USA > New Jersey > Memorial cyclopedia of New Jersey, Volume I > Part 34
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w" aring for New Jersey its conmon school "tem, having been one of its earliest and strongest advocates. As early as January, ISEs. he had delivered before the Literary un. l'hilosophical Society of New Jersey a 1.ecture on a School System for New Jer- wy" which, published in 1829, aided con- !erably in promoting public interest in the question and had large influence in the es- :ablishment of the present system. He was secretary of the State Board of Educa- tion, and a life director and for a time pres- Ment of the American Colonization Society.
Excepting the devastating period of the Revolution, the most critical era in the his- tory of Princeton University occurred dur- ing the half century that Dr. Maclean was connected with the institution and it was his energy, his confidence and persistence that alone kept the institution intact. There was a time when its condition was so low that it was seriously thought wiser to close the college and wait for better days. Hap- pily Dr. Maclean was able to combat suc- cessfully this feeling of utter discourage- ment on the part of his colleagues. Owing to unfortunate mistakes in faculty disci- pline, voted against the judgment of Presi- dent Carnahan and Dr. Maclean, the num- ber of students had dwindled until in 1829 only seventy were on the rolls. Inasmuch as the college was almost entirely dependent on tuition receipts to meet its current ex- penses this situation was wellnigh paralyz- ing. Perceiving that strength in the faculty meant for the college increase of reputa- tion, students and funds, Dr. Maclean set about securing the funds that enabled Princeton to call men like Henry Vethake. Joseph Henry, John Torrey, Albert B. Dod and the 'Alexanders. The effect on the college was immediate. In 1832 there were one hundred and thirty-nine students; in 1839 there were two hundred and seventy. Partly in recognition of his work and partly to give a wide authority to the executive ability which he had revealed as a subor-
dinate, the trustees in 1829 had made him vice-president of the College.
Dr. Maclean had been vice-president so long before he succeeded to the presidency that there was little change of administra- tion when he assumed the latter office. It was expected that his teri would be mark- ed by striking development, but circum- stances were to militate against him. To- gether with Professor Matthew B. Hope he had devised a "Plan for the Partial En- dowment of the College of New Jersey" (published in 1853), and arrangements had been made to put this plan into operation. But he had been in office scarcely a year when Nassau Hall, the chief building on the campus, was destroyed by fire (1855). At great expense it was rebuilt and rear- ranged to be of greater usefulness. Two years later the financial panic which seized the country necessitated the temporary abandonment of the plans for the increase of the endownient. Money was scarce dur- ing the following four years of business de- pression, and then in 1861 the Civil War broke out. The enrollment at this time was larger than it had been during Dr. Carna- han's time, three hundred and fourteen stu- dents being in residence, but as one third of them came from the South and immedi- ately left for home on the opening of hos- tilities, the enrollment in 1862 fell to two hundred and twenty-one. During the next five years the number remained almost sta- tionary, and when Dr. Maclean resigned the presidency in 1868 the college num- bered only two hundred and sixty-four stu- dents. Remarkable progress had, however, been made during the fourteen years of his office. The endowment had grown from $15.000 to $250,000, while gifts amounting to another $200,000 had been made and the college library had gained 5.000 volumes. In view of the fact that at three different previous periods efforts had been made to increase the endowment and had met with total failure, Dr. Maclean's success was
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astonishing, especially if the general finan- cial condition of the country during his ad- ministration be borne in mind. At the end of the war a great change was coming over the country in regard to the requirements of higher education, and the day of great gifts for such purposes was dawning. Dr. Maclean had spent his life holding the in- stitution together, teaching in practically all the departments at different times, and sac- rificing to the general good whatever ambi- tions he may have had to eminence in any one department ; he had seen the college successfully weather the storm of the Civil War and emerge on a new career of in- creased endowment and wider aim. His strength, however, was exhausted, and he felt that a new hand should hold the reins of government. In 1868 therefore he re- signed. A pension was granted him by the trustees and he lived in Princeton until his death in 1886. His last public appearance, at the annual Alumni Luncheon in June. 1886, the seventieth anniversary of his graduation, was the occasion of a magnifi- cent ovation. He was too feeble to respond for himself, and his words of greeting and farewell were read to the assembly by a friend and then he slowly withdrew. Two months later he died.
Dr. Maclean's leading trait of character was his kindness. This was shown not alone in his deeds of philanthropy but also in his relations with undergraduates as the officer of college discipline. Some of his methods might seem now to belong to a bygone age ; but such modern developments as undergraduate self-government and the honor system were unheard of in his day, and during the earlier years, especially of his connection with the college. its atmo- sphere was anything but academic. He had the faculty of administering discipline with- out alienating the culprit. He was the soul of sincerity and a remarkably keen judge of men. His individuality was strongly marked and his personal appearance strik- ing-tall, muscular, with flowing hair, and
clean shaven face and he usually wore a long cloak. It was not without reason that he was commonly said to be "the best loved man in America."
FIELD, Richard Stockton,
Lawyer, Statesman, Author.
There is no oider or more distinguished name in the history of New Jersey than that of Field, the members of which family trace their lineage back to the fifteenth century to one William Feld or Fielde, of Ardsley, England. Of the same family, although probably not in the direct line, was John Fielde, a grandson of the same William Fielde, and a great astronomer. John Fielde was the first to make use of the great theoretical system of Copernicus for the purpose of practical calculation, and his great work, "Ephemeris Anni 1557 cur- rentis, Juxta Copernici et Reinhaldi Can- ones Fideliter per Joannem Field," was probably the first which called general at- tention in England to the great philosopher and scientist. Fielde or Field was made a Fellow of Lincoln's College, Oxford. He wrote an "Ephemeris" for 1558 and one for 1559, and in recognition of his scientific services was granted a patent authorizing him to wear, as a crest over the family arms. a red right arm issuing from the clouds and supporting a golden sphere. There is a most interesting seal still in the possession of the Fields, displaying this crest on one side and the family arms on the other and the initials of Robert Field, the first ancestor emigrating to this coun- try.
Robert Field, born in England in 1605, came to New England in 1635, and ten years later removed to Newtown, Long Is- land. Here he formed one of a group to whom Governor Kieft granted the tract of land known as the Flushing Patent. Robert C. Field, a descendant of this first Robert. married Abby Stockton, a daughter of Richard Stockton and Annis Boudinot, and
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of this union the subject of this sketch was born. Richard Stockton was thus sprung from two of the most illustrious stocks in the State, numbering among his near rela- tives many of the most eminent names in the history of his State. The mutual re- spect of the families for one another may be seen in the names of our subject and his cousin, Richard Stockton Field and Robert Field Stockton.
Richard Stockton Field was born at Whitehill, Burlington county, New Jersey, December 31, 1803. When he was but seven years old his father died, and the fol- lowing year his mother removed to Prince- ton, where her family lived. Here young Field received his education, graduating from Princeton College in 1821. He de- termined upon the law as a profession and took up its study in the office of his uncle, the eminent jurist, Richard Stockton. He was admitted to the bar in 1825 and went to Salem, where he remained engaged in the practice of his profession until 1832, when he returned to Princeton. He was a member of the State Legislature for some years, and in 1838 was appointed Attorney- General of New Jersey by Governor Penn- ington, resigning in 1841. At about this period there was begun an agitation for a new constitution for New Jersey. The constitution then in force was in many re- spects a remarkable instrument. It had been adopted in 1776 by a convention chosen for the purpose two days before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The framing and adoption of the instru- ment had taken but a few days of the con- vention's time, and that great jurist and patriot, William Paterson, was supposed to have been the author, although, for reasons of prudence this was kept secret. However this may have been, the hastily adopted in- strument remained in force sixty-eight years, and in many respects was satisfac- tory. There were, of course. some crud- ities and some provisions not considered compatible with the democratic ideals of the
State or Nation. Such, for instance, was that which prohibited any but a lawyer from holding the office of governor of the State. In the agitation for a new constitution, Field was most active, and when, at length, a con- vention was assembled at Trenton, in 1844, he was one of its most influential members. This body framed a new constitution, and when in 1853 an association of its mem- bers was formed, Mr. Field delivered the address, which contained an eloquent mem- orial of the convention which under Wash- ington framed the constitution of the United States. TIe took a deep interest in the New Jersey Historical Society, of which he was the third president at the time of his death, and to its collection he contributed his most important writings-"The Provincial Courts of New Jersey, with sketches of the Bench and Bar," "Trial of Rev. William Tennent for Perjury," "Papers of Governor Lewis Morris," "Life and Character of Chief Jus- tice Hornblower." He was also deeply inter- ested in public education, and when the State Normal School came into existence in 1855 he was made president of the board of trustees ; this position he filled with ad- mirable energy and ability until his death, and every annual report made to the legis- lature was from his pen. For several years he was professor in the Princeton Law School. "which owed its very existence to his energy and talent," and in 1859 the col- lege conferred upon him the degree of Doc- tor of Laws.
When the great controversy over slavery became the important national issue, Mr. Field was a strong supporter of the integrity of the Union, and delivered many eloquent addresses in its behalf, and became a warm admirer of Lincoln. As a Republican. in 1861 he was made United States Senator to fill the unexpired term of John R. Thom- son. deceased, and the same year delivered his most impressive address, on "The Con- stitution not a Compact between States." In 1863 President Lincoln appointed him judge of the United States District Court
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for the District of New Jersey. His bio- grapher, former District Attorney Keasbey. in referring to his taking his seat upon the bench, said, "he delivered a most learned and excellent charge to the grand jury ;" the same writer further said: "He was a wise, upright and fearless judge; only one of his decisions was ever reversed, and that was one where the Supreme Court was at first almost evenly divided, and ordered a new argument."
In 1866, on President Lincoln's birthday, he delivered an eloquent oration on the life and character of that great man, at the re- quest of the legislature. At the centennial celebration of the American Whig Society of the College of New Jersey in 1869, he delivered his last public address, "one marked by great purity of style and grace- ful erudition," upon his favorite topic, the theme of education. In April, 1870, while on the bench, he was stricken with paralysis, and after uttering some incoherent remarks, fell senseless from his seat. He was taken home, and his death occurred May 25th, an event which deprived his State of an earn- est and ardent worker for her good, his fel- lows of a most cultivated and delightful friend-a gentleman who typified to the world the best traditions of that high title.
Judge Field married, in 1831, Mary Ritchie, by whom he had five children.
BRADLEY, Joseph P.,
Distinguished Federal Jurist.
The most monumental work of this em- inent jurist finds eloquent appreciation in the tribute in Lewis's "Judicial Record": "When we look over the long line of deci- sions with which his name is connected, a feeling akin to awe and reverence comes over us; of awe at the magnitude of his work; of reverence at the greatness of the intellect which solved such a variety of problems. Surely the late Justice was one of those men of whom we, as Americans, can be justly proud. He combined in his
own person two strong points of the Anglo- Saxon-a great and wide knowledge of men and things, combined with the power of concentration and analysis."
Joseph P. Bradley was born at Berne, near Albany, New York, March 14, 1813, of the sixth generation in line of descent from Francis Bradley, who came from Eng- land in 1645, became a member of Gover- nor Eaton's family in New Haven, Con- necticut, and in 1660 settled in Fairfield, Connecticut, where he married Ruth Bar- low. Their descendants in 1791 removed to Albany county, New York. Justice Brad- ley's great-grandfather fought for American independence, and his grandfather was a soldier in the War of 1812. Philo Bradley, his father, was a farmer and teacher and was fond of books. Mercy Gardiner, his mother, a native of Rhode Island, possessed remarkable talent for mathematics. They were married at seventeen, and Joseph was the eldest of eleven children.
He spent his early years working on his father's farm, attending school four months of each year, and in the meantime made good use of the home library. He developed a talent for mathematics, which he inherited from his mother. When a small boy he prac- ticed surveying for the neighboring farm- ers. He taught a country school every win- ter from his sixteenth until his twenty-first year, and spent his leisure time preparing for college. Entering Rutgers College in 1833, he graduated in 1836 with unusual distinction as a mathematician, and was very proficient in Latin and Greek. After teaching for a brief time in an academy at Millstone, New Jersey, he became a law stu- dent in the office of Archer Gifford, at New- ark, New Jersey. While pursuing his legal studies he acted as inspector of customs for that port. He was admitted to the bar in 1830. and commenced the practice of law in New- ark, in partnership with John P. Jackson. who was then superintendent of the New Jersey railroad. This partnership had a marked influence on Mr. Bradley's career
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CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY
by introducing him to railroad litigation, being employed in many important cases in which the New Jersey company was inter- ested. Subsequently he was the leading counsel for the Camden & Amboy rail- road and the companies associated with it known as the United Railroads of New Jersey. He soon took high rank at the bar, and had a large miscellaneous practice. During the thirty years between 1840 and 1870 he was constantly under a pressure of professional engagements. Among the noted contests in which he was engaged as a young lawyer were the Pas- saic bridge case, the Meeker will case, the New Jersey zinc case, the Belvidere land case, and many other.of the most import- ant and difficult cases that arose in the New Jersey courts and the courts of the United States for that district. He was actuary of the Mutual Benefit Insurance Company of Newark from 1857 to 1863, and from 1865 to 1869 president of the New Jersey Mutual Life Insurance Com- pany, and a director in various financial in- stitutions.
In 1870 President Grant appointed him an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He was commissioned March 21st of that year, and assigned to the Fifth Circuit, embracing the Gulf States from Georgia to Texas, inclusive. Many federal questions of great significance came before him in this circuit, and in the decision of them Justice Bradley added new lustre to his fame as an able jurist. His great knowledge of the law, keen discrim- ination and sound judgment, made him a strong member of the Supreme bench and invaluable in consultation. He bore a dis- tinguished part in the investigation and decision of a large number of important cases resulting from the Civil War, the Re- construction Act and other Acts of Con- gress, the constitutional amendments, the controversies of railroad companies, and many other intricate and difficult ques- tions. In no other period have so many
cases of supreme importance been decided by this court. Upon the resignation of Jus- tice Strong in 1880, justice Bradley was as- signed to the Third Circuit, embracing Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. During some months of the year it was necessary for him, as well as ail the other members of the Supreme Court, to reside in Washington. Soon after his entrance upon the Supreme bench he took up his residence there, an example which was soon followed by all the other justices.
The opinions of Mr. Justice Bradley are of the highest value, and appear in nearly sixty volumes of the Supreme Court Re- ports, four volumes of Woods' Circuit Court Reports, and many volumes of the "Federal Reporter." His natural ability for com- prehending mechanical devices qualified him in an unusual degree for the consideration of patent cases. His opinions in admiralty cases, civil rights and habeas corpus cases, and in questions involving constitutional constructions, are especially able and note- worthy. In 1877 he served on the Electoral Conunission, which by Act of Congress de- cided the presidential contest of 1876. Af- ter all the other members of the commission had delivered elaborate arguments in pri- vate conference, all in consonance with their respective political affiliations, Mr. Justice Bradley read an opinion expressive of his views in favor of the regular election re- turns made by the State canvassers, which were for the Republican candidates. The principles laid down in this opinion were. decisive, and the result was the election of Hayes as President over Tilden by a ma- jority of one electoral vote.
From the absorbing nature of his pro- fessional pursuits, and, perhaps from nat- ural temperament, he took very little inter- est in politics in a party sense. He was brought up a Democrat, but he was led to regard the American system of Henry Clay and his tariff policy as most beneficial to the public interests, and he became a Whig. During the Civil War lie was steadfast and
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earnest in his support of the constitution and the government. As a counsel and a director of the New Jersey railroad com- panies, he assisted in forwarding troops and military supplies. On several occa- sions he accompanied regiments to the field, and addressed them on the pending issues. It was very late that he identified himself with the Republican party, and not until the attack on Fort Sumter did he abandon hope of bringing about a reconciliation with the South. In 1868 he headed the New Jersey electoral ticket for Grant and Col- fax. His intellectual acquirements were called into requisition in many and varied interests. In 1851 he delivered the annual address before the New Jersey Historical Society ; in 1865 he pronounced an admir- able eulogy on the life and character of Hon. William L. Dayton, and in 1870 he delivered the centennial address at Rutgers College.
As early as 1859, Lafayette College con- ferred the degree of Doctor of Laws upon him. He was a member of many learned societies, and was a voluminous contributor to various encyclopedias. As a scholar, his attainments covered a wide range in the domain of knowledge. Ever since his bril- liant career as a college student, he con- tinued to study the classics, mathematics, natural sciences and biblical criticism and theology, both for pleasure and profit. As a recreation he calculated eclipses of the sun and moon, investigated the transit of Venus, and made calendars to determine the day of the week for forty centuries to come.
He was married, in 1844, to a daughter of Chief Justice Hornblower, of New Jer- sey. He died January 22, 1892. His splendid law library of about ten thousand volumes, with the portraits that hung upon the walls of the rooms containing it (principally of eminent jurists of all nations), is in the library of the Prudential Insurance Company in New- ark, and his own portrait hangs near the
door of the library room. There is another portrait of him in the court room of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.
KEARNY, Philip,
Distinguished Soldier.
This splendid soldier and unflinching pa- triot was born June 2, 1815, in the city of New York, while his mother was there visiting relatives. He was of an old family originating in Ireland, his ancestors coming to the Perth Amboy region in the seven- teenth century. His parents Philip and Susan (Watts) Kearny, lived in Newark. in what was known as the Kearny home- stead, which was razed to give place to the Newark State Normal School, upon the grounds of which institution is a tablet com - memorating General Kearny's brilliant mili- tary career, placed there by the Newark Board of Education. In the General's boy- hood the Kearny property reached to the Passaic, and continued on the other side of the stream, where, a few years before the Civil War, he built his "castle." modeled after a French chateau, on the ground where in earlier days stood the home of Peter Schuyler, the New Jersey hero of the French and Indian war. Upon' Kearny's return from abroad, he brought his horses with him, and it is narrated that they were exercised daily over the broad acres east of the old homestead and along the river bank.
He was prepared for college at Ufford's school, New York; at Round Hill school, Northampton, Massachusetts, and at Phil- ipstown school, Cold Spring, New York : and was graduated from Columbia Col- lege in 1833. He accompanied his cousin and future biographer. J. Watts de Peyster. to Europe in 1834, and while there was especially impressed by the manœuvering of the armies. On his return he entered the law office of Peter Augustus Jay. but
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left on the death of his grandfather, John Watts, September 3, 1836, from whom he inherited property valued at $1.000,000.
He was commissioned second lieutenant in the First United States Dragoons, com- manded by his uncle, Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny, March 8, 1837. He served on frontier duty, a part of the time on the staff of General Henry Atkinson. With Lieuten- ants William Eustis and Henry S. Turney lie was sent by the War Department to study cavalry tactics at the Royal Cavalry School,.Saumur, France. Kearny was made an honorary aide-de-camp to the Duke of Orleans, in Algiers, and witnessed several notable exploits while attached to the Chas- seurs d'Afrique in the campaign against Abd-el-Kader. Returning home, he was made aide-de-camp to General Alexander Macomb, commander-in-chief of the United States army, and to his successor. General Winfield Scott. 1840-44. He accompanied the expedition through South Pass, 1844- 46, and resigned from the army in the latter year.
With the outbreak of the Mexican war Kearny was reinstated in the army, and re- cruited his company at Springfield, Illinois, where he was assisted by Abraham Lincoln. Purchasing horses which he equipped at his own expense, he transported his company to New Orleans, but was not despatched to Mexico until October, 1846. He joined General Taylor after the capture of Mon- terey, and was commissioned captain in December, 1846. When General Scott land- ed at Vera Cruz, Captain Kearny's troop was detailed as bodyguard to the general. Kearny distinguished himself at Contreras and Churubusco, and in the latter engage- ment lost his left arm in a charge. He was brevetted major for his gallantry in this affair, and on his return the Union Club of New York City presented him with a splendid sword. He was stationed in New York on recruiting service. 1848-50: and in 1851 engaged in the campaign against the Rogue River Indians in California, com-
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