USA > New Jersey > Memorial cyclopedia of New Jersey, Volume III > Part 15
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SPEAKMAN, William Elwood, Man of Affairs.
A scion of distinguished Colonial and Revolutionary family, Mr. Speakman was widely and prominently connected with many leading patriotic and historical so- cieties of Philadelphia, New Jersey and elsewhere, and after an active, successful business life retired to his home in Wood- bury, New Jersey, and there resided until his death. He was widely known as a chemist and able business man through- out New Jersey and the Eastern States, his long connection with the wholesale drug trade through his prominent Phila- delphia house bringing him prominently
before the trade. He liad other important business interests, and was a well-known club member as well as being deeply in- terested in fraternity and philanthropy. A man of culture and refinement, he sought only that which was noble and elevating in life and numbered his friends among those of similar tastes.
William Elwood Speakman was born in Camden, New Jersey, December 13, 1858, died at liis home in Woodbury, New Jersey, May 13, 1915. After extended courses of preparatory and classical study, he entered Philadelphia College of Pharma- cy, whence he was graduated and awarded the pharmacist's degree. His business life was spent in Philadelphia in associ- ation with a leading wholesale drug house, and after a successful business ca- reer he withdrew from active participa- tion in its affairs, retiring to the compan- ionship of his books, his friends, indulg- ing in extensive travels abroad and in pursuits congenial to a man of his tastes and means. He was a director of the Delaware Insurance Company, member of the board of managers of Red Bank Sani- tarium, and of the Transatlantic Society of America, and held membership in the Atlantic Union of London, the Colonial So- ciety of New England, the New Jersey So- ciety Sons of the Revolution, Pennsylvania Society Sons of the Revolution, the Wash- ington Association of Morristown, New Jersey, the Historical Society of Penn- sylvania, the Historical Society of New Jersey. His clubs were the Union League of Philadelphia, Philobiblon Society of Philadelphia, and the Navy League. He was a member of Florence Lodge, No. 87, Free and Accepted Masons, also holding the degrees of Royal Arch and Templar Masonry. He was a devout churchman, serving Christ Episcopal Church, Wood- bury, as vestryman and senior warden for many years.
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Mr. Speakman married, October 15, 1885, Martha C. Winchester, of Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania, who survives him with one daughter, Eleanor B. Speakman, and two brothers, Rev. Henry D. Speak- man and Dr. Howard Draper Speakman, of Pau, France.
GALES, Joseph, Exemplary Citizen.
Although a native son of North Caro- lina, Mr. Gales in his boyhood came to New York City, where he was afterwards prominent in the business world. He was of English ancestry, his grandfather, Joseph (1) Gales, having been born in Sheffield, England, where he was for many years editor of the Sheffield "Reg- ister." Later in life he came to the United States, living for a short time in Philadelphia from whence he went to Washington and afterwards to Raleigh, North Carolina, where he spent the re- mainder of his life. He married Winifred Marshall, of Carleton-on-Trent, England. One of his sons, Joseph (2) Gales, was with his brother-in-law, William W. Seaton, editor of the Washington "Na- tional Intelligencer."
Another son, Weston Raleigh Gales, father of Joseph (3) Gales, was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he was for many years editor of the Raleigh "Register." He died in Petersburg, Vir- ginia, July 23, 1848. His wife, Mary (Spies) Gales, was born in New York City, October 29, 1815, died August 9, 1907.
Joseph (3) Gales, son of Weston Raleigh and Mary (Spies) Gales, was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, April 29, 1847, died at his home in Elizabeth, New Jersey, May 1, 1916. After his father's death in 1848, he was brought by his mother to New York City, where he
was educated in the public schools and the "Free Academy," now the College of the City of New York. After completing his studies he entered into business life, soon becoming a member of Spies, Kis- sam & Company, dealers in sporting goods. Later he became a member of the firm of Schoverling, Daly & Gales, also dealers in sporting goods, and at its in- corporation he was chosen president, which position he retained with capability and efficiency until his death in his seventieth year. Mr. Gales stood high in the business world as a man of ability and strong character, his name carrying weight in all matters of business impor- tance. He stood for righteousness in business as well as in private life, and on that principle guided the destinies of the corporation of which he was the execu- tive head. When the Hardware Club of New York City was formed. Mr. Gales was one of the charter members and for two years had been its president.
In the late sixties he went to New Jer- sey to reside, where he became affiliated with St. John's Episcopal Church, serving for over a quarter of a century as Sunday school superintendent, vestryman and warden. His church interest extended to all parish affairs and for many years he sat as a delegate in the diocesan conven- tion. He was a member of the Southern Society and of the New York Hardware Club.
In 1875, Mr. Gales married Julia L. Spencer, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, daugh- ter of Robert Dayton and Elizabeth Og- den Spencer. Mrs. Gales on her father's side is descended from Colonel Oliver Spencer, General Elias Dayton, one of the presidents of the Society of the Cin- cinnati, and Jonathan Dayton, one of the framers of the Constitution of the United States. Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Bar- ber, aide to General Washington, was her
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great-grandfather in the maternal line. Besides his wife, Mr. Gales is survived by two sons: Weston Spies Gales, of Detroit, Michigan, and Robert Spencer Gales, of Westfield, New Jersey. Mr. Gales was respected by all for his steriing business qualities, his charming person- ality, his ready sympathy and generous soul.
BERG, Frederick, Business Man, Civil War Veteran.
Frederick Berg, son of George and Frederica (Hill) Berg, was born March 1, 1834, in Uberau, in the province of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany. This prov- ince is composed of two main parts, sepa- rated from each other by a narrow strip of Prussian territory. The northern part is the province of Uberhessen ; the south- ern part is nearby the provinces of Stock- enburg and Rheinhessen. This section of the country is very hilly, yet of no great elevation. And it was here that Fred- erick Berg spent the early part of his life.
When one looks back into the early life of Mr. Berg, we readily see that he was offered every possible opportunity a boy could have in order to build for himself a strong, healthy body. His father being a farmer naturally meant that Mr. Berg spent many hours in the field. The youth's training was gained in the school of experience, where he learned that fru- gality and ambition are the key to suc- cess. There are very few men to-day who are able to say that they have remained firm to the teachings of their boyhood. This was not the case with Mr. Berg. Along with his practical training, this perfect example of sturdy youth received his schooling in the neighboring "Volke- schule," where in former years his Grand- father Hill had presided. The time which ordinarily would be allotted to most boys
for play, Mr. Berg spent in hard labor, and it is interesting to notice that he trained his sons in the same manner.
It might be worthy to mention that, when only two years of age, his parents emigrated to Poland, a country-just as our west was -- abundant in opportunities for the farmer. But his parents met with failure in this broad, uncultivated region and were forced to return to Uberau penniless. Here Mr. Berg's father and able-bodied brothers toiled night and day to regain that which they lost.
Frederick Berg was the youngest of a family of nine children. Lizzie, the oldest, married when quite young and died at the age of ninety-one. Two children survived her; namely, George and Margaretta. Rebecca, the second child, married and came to America in 1841. Nothing has been heard of her since. Margaretta, the third child, married and spent the remainder of her life in Germany. She also lived to the old age of eighty-one. George, the oldest son, married and resided in his native land. He lived to be sixty-three years of age. Catherine, the fifth child, married and remained in Hesse-Darmstadt the re- mainder of her life. Marie, the youngest daughter, came to America, where she died at middle age. Henry, the second oldest son, studied piano manufacture in Vienna, where he for a time was inter- ested in the same. He likewise got the fever for the new world to which he came in 1852. Nothing has been heard of him ยท since his arrival in this country. Philip, the eighth child, spent most of his life in Vienna. He is said to have been an enthusiastic socialistic worker.
Upon completion of his studies, Mr. Berg, then only sixteen years of age, gave up the rural life of his forefathers and journeyed to Vienna to learn a trade. He apprenticed himself there to a hatter,
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from whom he learned that trade. Dur- ing his stay in Vienna, his brothers, Philip and Henry, were of considerable assist- ance to him offering him from time to time that ever welcomed "big brother" aid. In those days, hat manufacture was not conducted as it is to-day-in one locality. The people did not have run- ning water-water, which is the essential thing in the making of the hat-nor did they have modern mechanical devices, for it was about this time that the steam engine was invented ; in fact, the first rail- road of the continent was built from Nurhberg to Furth when Mr. Berg was an infant. Consequently, one branch of hatting was probably conducted at a con- siderable distance from another. Mr. Berg used to speak of the many trying hours he spent at the side of a nearby stream shrinking felt.
After becoming what one might call an expert at the trade, having mas- tered the business in all its branches, he in 1854 journeyed upon his "Wander- schaft" for two years, but first of all made a short visit at his home in Uberau. This journey was experienced by most boys of the time. As its name implies, it was merely wandering from town to town, stopping a short time in each town to practice a newly learned trade. This journey as one can see helped to give Mr. Berg a broad view of the hatting trade and not a narrow one as he probably would have had, providing he had re- mained in Vienna. This "Wanderschaft" meant hard labor and very often despair to a young apprentice, but Mr. Berg had in his nature that inexhaustible endurance and "stickatitiveness," which meant so much to him in later life. He wandered in this manner for two years and finally completed his journey in the city of Dant- zig where he remained for almost a year.
Upon the arrival of his twenty-second
birthday he was compelled to go home to see if he must serve in the army. Every youth was not obligated to serve his coun- try, and the way in which this was ascer- tained was by drawing numbers. The place for this drawal was Dickburg-not very far from his home village-and Mr. Berg with many other youths assembled to "try their luck." As the case turned out, he drew a high number, which meant that he was not compelled to serve. An amusing tale in reference to this big day is told of Mr. Berg. The drawal took place in the loft of a two-story building, which had a balcony. As soon as he dis- covered his luck-I say "luck" because had he drawn a low number, his oppor- tunities of migrating to America, which affected his life so immensely, would have been destroyed-he with several other young men leaped from this balcony to the ground. They all apparently had the same idea in mind, which was to hire a band and celebrate their freedom, for serving in the army in those days was by no means an easy mode of life.
It is a question just as to what induced Mr. Berg to come to America. The con- ditions in the Fatherland then were in a most unsatisfactory state to a young man of a freedom-loving and ambitious dispo- sition. Germany at that time was com- posed of a new democracy and the old aristocracy. A conflict naturally ensued which turned out in an actual victory for the former, and it was either because of hopelessness for the future, or the popu- lar longing for the new world, which in- duced Mr. Berg to make the then tedious journey of sixty-three days to America.
His arrival in this country in the year 1856 marks the turning point of his life. His journey to this country so far as we know passed uneventful, except for the one acquaintance which he made in the person of a Mr. Carl Croll. This gentle-
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man remained a lifelong friend of Mr. Berg, and it was death only which sev- ered their mutual friendship. It seems strange that both of these gentlemen should interest themselves in the hatting trade, although Mr. Croll's business dif- fered slightly in that he manufactured caps. This gentleman located himself in Brooklyn, New York.
Mr. Berg, upon leaving Mr. Croll, headed directly for Orange, New Jersey, to which place he had been directed. Upon his arrival in Orange he called upon a Mr. Henry W. Egner, who at that time owned a jewelry store on Main street of the aforesaid city. Mr. Egner was Mr. Berg's first acquaintance in this country and remained in close contact with him during the remainder of his life.
In 1857 Mr. Berg married Anna Nickel, daughter of Kajeden Nickel, of Orange. This family came from Bavaria only a few years previous. Mrs. Berg might be considered an ideal wife. She encour- aged and ,helped her husband in every way possible, even going so far as to work in her husband's factory after he had established himself in business.
In 1862 Mr. Berg voluntarily enlisted in the army. Previous to his enlisting he was an employee in a hat factory owned by a Mr. Stocker. It is said that for fear his wife might object to his enlisting, he did so without consulting her. He en- listed in Company H, Twenty-sixth Regi- ment, New Jersey Infantry, and served in several momentous battles, the principal one being the capture of Fredericksburg Heights.
After nine months of faithful and un- erring service in the army, he returned home, and in 1864 he was in command of sufficient capital to begin business for himself and finally established the firm of F. Berg & Company. His first attempt in business for himself proved to be of
great success. He, during the early part of his career as a hat manufacturer, changed partners several times. By de- grees he widened the scope of his activi- ties until a large modernly equipped plant was in constant operation, supplying the demands of his many customers. Too much emphasis cannot be laid upon the fact that he possessed extremely sound judgment and remarkable foresight. In- tegrity might be called the keynote upon which his character as a manufacturer and as a citizen rested. As his sons be- came of age they were taken in as mem- bers of the firm and served their father as true sons should, and at present they com- pose the firm. After they obtained a firm hand of the business, Mr. Berg withdrew and in 1889 established himself in the coal and wood business. He continued to be active in this business until a few years before his death, which was on Feb- ruary 20, 190S.
Mr. Berg had children: Mary, died in infancy; George, died in infancy ; Fred, born in 1860, unmarried, now senior mem- ber of F. Berg & Company ; Charles, born 1861, married Lucy May Miller and their son is Charles Frederic, their daughter, Anna Janet, died at the age of fourteen ; Emma, born 1863, married Williard J. Nixon, their son is Frederick W .; Henry, born 1865, married Anna E. Leimer, their sons are William H. and Henry ; Amelia, born 1870, married Paul G. Woodruff, who died in 1912, their son is Frederick P .; and George Christian, born 1873, mar- ried Alice Archer.
Mr. Berg made three trips to his Father- land. The first was in 1883. He merely visited his relatives, and met his old teacher, Professor Russler. The meeting was a very touching one, for Professor Russler was so highly pleased with seeing Mr. Berg that the former wept. Mr. Berg's second visit took place some years
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after his former one. He did not go alone on this trip as he did on his first; but rather his wife and daughter Emma ac- companied him. A third visit was made some years after his second one. This last visit was a very short one.
Mr. Berg had other interests of impor- tance and was closely identified with the Second National Bank of Orange. He was an austere Republican, but had little inclination for public office, answering, however, every demand made upon him, if in the line of his duty as a citizen. For five years he served as assessment com- missioner and aided in civic betterment to the utmost of his power. He was loyal to the Lutheran church and never failed in his duty to mankind.
MILLER, J. Wickliff, Business Man.
There is no positive rule for achieving success. and yet in the life of the success- ful man there are always lessons which might well be followed. The man who gains prosperity is he who can see and utilize the opportunities that come into his path. The essential conditions of human life are ever the same, the sur- roundings of individuals differing but slightly, and when one man passes others on the highway of life and reaches the goal of prosperity before those who perhaps started out before him, it is be- cause he has the power to use advantages which properly encompassed his fellows as well as himself, but were either not seen, or neglected, by them. The quali- ties of keen discrimination, sound judg- ment, and executive ability, entered very largely into the make-up of the late J. Wickliff Miller. of Orange, New Jersey, and were contributing elements to the material success which came to him. He was a descendant of one of the old fam-
ilies of the State, Millerstown being named in their honor, this being the pres- ent town of Union, Essex county, New Jersey.
(I) John Miller, first known ancestor of the line herein followed, settled first at Lynn, Massachusetts, and later, in 1649, at East Hampton, Long Island, where he spent the remainder of his days. He mar- ried a Miss Pierson, of Suffolk county. New York, a daughter of the Rev. Abra- ham Pierson, whose son Abram was first president of Yale College, serving as such from 1701 to 1707. Abraham Pierson was born in Massachusetts, 1641, died 1707, scholar and educator. The sons of John Miller emigrated to New Jersey and set- tled in Elizabeth.
(II) William Miller, son of John and - (Pierson) Miller, was a resident of Elizabeth, New Jersey, and died in Sep- tember, 1711. He married Hannah who died in 1711.
(III) Samuel Miller, son of William and Hannah Miller, was born in 1674. died March 14, 1759. He married Eliza- beth Thompson, born in 1675, died No- vember 13, 1747, daughter of Thomas and Mary Thompson.
(IV) Enoch Miller, son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Thompson) Miller, was born in 1708, died December 1, 1756. He mar- ried Hannah Baker, born in 1712, daugh- ter of Jacobus Baker (or Backer, as the name was then spelled) and Margaret (Stuyvesant) Baker, a half-sister of Gov- ernor Peter Stuyvesant, of New York.
(V) Enoch (2) Miller, son of Enoch (1) and Hannah (Baker) Miller, was born in 1733, died January 10, 1813. He mar- ried Eliza Ross, daughter of John Ross.
(VI) Enoch (3) Miller, son of Enocli (2) and Eliza (Ross) Miller, was born May 17, 1761, died April 21, 1841. He served gallantly as a soldier from the spring of 1777 to the autumn of 1781 in
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the War of the Revolution. Pension was given his widow. He married Keziah Stites Ross, May 25, 1783. She was born August 17, 1767, died December 1, 1851, daughter of David Ross, who was one of the jury that tried and convicted Morgan, who shot Caldwell.
(VII) Josiah Miller, son of Enoch (3) and Keziah Stites (Ross) Miller, was a farmer by occupation. By diligence and thrift he was enabled to provide a com- fortable home for his family. He married Lucy Ann Jeffries.
(VIII) J. Wickliff Miller, son of Josiah and Lucy Ann (Jeffries) Miller, was born in the town of Union, Essex county, New Jersey, 1840, and died in 1915, at Goshen, New York, where he had gone in order to restore his shattered health. He was a very young child when his parents re- moved to the State of Iowa, and in that section of the country he acquired his education and grew to manhood. After some years he returned to the State in which he was born and there settled in Orange, which remained his place of resi- dence until his death, the last fifteen years of his life being spent at the home of his only daughter, Mrs. Charles Berg. He established himself in business as a hat- ter, with which line of work he had been practically identified for some time, and followed this successfully until he retired from active business responsibilities. He was a man of quiet, gentle manner, earn- est and steadfast in all he undertook, and won the confidence of numerous friends as well as that of his business associates. In political opinion he was a Democrat, and his religious membership was with the Orange Baptist Church. His frater- nal affiliation was with Corinthian Lodge, No. 57, Free and Accepted Masons.
Mr. Miller married, in Orange, New Jersey, Jane Burnett, born in Springfield, Essex county, New Jersey, a daughter of
Aaron Halsey and Martha C. (Bradbury ) Burnett; she died seven years after her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Miller had chil- dren: I. Charles H., now a resident of California ; married Bertha Dolbier and has a son, Herbert W. 2. Wilbur N., who died September 12, 1916. 3. Lucy May, who became the wife of Charles Berg and they were the parents of a daughter, Anna Janet, who died at the age of fourteen years ; and a son, Charles Frederic; Mr. and Mis. Berg reside at No. 215 High- land avenue, Orange, New Jersey.
The Millers are connected by marriage or otherwise with many of the old lead- ing families of Elizabeth and Westfield, New Jersey, and through the services in the Revolutionary War of Enoch Miller and Joseph Acken are eligible to member- ship in the Revolutionary Societies.
FLANIGEN, William Alexander,
Merchant, Active in Community Affairs.
This is a success-worshiping age. The men we delight to honor are those who have accomplished something real and tangible, the significance of which we can grasp with our five senses, the men who have built up industries or raised them- selves from positions of obscurity and poverty to places of distinction and wealth We demand success and, as though in response, we have progress in all the departments of material accom- plishment such as the Old World has never before witnessed. Perhaps the most characteristic of all the achieve- ments of the day is that which has taken place in the business world, in the line of industrial and commercial development, and it is the leaders of activity in this direction that are our choicest heroes. The late William Alexander Flanigen, a distinguished merchant of Woodbury, New Jersey, was one of those who rose
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by his own efforts to a place of promi- nence in the community of which he was a member, and whose career is as con- spicuous for the high principles he main- tained during its course as for the success that attended it. It may be said of him without exaggeration that he was a pro- gressive, virile American citizen of the self-made type, thoroughly in harmony with the spirit of this modern age and who, in compassing his own success, per- formed a corresponding service for the community.
William Alexander Flanigen was a na- tive of this country, born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 3, 1842. He was, how- ever, of Irish descent and inherited the many virtues and marked talents of the race. He was the son of William Con- way and Jane (Adams) Flanigen, old and highly respected residents of the city of Philadelphia, where Mr. Flanigen, Sr., conducted a successful dry goods house for many years. The first half of Mr. Flanigen's life was spent in the city of liis birth, and it was there that his entire business career was carried on, though he made his home during the latter years of his life in Woodbury, New Jersey. He received his education at the public schools of Philadelphia, and would have graduated from the high school had it not been that ill health compelled him to withdraw from the course just before the close of the year. Ill health, indeed, dogged him not a little in his youth and his schooling was not the only thing that was curtailed by it. At the opening of the Civil War, he at once offered his serv- ices to the United States government and enlisted in a Pennsylvania regiment, but his health was adjudged not sufficiently robust and he was discharged. His father, with a parent's usual thought, desired that the lad should follow in his steps and engage in the dry goods business, and
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