USA > New Jersey > New Jersey first citizens : biographies and portraits of the notable living men and women of New Jersey with informing glimpses into the state's history and affairs, 1917-1918, Vol. I > Part 3
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Mr. Apgar also served for five years as a member of the Mer- cer County Tax Board, and by reason of his experience and study of the taxation questions has since been recognized, in his section of the State, as an ex- pert upon that subject. He was also for twenty years, a Park Commissioner and during a por- tion of that time, was President of the Board. Mr. Apgar was tendered the appointment of Circuit Court Judge by Gover- nor Stokes in 1907, but he was unable to accept the same by reason of certain professional connections that he had then made and which he felt he ought not, at that time, to sever.
During his student period, he became engaged in legislative corres- pondence work for several of the New York and Philadelphia newspapers, which connection he continued for a number of years. He was one of the charter members of the Legislative Correspondents Club of Trenton and has always retained his membership therein.
Mr. Apgar has also been very active in Fraternal life, serving for two years as Grand Master of Masons of the State of New Jersey, and for two years as Supreme Regent of the Royal Arcanum for the United States and Canada. In Fraternal Beneficiary Society law, which is a special branch of the profession, Mr. Apgar has had much experience and is frequently consulted by other lawyers regarding that specialty. For a number of years past, he has had charge of the Claim Department of the Royal Arcanum, there passing under his supervision and direction of payment over $8,000,000. per year, for the beneficiaries of deceased members of the Royal Arcanum.
He has been one of the Solicitors of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- pany for many years, and likewise represents the Adams and American Express Companies in his section of the State, and is a member of the Lawyers Club of New York, the Trenton Chamber of Commerce, Legisla-
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Appleby
tive Correspondents Club of New Jersey, Trenton Country Club, the Wash- ington Association, limited in its membership to twenty members of the Grand Lodge of Masons of the State of New Jersey, and the Masonic Veterans Association of New Jersey.
T. FRANK APPLEBY-Asbury Park. (Main St.)-Realty Oper- ator. Born at Old Bridge, October 10th. 1864; son of Theodore and Margaret S. (Mount ) Appleby ; married at Somerville, April 10, 1889, to Alice C. Hoffman, daughter of David K. Hoffman, of Lebanon.
Children : Stewart H., born May 17th, 1890: Richard H., born May 12th, 1891 : Theodore F., born May 14th. 1895.
The name of T. Frank Appleby is a familiar one in the towns along the shore coast of New Jersey. Of English descent, he was educated in the schools of Asbury Park. and Pennington Seminary, and graduated with the class of 1885 from Fort Edward (N. Y.) Institute. Ever since he began to make his home in Asbury Park he has been engaged in the real estate business, and at the same time active in the politics and affairs of the locality. He is best known to the business world however as a real estate operator. be- ing a member of the New Jer- sey Real Estate Exchange and an active influence in the As- bury Park Building and Loan Association of which he is Vice-President. Preminent too, in insurance circles, he was for several years President of the New Jersey Fire Underwriters. He is a member also of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Appleby's political activ- ities have been varied and con- tinnous for many years. He has long been a factor in Asbury Park affairs particularly. He was a member of the local Board of Education for ten years-an apprenticeship that fitted him for valuable work on the State Board of Education during the eight years of his subsequent connection there. He served later as a member, by gubernatorial ap- pointment, of the State Geological Survey Board. He was a member of the Asbury Park City Council for seven years, it's President for five terms. He served as acting Mayor, has been twice elected Mayor of Asbury Park, is Chairman of the Ocean Boulevard Committee and a member of the Mon- mouth Co. Tax Board. In 1896 he was chosen by the Republican State
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Armstrong
convention, as a district delegate to the National Convention that put Garret A. Hobart of Paterson on the National ticket for Vice-President of the United States, with Mckinley as the candidate for President.
Later, at a time when the state was stirred by a liquor agitation, the Legislature authorized the appointment of a commission to inquire into excise conditions in all parts of the commonwealth; and Governor Fort named Mr. Appleby as a member of that commission. The commission sat in many parts of the state, and produced testimony that was revealing as to the prevalence of the liquor habit even in the restricted localities, and the confessed laxness, on the part of local officials, in many places, in the enforcement in the state liquor laws.
Mr. Appleby is fond of travel, has visited all parts of the United States, made a somewhat extensive trip through England, France and Italy, and he inspected the Panama Canal while it was in course of construc- tion. He has attended many conventions of the American Bankers Associ- ation, and is a director of the Asbury Park and Ocean Grove Bank and a member of the Deal Golf Club and of many other local organizations.
EDWARD AMBLER ARMSTRONG-Camden .- Lawyer. Born at Woodstown, Dec. 28th, 1858; son of Francis W. and Rebecca Brown (Jess) Armstrong ; married on June 15, 1881, to Mellie MI. Fortiner, daughter of Samuel M. and Mary H. Fortiner, of Cam- den, (died March 23, 1883)-2nd on April 30, 1907, to Carrie W. Morgan, daughter of Randal E. Morgan, of Camden.
Children : Wym, born February 5, 1883-member of the bar.
Edward A. Armstrong has been Speaker of the New Jersey House of Assembly, Judge of the Camden City District Court, Presiding Judge of the Camden County Court, Judge Advocate of the Second Brigade N. G. N. J. and is now Assistant General Counsel of the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey.
Mr. Armstrong finished his education at the High School. and has since received the A. M. degree from Bucknell University. Having studied law with Benjamin D. Shreve, he was admitted to the Bar as an attorney in 1880 and as a counsellor in 1885. He began his practice in Camden with a special view to corporation work. His first election to the House of Assembly was in 1883: and, re-elected in 1884, 'S5, '86. he presided as Speaker over the Houses of 1885-'S6. In 1SSS the Legislature elected him Judge of the Camden District Court, and in 1897 he was made Presiding Judge of the County Courts by Governor Griggs, serving until 1902. In 1906 Governor Stokes appointed him a member of the State Board of Equalization of Taxes and he served there until 1909. At the opening of 1911 he was made Assistant General Counsel of the Public Service Cor- poration. He maintains an office in Camden, where his son practices law.
Judge Armstrong is a member of the Camden County Bar Associa- tion, the New Jersey State Bar Association, the American Bar Associa- tion, the American Archaelogical Association (Princeton ), the New Jersey Historical Society, and the Pennsylvania Historical Society. His club
18' Atha
connections are with the Camden Automobile Club, the Nassau Club (Princeton ), the Union League Club, the Penn. Club, the Lawyers' Club (Philadelphia ), the Army and Navy Club, the Manhattan Club, the Lotos Club and the Republican Club, (New York ).
Mr. Armstrong has a home "The Farm" in Princeton.
BENJAMIN ATHA-Newark. (756 High St.)-Banker. Born Liberty. N. Y., January 5, 1844; son of Andrew Atha and Henri- etta (Armitage) Atha : married at Newark, May 15, 1867, to Sarah A. Gurney, daughter of Henry G. Gurney, of England.
Children : Henry G .. Herbert B., Albert H., Charles G., and Louis M.
Benjamin Atha's fore-bears came from England to this country in 1842. His father, Andrew Atha, was of the firm of Prentice Atha & Co., organized in 1864 to engage in its manufacture. The firm established itself at Newark, and afterwards moved to Harrison, and quickly grew into prominence among the industries of the country. The plant was extended for a constantly increasing business that made its product known in the markets of the world. Andrew Atha. during Civil War times, devoted a considerable part of his fortune to the comfort of the soldiers serving in the field in the Union ranks; and he gave rent free to the families of all tenants whose sons or husbands or other wage earners had enlisted.
Benjamin Atha was educated 'in private schools and assisted in the conduct of his father's steel business. In 1871 the firm name was changed to Benjamin Atha & Company and so remained until 189S. Then John Illingworth was taken into the business, and it was reorganized as the Benjamin Atha & Illingworth Company. In 1900 the company was ab- sorbed by the Crucible Steel Company, and the works at Harrison consti- tute one of the most important establishments of that great producing corporation.
Andrew Atha was one of the original incorporators of the Essex County Bank. When he died in 1875, Benjamin Atha was chosen to suc- ceed him in the bank's Board of Directors. In October of 1906, he was elected President of the bank, and continued in that relation till the open- ing of July, 1910, when he asked to be relieved. The Board of Directors, granting the request of course, conferred the title of Honorary Vice Presi- dent upon him.
Mr. Atha is a member of the Union League Club, New York, the Essex Club, Newark, the Essex County Country Club, and the Baltusrol Golf Club.
WILLIAM STEWART AUCHINCLOSS-Atlantic Highlands .- Author and Inventor. Born in New York, March 19, 1842. son of John A. Auchincloss.
William S. Auchincloss was educated at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and in 1862 received the C. E. degree from it. He was in the
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Auger
construction department of the Atlantic & Great Western Railway and of the Jersey City Locomotive works for seven years after graduation ; later a manufacturer of rolling stock and a ship builder for eight years. In these relations he acquired the expert information he afterwards embodied in his book "Link and Valve Motions." He was in business as a commis- sion merchant for fifteen yars and meanwhile invented the averaging instrument for the rapid calculation of accounts. In 1867 President An- drew Johnson appointed him one of the United States Commissioners to the Paris Exposition.
Besides being the author of the technical work already referred to, Mr. Auchincloss has written "Ninety Days in the Tropics", "The Book of Daniel Unlocked" and "Chronology of the Holy Bible."
CHARLES L. AUGER-East Ridgewood, ("Glenacres") .- Manu- facturer. Born in Philadelphia, Pa., Sept. 29th, 1860 ; son of Peter F. and Marie F. (Clement) Auger ; married to Mary Mirandon in 1SS1 (died in 1883)-second to Emma Chadwick in 1884.
Children : Frank C., Emma F., Mary F., Charles L. Jr., and Louis F.
Charles L. Anger has been President of the National Silk Dyeing Company since its formation. He is of French extraction on both sides, his father having been born in Normandy and lived in Paris, and Lor- raine being the birthplace of his mother. Both came to this country in 1860. Mr. Auger was educated in the Public Schools; and has lived in Paterson and vicinity for the forty years since he came from Philadelphia. He took up a commercial course and became identified with the silk business, taking up the branch of dyeing which he mastered in every de- tail. He began business in a small way when very young and from the very commencement his career was a success. At the time of the incorporation of the Auger & Simon Silk Dyeing Company in 1890 he became its President and continued until he and his associates formed the National Silk Dyeing Company, "he largest silk dyeing company in the world today, of which he has been president since its organization.
Besides being President of the National Silk Dyeing Company Mr. Anger is connected with a number of corporations engaged in finance and
20
Avis
manufacturing. He is also a Director of the First National Bank of Pat- erson, of the Hamilton Trust Company, Paterson. of the New Jersey Fire Insurance Company of Newark, and of the Cellonite Company of Basle, Switzerland. He is a member of the Society of Chemical Industry of London, of the Society of Inventors of France and of other civic, profes- sional and literary bodies of this country and Europe.
Mr. Auger is interested in the charities, their work and institutions. He lives in the country at East Ridgewood, adjoining Ridgewood. where he has established a homestead which he calls "Glenacres" and where he spends most of his time outside of business. He is also an enthusiastic automobilist, being among the first to own and operate an automobile in this country and has driven cars himself several hundreds thousands of miles.
Among the clubs and organizations with which he is connected are the Hamilton Club, Paterson : the Arcola Country Club. Arcola : the Living- stone Club of Allentown : the Ross Club, Williamsport, Pa. ; the Lamb's Club, New York: the Automobile Club of America, New York; the New Jersey Automobile Club of Newark : the Princeton Club of New York ; and the Circle Republicain of Paris, France.
Of Mr. Augers children, the oldest, Frank. is living on the farm, "Glenacres", in East Ridgewood : Emma, married Frank T. Powers. (died) ; Mary (or May) married Henry C. Muhs-they are living in Ridgewood, with their two small children ; Charles L., Jr .. is an engineer and graduate of Princeton and at present a Lieutenant at Fort Meyer, Va., and Louis F. has joined the New Jersey Squadron but is studying engineering at Prince- ton until called to service.
JOHN BOYD AVIS-Woodbury .- Lawyer. Born at Deerfield, (Cumberland Co.) July 11th, 1875; son of John H. and Sarah (Barker) Avis: married at Asbury Park, September 27th. 1899, to Minnie Genung Anderson, daughter of Charles H. and Ruth A. Anderson of New York City.
John Boyd Avis is one of the recognized forces in the politics and affairs of South Jersey. He was a notable figure in the legislation of the state in the four terms he served in the House of Assembly and in the subsequent three year term of his service in the Senate. He rose to be the Speaker of the Assembly, in which his father had had a seat twenty years earlier. The long interest his family has taken in public affairs is reflected in the fact that his great-great grandfather. Joseph Avis, was of the patriot army in the Revolutionary War, connected with Major Somer's Brigade, and one of the brave fellows who suffered the tortures of that dreadful winter at Valley Forge.
Though born in Cumberland County and educated at the schools in Deerfield township there, Mr. Avis has spent all of his active years in Gloucester County. When he had been admitted to the bar as an attorney, at the February term of 1898, he opened an office in Woodbury. He was a
21
Ayer
partner with Ex-Governor David O. Watkins till 1907, when the partner- ship was dissolved, and he has since been practicing alone. Besides his large private practice he has been attorney for a number of the Gloucester county municipalities.
With a taste for politics and skill in the game as well, Mr. Avis soon became a member of the Gloucester County Republican Committee, and served one year as Chairman of the Committee. In 1912 he was chosen a delegate from the First Congressional District to the Republican National Convention at Chicago. He was the New Jersey member of the Convention's Committee on Credentials and gave active support to the candidacy of Colonel Roosevelt for the nomination that the convention finally gave to President Taft.
Mr. Avis's legislative career began with his election in 1901 as the member from Gloucester in the New Jersey House of Assembly and he achieved the unusual distinction of being re-elected in each of three suc- cessive years. The House of 1904 selected him as its Speaker, and he per- formed the functions of the chair with an acceptability that prompted the Assembly of 1905 also to make him its presiding officer. His service in the Upper Chamber of the Legislature was for the term 1906-190S. There, he was appointed to the leading committees, and exerted a marked influence on the legislation of the day. His name was most conspicuously identi- fied however with the act creating the County Boards for the Equalization of Taxes. Senator Avis, believing that a system for the equalization of taxes should be devised, formulated and drew an act authorizing the ap- pointment by the Governor of non-partisan Tax Equalization Boards in the several counties of the state. He advocated the act with an earnestness and force that eventuated in making it a law. In subsequent years at- tempts were made to repeal the act, but a study of its effects in operation discouraged the plea and the efforts to repeal have been unsuccessful.
Mr. Avis is prominent also in the church and social and Fraternal Order movements of his locality. He is of the Presbyterian faith and an active worker in the Y. M. C. A. He is a Mason, and in 1916 was Wor- shipful Master of Florence Lodge No. 87. F. & A. M. of Woodbury. His other connections are with the Red Men, the Jr. O. U. A. M., the Loyal Order of Moose, the Grange, the Odd Fellows and the Foresters of Amer- ica.
FRANCIS WAYLAND AYER-Camden .- Advertising. Born at Lee, Massachusetts, February 4, 1848 ; son of Nathan Wheeler Ayer and Joanna B. Wheeler.
Nathan Wheeler Ayer, a native of Preston, Connecticut, was gradu- ated from Brown University in 1840 and admitted to the bar in 1852. His preference however inclined him to the profession of teaching in which he was eminently sucessful as Principal of several College Preparatory Schools in the state of New York. He removed to Philadelphia in 1867.
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Bacharach
Francis Wayland Ayer was educated under his father's supervision ; and at the age of fourteen accepted a position as teacher of a district school in New York state, continuing in this profession until 1867 when he matriculated as a freshman at Rochester University. In 1869, at the age of twenty-one, he joined his father in Philadelphia and founded the firm of N. W. Ayer and Son, Advertising Agents. He became head of the firm on the death of his father in 1873. As a mark of respect to his father, the firm name, N. W. Ayer and Son, has been continuously retained.
The first Advertising Agency was established in Philadelphia in 1841. The business was still in its infancy in 1869, and the firm of N. W. Aver and Son has not only been one of the pioneers in the business of Newspaper Advertising, but has rapidly forged to the front and has ever maintained a position of recognized leadership. The American Newspaper Annual, published by N. W. Aver and Son since 1880, is a complete directory of United States news- papers. Its relation to the newspaper publisher and adver- tiser is not dissimilar to that of Dun and Bradstreet to the commercial man.
The history of the house is epitomized in its motto: "Keep- ing Everlastingry at It Brings Success." Mr. Ayer removed to Camden in 1869, and has since retained his residence in New Jersey, where he is largely interested in street railway development, having for many years been a Director, and later President, of the Camden and Suburban Rail- way Company.
A leader in the field of religion and philanthropy, Mr. Aver has been for forty years a Sunday School Superintendent ; and is the head of his denomination (Baptist) in New Jersey, President of his City and of the State Young Men's Christian Association, a member of its International Committee and President of the last International Convention of the Asso- ciations in Cleveland.
ISAAC BACHARACH-Atlantic City. - Financier and Real Estate Broker. Born in Philadelphia, January 5, 1870; son of Jacob and Betty Bacharach.
Isaac Bacharach is of a family that has for years exerted a large in- fluence in Atlantic County affairs, and is himself a forceful factor not only
23
Bacheller
in that community, but throughout South Jersey. At the present time he is serving his second term in the National House of Representatives in Washington, having been first elected in 1914 and re-elected with a very greatly increased majority in 1916. Congressman Bacharach received his education in the schools of Atlantic City, graduating from the Atlantic City High School in the Class of 1885. He was engaged in the mercantile business in Atlantic City for a number of years, giving up that pursuit to engage in the real estate business.
Mr. Bacharach was twice elected a member of the City Council of At- lantic City, serving from 1905 to 1910; during his term in Council he headed a number of the most important committees, was Chairman of the Committee on Finance, and also acted as floor leader of his party.
While serving in Council he was selected by the Republi- cans of Atlantic County to rep- resent that county in the House of Assembly in 1911. He de- clined a renomination for the Assembly and retired from pub- lic life until 1913 when, respond- ing to the persistence of prom- inent leaders in the Second Con- gressional District, comprising Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May and Cumberland counties, he became a candidate for Con- gress in the primary campaign of 1913, and received the nomi- nation for that office.
Mr. Bacharach is First Vice President of the Second National Bank of Atlantic City, and a Director of the Atlantic Safe Deposit and Trust Company, and the Absecon National Bank, and President of the Atlantic City Lumber Company.
JOSEPH HENRY BACHELLER-Newark. (97 Johnson Ave.) -Financier. Born in Newark, October 1, 1869; son of John Col- lins and Harriet (Parcells) Bacheller ; married to Edith Adele Smith, daughter of Israel Pierson Smith, of Newark.
Children : Muriel, Adele, Joseph Henry, Jr., and John Smith.
Mr. Bacheller traces his ancestry back in this country through a long ancestral line to before the middle of the 17th century. The family is of
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Backes
English extraction, scattered all through the counties of Kent, Sussex and Surrey. The first record it discloses of any settler here. shows that John Bacheller, of Canterbury, came across the seas to Ipswich, Mass., between 1630 and 1635. The family had written the name in various ways; and it was not till 1700 that it came to be spelled as the branch to which J. H. Bacheller belongs has spelled it since. One of Mr. Bacheller's fore-bears, Sergeant John, was a Selectman in the town of Watertown, Mass. His son John was the fourth large contributor to the new Meeting House Building Fund there, and served in King Phillips War. The family spread into other towns in Massachusetts, and one of Mr. Bacheller's line ( Samuel II, born 1725) was among the earliest settlers in the now great textile centre of Massachusetts. Lynn. Joseph Newhall Bacheller, was the first of the stock to come to New Jersey and he located as a farmer in the South Orange and Vailsburg section of Essex County. John C., of the ninth gen- eration of the family in this country, was the first to make his permanent home in Newark. He went into business as a manufacturer.
Joseph Henry Bacheller was educated in the schools, grammar and high, of Newark. When he was ready for business he secured a clerical position with the New York Life Insurance Company and was engaged there until he became associated with Samuel S. Dennis in 1890 in looking after the large real estate holdings of the late A. L. Dennis, who was among the first promoters of the old Camden & Amboy Railroad Co .. now part of the Pennsylvania system. He retained his connection with Mr. Dennis until very recently when the last of the real estate belonging to the estate of A. L. Dennis was sold. Meanwhile in June. 1907. the Iron Bound Trust Co. was organized : and Mr. Bacheller was made Vice-Presi- dent and then President.
Even these large business preoccupations have not prevented Mr. Bacheller from taking an active part in the politics of the city and state: and for some years he was an important figure in the councils of the republican party of New Jersey. From 1887 till 1901 he served as a mem- ber of the Board of Alderman- from the ninth ward and was republican leader and chairman of the Finance Committee for several years and in 1903 was President of the Board.
Meanwhile the field of his activities was enlarged by his election, in 1900, to a seat in the Assembly: and two years later he was sent to the State Senate. as the representative of Essex County. His democratic rival in the campaign for the Senate was Samuel Kalisch who has since be- come a Justice of the Supreme Court of the State. In the House he served on several important committees; and in the Senate was chairman of the Municipal Corporations Committee.
When the Shade Tree commission was estabilshed in Newark, Mayor Doremus named Mr. Bacheller to serve upon it, and he became the first President of the Commission. In 1905 Mayor Doremus appointed him comptroller of the city of Newark, an office in which he served for six years and he handled anywhere between seven and ten millions of dollars of the peoples funds, annually.
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