USA > New Jersey > Memorial cyclopedia of New Jersey, Volume III > Part 34
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A piece of land was purchased by the Stangers from Archibald Moffet, the timber was taken off, the necessary buildings were erected, and in the fall of the same year they made their first melt. A bottle now in the possession of a descendant of Philip is said to be the first bottle blown. Wis- tar's works were abandoned about this time, and a number of the employes found work at the new factory in Gloucester county.
The Stangers continued the business for about five years, when they were compelled to make an assignment on account of the depreciation in the value of continental money. The unfortunate originators of the glass works were sent to a debtor's prison at Gloucester, the then seat of justice of Gloucester county. -J. F. F.
BEASLEY, Chief Justice Mercer, Eminent Jurist.
In presenting to the public sketches of the lives of our prominent citizens, we have endeavored to choose those men who, by their superior attainments and achievements in some particular walk of life, have risen to heights above their fel- lows, and whose characteristics and in- dividuality have raised them above the ordinary run of mortals. In every walk of life it is the few and not the many who rise to eminence, and it is these few who give tone and character to our society. and shape the destiny of the communities in which they reside. More men rise to eminence at the bar than in any other profession; the ma- jority of our great orators and statesmen come from the forum, as it is the most general school for the training of genius or talent. and humanity is indebted to the genial study of the law and the prac- tice of our courts for the development of some of the greatest minds the world has ever produced. Certainly no State has
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more reason to feel proud of her bench and bar than New Jersey. The record of her lawyers and judges since the earli- est period of her history is replete with the works of men who were giants in in- tellect. A foremost place in the ranks of these illustrious men must be accorded to the late Chief Justice Mercer Beasley. He was a son of the Rev. Frederick Beas- ley, rector of St. Michael's Protestant Episcopal Church of Trenton, provost of the University of Pennsylvania, and of his wife, Maria (Williamson) Beasley.
Chief Justice Mercer Beasley was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 27, 1815, and died at Trenton, New Jersey, February 19, 1897. For a time he was a student at Elizabethtown Academy, then was prepared for entrance to college by his gifted father, and matriculated at Princeton College. After one year's study at that institution, he left and continued his studies at Trenton until 1834, after which he took up the study of law in the office of Samuel L. Southard, at that time United States Senator, and also engaged in legal practice in New Jersey. In Sep- tember, 1838, Mr. Beasley was admitted to the bar, and in February, 1842, he was admitted as a counsellor.
For a period of ten years following his admission to the bar, Mr. Beasley con- fined his study and practice of the law to the trial of cases in the justices' courts, ignoring office practice as a rule, and con- ferring with his clients as he happened to meet them on the streets, where they had acquired the habit of lying in wait for him. Any spare time during the day was spent in the library, and his evenings were passed at his office. He gradually acquired a fine law library during these years, and also frequently consulted the State Library, to which he had free ac- cess. At this time his office was at No. 143 East State street, and later he erected
the house on East State street which ad- joined his office, and this was his resi- dence during the remainder of his life. A strong supporter of Whig principles, he was at this time a candidate for the mayoralty and for the Assembly, but was defeated. He was fond of both outdoor and indoor sports and excelled in both, being an especially good marksman on the wing.
His first appearance as a lawyer in the Supreme Court was in October, 1849, and lie won his case. From that time he was engaged in many important cases of liti- gation, which are matters of historical record. When the Whig party had passed away, Mr. Beasley gave his support to the Democratic party, being an active supporter of its principles. In 1834 he was appointed city solicitor of Trenton, New Jersey: was elected a member of the common council of that city in 1850; and in 1851 was the Whig nominee for the office of mayor, but was defeated, as above mentioned. On March 8, 1864, he was appointed chief justice of the Su- preme Court, by Judge Parker, to succeed Edward W. Whelpley, was reappointed again and again, holding the office until his death. In his administration of the business of this important office, Judge Beasley promoted promptness and effi- ciency on the bench and at the bar, in- sisting upon the observance of the rules of practice, having always in mind the doing of justice in the particular case. He was courteous to counsel, and patient even with the dullest and most exasperat- ing, maintaining the dignity of the pro- ceedings and deference to the court. In hearing arguments he was quick to grasp the essentials of the case, and by pene- trating questions brought counsel to the point to which the argument should be directed. In presiding over trials at the Circuit and in the Oyer and Terminer
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the Chief Justice was strong and patient, dignified and courteous. His charges to the jury were simple and clear and di- rectly to the point, and these were free from the unusual words and the subtlety of reasoning which are found in some of his written opinions. He retained his powers and kept on with his work to the end of his long life, and his last opinion in the Supreme Court was announced by his associates on the day before his death. He was elected a member of the Society of the Cincinnati, February 22, 1895, and a fine portrait of him, by J. W. Alexander, hangs in the Supreme Court room at Trenton, New Jersey.
Judge Beasley married (first) Frances Higbee, daughter of Charles Higbee, and (second) October 16, 1854, Catherine Ann Haven, daughter of Charles Chauncey and Catharine Matilda (Jeffries) Haven, both marriages taking place at Trenton. By the first marriage he had children : Charlotte Higbee, who married the late Edward T. Green, judge of the United States District Court; Mercer, Jr., de- ceased, a member of the bar, and pros- ecutor of the pleas of Mercer county, New Jersey ; Frances, who married William S. Gummere, present Chief Justice of New Jersey. By the second marriage there was one child : Chauncy Haven, of whom forward.
For spontaneous appreciations of the character and judicial qualities of Chief Justice Beasley by those who knew him best, we refer to the words spoken by his associates on the bench and leading mem- bers of the bar at the opening of the Su- preme Court on the day of his death. A few extracts from these remarks are here given :
Justice Depue said :
To intellectual and legal attainments of the highest order, he added those other qualities without which no judge can be great; character
in its broadest sense, industry, independence, courage, and a high sense of the responsibilities of his office. In all these qualities, Chief Justice Beasley was distinguished to an eminent degree.
Justice Van Syckel said :
His familiarity with the common law, his accu- rate perception of the true boundary of equity jurisdiction, and his discrimination in the appli- cation of legal principles, were his rarest attain- ments, with perhaps, the single exception of his unequalled knowledge of the science of special pleading and his skill in that much neglected art. * * * He was a steadfast and devoted friend, strongly attracted by the high qualities of others, which constituted the beauty and strength of his own character. He treated his associates with marked deference, winning their regard by his manner and their admiration and respect by his great learning and the maturity of his views upon every subject under discussion.
Mr. Cortlandt Parker said :
He was always in fact, I think, Chief Justice. He recognized the duties of that position and filled them. He guarded sedulously pleading and practice. He was not disposed to techni- cality, but he was nevertheless mindful of its im- portance to exact justice, and justice in the par- ticular case was his great end and aim. He had a natural and implacable sense of right, but there has never been a judge on our bench, per- haps, who was so cold and steel-like in his logic and who followed so unswervingly where it led. In my own judgment, this was the point of dan- ger with him. His decisions are models of per- spicuity and terseness and they are always to the point.
BEASLEY, Chauncy Haven, Lawyer, Jurist.
Chauncy Haven Beasley, only son of Chief Justice Mercer Beasley and his sec- ond wife, Catherine Ann (Haven) Beasley, was born in Trenton, New Jersey, July 4, 1857, and died in South Orange, New Jersey, September 4, 1913.
He acquired an excellent preparatory education as a student of Trenton Acade- my and the State Model Academy, then
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matriculated in Princeton University, graduating therefrom in the class of 1880. During his course there he was leader of the College Glee Club, one of the founders of the Ivy Club and a member of Zeta Psi fraternity. He studied law under the excellent preceptorship of his father, also in the office of J. G. Shipman, of Bel- videre, New Jersey, and was admitted to the bar in 1883. He served as attorney for the board of freeholders of Warren county, in 1883, and as counsellor in 1886. He was engaged in the active practice of his profession in Belvidere until 1888, when he was appointed judge of the Dis- trict Court in Trenton, serving in that ca- pacity until 1892, after which he returned to his former vocation, establishing an office in the city of Trenton, continuing until 1900, in which year he formed a partnership with the present Chancellor Walker in Trenton. In 1904 he was em- ployed as counsel for the New Jersey Street Railway Company, afterwards merged into the Public Service Corpora- tion of New Jersey, from which he re- signed in 1911, and from that time until his death, in 1913, he gave his attention to his chosen profession, with offices in Newark. His excellent character, scholar- ly attainments and marked ability in his profession commanded the respect and admiration of the bench and bar. He gave his political allegiance to the Demo- cratic party. He was nominated for Congress in the year 1884, after a close campaign, but was defeated by a small margin. He was appointed aide on Gov- ernor Abbott's staff, with the rank of major, thus affiliating himself with the Seventh Regiment, New Jersey National Guard. During his residence in Trenton, Judge Beasley was a member of Trinity Episcopal and Christ churches, and dur- ing his residence in South Orange was connected with the Church of the Holy
Communion. He was a member of Ashlar Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, in Trenton, Sons of the Revolution, and the Trenton Golf Club.
Judge Beasley married in Trenton, New Jersey, January 10, 1880, Jessie Fleming, born in Rye, New York, April 14, 1863, daughter of Frederick Nichols and Ellen Douglas ( Haven) Fleming, of New York. Children : Catherine Ann, born Novem- ber 23, 1880; Charles Fenton Mercer, July 8, 1882; John Jeffries, August 18, 1884; Emilie Haven, April 18, 1887; Mary Stockton, November 19, 1889; and Chauncy Haven, Jr., May 27, 1893.
MOCKRIDGE, Oscar Bromley, Business Man, Financier.
Oscar Bromley Mockridge, who was for many years prominent in the hardware trade of Newark, New Jersey, and was closely identified with the banking inter- ests of that city, was born in Newark, June 10, 1844, a son of Abraham and Sarah Emmons (Ward) Mockridge, and came of an old and honored New Jersey family. His father, who was born in March, 1802, and died in 1873, was a member of the firm of Mockridge & Francis, hardware dealers of Newark, an enterprise established in 1835.
Oscar Bromley Mockridge received his education in the public schools of his na- tive city. Nathan Hedges' private school, and the Wesleyan Institute, forerunner of the Newark Academy. In 1861 he left school and entered the hardware business of Mockridge & Francis, applied himself to the duties assigned him and acquired a thoroughly practical knowledge of the hardware business, a calling for which he was peculiarly adapted, and in which he was destined to win high distinction as one of its ablest and most successful representatives. He was admitted to the
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firm in 1868, the style of the firm being
affairs. At the same time, he was public- changed at that time to Mockridge & Son, spirited to a notable degree, and was will- under which name it was subsequently carried on, Mr. Mockridge remaining identified with the enterprise until 1899, the business at that time being the oldest continuously conducted undertaking of its kind in the city of Newark. As a man of affairs Mr. Mockridge was thoroughly equipped. His judgment was sound even as a young man, and his foresight keen and unerring. His methods were those of the old school, honest and fair, and ile conducted his business in a progressive and energetic manner that gained for the house a wide prestige and an enviable repute. ing at all times to unite in any movement calculated to advance the common good or promote the material welfare of the community at large. He was a member of the board of directors of the Newark Young Men's Christian Association, on which he served from 1905 until his death, and was president of the Children's Aid Society, associations in which he took an active interest. He was one of the origi- nal members of the North End Club, of Newark, a member of the Up-Town Club, and a popular man in these associations. Socially Mr. Mockridge was as successful as in the business world. Both in busi- ness and in private life, his wise and prac- tical counsel was sought by many and applied with success.
From the founding of the Security Savings Bank of Newark, in 1884, Mr. Mockridge served as treasurer until 1914. when he became vice-president of the same, in which capacity he was serving at the time of his death. This institution is notable as one of the largest savings banks of the city. As treasurer and vice- president of the institution in question, Mr. Mockridge performed his functions with an ability that was most pronounced, and his practical knowledge of banking stood hint in good stead in this connec- tion. He strengthened the enterprise in every direction, and contributed in no small degree to the building up of its constantly increasing business. Until three weeks prior to his death, he was regularly at his desk in the Security bank- ing rooms. He was associated with the banking interests of Newark for more than thirty years, and served as a director of the Manufacturers' National Bank of Newark, and of the Firemen's Insurance Company.
Mr. Mockridge never took an active part in politics, neither seeking nor hold- ing public office, and he preferred.to con- centrate all his efforts upon his personal
Mr. Mockridge married, August 19. 1873, Carolina Virginia Tichenor, of Newark, and they had one son, Dr. Oscar A. Mockridge, who has for a number of years been a successful physician and surgeon. Mrs. Mockridge died July 16, 1916, and at the time of Mr. Mockridge's death. March 11, 1917, he was residing with his son. His funeral services were conducted by the Rev. Alden S. Bennett, minister in charge of Trinity Episcopal Church, of which Mr. Mockridge was a vestryman. The interment was in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. Resolutions of re- gret were passed by the board of man- agers of the Security Savings Bank and by the board of directors of the Young Men's Christian Association.
DESHLER, Charles D., Journalist, Antiquarian, Author.
The late Charles Dunham Deshler, of New Brunswick, New Jersey, was of the sixth generation of the Deshler family and of the eighth generation of the Dun-
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ham family in America, his ancestral lines being as follows :
(I) Johann Deshler, born in Germany. came to America in 1730. (II) Adam Deshler, lived near Allentown, Pennsyl- vania, purchased, in 1742, from Frederick Newhard, two hundred and three and one-half acres, on which he built in 1750 the stone dwelling called Fort Deshler (still standing) ; furnished the provincial troops with supplies in the French and Indian war; married Apollonia
(III) David Deshler, born at Egypt, Pennsylvania, 1733, died at Bienj's Bridge, Pennsylvania, December, 1796; built in Germantown, 1772-73, the famous dwell- ing (afterward the residence of the Mor- ris family) known as the Morris-Deshler house, which at one time was the head- quarters of the British General Howe, and in 1793, during the yellow fever scourge, was occupied by President Washington as the executive mansion ; married Sus- anna- (IV) John Adam Deshler, born 1766, died 1820; married Deborah Wagener. (V) George Wagener Deshler, born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Sep- tember 17, 1793, died 1836; lived in Easton, Pennsylvania ; prothonotary of Northamp- ton county, Pennsylvania ; editor for some time of the Belvidere (New Jersey) "Apollo;" married, May 4, 1818, Cath- arine Lawson Dunham. (VI) Charles Dunham Deshler, see forward.
(I) Deacon John Dunham, born in England in 1589, came to New England in the ship "James" in 1630, and died in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1669; mar- ried Abigail -. (II) Benajah Dun- ham, born 1640, in Plymouth. Massachu- setts, died December 24. 1680, in Piscata- way, New Jersey ; married, October 25, 1660, Elizabeth Tilson. (III) Rev. Ed- mund Dunham, born in Piscataway town- ship, Middlesex county, New Jersey, July 25, 1661, died March 7, 1734; married,
July 15, 1681, Mary Bonham (born Octo- ber 4, 1661, died 1742). (IV) Rev. Jona- than Dunham, of Piscataway, born Au- gust 16, 1694, died March 10, 1777; mar- ried August 15. 1714, Jane Pyatt. (V) Colonel Azariah Dunham, born in Pis- cataway, New Jersey, 1719, died January 22, 1790; noted land surveyor; active in the Revolutionary War, being a member of the committee of correspondence ; mar- ried Mary Ford, of Morristown, who was born September 22, 1734, in the old Ford house at that place, afterward Washing- ton's headquarters. (VI) Dr. Jacob Dun- ham, of New Brunswick, born September 30, 1767, died August 23, 1832; married Elizabeth Lawson. (VII) Catharine Law- son Dunham, born July 14, 1791, died March 26, 1875; married, May 4, 1818, George Wagener Deshler. (VIII) Charles Dunham Deshler.
(Vi) Charles Dunham Deshler, eldest child and only son of George Wagener and Catharine Lawson (Dunham) Desh- ler, was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, March 1, 1819. When about four years. old he was sent to New Brunswick, New Jersey, to make his home with his grand- father, Dr. Jacob Dunham, who then re- sided on Peace street at the foot of Church, in a house which is still standing, though remodeled. He was educated in private schools and at the Rutgers Preparatory School, where he was graduated in 1832 at the age of thirteen. After his grand- father's death in the latter year. he was apprenticed as clerk to Richard S. Mc- Donald in the drug business in New Brunswick. Succeeding Mr. McDonald, he conducted the business under the firm styles of Deshler & Carter, Deshler & Boggs, and finally C. D. Deshler. Dur- ing this period he took an active and prominent part in organizing the New Brunswick gas works, savings institution, and circulating library, as also the New
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Brunswick public school system, of which he has always been regarded as the founder.
Moving to Jersey City, Mr. Deshler be- came editor of the "American Standard," resigning that position to accept the edi- torship of the Newark "Daily Adver- tiser," and conducted these papers with marked ability during a portion of the Civil War. Appointed by Governor Joel Parker commissioner for the sick and wounded Jersey troops, he spent consider- able time in the South caring for the wants and interests of the New Jersey and other troops in the various hospitals. In 1865 he went to the oil regions of Penn- sylvania, occupying the position of treas- urer of the Farmers' railroad, which ran from Petroleum Center to Oil City. He resigned that place to become secretary of the International Life Insurance Com- pany of Jersey City, and later was en- gaged in business interests and literary work in New York City, where he was at various times editor of the "Christian In- telligencer," secretary of the United States Dairy Company, secretary of the Harney Peak Tin Mining, Milling and Manufacturing Company and book re- viewer for the publishing house of Harper Brothers.
Reestablishing his residence in New Brunswick, Mr. Deshler was until his death a prominent and highly esteemed citizen of that community. He was lay judge of the Middlesex county court of common pleas, postmaster of New Bruns- wick (appointed by President Cleveland), and agent for the Mutual Life Insurance Company. For many years he was ves- tryman of Christ (Episcopal) Church. Throughout his very long life he was strongly interested in public affairs, and he was associated on intimate terms with many of the most distinguished political leaders. Originally an ardent Whig (his
first vote being cast for Harrison and Tyler in 1840), he later became a mem- ber of the so-called Know Nothing party, and finally of the Democratic organiza- tion. By appointment from Governor McClellan he served as one of the com- missioners for the Blind and Feeble-mind- ed, having charge of the erection of build- ings, etc. At the centennial of the New Jersey State Legislature he delivered, by the invitation of that body, one of the addresses .. A man of accomplished liter- ary ability, for a portion of his life (as we have seen) a professional writer and edi- tor. and at all times occupied more or less with literary studies and composition, no account of his career would be adequate without a somewhat particular allusion to this phase of it. His reading was most extensive, his tastes inclining especially to the study of English literature, of which he had a scholarly knowledge, and upon which he wrote and published valu- able critical essays and other contribu- tions. He was the author of "Selections from the Poetical Works of Geoffry Chau- cer" (Putnam, 1848) and "Afternoons with the Poets" (Harper, 1879). He also devoted much attention to historical re- searches, and in this connection published many sketches and addresses. The George W. Deshler Memorial Library of the New Brunswick high school was given by him in memory of a son. Mr. Deshler died at his residence in New Brunswick, May 10, 1909, in his ninety-first year.
He married, May 30, 1841, Mary Moore Holcombe, born October 10, 1824, in New Brunswick, died September 7, 1893, daughter of Theophilus Moore and Cath- erine Neilson (Farmer) Holcombe. The Holcombes in this line were an older Quaker family, originally of Lambert- ville, New Jersey. Children: 1. Edward Boggs. 2. George Wagener, graduate of West Point Military Academy, and after-
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ward first lieutenant of Company A, First Artillery, United States Army; died of yellow fever at Fort Barrancas, Florida, July 28, 1875. 3. Monroe Holcombe (de- ceased). 4. James. 5. Kate. 6. Theophi- lus Holcombe (deceased). 7. Mary Hol- combe. 8. Elizabeth Dunham (deceased). 9. Charles. 10. Frederick. 11. Edith.
STRYCKER, Gen. William S., Soldier, Historian.
The Strycker family is of most remote antiquity. Proof has been brought from Holland of the family having remained on the same estates near The Hague and near Rotterdam for full eight hundred years prior to the coming of the first member to this country in 1652. The following facts, viz. : the ducal coronet on the crest and the family being traced far back to the latter part of the eighth century. prove that the progenitors were among the great military chieftains of the Neth- erlands who were created dukes, counts and barons by Charles the Bald, in order to bring some form of government out of the chaos of those times long before the advent of the Dutch Republic. Many legends are told of this powerful family in those warlike days-one particularly accounting for the three boars' heads upon the shield.
In 1643 the States General of the Neth- erlands offered a grant of land in New Amsterdam to Jan and Jacobus Strycker provided that they brought out, at their own expense, twelve other families from Holland. This grant, it does not appear, they accepted until eight years afterward, when they established the American branch of the family in and near New Amsterdam. The old Strycker mansion at Fifty-second street and the Hudson river is the last of the old manor houses of New York City. There were few
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