the South Jersey bar. His general education he ob- tained in the schools of Salem and in the Burlington Academy, from which latter in- stitution he was graduated. In the gratifi- cation of legal ambitions he read law under the preceptorship of Alphonso L. Eakin, a noted lawyer of Salem, and Peter L. Vroom, afterward Governor of New Jer- sey. At the May term of the Supreme Court in 1842 he was admitted to the bar, and was licensed a counsellor in 1845, gen- eral practice engaging him in Salem until March 19, 1860, when he was appointed Prosecutor of the Pleas for Salem county, succeeding his old tutor, Alphonso L. Eakin. He served until March 18, 1865, his suc- cessor in office A. H. Slape, and upon leav- ing his position resumed private practice, in 1879 retiring after an honorable connec- tion with the Salem county bar extending over a period of thirty-six years. A learned master of his profession, his observation of its ethics was marked by punctilious care, and from his admission to the bar he stead- ily increased in the favor and regard of his legal brethren. He despised the deceits and subter fuges that he saw enacted before him daily and by which the ends and aims of justice were perverted and often totally de-


feated, scorning their use and scoring their users. For his strict uprightness and con- stant championship of the right he was ad- mired and respected, and he long and worthily adorned the profession of his choice. He had early in his career resolved that when financially independent he would retire, and to this resolution he adhered, steadfastly declining offers of elevation to the bench. The twenty-three years of his life after his retirement were largely de- voted to the pleasures contained within his library, and he read widely and with dis- criminating choice, familiar with all of the vast field of classical literature. Fiction and technical works found scant favor with him, but in other fields he knew and appreciated the best works of the best loved English authors.


The management of his farms, which were a part of the original Sinnickson tract, also occupied these years, and his habits were regular and vigorous until the March preceding his death. He was a gentleman of unfailing courtesy, agreeable and pleas- ant in every relation of life, and cherished the memory of his illustrious forbears. He was a warden of St. John's Episcopal Church, which his ancestors had served in official position, and all of his life was active in its good works. He was a charter mem- ber of the Fenwick Club, and held mem- bership in the Sons of the Revolution. At his death, Salem lost a citizen of proud rec- ord, and there was closed in the history of the family of Sinnickson a chapter that can without apology follow the brilliant and honorable history of the earlier generations.


Andrew Sinnickson married, December 2. 1859, Louise Earl Booth, who survives him, an honored resident of Salem. Here she is deeply interested in church and civic char- itable work as president of the Organized Charities, and as president of the Needle Work Guild, since its organization, its first and only president. Mrs. Sinnickson is vice- president of the Sunshine Society, and is indefatigable in furthering the work of these


176


CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY


«xicties. She is a member of the County, State, and National Historical societies, the Colonial Dames of New Jersey, and traces to a distinguished line of Revolutionary and colonial ancestors. Her children: Eliza- beth Jacobs Sinnickson, a talented and well educated young lady, with a future of bril- hant promise, died aged twenty-four years ; 1.ouise Booth Sinnickson, married Norman Grey, an eminent lawyer of the Camden county bar, son of Martin Philip Grey, a vice-chancellor of New Jersey. They have three daughters and a son, Andrew Sinnick- son; Martin Philip, the eldest son, died aged five years.


(The Booth Line).


Louise Earl Booth descends paternally from English ancestry, her great-grandfath- er a clergyman of the Church of England. Maternally her ancestry ranges wide and touches many of the ancient families of New Jersey. Although born in Reading, Pennsylvania, her antecedents are all of New Jersey, and since her marriage, one half a century ago, Salem county has been her home. She is a daughter of Ephraim and Anna (Van Horne) Booth, both of New Jersey, the latter a daughter of John and Eve (Finley) Van Horne, of New Brunswick, New Jersey, Eve Finley, a daughter of Dr. Finley, a president of Princeton College and founder of the Anti- Slavery Society. John Van Horne was a descendant of the Dutch Van Hoorne fam- ily, who early settled at New Amsterdam.


Ephraim Booth was a son of William Booth, born in London, England, son of a clergyman of the Church of England. Wil- liam Booth was well favored as to educa- tion, was a graduate of Oxford, and when a young man came to New Jersey, finally settling at Daretown, in Pittsgrove town- ship, Salem county, there becoming tutor in the family of Dr. Isaac Harris, whose daughter Mary he afterward married. He later moved to Germantown, Philadelphia.


where he taught and successfully engaged in business.


Dr. Isaac Harris, a scion of the noted Harris family of New Jersey, was a sur- geon in the Revolutionary army, and became a large land owner of Salem county. His will is said to be the longest document of that nature on file in Salem county probate records.


Ephraim, son of William and Mary (Har- ris) Booth, was born in Germantown, Penn- sylvania, but when only three years of age was brought to Salem county by his widowed mother, who thereafter made her home at the Harris homestead in Pitts- grove township. He grew to manhood in Salem county, was generously educated, and for a time studied medicine. His health failed him, however, and the idea of becom- ing a physician was relinquished. He taught school for several years, but his health again failed. After some travel he settled in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he found improved health, although after teaching there for some years he found that even in that healthful climate he could not stand the confinement imposed upon a teacher. He then engaged in business, assuming the out- of-doors management, and so continued un- til he was able to retire with a modest com- petence. In his later years he moved to Philadelphia in order that he might be near his sons, but they died before reaching mid- dle age, he surviving them all. He was a lover of good books, a man of high ideals, and one wlio spent his long life of eighty years honorably and usefully. Three of his four daughters survive, but of these Mrs. Louise Earl ( Booth) Sinnickson alone has issue. The children of Louise Booth (Sin- nickson) Grey are the only great-grandchil- dren of William and Mary ( Harris) Booth. Mrs. Grey is also the last of this branch of the Sinnickson family, there being no male descendant of the line of Judge Thomas Sin- nickson living in Salem county. Her son,


177


12


CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY


Andrew Sinnickson Grey, represents in the male line, through his mother, this branch of a large and eminent family.


OGDEN, Rev. Uzal,


Prominent Divine During Revolution.


The Rev. Uzal Ogden, one of the most prominent divines of the Revolutionary pe- riod, was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1744. His father, also Uzal Ogden, was a great-grandson of John Ogden, the found- er of Elizabethtown, and the grandson of Daniel Ogden, one of the early settlers of Newark. Uzal Ogden ( Ist) married Mary Gouverneur, daughter of Samuel Gouver- neur and Experience Johnson.


The Rev. Uzal Ogden was a graduate of Princeton College, of the class of 1762. Eight years later he began his training for the ministry, and was ordained deacon and priest in 1773, by the Lord Bishop of Lon- don, in England. After several years of missionary work in the northern part of New Jersey, lie was called to Trinity Church, Newark, and St. John's Elizabeth, jointly, August 2, 1784, where he continued his pastoral duties until 1805, and during this period he was also for a few years assistant rector at old Trinity Church, New York. In 1784 he published a sermon on Masonry, at a later date "The Reward of Iniquity," and in 1798 "The Antidote to Deism." In the latter year the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by Princeton College. Dr. Ogden was elected first Bishop of New Jersey, of the Episcopal Church, but the election was nev- er ratified, owing to questions as to his or- thodoxy. The convention, however, prof- fered to him an annual stipend of $250, contingent upon certain conditions, with which he declined to comply. In 1803 he suffered from severe throat trouble, and was obliged to retire from active duty, and he afterward united with the Presbyterian Church.




Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.