USA > New Jersey > Memorial cyclopedia of New Jersey, Volume II > Part 27
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Hon. William Mershon Lanning was born on the farm of his father in Ewing township, Mercer county, New Jersey, January 1, 1849, and died February 16, 1912. In 1866 he was graduated from the Lawrenceville Academy, and at once en- gaged in the profession of teaching, being thus occupied in the schools of Mercer county until 1880, the last six years of this period being passed as an instructor in the old Trenton Academy. He was commis- sioned a justice of the peace of Ewing township, May 1, 1876, and while qualify- ing for that office obtained an insight into legal matters which proved the starting point for his entrance into the profession of law. From 1877 to 1880, while still pur- suing his career as a teacher, he devoted all of his spare time to the study of law, at first with George A. Anderson, and subse- quently with General Edward L. Camp- bell. and was admitted to the bar as an at- torney. November 4, 1880; three years later he was admitted as a counsellor. April 19, 1886, he was elected to the office of city solicitor of Trenton, was re-elected the following year, and served until 1888. Jan- uary 31, 1888, he was appointed judge of the District Court of the city of Trenton. and held this office until he was legislated out of office in 1891. In 1894 he was a member of the Constitutional Commission ; in November, 1902, was elected to Con- gress on the Republican ticket from the Fourth District of New Jersey. but resign- ed in June, 1904. in order to accept the of- fice of United States District Judge for the
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District of New Jersey, to which he had been appointed by President Roosevelt. President Taft, in May, 1909, appointed him to the position of United States Cir- cuit Judge for the Third Judicial Circuit. The degree of Doctor of Laws was con- ferred upon him by Washington and Jef- ferson College in 1908. and Princeton Uni- versity conferred the same degree in 1910.
Judge Lanning was considered an au- thority on State law and, in 1887, he, with the late Judge Garret Dorset Wall Vroom, by authorization of the New Jersey Leg- islature, compiled the "Supplement to the Revision of the Statutes of New Jersey," and by the same authority, the same gentle- men, in 1895, compiled the entire statutory law of the State in the edition known as "The General Statutes of New Jersey." Judge Lanning published a book on town- ship law in 1885, known as "Helps for Township Officers," which was so widely read as to make a second edition necessary.
In business affairs Judge Lanning was no less capable than in legal matters, and had he chosen to follow a business career, he would undoubtedly have achieved emi- nence in that. He was at various times a director of the Mechanics' National Bank of Trenton, and for some time filled the office of its chief executive ; he was a man- ager of the Trenton Savings Fund Socie- ty, and served as counsel for both of these institutions ; trustee of Lawrenceville School ; manager of Mercer Hospital ; one of the original trustees of the Trenton Free . Public Library ; trustee of the General As- sembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America; a director of the Princeton Theological Seminary; and member of many committees of the Pres- byterian Church, including the Committee on Organic Union of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church : and a member of the New Jersey Society of the Sons of the Revolution. In 1914 the Board of Education of the Township of
Ewing honored his memory by erecting a school building close to the site of the house in which he had been born, and named it the "William M. Lanning School."
Judge Lanning married, August 3, 1881, Jennie Hemenway, of Hermon, St. Law- rence county, New York. She was gradu- ated from the Oswego Normal School, and after teaching for a time in the schools of New York State, became a teacher in the State Normal School at Trenton. Chil- dren: Kenneth Hemenway and Robert Salisbury.
The high esteem in which Judge Lan- ning was held is scarcely to be overestimat- ed. In all classes of society. his death was deeply and sincerely deplored, and public opinion will be found capably expressed in the following extracts. A memorial pre- sented to the New Jersey State Bar Asso- ciation reads as follows :
"In the death of William M. Lanning, Judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Third District, the Bar of New Jersey has lost one of its most distinguished members, the Fed- eral Bench, one of its ablest officers, the com- munity one of its most worthy citizens, and all within the circle of his personal acquaintance, have lost a much loved friend."
"Judge Lanning exemplified in his life and career the qualities which make for a noble, an inspiring type of manhood. Favored with only moderate educational advantages. he showed himself to be possessed of the true spirit of cul- ture by supplementing his training with self- cultivation until he could justly claim fit com- panionship with those possessed of richer intel- lectual acquirements. His zeal for advance in knowledge, his willingness to toil to secure it, and his ability to grasp the underlying princi- ples of the law which, in mature years, he adopted as his life work, placed him, in a short time, well in the front rank of the younger practitioners of Mercer county. He was keen- ly sensitive to all the obligations of profession- al honor and the best traditions of old school lawyers suffered no impairment at his hands. His early selection as the legal adviser of the city of Trenton was a recognition of superior legal attainments acquired during the time with- in which the average practitioner is still strug- gling for a firm foothold in the ranks. His ap-
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pointment, a little later, to the judgeship of the District Court of the city of Trenton. happily for him, gave the opportunity to show his pe- culiar qualifications for judicial position, and demonstrated anew the fact that the dignity of public service and the honor that will flow from duty well performed does not depend upon the rank of office, but that the official may exalt his station by his personal character and the quality of the service he renders.
"When Judge Lanning, after three years' ser- vice as Judge of the City District Court, left the bench again to devote himself wholly to ac- tive practice, the prestige and standing of the court had been much advanced and his reputa- tion as an able and conscientious lawyer had been greatly increased. From this time he stood in the forefront of the bar of Mercer county, and was regarded as among the lead- ing lawyers of the State.
"His election to Congress was without sacri- fice of civic principle, without resort to discred- itable conduct on his part, and he entered. some- what regretfully. upon the discharge of his du- ties as a representative, with the same zealous purpose to act well his part which had always characterized his work as a lawyer and a judge. "His career as a legislator was brief. for with the generous approval of all who knew him he was named by President Roosevelt for the more congenial position of Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, to succeed the late Judge Kirkpatrick. Here he found a work that he liked and that was suited to him. His tasks, his abilities and his duties so complemented each other it was but natural to see him soon gain a reputation as a strong Federal judge. And when President Taft promoted him to the position of Judge of the United States Circuit Court, it was uni- formly regarded as an acknowledgment of demonstrated fitness and as a due reward for duty ably and honorably performed. Through- out his career on the Federal Bench in the Dis- trict and the Circuit Court, he grew steadily in public esteem as a strong, able and impartial judge. He was commissioned by nature for a judicial position before man gave him the op- portunity to mount to the seat for which he was so well qualified by temperament, by an indefat- igable industry and by a conscientiousness that could brook neither partiality to friend nor in- justice to foe.
Christian gentleman. An unswerving consci- entiousness ran like a golden thread through all his course of action in public as well as in private life. They who labored for public wel- fare. for honest methods in public life, and for social uplift. found sympathy and support in him. He was essentially a religious man and duty was the star by which his life course was guided. He was devoted to the church denomi- nation in whose fold he had been reared. whose tenets he had been taught, yet he was liberal in his judgment and catholic in his sympathies.
"The index to his character was revealed in a word privately uttered at the decease of his father, but a few years before his own untime- ly death, that his parent had left a rich inheri- tance, not in money, but in a good name, and it would seem that the Bar of New Jersey can pay no better tribute to his memory than to record that just as he received from his father the priceless inheritance of an untarnished name. so he has, in turn, as his most valuable bequest. transmitted. unsullied. that inheritance to those who came after him."
Remarks of United States Circuit Judge Joseph Buffington, on the opening of Court at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, February 16, 1912:
"It becomes the sad duty of this Court to record on its minutes today the fact of the death of William M. Lanning, Circuit Judge of the Third Circuit, which occurred at an early hour this morning at his home in Trenton, New Jersey. This is neither the time nor the place for a tribute worthy of our colleague and friend, but I cannot forbear to give voice to that deep sense of loss which the Bar, the Bench, his State and Country will feel in the ending of a life before its allotted time, largely as I believe, through his self-sacrificing devo- tion to judicial duty. In these days when courts and judges are so freely criticised, he was one who went unblamed, and it is my privilege to here record my profound conviction that Judge Lanning in every relation of life and duty meas- ured up to the highest standards of one who is called upon to do his quiet and faithful part in the administering of human justice. Born in the plain walks of life and with a broad. human sympathy for all sorts and conditions of men, place and authority never changed the simplici- ty of his nature. With a frame used to the hard work of a farm in his youth, he had in his matured life a capacity for work that knew no
"But he was more than an able lawyer, more than an impartial, upright judge. He was in the true sense of the word a loyal son, a true husband, a devoted father, a good citizen, a halting while any case was undecided. The
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law's delays had no place in his calendar or his court. With a robust honesty of heart, he sought, as for a pearl of great price, the right of every case and to find that right, no labor was too long, no record too large, no detail too small. His knowledge of legal decisions and principles was profound, but with a great breadth of sound and saving common sense he never let the practical be overpowered by the technical. He was essentially a learned common sense judge. As advancement came to him and his sphere broadened, he broadened with that sphere. While cheerily carrying, as his col- leagues know, more than his share of judicial work, he freely gave of his great working pow- ers and of his warm, sympathetic personality, to the affairs of his city, his State and his church. His counsel and wise-guiding will be missed in his city, in the boards of great, edu- cational schools, in the councils of a great church. In the courts of this circuit he will be missed in a measure we all dread to face. Patient in hearing, courteous in manner, stu- dious in research, honest in instinct. tenacious for the right as he saw it, but when convinced he was wrong turning to the right with a frank- ness that bespoke the honesty of a true and fearless nature. he was all a judge should be. Reverently drawing aside the veil of his inner life, as a colleague of years may do, I wish to bear testimony to his unsullied life and to a great man's simple and childlike faith in the Friend in whose keeping we leave him."
BIGELOW, Moses, Financier, Public Official.
The lives of such men as Moses Bige- low, the last ante-bellum mayor of Newark, New Jersey, whose term of office extend- ed through more than half of that momen- tous struggle, are a source of inspiration which cannot well be overestimated. At that time there was a strong feeling of sym- pathy with the South manifested in New- ark, and this largely increased the difficul- ties he found it necessary to contend with during his administration. .
Mayor Moses Bigelow, only son of Tim- othy and Hannah Ogden (Meeker) Bige- low, was born on the family homestead at Lyons Farms, Newark, January 12, 1800, and died in the same city, January 10. 1874.
The schools of Newark and Elizabethtown furnished his education, which his earnest, studious nature made a thorough one, and which was supplemented by much and well chosen reading. For a time he took up the study of law in the office of Governor Wil- liam Pennington, and while it proved of great interest to him, upon attaining his majority, he preferred to identify himself with a manufacturing career as far as bus- iness pursuits were concerned. For more than fifty years he was active in this line of industry, and was also connected with a variety of other enterprises. In associa- tion with John P. Jackson and J. M. Meek- er he secured the incorporation of the Mor- ris & Essex railroad in 1835 ; he draughted the charter of the Mechanics' Fire Marine Insurance Company, a prosperous institu- tion for many years ; and was an incorpor- ator and director of the Bank of New Jer- sey, the Howard Savings Institution, the Firemen's Insurance Company. the Repub- lic Trust Company, the Citizen's Gas Light Company, and a number of local corpora- tions. He served as the first president of the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and was appointed · by the Supreme Court as one of the trus- tees of the Trenton Asylum for the Insane, which office he filled efficiently for many years.
In 1856 he was elected mayor of the city of Newark, being the first representative of the Democratic party to hold that of- fice, and so wise and discreet was his man- agement of municipal affairs, that he was re-elected four times. One biographer writes of him: "He was unusually well- equipped for such a position. Cautious, re- ticent, independent and firm, his conduct was uniformly even and correct yet his success never led him to unseemly self-as- sertion or personal ambition. As mayor he inaugurated a system of block maps to facilitate taxation and numbering of houses ; procured the establishment of sink- ing funds to extinguish the city debt ;
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brought about the purchase of private wa- ter rights and the formation of the Newark Aqueduct . Board; organized a police de- partment, a dispensary of medicines for the poor, and a board of health; and directed the codification of the city ordinances, and the modification or repeal of various ob- noxious ordinances. During the Civil War he made the financial affairs of the city his especial care and negotiated all public loans, and it is high tribute to him to re- cord that all his plans were approved and adopted by the common council. In per- son he had an impressive presence ; he was of superior intelligence and entire sinceri- ty, and withal, liberal in benevolence. He was intensely fond of literature, and his evenings were devoted to his books and his library."
Mayor Bigelow's direct and searching criticism was the immediate cause of the establishment of the Newark Police De- partment. In part, he said: "The present organization of the police (evidently the constables and marshals), and of the watch department, I think very defective. The peace and tranquility of the city and the security and protection of the prop- erty of the citizens require an active and energetic performance of the duties of each department. The service rendered under the present organization is altogether inad- equate to the expense incurred. I would recommend that it be made a subject of your inquiry whether it would not be more economical and whether the energy and efficiency of each would not be promoted by reorganizing the police and watch de- partments and putting them under one head."
Just prior to the Civil War, the senti- ments of Mayor Bigelow when once pub- lished, were of great influence in determin- ining the stand taken by Newark on this momentous question. At the close of his annual message to the Common Council, in January, 1861, he said :
"In closing this communication, I feel it to be my duty to refer to the importance and solemn- ity of the present crisis in the political affairs of Our Country. the first effect of which has been a general proscration of its industrial in- terests, and, unless, soon adjusted, will cause unprecedented deprivation and suffering. I re- gard the Union of these States as indispensable. to the liberty, peace and prosperity of our people, and the great source of happiness at home and honor and respect abroad. When compared with the question of its preservation, the transitory issues of party should be regard- ed as mere 'dust in the balance.' The great prob- lem is now before us: How can it be preserv- ed? Our Constitution was formed to perfect and perpetuate it, establish domestic tranquility and promote the general welfare, and its noble and patriotic framers laid its foundation in the spirit and principles of compromise and conces- sion, political and social comity, and fraternal forbearance ;- and if, in the conflicts of party strife, or amid the excitements of party pas- sion, we have departed from this spirit, we should hasten to retrace our steps-for if we are to live under one Constitution, with one country and one destiny, we must be one people, not in form and name, but one in affection, and one brotherhood loyal to the rights and institu- tions of all, and with a union of hearts and hands, sustaining in a sincere and generous spir- it the compromises of the Constitution as the only means of preserving the great Ark of our safety-the Union.
"Without a prospect of continued and per- manent peace there can be no permanent happi- ness and prosperity; and shall our dearest in- terests be sacrificed or put in jeopardy by con- test about abstractions which the laws of cli- mate, production and immigration, together with territorial position, will practically settle under the Constitution and Supreme Judiciary of the country, to which all are bound to sub- mit? As citizens of New Jersey, and the rep- resentatives of her most flourishing and impor- tant city. I congratulate you upon her record as a State faithful to the Constitution and loyal to the rights and institutions of all her sisters in the Confederacy. Let us endeavor to extend and perpetuate this spirit within her borders, and in emulation of the teachings and example of Him who 'spake as never man spake,' con- tinue to 'render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's,' firmly trusting that under Providence our great and powerful Union of States will ever remain like the mighty waters which bound
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its eastern and western shores- though distinct as the billows, yet one as the sea.'"
Hon. Moses Bigelow married, February 4, 1836, Julia Ann Breckinridge, a daugh- ter of Dr. Samuel Fowler, for a long time a member of Congress, and noted as a min- eralogist ; and a granddaughter of Colonel Mark Thompson, an officer in the Conti- nental Army, deputy to the Provincial Con- gress, and member of Congress during the time of Washington. They had children : Samuel Fowler, who attained high office and fame in the legal profession : Moses, a sketch of whom also appears in this work ; Frederick, who achieved distinction for his excellent work in matters connected with religion ; Josephine.
Always a man of action, Mr. Bigelow demonstrated his public spirit by actual ser- vice which redounded to the welfare of the community. He possessed marked admin- istrative ability, and his dominant charac- teristics were stamped upon his countenance. Calm and deliberate, he never engaged in any undertaking, whether of a public or private nature, without due and careful consideration; then, when his plans were well and clearly formed, he strode forward without hesitation to the goal he had set for himself.
BIGELOW, Moses,
Manufacturer, Admirable Citizen.
When "Finis" closes the book of life of any individual, it is customary for friends and acquaintances to glance in review over the pages of its history and ponder over the lessons it contains, treasuring up the good as an example of conduct that may well be followed. A study of the life record of Moses Bigelow, of Newark, New Jer- sey, shows much to admire and to emulate. While intensely devoted to business, and a man of very decided views and strong con- victions, he was by nature of a gentle and affectionate disposition. His moral stand- ard was high and he lived up to it. His
genial companionship, his tenacious regard for the simple truth, his unostentious gen- erosity and large-hearted Christian benevo- lence were among the qualities which en- deared him to his friends.
Moses Bigelow, son of the Hon. Moses and Julia Ann Breckinridge (Fowler) Bige- low, was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1838, and died March 26, 1897. He was educated in Dr. Hedges' School and the Freehold Institute, and, like his gifted fath- er, was a deep and earnest student from his earliest years. . Upon attaining manhood he became associated with his father in the manufacture of varnishes, and was identi- fied with this industry many years. As a citizen, he was always active and influential in advancing the welfare of his place of residence, and was liberal in his contribu- tions toward this end. But it was not alone of his wealth that he gave; he contributed that which was of far greater value-his time, personal service and counsel. Among the numerous official positions he held were: Promoter, trustee and treasurer of the Newark Technical School; trustee and treasurer of the New Jersey Reform School at Jamesburg; and his talks with the boys who attended the former and were inmates of the latter, were of incalculable benefit. In the political affairs of the city he was also a factor to be reckoned with, and at various times filled public office. He affiliated with the Democratic party, serv- ed as assemblyman, and was delegate at large from New Jersey to the Democratic National Convention of 1892. He was also delegate to several other State and Nation- al conventions. He was a member of the Essex County Country Club; a member and at one time governor of the Essex Club of Newark; member of the Jeffer- sonian Club of Newark, and of the Re- form Club of New York City.
Mr. Bigelow married, at the Church of the Heavenly Rest, New York City, June 17, 1875, Eliza Rebecca, a daughter of Colonel Samuel Fowler, of Franklin, Sus-
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sex county ; granddaughter of General John Mifflin Brodhead, of Pennsylvania; and great-granddaughter of Colonel Robert Og- den, of New Jersey. They had children : Moses Bigelow (third ), born in 1876; Hen- ry Brodhead, deceased, born in 1878; Hen- rietta Fowler, born in 1880, married Robert Hamilton Southard: Frederic, born Febru- ary 17, 1882; John Ogden, born September 30, 1883. Mr. Bigelow was a man of most sympathetic and kindly nature and never withheld his aid from the afflicted or dis- tressed. That his confidence and faith were in this way sometimes betrayed can- not be doubted, yet he never repined at loss- es which came through extending assis- tance to those less fortunate than himself. In his death the community lost a truly noble man and a valued citizen.
KELLAM, Luther H.,
Financier, Public Benefactor.
Although of Pennsylvania birth and a prominent business man of Philadelphia, Mr. Kellam was for eighteen years a resi- dent of Camden, then until his death, many years later, was an honored citizen of Had- donfield, New Jersey. While his business interests were confined to Philadelphia, he entered with a wholehearted interest into the civic life of Camden and Haddonfield. serving loyally and efficiently the church, the Young Men's Christian Association, and generously supporting the philanthropies of both places. He was an earnest supporter of good government, and while president of the Law and Order Society fought vig- orously for the abolition of the race track at Gloucester, his efforts contributing large- ly toward the final victory over that menace to civic righteousness. In Haddonfield he served two years in borough council, and in his building operations aided in its im- provement by the erection of only fine homes. His life was long and honorably spent, his example worthy of emulation, and in all the requirements of Christian citizen-
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