USA > New Jersey > Memorial cyclopedia of New Jersey, Volume I > Part 48
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This congregation well know his long and faithful services as a zealous supporter and trustee of the concerns and interests of this church. In the Revolution, he was known as a faithful friend of his country, and was intrusted by government and the Commander-in-Chief of our Revolutionary army, whose friendship was honor indeed, in offices and in departments the most profitable and most important. When bend- ing beneath the load of years and infirmities, how did it gladden his soul and appear to renew his life to see this edifice rising from the ruins of the old one, and consecrated to the service of his God! And did you not sec him, shortly after its consecration, as a disciple of his Redeemer, rec- ognizing his baptismal vows, and in that most solemn transaction of our holy religion stretch- ing his trembling hands to receive the symbols of the body and blood of our Lord and Saviour, and in that act express the sentiment of the words selected by himself for the use of this mourn. ful occasion, "Into thinc hands I commit my spirit : thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of Truth?"
He was buried within the shadow of the church he held in such warm affection, and
Upon the incorporation of Trenton, in 1792, he became the first mayor of the town, by legislative appointment, and filled the of- his gravestone may still be seen in its porch.
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BONAPARTE, Joseph,
King of Spain.
Joseph Bonaparte, Compte de Survilliers, King of Naples and of Spain, was for some years a resident of Bordentown, and while there lived in princely magnificence.
Born in Corsica, January 7, 1768, he allied himself with his younger brother, Napoleon Bonaparte, at the outset of his career. He served as commissary of Napol- eon's army in Italy in 1796; was French Minister to Rome in 1797, in 1800 negotiat- ed a treaty of peace with the United States, in 1801 a treaty with Germany, and in 1802 a treaty with Great Britain. In 1806 he commanded the army sent to Naples by Na- poleon, and at whose command he assumed the title of king. Later, by the same author- ity, he was made king of Spain, and after a stormy reign was driven out of the country by Wellington. He was a general under Napoleon, after whose downfall at the bat- tle of Waterloo, in 1815, he immediately af- terwards came to the United States, bring- ing with him two daughters, with their hus- bands, Prince Charles and Francis La Cos- te; his invalid wife, a sister of the Queen of Sweden, remained in Europe.
As Joseph, Compte de Survilliers, the legislators of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, granted him permission to purchase and hold real estate, and he bought property in each of these States. His New Jersey estate comprised the farms bordering in part on Crosswicks creek, and a tract of about a thousand acres in the out- skirts of Bordentown, which came to be known as Bonaparte's Park. On the latter property he erected several stately buildings, and laid out extensive carriage driveways. The main building burned down on Janu- ary 3, 1820, and with it many valuable paintings, and pieces of sculpture. A new mansion of brick, covered with white plas- ter, was erected, of great dimensions, laid
out in palatial form, with a grand hall, mag- nificent dining hall, art gallery, library, etc., pillared and mantied in marble, and con- taining many gems of sculpture and paint- ing. Nearby was a great conservatory con- taining rare plants and flowers. A fine lawn reached down to a picturesque artificial lake, on the bank of which Bonaparte built "the Lake House," the residence of Prince Charles.
Prince Bonaparte took great pride in dis- playing his carefully guarded art treasures and jewels. . Miss Helen Berkeley, who paid him a visit, wrote, in a sketch of Joseph Bonaparte :
"Several clusters of jewels looked like jeweled handles of swords, others like portions of crowns, rudely broken off; others like lids of small boxes; while many were ornaments entire. He showed us the crown and ring he wore when King of Spain, also the crown, robe and jewels worn by Napoleon at his coronation. When our eyes had been sufficiently dazzled with the dis- play of diamonds and emeralds, he touched an- other concealed spring which gave to view another set of drawers, and displayed to us many of Na- poleon's valuable papers. His treaties and letters were carefully bound round with ribbons, and fastened with jeweled clasps. . Bonaparte admitted us to his sleeping apartments. The curtains, canopy and furniture were of light blue satin, trimmed with silver. Every room con- tained a mirror reaching from the ceiling to the floor. The walls were covered with fine paint- ings. His winter apartments were much in the style of his summer ones, except that the furni- ture was in crimson and gold."
Bonaparte dispensed a lavish hospitality, and at various times he entertained Lafay- ette, Moreau. Bernard, Adams, Webster, Clay, Scott, and many other distinguish- ed men, foreigners and Americans. His park was always open to the people of Bor- dentown and other visitors ; and in winter he delighted in seeing his lake thronged by skaters. In 1839. Bonaparte returned to Europe, and never came back. He died in Florence, Italy, July 22, 1844, aged seventy- six years.
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DE BELLEVILLE, Nicholas J. E., Companion of King of Spain.
Nicholas Jacques Emanuel De Belleville, M. D., was a native of France, born at Metz, in 1753. After seven years' study of medicine under his father, and in the schools and hospitals of Paris, in 1777 he came to America, landing at Salem, Massachusetts, in company with the Count Pulaski, in a sloop-of-war mounting fourteen guns, and carrying about sixteen hundred stand of arms for the American army. De Belle- ville remained at Salem only a few days, then removing to Boston. He afterward went with Pulaski, in the capacity of sur- geon, to the different parts of the country to which he went for the purpose of re- cruiting a legion, which the count was au- thorized to raise by the Provincial Congress.
He was a resident of Trenton, New Jer- sey, for some time, and there became ac- quainted with Dr. Bryant, an eminent and skillful practitioner, who bestowed on him so many evidences of friendly interest, that in the fall of 1778 he located there perman- ently. He was on several occasions called to attend the exiled king of Spain, Joseph Bonaparte (q. v.), at Bordentown, and once, at least, was his almoner (February 5th, 1831) when the Female Benevolent Society, of Trenton, acknowledged fifty dol- lars "from the Count de Survilliers, by Dr. Belleville." He was a pewholder and an occasional attendant at the Presbyterian church, "but was too fond of his elegant edition of Voltaire to relish the gospel"; his wife, however, was a communicant, and a pious and exemplary woman. He was bur- ied in the Trenton churchyard, and one of his pupils, Dr. F. A. Ewing, in addition to a discriminating obituary in the "State Gaz- ette," furnished the inscription for his tomb- stone: "This stone covers the remains of Dr. Nicholas Belleville. Born and educated in France; for fifty-four years an inhabi- tant of this city. A patriot warmly attached to the principles of liberty ; a physician em-
inently learned and successful; a man of scrupulous and unblemished integrity. On the 17th day of December, A. D., 1831, at the age of seventy-nine years, he closed a life of honor and usefulness ; by all respect- ed, esteemed, lamented." General Phile- mon Dickinson, with whom he was on terms of familiar friendship, held him in high and affectionate consideration, and to him more than to any other, he confided the details of his private life and social relations.
TUCKER, Ebenezer,
Founder of Tuckerton.
Ebenezer Tucker was born in the State of New York, November 15, 1757, a son of Reuben Tucker. When he was about eight years old his father removed to the Prov- ince of East Jersey, where he purchased the entire island known as Tucker's Beach, extending from Little Egg Harbor to Brig- antine Inlet, ten miles in length, also a plan- tation near Tuckerton.
In 1778 Ebenezer Tucker located himself in the settlement called "the middle of the shore," near Andrews' mill, then owned by the Shourds family. During the war of the Revolution he served in the Continental army, under General Washington, and par- ticipated in the battle of Long Island and in other engagements. He also held several important trusts during the Revolutionary period. After the war he purchased the farm of John and Joseph Gaunt, on which the main portion of Tuckerton was subse- quently built, laid out the tract into build- ing lots, and erected houses. He also en- gaged largely in the mercantile and shipping business, importing goods direct from the West Indies, in exchange for lumber. In 1786 the people of the village and vicinity met and resolved that the village should be called Tuckerton, after his name. He was the first postmaster of the new town; and, when the district of Little Egg Harbor was created, which includes Tuckerton, he was chosen the first collector of customs for the
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same. He subsequently was made judge of the Court of Burlington County, and occu- pied that position for several years. In 1824 he was elected a member of the Nine- teenth Congress of the United States, and was re-elected in 1826, thus serving in the House of Representatives during the entire period of President John Quincy Adams' administration.
He died at Tuckerton, September 5, 1845, having nearly completed his eighty-eighth year.
ELMER, Daniel, Lawyer, Jurist.
Daniel Elmer was born in Cumberland county, New Jersey, in 1784, the fifth of that name in descent from Rev. Daniel El- mer, pastor of the Cohansey Presbyterian Church, and who died in 1755, leaving sev- eral children, whose descendants are still residents of South Jersey. The family is of English origin, and the name was orig- inally Aylmer, one of the family being Bar- on of the Exchequer, in 1535; one, John Aylmer, was tutor of Lady Jane Grey, and in 1568 was consecrated Bishop of London under the name of John Elmer.
Daniel Elmer was left fatherless when only eight years old, and was brought up in the family of his great-uncle, Dr. Ebenezer Elmer. His education did not extend beyond what was procurable in the common schools of the day ; but his ambition led him to de- vote his leisure hours to study, and he ac- quired a liberal fund of information. When about sixteen years old he began the study of law with General Giles, of Bridgeton. His tutor was at that time county clerk, and young Elmer took employment in his office, which enabled him to defray his ex- penses while a law student. After remain- ing with his preceptor for five years, he was licensed as an attorney in 1805, as a counsellor in 1808, and twenty years later attained the rank of sergeant-at-law. Im- mediately after his admission to the bar he
opened an office in Bridgeton, where he re- sided throughout his life. He acquired a large and lucrative practice, especially in the collection of accounts ; and, by econom- ical habits and judicious investments grad- ually acquired an independence. After Judge Dayton resigned, in 1841, he was ap- pointed by the joint meeting of the Legis- lature a Judge of the Supreme Court, and sat upon the bench for four years. Dur- ing his incumbency the celebrated Mercer case was tried, and he was the President Judge before whom the criminal was ar- raigned. The trial created great excite- ment, especially in Philadelphia, which was the place of residence of both the victim, Hutchinson Heberton, and the avenger of his sister's honor, Singleton Mercer. The crime was perpetrated on the ferryboat ply- ing between Philadelphia and Camden, while the vessel was in New Jersey waters. Camden at that time was in Gloucester county, and Woodbury the shire town where the trial took place. Mercer was defended by a celebrated Philadelphia law- yer, Peter A. Browne. Aside from the local feeling in favor of the accused, his counsel presented the case so strongly to the jury that, in spite of the State's attor- ney proving his contention, the jury acquit- ted the defendant. The latter, however, came out of the ordeal a wreck. Some years afterward he volunteered as a nurse when . Norfolk, Virginia, was smitten with the yellow fever, and while in the discharge of his duties, contracted the fever and died.
Judge Elmer was chosen a mem- ber of the convention which assembled to form the new State constitution, and enter- ed upon his duties in that body with his ac- customed ardor. He had ever been a labor- ious advocate and counsellor, and before he had taken his seat on the bench of the Su- preme Court he manifested symptoms of overwork. In the winter succeeding the meeting of the convention, he had a slight stroke of apoplexy, and which so affected his system as to render it advisable that he
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should resign his office as judge. For many years he was president of the Cumberland Bank of Bridgeton. Politically he was a member of the old Federalist party, and in later years a Whig of the Henry Clay school. In his religious faith he adhered to the doctrines of the Presbyterian church, and was an earnest and devout member of that denomination.
He married, in 1808, a daughter of Colonel Potter, and they were the parents of several children, all of whom, except a son and daughter, died in infancy. Judge Elmer died in 1848.
COOPER, James Fenimore, Distinguished Author.
James Fenimore Cooper was born in Bur- lington, New Jersey, September 15, 1789, son of William and Elizabeth (Fenimore) grandson of James and Hannah (Hibbs), great-grandson of William and Mary (Groome), and great-great-grandson of James and Hester Cooper, of Stratford-on- Avon, England, who arrived in America about 1679. On November 10, 1790, Wil- liam Cooper removed with his family to his land at the head of the Susquehanna river, near Lake Otsego, and began a set- tlement which afterward became Coopers- town, New York. Here James passed his early childhood, watching the almost un- broken wilderness grow slowly into civili- zation. In 1795 a schoolhouse was built, and after exhausting its meagre educational advantages he went to Albany, where he received private instruction from the rector of St. Peter's Church, a graduate of an English university.
After the death of his brother, James Fenimore Cooper entered Yale College, then at its lowest ebb of scholarship, and the fun-loving boy paid less attention to his studies than to play. A frolic engaged in during his third year led to his dismissal from college, and it was decided that he should enter the navy. There being at the
time no naval school, he went before the mast, sailing from New York, October 16, 1806, in the ship "Sterling." After a stormy passage of forty days they reached London, where the young sailor improved his opportunity to look about the metropo- lis. The cargo being discharged and a new one taken on, they proceeded to the Straits of Gibraltar, returned to England, and again sailed for America, reaching Philadelphia on September 18, 1807. On January I, 1808, he was commissioned midshipman in the United States navy, and in the follow- ing February was ordered to report to the commanding officer in New York. After serving for a time on the "Vesuvius," he was sent with a party under command of Lieutenant Woolsey to Lake Ontario, for the purpose of building at Oswego a brig of sixteen guns to command the lake. In the spring of 1809, when the brig was launch- ed, the danger of war with Great Britain, which had been considered imminent, had passed, and Cooper visited Niagara Falls with Lieutenant Woolsey. On June 10, 1809, he was left in charge of the gunboats on Lake Champlain, and on September 27th he was granted leave of absence for the purpose of taking a trip to Europe, but the plan was abandoned. On November 13, 1809, he was ordered to the "Wasp," and served on that vessel until May 9, 1810, when a twelve montlis' leave was granted him.
He was married on January 1, 1811, to Susan Augusta, daughter of John Peter De Lancey, of Mamaroneck, Westchester coun- ty, New York. His wife's ancestors were Huguenots, who fled from France at the close of the seventeenth century and settled in Westchester county. They sympathized with the king during the Revolutionary War, and several of them were British of- ficers. Cooper resigned his commission in the navy on May 6, 1811, and after living for about eighteen months with his father- in-law at Heathcote Hall. Mamaroneck, New York, he rented a cottage nearby and
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lived there for a year. Returning in 1814 to his former home at Cooperstown, he began to erect a large stone dwelling, but in 1817 was persuaded by his wife to return to West- chester, and the unfinished structure was destroyed by fire in 1823. He made his home on the old Argevine farm at Scars- dale until about 1822. There six children were born, five daughters and one son, the first child dying in infancy.
Up to this time Cooper had given no signs of adopting literary work. His first attempt at writing was made in his thirti- eth year, and was due wholly to chance. One evening, when following his custom of reading aloud to his wife, he suddenly stop- ped, expressed his dissatisfaction with the book, and added. "I believe I could write a better story myself." Mrs. Cooper laugh- ingly advised him to do so, and he began his task. On November 10, 1820, a two volume novel on English high life was pub- lished under the title, "Precaution." The book, full of crudities, and written about people of whose life he knew little or noth- ing, was a failure, but his friends encourag- ed him to try again, and advised him to de- pict the people and scenes with which he was familiar. Accordingly "The Spy," a novel founded on fact, was published on De- cember 22, 1821, and in a few weeks had met with the largest sale of any American book up to that time. A third edition was published in March, 1822, and in the same month the story was dramatized and played to crowded houses. It achieved an equal success on its publication in England, and the young writer was referred to by emi- nent English critics as "a distinguished American novelist." In the summer of 1822 "The Spy" was translated into French, and later into all the modern European languages. In 1822 he removed to New . York City, where in August, 1823, his youngest child, Fenimore, died, and the af- fliction completely prostrated Mr. Cooper. In 1824 his son Paul was born in New York City, and Mr. Cooper resumed his writing.
producing thereafter at least one volume a year. The sale of his works was phenom- enal, and public interest increased with each new volume. The first of the five "Leather-Stocking Tales" appeared in 1823, under the title "The Pioneers." Despite their great popularity, his books did not es- cape adverse comment, and, says a biog- rapher, "the extent to which Cooper was affected by hostile criticism is something re- markable. He manifested under it the iras- cibility of a man not simply thin-skinned, but of one whose skin was raw." He per- sisted not only in reading but in replying to the charges made against his books, us- ing the preface of one to abuse the review- ers of its predecessors. Of the ten books published by him between the years 1820 and 1830, but one, "Lionel Lincoln," proved a failure, and "The Last of the Mohicans" which followed close upon it, so far sur- passed all that had gone before that" Lionel Lincoln" was allowed to sink into oblivion.
While in New York, Cooper founded the "Bread and Cheese Lunch," or, as it was sometimes called, the "Cooper Club," en- rolling among its members Chancellor Kent, the jurist, Verplanck. the editor of Shakespeare ; Jarvis, the artist ; Durand, the engraver ; De Kay, the naturalist ; Wiley, the publisher ; Morse, the inventor; and Halleck and Bryant, the poets. This club met weekly, and flourished until the death of its founder. On June 1, 1826, he sailed with his family for Europe, and remained there, principally in France, until 1833. He was appointed by Henry Clay, then Secre- tary of State, consul at Lyons, his com- mission dating from May 10, 1826, but he gave up the position in less than three years. He traveled throughout Great Britain and continental Europe, meeting the distinguish- ed men of all countries, and receiving warm welcome as the chief of American novelists. In 1831-32 he was forced by circumstances to take part in a dispute which marked the decline of his popularity in his own coun- try. He was residing in France at the time
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of Louis Philippe's attempted separation from the Liberal party represented by La- fayette. In a discussion in the chamber of deputies as to a means of reducing govern- ment expenses, Lafayette cited the system adopted by the United States as a model of cheap and satisfactory government. M. Saulnier, editor of the "Revue Britanni- que," at once published an article in direct denial of Lafayette's assertion, to which Cooper was asked to reply. He at first de- clined, but finding that the article had been written for the express purpose of injuring Lafayette, his loyalty to the friend of his country induced him to publish a pamphlet in which he gave a detailed account of goy- ernment expenses in the United States. This gave rise to contradictions from M. Saulnier, and replies by Mr. Cooper. Then the matter was taken up Mr. Leavitt Har- ris, who had once been left as chargé d'af- faires at St. Petersburg during the absence of John Adams at the peace negotiations at Ghent. Mr. Harris took exceptions to Mr. Cooper's statements, and the fact that he had been an official gave his cominunica- tion added weight. To this Mr. Cooper re- plied, and closed his part of the discussion, French liberals claiming that he had utterly demolished his antagonists. This would have ended peaceably had not American newspapers seen fit to accuse Cooper of "overstepping the reserve imposed upon foreigners, attacking the administration of a friendly country, and flouting his Ameri- canism throughout Europe."-accusations so manifestly unjust that to those under- standing the matter it is not surprising that Cooper became embittered toward his coun- try. He decided to return to the United States but to abandon literary work. In November, 1833, he reached New York and in 1834 he renovated his old home at Coop- erstown, where for a few years he spent his summers, and later remained there throughout the year. He decided to re- sume his writing, and his resentment of America's injustice to him led him to criti-
cise rather harshly the changes which had taken place during his residence in Europe. His countrymen became more and more an- tagonistic, and a local quarrel aggravated the matter. This dispute concerned the ownership of a part of the Cooper estate known as "Three Mile Point," which had been considered public property. Cooper came out victorious but with increased un- popularity. A biographer says, "by the end of 1837, Cooper had pretty sedulously im- proved every opportunity of making him- self unpopular. His criticisms had been distributed with admirable impartiality. Few persons or places could complain that they had been overlooked." In 1837 he began to institute libei suits, and one newspaper after another became a defendant. He gained a verdict in almost every case, and by 1843 he had fairly succeeded in silencing the press.
In 1839 he published his "History of the United States Navy," which he had long contemplated. It was at first favorably criticised, but later called forth the most bitter condemnation, which was afterward reported by unprejudiced critics to be both causeless and malicious. The criticisms did not reduce the sale of the book, for three editions were exhausted before the author's death. His last novel, "The Ways of the Hour," was published after he was sixty years old. In April, 1851, his health began to give way, and he died September 14, at Cooperstown, A few months after his death, a meeting was held in the city hall, New York City, in honor of his memory, Daniel Webster presiding, and a eulogy was delivered by his intimate friend, William Cullen Bryant. After his death, Otsego Hall at Coopertstown was allowed to fall into decay, and the five acre lot surround- ing it became dilapidated. In 1897 a move- ment was started to turn the old home into a park, the owners of the estate contribut- ing several hundred thousand dollars for improvements, to include a suitable statue of the novelist.
His principal writings are: "Precaution"
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(1820) ; "The Spy" (1821); "The Pio- neers" (1823) ; "The Pilot" (1823) ; "Lio- nel Lincoln" (1825) ; "The Last of the Mohicans" (1826) ; "The Prairie" (1827) ; "The Red Rover" (1828); "Notions of the Americans" (1828) ; "The Wept of Wish- ton-Wish" (1829) ; "The. Water-Witch" (1830) ; "The Bravo" (1831) ; "The Heid- enmauer" (1832) ; "The Headsman" (1833) ; "The Monikins" (1835) : "Sketch- es of Switzerland" (1836) ; "Gleanings in Europe" (1837-38) ; "The American Dem- ocrat" (1837) ; "Homeward Bound" (1838) ; "Home as Found" (1838) ; "The History of the Navy of the United States of America" (1839) ; "The Pathfinder" (1840) ; "The Deerslayer" (1841) ; "The Wing-and-Wing" (1842) ; "The Two Ad- mirals" (1842) ; "Wyandotte" (1843) ; "Ned Myers" (1843) ; "Afloat and Ashore" (1844) ; "Miles Wallingford" (1844: "The Chain-bearer" (1846) ; "Lives of Disting- uished Naval Officers" (1846) ; "The Red- skins" (1846) ; "The Crater" (1847) ; "The Oak Openings" (1848) ; "The Islets of the Gulf" (1848) ; "The Sea Lions" (1849) ; and "The Ways of the Hour" (1850).
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