Memorial cyclopedia of New Jersey, Volume III, Part 29

Author: Ogden, Mary Depue
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Newark, N.J. : Memorial History Company
Number of Pages: 846


USA > New Jersey > Memorial cyclopedia of New Jersey, Volume III > Part 29


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Jr .; Wallace S., born March 29, 1895; Douglas, born May 7, 1902; Emilie T., born September 24, 1904. The death of Mr. Campbell occurred in New Haven, Connecticut, June 1, 1915.


MUNN, Joseph Lewis, Attorney-at-Law, Public Official.


In referring to the life history of the late Joseph Lewis Munn, of East Orange, New Jersey, we find many elements of peculiar interest as touching the annals of the State of New Jersey. He stood as a representative of one of the oldest pio- neer families of the country, the same having been established in the early Colo- nial days. The origin of the name of Munn is not definitely known, but that it is of great antiquity is shown in its armo- rial bearings which are as follows: Coat- of-arms: Per chevron sable and or, in chief three bezants and in base a castle triple-towered of the first. Crest: A dex- ter arm in armor, holding a lion's paw erased proper. Motto: Omnia vincit veri- tas ("Truth conquers all things").


Benjamin Mun, as the name was then spelled, made his home in Hartford, Con- necticut, served in the Pequot War in 1637, and died in 1675. He married Abi- gail Burt and had five children, among whom was Jolin Munn, who took an ac- tive part in the great fight at Turner's Falls. His son, John (2) Munn, was born March 16. . 1682, and located in what is now Orange, New Jersey, about 1709, coming from Deerfield, Massachusetts.


His son, Benjamin Munn, died in 1818 at the age of eighty-seven years. He was a farmer on his own land on what is now Munn avenue, East Orange, where he was born in 1730. He was one of the members in communion with the Moun- tain Society in 1756. He married Jemima Pierson, born August 28, 1734, a daughter


of Joseph Pierson, granddaughter of Daniel Pierson and great-granddaughter of Thomas Pierson. Their son, David Munn, was born on the family homestead at the corner of Main street and Munn avenue, East Orange, New Jersey, De- cember 16, 1761, and served in the New Jersey militia during the War of the Rev- olution. He married Abigail Baldwin, a daughter of Moses Baldwin. Their son, Lewis Munn, was born March 25, 1784. He married Phebe Jones, a daughter of Jo- seph Jones, a member of an old and prominent family of New Jersey. Their son, Asa Berton Munn, was born in East Orange, New Jersey, June 28, 1809, and was a prosperous and successful farmer. He married Mary Parcel, daughter of Jo- seph S. Hand, and a lineal descendant of Colonel Aaron Hand, of Springfield, New Jersey, who participated in the Revolu- tionary War.


Joseph Lewis Munn, son of Asa Berton and Mary Parcel (Hand) Munn, was born in the street named in honor of his family in East Orange, New Jersey, December 5. 1840, and died near this location, No- vember 29, 1914, having spent his entire life in East Orange. The local public schools and Newark Academy furnished his preparatory education, and he then matriculated at Princeton College. now Princeton University, from which insti- tution he was graduated in the class of 1862. Taking .up the study of law, he pursued it under the preceptorship of the well known Amzi Dodd, and was ad- mitted to the bar as an attorney in 1865, and as a counselor in 1868. From the time of attaining his majority he was a factor to be reckoned with as a supporter of the Republican party. In 1867 he served as township clerk and later be- came township counsel. He was a mem- ber of the State Assembly in 1881, and during this term of office served as a


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member of a number of important com- mittees, and became noted for his careful drafting of laws. He served as surrogate, 1884-89; as county counsel, 1894-1906, 1908-II ; and was counsel to the park commission, 1895-1907. The cause of education had in him an earnest and de- voted friend. He was the first county superintendent of the schools of Essex county, and served continuously as a member of the East Orange board of education. The excellent system of edu- cation now in force there is due to his persevering efforts in this cause. He was counsel to the Court House commission. 1901-07, under whose auspices the new Court House was built, and it is entirely due to his suggestion that the County Law Library in that building was estab- lished. Mr. Munn was conspicuously identified with the furtherance of many other enterprises which were for the bene- fit of the county. He was one of the or- ganizers of the Orange Water Company, and served as counsel of this corporation. He was connected as counsel with numer- ous other concerns, in all of which his services were prized at their due value. In matters of religion he was also a con- scientious worker, and was a charter member of the Munn Avenue Presby- terian Church.


Mr. Menn married, in East Orange, September 11, 1866, Elizabeth P. Randall, a daughter of John Merchant and Abbie (Taylor) Randall, and they had children : Mary Randall, Huldah, Edward, John Randall and Margaret. From his boy- hood years Mr. Munn had been a great lover of out-door sports of every kind. and of the study of nature. His fondness for the last mentioned was evinced in his later years in his garden, whose beauty attracted attention from far and near. He was noted for his wonderful memory which enabled him to keep the studies


of his earlier years fresh in his mind, and he was able to refer to them with the greatest ease. Mr. Munn won notable triumphs at the bar, and high honors in public life, and in private life he gained that warm personal regard which arises from true nobility of character, deference for the opinions of others, kindliness and geniality. His conversation was enlivened by wit and repartee that made him a fas- cinating companion. He inspired friend- ships of unusual strength, and all who knew him had the highest admiration for his good qualities of mind and heart.


HENRY, Evan James, Attorney-at-Law.


For forty-three years, from his fiftieth to his ninety-third year, Mr. Henry re- sided in Princeton, New Jersey, and even after he joined the ranks of nonogenari- ans, his upright figure was a daily sight upon the streets as he walked about, en- joying the beautiful views and conversing with the friends and acquaintances he met. Physical infirmity caused by an attack of that dread disease, cholera, induced him to leave his chosen profes- sion, the law, but in foreign travel and in the quiet, healthful surroundings of Princeton to which he came with his fam- ily in 1866 his health was restored. Edu- cated and scholarly in his tastes, friendly and companionable in his intercourse with his fellow men, he passed the years of retirement quietly and happily with his family and his friends. He retained a keen interest in life until the very last. giving little indication of the years he was carrying. He followed the daily course of events in the Nation and State with deep interest, and held decided opin- ions upon all questions affecting the pub- lic welfare. His friends were many and all held him in highest esteem, the years


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Ювал. У Фзотзавод 7310


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but adding to the affection felt for the kindly gentleman, who for so many years had lived in their midst, quietly, unobtru- sively and honorably.


Mr. Henry was a representative of the third generation of his family in the United States, his grandfather, William Henry, coming from Ulster, Ireland, in 1783, and settling in western Pennsylva- nia, where he engaged in farming. His third son, Thomas Henry, was a soldier in the War of 1812, commanding a com- pany of Pennsylvania militia on the Ni- agara frontier, aiding in the defense of Buffalo, in 1814. He had settled at Beaver, in Beaver county, Pennsylvania ; was editor and publisher of a widely cir- culated paper, the "Beaver Argus :" sheriff of Beaver county; associate judge of the county court, and represented his district in Congress for three terms. He married Sarah James, daughter of Evan James, of Welsh descent and a resident also of Beaver county.


Evan James Henry was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, May 26, 1816, died at his home on Stockton street. Prince- ton, New Jersey, July 24, 1909, son of Thomas and Sarah (James) Henry. He was educated in Beaver Academy and Washington (now Washington and Jef- ferson) College, beginning later the study of law. His legal studies were pursued under the preceptorship of Daniel Agnew, later a chief justice of Pennsylvania, and in 1839 he was duly admitted to practice in the Beaver county courts. For a few years he practiced at the bar of his native county, then removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was engaged in practice until 1855. An attack of cholera had previously left him in a weakened condition of body and a few years later he decided to cease the practice of his profession. He traveled in Europe for a time and in 1866 selected Princeton, New Jersey, for a permanent


residence, living there a retired life until his death in 1909.


Mr. Henry married, in September, 1855. Lucy Maxwell Rigg, born in Kirkcud- bright county, Scotland, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Maxwell) Rigg. Children: Thomas M., now engaged in the practice of law in Washington, D. C .; Francis M., of Minneapolis: William, of Minneapolis; Sarah, wife of Dr. Caspar Wistar Hodge; Caroline; Lucy M .; Henry, of Princeton, New Jersey.


THOMPSON, Charles Henry, M. D., Physician, Surgeon, Public Official.


With the death of the late Dr. Charles Henry Thompson, of Belmar, New Jer- sey, that town and section of the country lost one of its ablest and best beloved physicians and surgeons. Rich and poor alike sincerely mourned his passing away. for, while he was to the former an allevi- ator of their physical sufferings, he was to the latter a physician, fatherly friend and a helper in all periods of distress and trouble. His family was an ancient one.


England and Scotland gave him his paternal ancestors. The name was origi- nally Tomson, the first emigrant to this country bearing the name, being John Tomson, who came prior to 1650 and made his home either in Massachusetts or Rhode Island. From there he mi- grated to New Jersey, where he was one of the pioneer settlers. In 1667 he was one of the eighty-six original purchasers of that part of Monmouth county known then as Nawasink, Narumsunk and Poo- tapeck. One of his lineal descendants was


William I. Thompson, born near the present town of Freehold, New Jersey, March 19, 1779. the grandfather of Dr. Charles Henry Thompson, of this sketch. All his life was spent in the section of his birth, where he was occupied as a farmer.


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His religious faith was that of the Pres- byterian denomination. He married, Oc- tober 23, 1799, Margaret Denise, and had children : Catherine; Denise, of further mention ; Joseph C., Cornelia, Sydney, William W.


Denise Thompson, son of William I. and Margaret (Denise) Thompson. was born in Tennent Parsonage, near Free- hold, New Jersey, September 23, 1802. He was also a farmer; at first a staunch supporter of Whig principles, he became a Republican upon the formation of that party; he was a member of the Dutch Reformed church, and a long time its treasurer at Freehold. He married, Feb- ruary 22, 1826, Cornelia Bergen, a mem- ber of an old family, and had children : Jacob B., William I., John B., Joseph C., Cornelia D., Stephen E .. Tunis D., and Charles Henry, of further mention. The Bergen family came from Holland, where Jacob I. Bergen, father of Mrs. Thomp- son, was born November 9. 1782, a de- scendant of Hans Hansen Bergen. who came to America in 1633 and settled on Manhattan Island. He married Sara Ra- palie, the first white child born to Euro- pean parents in the Colony of New - Netherlands. Jacob I. Bergen married, February 4, 1806, Syche Bergen, and they had children : Cornelia, mentioned above ; John W., Abram, Matthew E., Simon H., Sarah M.


Dr. Charles Henry Thompson, son of Denise and Cornelia (Bergen) Thomp- son, was born near Marlboro, Monmouth county, New Jersey, August 23, 1843, and died in Belmar, in the same county, De- cember 3, 1912. His preparatory educa- tion was acquired in the old Freehold Academy, conducted at Freehold. New Jersey, by Professor William W. Wood- hull, and he then became a student at Rutgers College in 1860, and was gradu- ated from this institution in the class of


1864. Having decided to make the medi- cal profession his lifework, he commenced reading medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. John Vought, of Freehold, and pursued his studies at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in the city of New York, a part of what is now Colum- bia University, and was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, Febru- ary 28, 1868. He commenced the active practice of his profession at Rosemont, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, remain- ing there for a period of four years, when he practiced in New York two years, then four years in South Amboy, New Jersey, and finally made a permanent location at Belmar, Monmouth county, New Jersey, with which town he was identified until his death. He kept well abreast of the times in medical progress, holding the wise opinion that a physician should never cease to be a student, and was faithful to this principle all through his life. He was frequently called in consul- tation by others in the medical profession. and established for himself an enviable reputation as a physician and surgeon, and as a citizen of the highest standard. While he ever gave his staunch and con- sistent support to the Republican party. he never sought office. He was, however, obliged to yield to the repeated solicita- tions of his party, and became its nominee for Assembly in 1890, but as the Demo- cratic party was overwhemingly large, he was defeated. Later he served two terms as president of the borough commission of Ocean Beach, and two terms of two years each, as mayor of Belmar, greatly to the benefit of those communities. In matters connected with religion hie was a leading spirit. He was one of the organ- izers, and the first senior warden of the Holy Apostles' Protestant Episcopal Church at Belmar, and when the church was dedicated, as incumbent of the office


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Louis F . Lyons


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he held, it fell to his lot to present the church to the bishop of the diocese. He was connected with a number of fraternal organizations, holding especially high rank in the Masonic fraternity. Among those with which he was affiliated were : Ocean Lodge, No. 89, Free and Accepted Masons; Goodwin Chapter, No. 36, Royal Arch Masons; Corson Commandery, No. 15, Knights Templar; Mecca Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of New York City; Im- proved Order of Red Men, of Belmar.


Dr. Thompson married, May 23, 1865, Rhoda Ann Holmes, a daughter of Sam- uel and Marietta (Wiley) Holmes, of Pleasant Valley, New York. One child blessed this union: Fred V., born Sep- tember 12, 1866, a well known physician of New Jersey, who commenced his prac- tice at Asbury Park, and is continuing it at Belmar. New Jersey.


LYONS, Lewis James,


Manufacturer, Inventor, Financier.


The title of "an upright business man" is one of the most honorable that can be - borne. It is a distinction won in a war- fare, and against temptations, that can only exist in a business career. Not many come through a protracted course un- scathed and untainted, and it is an occa- sion for congratulation that the business history of Newark, New Jersey, shows a long list of men who have honored their occupations by pure lives and honest business principles, up to which they have lived to the best of their ability. It is men like the late Lewis James Lyons who are intelligent factors in every undertak- ing and who help to develop the success of all large cities and the country in gen- eral. He belongs to that distinctively representative class of men who promote public progress in advancing individual prosperity, and whose private interests


never preclude participation in move- ments and measures which further the general good. The ancestors of Mr. Lyons, both paternal and maternal, were patriotic and intelligent people, one of them being an officer in the Army of Croniwell in England, and another, the well known hero of Bohemia, Frederick Matthias, was a defender of the Protes- tant faith in the Thirty Years' War.


Lewis James Lyons was born in Hali- fax, Nova Scotia, November 7, 1815, and died in his home in Newark, October 31, 1897. He was an infant at the time of the death of his parents and, while rela- tives in London expressed a strong desire to have the child sent to that country, he was taken by maternal relatives to Bos- ton, and there given an excellent educa- tion. This would have included further instruction in higher institutions of learn- ing, but the mind of Mr. Lyons was bent in another direction, and it has been well for the world in general that he was per- mitted to follow his natural inclinations. He was still a young lad when he left Boston for New York City, then, at the expiration of two years, went to Strouds- burg, Pennsylvania, where he lived for a time. The next scenes of his industry were in succession, Providence, Rhode Island: Paterson, New Jersey; Brook- lyn, New York ; gathering general knowl- edge of men and industries of various kinds in all of these places. He finally, in 1845, established a residence in New- ark, in which the remainder of his life was spent. He was one of the first to open boiler works in Newark, and, as he was an inventor, as well as a manufac- turer, the output from his plant was in great demand. It was as an inventor that Mr. Lyons became acquainted with Seth Boyden, and in response to his appeals established his factories in New- ark. It was Mr. Lyons who made the first application of steam as a motive


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power for a fire engine, and world rec- ords show the value of this idea. He was a man of brilliant ideas in many direc- tions, but the introduction of these fre- quently met with the greatest opposition at the first. A case in point is the pay- ing of the workmen in cash instead of with orders upon the stores, as had been the custom for many years. Other em- ployers did their utmost to prevent this idea from being carried into effect, but results proved the wisdom of it, and the very men who were the strongest oppo- nents later adopted it. As an inventor, the counsel of Mr. Lyons was often sought by other inventors and industrial workers. His boiler works were among the most successful industries of the city, and his humane and conscientious treat- ment of those in his employ kept him very generally free from the troubles which are apt to beset those in control of large plants. He was connected offi- cially, and otherwise, with many enter- prises of importance, among them being: The Merchants' Insurance Company, in which he was a director for more than a quarter of a century ; one of the founders, and a director, in the North Ward Bank; vice-president in the Citizens' Insurance . Company and the People's Savings Bank, of Newark. In political matters Mr. Lyons was a staunch Democrat, and had 110 Sympathy for the cause of the Civil War. However, he was essentially a just and fair-minded man, and would allow no destruction of property of adherents of either side, if it lay in his power to pre- vent it. On one occasion, he prevented a mob from destroying the property of a friend who was a Republican and a Unionist, and on another, his popularity prevented the destruction of his own property. He saved one of the local banks from a panic which had arisen, by supplying it with finances from his pri- vate bank, and thus prevented the closing


of its doors. It was one of his fixed prin- ciples never to purchase or contract for anything for which he could not pay, and this principle he instilled thoroughly into the minds of his children. At various times he was offered public office, but he invariably refused, holding that he was best serving the interests of the commu- nity by devoting his time and attention to furthering industrial prosperity. His fra- ternal affiliation was with St. John's Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons. He had been born and reared in the faith of the Church of England, but upon attain- ing maturity, joined the Methodist church, of which he was a member until ten years prior to his death when he be- came a Presbyterian. For many years he was one of the leaders in the Union Street Methodist Episcopal Church, gave freely of his time, means and personal efforts, and it is largely owing to his instrumen- tality that the present house of worship was erected. He was also one of the or- ganizers and founders of St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church of Newark. The cause of education had in him an ardent supporter, and he was equally generous in maintaining institutions of art and literature. His simple and un- affected nature delighted in the works of nature, to which his beautiful home at Belmar, New Jersey, testifies, as does his winter home in North Carolina.


Mr. Lyons married, in 1836, Mary A., a daughter of J. Farrel Ward, of New York City, a descendant of a number of old and honorable families of England, among whom were the Dudleys, Cun- ninghams and Peytons. They had a num- her of children, the four youngest being : Hannah M., Bertha E. C., Isabella G. and Frederick M.


A vigilant and attentive observer of men and measures, the opinions of Mr. Lyons were recognized as sound and his views as broad, therefore carrying weight


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with those with whom he discussed pub- lic problems. He possessed a genial na- ture which recognized and appreciated the good in others and drew around him a large circle of friends. The success which he gained was of a character not to be measured by financial prosperity alone, but also by the kindly amenities and congenial associations which go to satisfy man's nature. No good work done in the name of charity or religion sought his cooperation in vain, and in his work of this character he brought to bear the same discrimination and thorough- ness which were so strikingly manifest in his business life.


MARTIN, Isaac, Quaker Preacher.


Among those earnest itinerant preach- ers called Quakers who in the eighteenthi and nineteenth centuries traveled the highways and byways of New Jersey was Isaac Martin. The journal of his "Life, Travels, Labors and Religious Exercises" was published at Philadelphia in 1834.


The published journals of the old-time Quaker preachers are as a rule note- worthy for good English. Written with no desire to draw the praise of men or to conform to the canons of "polite litera- ture," they reveal at least a taste for the elegance of simplicity. John Woolman's journa' was formerly used to instruct in good English the students of Princeton. Doubtless Woolman, had he lived to know this fact, would have sat long for light before he could decide whether or not such use of his testimony was accord- ing to the leadings of truth. It may be said also of the journals of the Friends that though they were not compiled for human or historical interest, yet the thoughtful reader finds much of human interest in them, and the delver after orig- inal sources discovers much of historical


value. Occasionally some historical in- cident is thrown into the narratives stand- ing out the clearer for being set in the language employed.


Isaac Martin dwelt at Rahway, which even as late as 1834 (as may be seen on the title page of the book) was designated as being in East Jersey. From Rahway he went forth from time to time on his preaching tours, visiting many localities in New Jersey and sometimes going to New England and to the Southern States.


Isaac Martin was born in New York City, January 16, 1758. His father, Isaac, was a Friend. Martin became appren- ticed to a hatter, and learned that trade. Like John Woolman, he believed that only "plain hats" should be worn. Dur- ing the Revolutionary War he left the city and dwelt for a time with a relative. On April 12, 1780, he married Elizabeth Delaplaine, of New York. He moved to Rahway in September, 1784. He signed his name to a little treatise on "Silent Worship" on September 27, 1819, with the address Bridgetown, Rahway, East New Jersey. He died August 9, 1828.


Princeton Theological Seminary last year celebrated its centennial annivers- ary. There were exercises, addresses and congratulations. Tribute was paid the institution for its work for the cause of religion. The Friend preacher, Isaac Martin, had visited Princeton during No- vember, 1817. His thoughtful eye caught sight of the then new seminary building, and he was led to comment in his journal upon its use and purpose. "At this place," he said, "they have lately erected a large building called Theological Hall, intended to prepare young men for preaching." It seemed to the earnest Quaker like a relic of medieval darkness which he thought "in the Lord's time will be scattered by the arising of pure, evangelical light, which only can qualify sons and daugh- ters to preach the plain doctrines of




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