USA > New Jersey > Passaic County > Paterson > Paterson, New Jersey : its advantages for manufacturing and residence: its industries, prominent men, banks, schools, churches, etc. > Part 13
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ples of Christianity. He then went to Berlin, where he continued his investigations into the various doctrines of theology and after a long struggle he concluded to abandon the Jewish faith and become a Christian. The disfavor with which this determination was received by his people may be well imagined. Disowned, disinherited and persecu- ted, he fled his native country and proceeded to London. On the 7th of August. IS70, he was baptized in the Epis- copal chapel at Bethuel Green and for some months after- wards was a devoted student of theology. With the en- thusiam characteristic of a neophyte he concluded to return to his own country and study for the ministry. Many were the tribulations which he found in his path but these only strengthened his determination. Finding himself wholly without means he saw himself compelled to accept a position as clerk in a bookstore at a salary of ten dollars a month. In May, 187t, he went to Hamburgh with the intention of coming to this country where he resolved to continue his theological studies On June 4, 1871, he arrived in New York, with but one dollar in his posses- sion. lle found few roses in his path but his determina- tion raised him above all difficulties He became acquain- ted with the Rev. Dr. G. C. Seibert, Professor of Theology at Bloomfield. N. J .. and through his influence he entered the theological seminary and in 1874 graduated with honor. In the summer of that year he received a call from the German Reformed churches at Bergen Point and Jersey City which he accepted and at which places he did a great deal of missionary work In September he was duly ordained a minister of the gospel. His position was anything but an enviable one ; his salary was only $25 per month. In addition to the hardships which he was compelled necessarily to endure he found that his hard study and strenuous exertions in the new fields of labor could not be stood any length of time without under- mining his health and he was compelled to seek a place where his duties were less arduous He accepted a call from the German Presbyterian church of Jeffersonville, Sullivan county, N Y. Here he was married to the daughter of one of the trustees of the church. He subse- quently accepted calls to churches in Washington, D. C., and Paterson, N. J., and spent fourteen years in preach- ing the gospel. Too arduous attention to the duties im- posed on him began to show their effects on his health and he suffered with nervous prostration and troubles with his eyes. At the advice of physicians he resigned his pastoral duties in May, 1885, and purchased a drug store. His work here gave him little amelioration from his physical ailments ; the long hours of confinement began to tell se- riously on his constitution and he was compelled to give up the business. In the meantime he had made a number of profitable investments in real estate. Ilaving found his judgment excellent in such matters he concluded to devote himself exclusively to that line of business. He has been very successful and has succeeded not only in accumulating a competency but also in often extending a helping hand to others who stood in need of his assistance and advice.
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JAMES A. MORRISSE Was born in Ireland on August 26, ISf. He came to this country in February, 1863, and af- ter spending some time in the west settled in Paterson in 1866 ; he started in the real estate business in 1858. He has sold many million dollars worth of real estate in the past twenty-two years and has laid out and developed large tracts of ground, among the latter being the property of the Mutual Life Insurance Company located on Park ave- nue, formerly known as the Christie tract. It contained over a hundred eity lots. all of which were sold through Mr Morrisse, and a hundred houses have been erected on the property Hle also developed the property known as the Hopper and Clapp tracts, one situated on the southwest corner of Park avenue and East Eighteenth street and the other on the southeast corner. He subsequently organized the Cedar Cliff Land Company, a sketch of which appears on another page ; he sold over three hundred lots on this tract and located two silk mills and a number of residences. Hle organized the Broadway Land and Building Company and purchased for it 128 lots of ground located on Broad- way, East Twenty-sixth and contiguous streets. Within the past two years he has organized the Citizens', Hamil- ton and the Home Land Companies, whose properties are located at South Paterson between Madison and Buffalo avenues, the Erie railroad and Trenton avenue. These three companies own about seven hundred lots. He also organized the Eastside Land and Building Company, of which he is president. His connection with the organiza- tion of the Laurel Grove Cemetery Company is told in the sketch of that company which appears on another page. In 1883 he organized the Iron and Silk Building and Loan Association. lle was elected president of the company and has continued to hold that office ever since. This is considered one of the most conservative and successful building and loan associations in the city. Although Mr. Morrisse's business has been mostly real estate he has also done a large insurance business. As agent he has charge of the properties of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States and of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York and represents over a hundred owners of real estate for whom he collects rents. Between eleven and twelve hundred tenants pay rent to him as agent. Ile is also agent for all the English steamship lines and the French line. He also does a large business in procuring loans, having negotiated several million dol- lars of loans for his clients. He will during the latter part of this year erect a very handsome four story and base- ment granite and brick office building to be situated on the northwest corner of Main and Ward streets. When finished it will be one of the finest office buildings in the city.
SAMUEL S. SHERWOOD was born in New York city. Ilis ancestors were among the earliest settlers of this con- tinent, one of them dying in 1655 near where Fairfield, Conn., now stands. After having served as cashier in a dry goods house in New York, Mr. Sherwood when he be- came of age formed a partnership with Alexander Doug-
las under the firm name of Douglas & Sherwood and car- ried on the retail dry goods business for four years. Dur- ing this time Mr. Sherwood started the manufacture of hoop skirts, being the first to engage in that business in this country. Having sold out the retail dry goods busi- ness he began the manufacture of hoop skirts on a large scale, having for a special partner Nathaniel Wheeler, the president of the Wheeler & Wilson sewing machine com- pany. The firm was doing an enormous business at the time of the breaking out of the rebellion, but unfortunately had given long credits to a number of houses in the South. The firm, however, extended its business by the manufac- ture of hospital goods for the government, ladies' collars,. euff's, &c. They were the first to do a large wholesale business north of .1. T. Stewart's store in Chambers street, occupying No. 343 Broadway, opposite the old Broadway Tabernacle and the Society Library Building. The firm subsequently occupied the large building Nos. 51 and 53 White street, being the first to carry the wholesale business. west of Broadway ; the firm subsequently occupied at the same time the large building at Nos. 9 and 11 White street, near West Broadway, which was built for them by the late. Daniel Kingsland. In 1864 Mr. Sherwood retired from. business in New York and started into the real estate and insurance business in Paterson, to which place he had re- moved four years previous. Mr. Sherwood was the first to move in the laying out of the East Side of Paterson. He mentioned the matter one day when he had accidentally met Mr. Jacob S. Rogers in New York ; Mr. Rogers. urged Mr. Sherwood to take charge of the matter, having become convinced that Mr. Sherwood's ideas were the best : on the train going to Paterson they met Mr. William, G. Watson, at that time Mayor of the city; Mr. Watson added his entreaties to the request of Mr. Rogers and Mr. Sherwood agreed to undertake the difficult task. The pe- tition was presented at the next meeting of the Board of Aldermen and granted. Mr. Sherwood has since been closely identified with the progress of Paterson. lle was one of the incorporators of the Paterson & Passaic horse railroad company ; he was a member of the first board of directors and for some time secretary ; he is at present a member of the board of directors of the Paterson City Railway Company, which some time ago absorbed all the horse car lines in the city. Mr. Sherwood was the first to take energetic steps towards compelling the Dun- dee Water Power and Land Company to open its dam for the navigation of the Passaic and is at present treasurer of the fund subscribed for that purpose. He was a member of the Board of Aldermen from 1875 to IS79; he was chairman of the committee on finance for the whole of his term and for three years he was the unanimous choice of the Board for president, an office he filled to the satisfac- tion of all. He was one of the commissioners on the Broadway and Willis street sewer, the first commission created under the new law, and since that time has been on fifty-two similar commissions. For a number of years he was Commissioner of Appeals in cases of taxation but
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his ever increasing business compelled him to relinquish public office. Since that time he has devoted his time to real estate, having charge of a great many valuable tracts and estates. Ile is the treasurer of the Paterson General Hospital Association and chairman of the Board of Arbi- trators appointed by the trades unions and the Board of Trade.
P. D. WESTERVELT. Energy and untiring devotion to business have made P. D. Westervelt the successful busi- ness man he is to-day. No college or university educa- tion gave him the lead above his companions, but the common school and the common rural life of a well-or- dered and self-respecting farming community made him what he is by nature and by education. Mr. Westervelt was to the manor born. fle is a native of this county in which he has labored so faithfully. He was born at Haw- thorne, in the township of Manchester, December 21, 1849. The house in which he was born he now occupies. and it is situated in one of the most beautiful spots along the banks of the l'assaic. From its front piazzas a splen- did view of the city of Paterson and the surrounding coun- try may be obtained. The grounds around the house are extensive and are studded with all varieties of vegetable life. Altogether, Mr. Westervelt's home is one of the most delightful spots in the county. Young Westervelt's early life was mainly passed on his father's, the late James P. Westervelt's, farm, and at the school house. At school his perseverance always kept him among the best students of his class, but like the majority of American youth, his schooling terminated while he was yet a boy. Immedi-
ately on leaving school he made up his mind to secure a situation at Paterson. After some delay he got a place in the lumber office of the late Thomas Beveridge. flere his industry was soon recognized and his career as office boy was but a very short one. Positions of more import- ance requiring greater skill and labor were given him and in these he gave his employer the utmost satisfaction. After remaining at the lumber office for about seven or eight years and acquiring a thorough business education, Mr. Westervelt decided to embark in business for himself. At the lumber yard office he had learned considerable about the coal business so he concluded that his first ven- ture should be in this line of trade. Ilis experience in this business was brief and in a short time Mr. Westervelt had given it up and established a general collection office. In this business his industry came to his aid and he soon built up a successful trade. Ile was then made collector for several of the largest mercantile houses in Paterson and Passaic. In ISSS Mr. Westervelt decided to engage in the real estate and insurance business. In this he has found a most suitable occupation and his success has been most flattering. He is an excellent judge of the value of land and persons confiding their business interests to his care have found him not only an honest but a discreet business man : through him some of the largest real estate transfers on record in this county have been made. His great activity has also favored him in the insurance busi- ness and he is the representative of some of the best com- panies in this country. Mr. Westervelt is always to be found busy at work in his cosy office at 114 Ellison street.
Business Houses, &c.
As it is the object of this publication to place before the country the many advantages which Paterson possesses as a place for manufacturing and resi- dence it is obvious that little need be said about the bus- iness houses. The fact that Paterson has a cosmopolitan population numbering over seventy-eight thousand is enough to satisfy any person that there are many prosper- ing business houses here. A glance, however, at a few firms, who are distinguished for superior energy and oth- er quahfications which go to make up the successful mer- chant, will be of interest.
JAMES INGLIS, JR .- One of the most prominent and successful business men in Paterson is Mr. James Inglis,
Jr. He is a native of Paterson, his father having removed hither from Sussex County, N. J., about sixty years ago. He obtained the best education afforded by the schools of Paterson, at ten years of age being compelled to walk from his home in the city to the school house which stood at that time near the Wesel bridge. After having left school he became a clerk in a grocery kept by John O'Brien at the triangle formed by the intersection of Mar- ket, Willis and Straight streets. Here he remained until Mr. O'Brien sold out when he went to Passaic where he was employed in the grocery kept by William L. Andruss. After remaining there for one year he returned to Pater- son and was employed in a drug store kept by his uncle,
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the late Charles Inglis. After spending a twelvemonth in the drug store he went to New York where he worked at piano-making in Amity street. Returning to Paterson he learned the trade of patternmaking in William Swin- burne's locomotive and machine works and subsequently spent a year in Kingston. Canada, working at his trade in the locomotive works which were then being established in that place. Returning to New Jersey he entered the employ of Robert Rennie, at Lodi, in Bergen county, where he was employed a year at setting up machinery, engines. &c. He next went west, establishing himself at Racine, Wis., and for some time operated a saw mill in the woods near that place. Growing tired of this life he returned to the east and for some time worked as a pat- ternmaker in the foundry at West Point. Here he re- mained until the hard times of 1857-8 when he returned to Paterson and in the following year began the mercantile career which has placed him high among the successful business men of this city. It was in October, 1858, that he bought out Solomon Danforth's interest in the music and stationery store of Field & Danforth, which had been established for some years at No. 169 Main street. In 1862, when President Lincoln had issued his call for three hundred thousand men, Mr. Inglis used his utmost en- deavors to secure volunteers in this city and succeeded in getting together three companies with which he marched to the front, serving until the expiration of the term for which he had enlisted. Returning to Paterson he contin- ued his business and in addition thereto started the Na- tional Mills Company ; his interest in the latter he sold out in 1872 to A. Hubbard & Co. In the following year he bought out his partner in the music and stationery busi- ness and shortly afterwards removed to No. 172 Main street. Here he remained in the successful prosecution of his business for twelve years when he erected for himself one of the handsomest structures in the city, located on Main street, near Ellison. Ilere he continues to conduct the business founded on so many years of integrity and fair dealing ; his spacious store contains a large assort- ment of everything in the line of stationery, books, paper, blank books, &c.
In politics Mr. Inglis has always been an unswerving Democrat, ready at all times to assist his party. For a number of years he was a member of the state committee and took an active part in the campaigns in the state as well as the county. Disdaining everything that smacked of chicanery or trickery the name of Inglis became a syn- onym for everything that was energetic and straightfor- ward in politics. In 1883 he was appointed by Governor Ludlow a judge of the courts of Passaic County; he was re-appointed in ISSS by Governor Green. In this ap- pointment the executive of the state has happily blended the reward of political services with the appreciation of sterling qualities which have made Judge Inglis one of the most respected as well as one of the most popular men of Passaic county. In business and in politics Mr. Inglis was always openhearted and kind, without swerving the
least from the path which duty marked out; the same qualifications which led to success as a leader among poli- ticians and merchants made hint a Judge who is respected by all-ever merciful to the frailties of human nature but fearless in the suppression of vice and just in the punish- ment of crime.
FRANCIS KNOX MCCULLY was born in Paterson. N. J., on November 24, 1839. After receiving an education in the public and afterwards in the private schools of the city he accepted a position as clerk with J. & G. Ramsey and subsequently acted in a similar capacity in Blundell's Ex- press Company's office. He left the latter place for the purpose of accepting a clerkship in the Bank of Jersey City. While thus employed one of the directors, who had been attracted by the pleasant manners and business ability of the young man, induced him to accept the position of cashier of a leading stock, gold and foreign exchange banking house in New York city. After having served three years in this capacity he bought a seat in the Open Board of Brokers, an organization which has since con- solidated with the New York Stock Exchange. Failing health compelled him to give up the brokerage business and at the suggestion of a number of gentlemen with whom he had been associated in business he accepted the position of secretary of the Flint Steel River Mining Com- pany and eventually became secretary of four other mining companies. As his health did not improve he was com- pelled to resign these lucrative positions and he remained idle for six months. Hoping that a more active life would improve his health he opened a fine grocery business and for seven years was successful beyond expectation. But his natural love for financial business never left him and on April ist, 1874, he sold out his grocery business and opened an office as banker and broker in his native city; he has continued in that business ever since. To-day he stands before the community as a man who by his business and private life has proven that a man may rise to emi- nence in his own city. As an executor and trustee under a number of wills he has given abundant proof that he is especially qualified to discharge such duties ; at the pres- ent writing he represents ten estates as trustee. Ilis fa- cilities for obtaining information make him the standard authority on all matters pertaining to financial affairs. Ilis son, Frederick W., is a young man of exceptionally fine ability and renders most valuable aid in the management of his father's business. Mr. McCully's elegantly fitted up banking offices, second to none in the State, are located at No. 121 Washington street.
PETER QUACKENBUSH, one of the most public spirited citizens of Paterson, was born in Paterson on February 24, 1844. He received his education in the public schools of the city and in Professor Allen's Seminary. In 1860 he began work as a clerk in a dry goods store and until IS78 continued uninterruptedly in the employ of the same firm. With the savings of eighteen years of work and for- tified with a business experience obtained in actual prac- tice Mr. Quackenbush in 1878 started in business for him-
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self at No. ISo Main street. In ISSz he formed a partner- ship with Mr. John B. Mason under the firm name of Quackenbush & Co., and the firm soon found it necessary to increase the accommodations for a business which was continually multiplying ; this was done by taking posses- sion of the adjoining store, No. 1Sz Main street, the two stores being thrown into one. Even with this large floor space the firm did not have room enough and having add- ed a general line of all kinds of dry goods to their already extensive stock, another addition was looked for. For some time this seemed difficult as all the space on Main street had been taken by other business houses : the firm solved the difficulty by obtaining possession of the property in the rear of their two stores and by extending the addi- tional room thus acquired through to Ellison street. Their store accordingly is in the shape of a gigantic letter L. The public appreciation of the excellent manner in which the business was managed showed itself in largely in- creased sales and the firm attained a standing in the com- mercial world which could not have been acquired except by the exercise of the best judgment and the liberal patron- age of the public. For two years Mr. Quackenbush served in the Board of Education but his business engage- ments were such that he was compelled to relinquish all idea of political preferment which was frequently offered him. He, however, did not deprive the public of his val- uable advice and assistance and no movement calculated to benefit the public was started but what Mr. Quackenbush lent a helping hand, assisting the project with advice, in- fluence and purse. He was foremost in the movement which secured for Paterson two magnificent parks. He is a director of the Second National Bank, the Colt Land Company and the Paterson Sanitary Company and has on a number of occasions been called upon to act in a fiduc- iary capacity where considerable interests were involved.
gardener and after spending some years in New York. Newport. Rhode Island, Long Island, Astoria, Staten Island and Canada, he came to Paterson in IS78. The late Judge Woodruff at that time owned the Bellevue nursery. situated on Haledon avenue : the ground was ad- mirably adapted for floriculture but there were only seven hothouses, six of which were very small. For some time Mr. Towell managed the place under a lease he had ob- tained from Mr. Woodruff; the latter frequently expressed his gratification at having induced Mr. Towell to locate in Paterson. for Judge Woodruff was very fond of flowers and recognized that in Mr. Towell he had found the man who would establish a nursery in Paterson that would come up to the expectations of the most sanguine and en- thusiastic lover of the floral kingdom. In ISSo Mr. Tow- ell acquired the nursery property by purchase and since that time his career has been one of continued success. He soon found the facilities far too small for there was an enormous demand for the product of his hothouses and he enlarged from year to year until he had one of the finest establishments in the country. At no time was the supply equal to the demand and Mr. Towell never regretted one minute of the many days he had spent in acquiring a thor- ough knowledge of his business. He recognized to its fullest extent the proverb which declares that there is always room at the top. He soon established a large trade with New York and other cities and his business is ever on the increase. Consequently improvements are continually going on at the Bellevue nurseries. Mr. Towell has erected for himself a handsome residence and at present, although he has thirteen hothouses. he is build- ing five more ; these additions will be each one hundred by eighteen feet. built of iron and glass according to the latest and most approved patterns. When these are com- pleted Mr. Towell will own the finest establishment in New Jersey and one the superior of which cannot be found in the United States. It would be impossible for a Mr. Towell to live in any community without making his influence felt and Mr. Towell has become not only an authority in everything pertaining to his particular busi- ness but he has also become one of the foremost and most respected citizens of Paterson.
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