USA > New Jersey > New Jersey's first citizens and state guide, Vol. II, 1919-1920 > Part 51
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Dr. Snyder has interested himself in raising the standard of teaching by providing better facilities for the preparation of teachers and by putting the appointment and promotion of teachers entirely outside the domain of favoritism. He has met with opposition along these two lines, but he has stood for thorough academic and professional training, for the appointment of teachers on the basis of merit alone and for their encouragement by mak- ing proved efficiency and fitness the sole test for promotion. To meet these conditions he has devoted a great deal of energy to securing better salaries, and was the author of the Act of 1900, which fixed compulsory minimum salaries for the teachers in Jersey City.
Dr. Snyder is the author of many pamphlets and papers on educational topics and in collaboration with the late Edward S. Ellis, of Montclair, is the author of a School History of New Jersey.
MELVILLE ELLIOTT SNYDER-Trenton .- Clergyman. (Pho- tograph published in Vol. 1, 1917). Born at Kingston, N. Y., son of Jonathan and Maria Hannah (Van Gaasbeck) Snyder ; married at Camden, on April 30, 1895, to Elizabeth Robertson Street, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. A. Emory Street, of that city.
Melville Elliott Snyder was a member of the famous Elisor Grand Jury-the first in the State-that in 1911 investigated the official and poli- tical corruption alleged to be prevalent in Atlantic City and county. At that time drawing of grand juries was in the hands of the sheriffs alone. It was alleged that the sheriff of Atlantic county was drawing juries favor- able to ignoring charges of corruption in Atlantic City and county. A strong movement for reform was pressing for an investigation and for in- dictment where offences were disclosed. It was rumored that the sheriff himself was accused of certain election irregularities. Supreme Court Jus- tice Kalisch therefore declared him disqualified to select a grand jury, dis- missed the one he had drawn and, under an ancient law, appointed two elis- ors to select a new body of inquisitors. The Rev. Dr. Snyder, then preach- ing in Atlantic City and an active factor in the reform element, was a mem-
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ber of the grand jury thus selected. The results of its investigation are a matter of history.
The Rev. Dr. Snyder was also a member of the General Conferences of the M. E. Church held in 1912 and 1916, serving on the secretarial staff on both occasions. He is a member and Recording Secretary of the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension of the M. E. Church; a Trustee of the New Jersey Annual Conference and of Pennington Seminary ; a member of the Board of Managers of the Centenary Fund and Preachers' Aid Society of the New Jersey Conference, one of the managers of the New Jersey Children's Home Society and was for several years actively engaged in the State Sunday School Association as Superintendent of the Home Department. For twenty-three years he was on the secretarial staff of the New Jersey Annual Conference-the last eight, Chief Secre- tary.
The Rev. Dr. Snyder is of Holland extraction on both sides. The fore- fathers of his parents came to this country before the Revolutionary war, settling in New York state, and served during the Revolutionary struggle. His father enlisted in the 156th Regiment, New York Volunteers, in the early part of the Civil War, and in three years of active service attained to the rank of Adjutant.
The first four or five years of Dr. Snyder's life were spent in New York State, after which his parents came to this State. His early educa- tion was acquired at the local public schools. He afterwards attended Pen- nington Seminary. Later he took up studies in Taylor University, graduat- ing in 1897. He was admitted to the New Jersey Conference in 1889, and ordained deacon by Bishop James N. Fitzgerald in 1891 and elder by Bishop John M. Walden in 1893.
Dr. Snyder's first appointment was at Lumberton and Smithville where his three years of service attracted the attention of church officials by his success in developing the church both spiritually and financially. Next he was assigned to State Street, Camden, then a young but promising church. There the membership was doubled during the three years of his pastorate and the finances established on a solid basis. The next three years he served in Moorestown, and then, in 1898, he was appointed to St. James, New Brunswick, where he spent six years, and thoroughly renovated that beautiful building and paid the debt on it. Next, at Central Church, Bridge- ton, he remained but two years because he was unanimously asked for at St. Paul, Atlantic City. He began his ministry in the city by the sea in 1906 and remained seven years. In 1913 he was appointed to Hamilton Avenue Church, Trenton. After one year in that church, much against the wishes of the congregation, Bishop J. F. Berry appointed him Educational Secretary so that his efforts might be used in relieving Pennington Semi- nary of its embassing debt. The following year, 1915, Bishop T. S. Hender- son appointed him Superintendent of Trenton District. The ministry of the doctor has been marked by substantial increases in the membership of the churches he has served and by improved business methods in the handling of church affairs. He has always closely identified himself with all move- ments that make for the betterment of the community.
Dr. Snyder has traveled extensively over this and foreign lands and has written much for the Press. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa
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fraternity and the Masonic fraternity, being a past master of the Pales- tine Lodge, No. 111, F. and A. M., of New Brunswick.
CHARLES ANDREW SPAULDING - Allentown, (Church Street ). Banker. Born at Allentown, N. J., July 11th, 1860, son of Benjamin C. and Mary R. (Vanderbeek) Spaulding, married at Allentown, N. J., on December 12th, 1882, to Elizabeth McKane Vanderbeek, daughter of Thomas and Lelitia (McKane) Vander- beek.
Children : Marvin Andrew, born April 23, 1884 and Carl Vander- beek, born January 28th, 1887.
Charles Andrew Spaulding is of old English and Dutch stock. His father came to New Jersey from Connecticut, while his mother is of old Dutch stock.
In his early days he attended the public schools of Allentown, gradu- ating in 1876 and thereupon entered the Allentown High School from which institution he graduated in 1878. In 1882 he opened a general store in Allentown, which he conducted successfully until 1916. In 1905 he was elected president of the Farmers National Bank, which office he still holds. Elected President of Merchant's Wholesale Grocery Co., 230 South Front Street, Philadelphia in 1912 and still holds this office.
He was always active in the affairs and civic betterment of his com- munity, and from 1894 until 1917 he was president of the Upper Freehold Township Board of Education. He is a member of the Allentown Presby- terian Church and from 1894 to 1916 he was one of the trustees of the church and President of the Board. During the great war, he was chair- man of four Liberty Loan campaigns for his home town, and each time carried his community "over the top".
He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, of Mount Moriah No. 28 Bordentown, N. J .; Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Allentown, No. 146, and National Union, Allentown Council No. 549.
His business address is Allentown, N. J.
BIRD W. SPENCER-Passaic, (147 Paulison Avenue.)-Bank- er. Born in New York City, in 1848; son of the Rev. Jesse A. and Sarah J. (Loutrel) Spencer ; married at Mount Holley, February 24th, 1897, to Florence Vander Veer Conover, daughter of Vander Veer Conover and Charlotte Read, of Mount Holly.
Children : Bird F .; Grace Doolittle; Sadie Bickell ; Arthur W.
While Bird W. Spencer has been active for more than a quarter of a century in the civic and political life of the State, his name is most widely known in connection with its military life. He was of the Seventh Regi- ment of New York City, from 1865 to '71, and with the Ninth Regiment (N. Y.) from '71 to 75. In 1875 Gov. Bedle made him one of his Military
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Aides and in '97 he was appointed Deputy Quartermaster General of the state. In 1881 the rank of Inspector General of Rifle Practice was created, and General Spencer was appointed to fill it and is still serving in that rela- tion. His proficiency in rifle practice led to his appointment as Vice Presi- dent of the War Department Board for the promotion of Rifle Practice in the United States.
General Spencer's military activities have not interfered with his work for the improvement of his home city ; and he has been identified with the local government of Passaic City in various capacities for a number of years. In 1877 he was elected to a seat in the City Council and subsequent- ly was Mayor of the city for four terms of two years each, and he has also been for six years a member of the City's Excise Board.
General Spencer's father was a clergyman in the Episcopal church and his family is descended from the Spencer and Ames families of Massachu- setts and Connecticut. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War his great grandfather, Jesse Ames, was made Commander of the First Com- pany of the Lexington Alarm and fought as a Captain in the very first en- gagement of that memorable struggle, in April, 1775. Louis Loutrel, his grandfather, was an aid to General Lafayette. General Spencer lived in New York City until 1871, when he came to New Jersey to reside in Pas- saic. He was educated at the Quackenboss Collegiate School at the 14th Street Corner of 6th Avenue, New York City and at Columbia College. His first labors were with the Erie Railroad company, and during his twen- ty-nine years of service there he rose rapidly until he became Treasurer of the company, serving in that capacity for ten years. Of late he has devoted himself to the banking business in Passaic and is President of the Peoples Bank and Trust Company of that city.
General Spencer's club and society memberships are with the Union League Club of New York, the Army and Navy Club of New York, the Pas- saic City Club (President), Sons of the American Revolution and others.
WILLIAM H. SPEER-Jersey City, (29 Bentley Avenue) .- Jurist. Born at Jersey City, N. J., October 21st, 1868, son of Wil- liam H. and Eleanor C. (Brinkerhoff) Speer, married at Dayton, Ohio. January 10th, 1900, to Merretta Kirby, daughter of John and Merretta Kirby.
Children : John. born 1900, William H., born 1905 Eleanor K. born 190S.
William H. Speer is a descendant of the Speer and Brinkerhoff fam- ilies, that settled in New Jersey about 1650.
In his early life, he attended the public schools of Jersey City, his birthplace, and later the Hasbrouck Institute, from which he graduated in 1887. He then entered Columbia University and studied in both Arts and Law at the University. In 1891 he was admitted to the bar as an at- torney-at-law, and in 1895 he was admitted as a counsellor-at-law. Since then, Judge Speer has been prominent in judicial circles of Hudson Coun- ty. In 1900 and 1901 he was vice-president of the Hudson County Bar As-
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sociation, and the following year he served as president of the organization. / Since 1903 he has been Prosecutor of the Pleas for Hudson County, and since 1908 has been Judge of the Circuit Courts of New Jersey, having sat therein in Hudson, Union and Morris Counties. He has been a mem- ber of several law commissions, and a speaker and writer on politics, eco- nomics, sociological and industrial topics.
Judge Speer was for several years president of the Cosmos Club of Jersey City, and during the war was chairman of the Lawyers Advisory Board and the Legal Defense Council of Hudson County.
He is a member of the Hackensack Golf Club, the Cartaret Club and the Jersey City Lodge Elks.
His business address is Hudson County Court House.
FRANCIS ALBERT STANTON-Hoboken, (S31 Castle Point Terrace) .- Lawyer and Assemblyman. Born at Hoboken, N. J .. January 19th, 1888. Son of Edward R. and Mary A. (O'Connell) Stanton ; married at Hoboken, N. J., on July 11th, 1916, to Eliza- beth Harms Wyeth, daughter of Charles and Margaret ( Harms) Wyeth.
Francis Albert Stanton is of English-Irish stock. His father, Edward R. Stanton was sheriff of Hudson County in 1891-'93, Past Warden of the State as well as Mayor and Recorder of Hoboken, the latter from 1899 to 1907. He is now United States Commissioner for New Jersey, having been appointed to that post by Federal Judge Lanning in 1900.
In his early life he attended the public schools of Hoboken. He then entered the Stevens Preparatory School, graduating in 1903, and from the Stevens Institute of Technology in 1907 with the degree of Mechanical Engineer. Deciding upon law as his covation, he took a post graduate course at the New York University Law School. He is now senior mem- ber of the firm of Stanton & Maloney of New York City. In the last fall elections he was elected to the State Assembly from Hudson County. He is a great traveler and has been in all the principal parts of the world.
He enlisted in the Seventh New York Infantry in 1909 and at the outbreak of the great war attended the Officers' Training School at Fort Meyer, Virginia. He received a commission in the Field Artillery and thereafter served at Camp Stanley, Texas, until June 21, 1918 when he was discharged because of physical disability.
He is a member of the American Society of Engineers, Lodge No. 24 of Elks and the Bita Delta Bita, Thetha New Epsilon and Phi Delta Phi fraternities.
His business address is 27 William Street, New York City.
GEORGE A. STEELE-Eatontown, (10 Tinton Avenue.)- Member of the Board of Conservation and Development. Born at
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Fair Haven, N. J., June 24th, 1872, son of John N. and Matilda (Johnson) Steele. Married at Red Bank, N. J., on July 17th, 1901, to Gertrude Agnes Reuter, daughter of Anton and Anna (Vid- vard) Reuter.
Children : Helen Augusta, born May 21, 1902; Marie Theresa, born December 17, 1903; Hildegarde, born September 17th, 1909.
George 1. Steele is of old New England stock on his fathers side. John N. Steele, his father was an old New Englander, whose ancestors settled along the Massachusetts coast in the early part of the eighteenth century, a few miles above Boston. His mother was born in the Kings County. Ireland and came to America at an early age.
In his early life, he attended the public schools of Monmouth Coun- ty. He graduated from Little Silver Public school in 1888 and was em- ployed in various nurseries throughout the state before founding the Shrewsbury Nurseries in 1896.
On April 21st, 1914, he was appointed by Governor Fielder as a mem- ber of the Board of Forest Park Reservation Commissioners, and when on July 1st, 1915 that board was absorbed by the Board of Conservation and Development, he was appointed to the latter organization for the full term of four years. His term expires on July first, 1919.
Mr. Steele is a member and President of the First National Bank of Eatontown, N. J .; President of Steele's Shrewsbury Nurseries, Eaton- town, N. J., member of Spring Lake Golf and Country Club, Spring Lake, N. J. ; Deal Golf Club, and B. P. O. Elks No. 742, Long Branch, N. J.
His business address is Eatontown, N. J.
CHARLES STELZLE-Maplewood, (Sagamore Road.)-Socio- logist. (Photograph published in Vol. 1, 1917). Born at New York City, on June 4, 1869; son of John and Doretta Stelzle; married on November 28th, 1889, to Louise Rothmayer, of New York ;- 2nd, September 11th, 1899, to Louise Ingersoll of Michigan.
Charles Stelzle is an author and lecturer prominent in sociological and religious fields, and has been identified with nearly every import- ant national religious movement in this country during the past fifteen years.
He was the founder of the Labor Temple on the lower East Side of New York on the edge of the most congested district in the world where probably 500,000 people live within a square mile. The Temple was organized to demonstrate what the church can do in meeting the needs of people who are confronted by the most serious social problems and conditions. The suc- cess of this enterprise has given it international fame.
Mr. Stelzle was the organizer and for ten years the superintendent of the Department of Church and Labor of the National Presbyterian Church. He was also Superintendent of the Department of Immigration of the Pres- byterian Church in the U. S. A., and of the work among foreign speaking
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people in New York City. The first country life department of a national religious organization was organized by him.
Mr. Stelzle was for eight years a machinist in the works of R. Hoe & Company, printing press manufacturers, and has since studied the labor problem in the leading industrial centers in the United States and Europe. During the past twelve years he has attended every convention of the Amer- ican Federation of Labor as a fraternal delegate and during this period he has regularly syndicated articles on economic questions to the two hundred and fifty weekly and monthly labor papers published in this country. Mr. Stelzle probably speaks to more workingmen than any other man in America.
In 1903 he inaugurated the plan of exchanging fraternal delegates be- tween Central Labor Unions and Ministerial Associations, which is now in operation in over one hundred American cities. It was on his initiative that Labor Sunday is annually observed by the churches of this country on the Sunday before Labor Day.
He has served as chairman of arbitration committees in important in- dustrial disputes in New York City, made an extensive investigation in in- dustrial centers of how workingmen in big cities spend their spare time, and, during the winter of 1914-'15, when New York City was confronted by a menacing unemployment situation, he served as Director of Relief and Emergency Measures on the Mayor's Committee on Unemployment.
Mr. Stelzle spent two years with his staff making a world-wide study of the economic aspects of the liquor problem and during the past half a dozen years has given this question considerable attention, appearing before important sociological and legislative bodies presenting the results of these studies. In his studies of social and religious conditions he has surveyed about two hundred cities, setting up constructive programs to meet the needs of local communities.
He was the Dean of the Social experts of the Men and Religion For- ward Movement in 1912. For ten years he was pastor of churches in workingmen's communities in New York City, Minneapolis and St. Louis, where he carried on extensive institutional enterprises.
Mr. Stelzle is the religious editor of the Newspaper Enterprise Associa- tion, serving over two hundred daily newspapers in as many different cities with special feature material. He has been on the editorial staff of the "Evening News" of Newark, an editorial writer on the Philadelphia "North American," editor of the "Worker," contributor to magazines and newspa- pers of various kinds on religious and social topics, and is the author of "The Workingman and Social Problems," (1903) ; "Boys of the Street, How to Win Them." (1904) ; "Messages to Workingmen," (1906) ; "Chris- tianity's Storm Center, A Study of the Modern City," (1907) ; "Letters from a Workingman," (190S) ; "Principles of Successful Church Advertising," (1909) ; "Church and Labor," (1910) ; "American Social and Religious Conditions," (1912) ; "Gospel of Labor," (1913), and "Why Prohibition" (1918).
He was educated in the public schools of New York City and received technical instruction in the apprentice school of R. Hoe & Company.
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Mr. Stelzle is a member of the International Association of Machinists, the Aldine Club and the Author's League of America.
EDWIN A. STEVENS-Hoboken .- Engineer. Born in Philadel- phia, Pa., on March 14, 1858; (Deceased March 7, 1918-see Vol. 1, 1917), son of Edwin A. and Martha Bayard (Dod) Stevens ; mar- ried at Berryville, Va., on October 28, 1879, to Emily Coutee, daughter of George Washington Lewis, of Clark County, Vir- ginia.
Children : John; Edwin A., Jr .; Washington Lewis; Bayard ; Basil M .; Lawrence Lewis; Emily Lewis.
FREDERICK WILLIAM STEVENS-Morristown, (45 Madison Avenue. )-Jurist. Born at Hoboken, on June 9, 1846 ; son of James A. and Julia I. (Beasley) Stevens; his first wife, Mary Worth Olden ; his second, (Sept. 9th, 1903), Edith de Gueldry Twining. Children : Neil C .; Katharine C .; Barbara Twining; Alice.
Frederick W. Stevens has been Vice Chancellor of the Court of Chan- cery of New Jersey since 1896 when he was appointed by Chancellor McGill to succeed John T. Bird. He was reappointed by Chancellor Magie in 1903, by Chancellor Pitney in 1910 and by Chancellor Walker in 1917. He was for several years a member of the Standing Committee of the (Episcopal) Diocese of Newark.
Judge Stevens is a member of the noted Stevens family of Castle Point, Hoboken, (q. v.) being a great grandson of John Stevens. He was gradu- ated from Columbia College in 1864 with the degree of A. B. In 1908 Columbia University conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. His public career began when he was appointed Judge of the Second District Court of Newark in 1873. He resigned after holding that position for two years. In 1889 he was made County Counsel of Essex. He is a Democrat.
With Judge Dillon of New York, Judge Setvens was one of the arbi- trators in the litigation over the back taxes of the Deleware Lackawanna and Western Railroad company. He represented the State which claimed that the railroad company had through its booking methods deprived it of some of the tax moneys to which it was entitled. At the result of the arbi- tration the company paid a large sum of money into the State treasury.
Judge Stevens is a member of the Essex Club of Newark and of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.
EUGENE STEVENSON-Paterson, (580 Park Avenue.)-Jurist. Born at Brooklyn, N. Y., on June 28th, 1849; son of Paul Eugene
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and Cornelia (Prime) Stevenson ; married at Washington D. C., on June 11th, 1884, to Helen Hornblower, daughter of the late William Henry and Matilda (Butler) Hornblower, formerly of Paterson.
Judge Stevenson came to Paterson with his parents in 1866 and has since resided there. He was graduated from New York University with degree of A. B. in 1870. He also was graduated from New York University Law School, receiving the degree of LL. B. He was a student in the office of Socrates Tuttle, of Paterson, and was admitted as an attorney of the Supreme Court of New Jersey in 1874 and as a counselor in 1877.
A democrat in politics, Judge Stevenson was appointed by Gov. Ludlow in 1881 to serve as Prosecutor of the Pleas of Passaic county. At the end of his term he did not seek a reappointment. He has never been a candi- date for any office. In 1901 Chancellor Magie appointed him a Vice Chan- cellor and he has been twice reappointed since.
Judge Stevenson is a member and Vice President of the Council of New York University, member of the Hamilton Club (Paterson), North Jersey Country Club and Arcola Country Club (Bergen County), Lotos (New York), and St. John's Salmon Club ( Quebec) .
BAYARD STOCKTON-Princeton .- Lawyer. Born at Prince- ton, June 22, 1853; son of Richard and Caroline Bayard (Dod) Stockton ; married at Princeton, on May 19, 1881, to Charlotte Julia Shields, daughter of Charles W. and Charlotte J. (Bain) Shields, of Princeton ;- 2nd, on July 12, 1892, to Helen Hamilton Shields, daughter of Charles W. and Bessie L. Kane Shields.
Children : Bayard Stockton, Jr., born Jan. 19, 1883, died July 1, 1912: Richard Stockton, born Sept. 29, 1884.
Bayard Stockton is a lineal descendant of Richard Stockton, signer of the Declaration of Independence and of Commodore Robert F. Stockton, of the U. S. Navy. His father, himself distinguished in the civic life of the state, was a brother of John P. Stockton, for many years Attorney General of the state and once United States Senator and United States Minister to Italy. Mr. Stockton has been active in church work as well as profession- ally ; and is the Chancellor of the (Episcopal) Diocese in New Jersey and Ex-President of the Church Club of the Diocese. He is also Secretary of the Washington Headquarters Association in Rocky Hill.
Mr. Stockton was educated at Princeton University, graduating with the class of 1872. He read law with Leroy H. Anderson and in 1888 Gov. Green appointed him Prosecutor of the Pleas of Mercer County. He was re- appointed by Gov. Werts in 1893. He is now Advisory Master in Chan- . cery and Equity Reporter of New Jersey. His business office is in Tren- ton.
Mr. Stockton is President of the Princeton Battle Monument Commis- sion, a member of New Jersey Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution,
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and of the Society of Colonial Wars of New Jersey and connected with the Lotus Club of Trenton and Princeton Club of Trenton.
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