USA > New Jersey > Scannell's 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 51
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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 fraternity and of the Masonic fraternity, being a past master of Palestine Lodge, No. 111, F. and A. M., of New Brunswick.
FRANK HENRY SOMMER-Newark .- Lawyer. Born in New- ark, on September 3, 1872; married on November 24th, 1897, to Kate Whitehead Royce, daughter of Edward and Hannah (Throck- morton) Royce.
Children : Florence Catherine; George Raymond and Frank Henry, Jr.
Frank Henry Sommer is Dean of New York University and, allied with the Progressive wing of the Republican party, has been one of the forces in the public affairs of the State for some years past. He was one of the chief Lieutenants of Everett Colby in the "New Idea" movement that disrupted the "Boss system" of New Jersey in 1911, '12, '13, and his administration of the office of Sheriff has led to some of the reforms reflected in the recent legislation of the state.
Sheriff Sommer is of German origin, the founder of the family having
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come to this country first to Cincinnati and later removed to this state. The Columbia University dean is the third in the ancestral line.
For his early education he was sent to the public schools in Newark and graduated in 1893 from the Metropolis Law School. He subsequently took a course in law at the New York University and was awarded the LL. D. degree in 1899. Admitted to the Bar as an attorney in 1893 and made a counselor in '97, he entered into a business partnership with Edwin G. Adams but later became a member of the firm of Guild, Lum & Sommer, the business of which was afterwards taken over by the law firm of Sommer, Colby & Whiting.
Prior to his election as Sheriff, Mr. Sommer served as a member of the Board of Education in Newark and he was made a member of the Board again in 1915.
Mr. Sommers club connections are with the Essex County Country, the Lawyers of Newark and the Roseville Athletic.
BIRD W. SPENCER-Passaic, (147 Paulison Avenue.)-Banker. Born in New York City, in 1848; son of the Rev. Jesse A. and Sarah J. (Loutrel) Spencer ; married at Mount Holly, 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 Aides and in '79 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 subsequently 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 Massa- chusetts 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-
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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 twenty- 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.
CHARLES STELZLE-Maplewood, (Sagamore Road.)-Socio- logist. Born at New York City, on June 4, 1869; son of John and Doretta Stelzle; married on November 28th, 1889, to Louise Roth- mayer, of New York ;- 2nd, September 11th, 1899, to Louise Inger- soll, of Michigan.
Charles Stelzle is the Field Secretary for Special Service of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America and an author and lecturer prominent in sociological and religious fields, and has been identified with nearly every important 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 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.
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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 legis- lative bodies presenting the re- sults 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 So- cial Service experts of the Men and Religion Forward Movement in 1912. For ten years he was pastor of churches in working- men's communities in New York City, Minneapolis and St. Louis, where he carried on extensive in- stitutional enterprises.
Mr. Stelzle is the religious editor of the Newspaper Enter- prise Association, 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," con- tributor to magazines and newspapers 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) ; "Christianity's Storm Center, A Study of the Modern City," (1907) ; "Letters from a Workingman," (190S) ; "Principles of Suc- cessful Church Advertising," (1909) ; "Church and Labor," (1910) ; "Ameri- can Social and Religious Conditions," (1912) and "Gospel of Labor," (1913.)
He was educated in the public schools of New York City and received technical instruction in the apprentice school of R. Hoe & Company.
Mr. Stelzle is a member of the Efficiency Society. the International As- sociation 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; son of Edwin A. and Martha Bayard
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(Dod) Stevens ; married at Berryville, Va., on October 28, 1879, to Emily Contee, daughter of George Washington Lewis, of Clark county, Virginia.
Children : John; Edwin A., Jr .; Washington Lewis; Bayard ; Basil M .; Lawrence Lewis ; Emily Lewis.
The Stevens family of which Col. Edwin A. Stevens is the living head, were proprietors of all the ground upon which the present city of Hoboken stands ; and its history is indissolubly intertwined with the early history of navigation on this continent and pre-Colonial traditions. The Indians gave Hoboken its name. Their "Hopoghan Hackingh" meant the "Land of the Tobacco Pipe." Henry Hudson's "Half Moon" anchored at Weehawken Cove, just north of Castle Point. The island which now constitutes Castle Point and the city of Hoboken, came finally into the possession of Wm. Bayard, who, in Revolutionary times, first sympathized with the Patriots but subsequently, in the belief that their cause had been lost, went over to the British. His estate was confiscated by the State of New Jersey and sold at auction in 1784 to Col. John Stevens for about $60,000. It is curious that Col. Stevens's maternal grandmother was a Bayard, the granddaughter of Col. John Bayard of the Conti- nental army, who was a near relative of William Bayard.
Col. John Stevens's grandfa- ther had been a law officer of the Crown. His father became Vice President of the Council of New Jersey and was President of the State Convention at which New Jersey ratified the United States Constitution in 1789. Col. John Stevens, born in 1749, was himself in the American Army and Treasurer of New Jersey during the greater part of the Revolutionary War. His sister married Chancellor Robert Liv- ingston, a famous Jurist of New York ; and her daughter became the wife of Robert Fulton, who, in history, is pictured as the pioneer steam boat man of the country. Col. John Stevens erected at Castle Point a mansion that was his summer home from 1786 to 1814 and after that his home all the year around. The building stood until 1854, when it gave way to the present castle, begun by his son, Robert Livingston, and finished by the latter's brother. Edwin Augustus.
Interested in steam as a motive power, Col. John Stevens really ante- dated Fulton as a steam navigator on the Hudson. In 1804 he had an im- proved boat fitted with double screws which ran on the river. The leading part he took in the passage of the first patent law of the United States, in
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1790, was undertaken for the protection of his steam motor inventions. Through the influence of Chancellor Livingston however, Robert Fulton secured a monopoly of steam navigation on the river, and the Stevens fam- ily were prevented from running on the river, there. As a sequence their next boat, the "Phoenix" was navigated under steam to the Delaware River.
Col. John Stevens's interest in steam propulsion was not confined to marine enterprises. He was quite as large a figure in the early railroad history of the country as in the history of its navigation. The first railroad charter issued in America was obtained by him in 1817 for a railroad from the Delaware to the Raritan. In 1828 he built a steam locomotive which he operated on a circular track at fifteen miles an hour on his property in Ho- boken. This first engine and train on a railroad in America ante-dated the historical run Stephensons "Rocket" made in England in 1829. And he also planned an elevated railroad through lower New York across a bridge over the Hudson River into upper New Jersey.
Robert Livingston Stevens, his son, stood, for a quarter of a century, at the head of the naval engineers of the country. He designed the T-rail which, with slight modifications, is in universal use to-day, and originated the practice of spiking the rail directly to the cross-tie. He also designed the hook-headed spike, the early form of the "fish-plate," and other details of track construction.
In 1813 Col. John Stevens designed an iron clad ship. The climax of his son Robert's marine skill came in his effort to build a greater iron clad that, started on his estate at Castle Point, became famous in the history of naval architecture as the "Stevens Battery." The completion of the Bat- tery was left to Edwin Augustus Stevens, his brother who, when the Civil War broke out in 1861, offered to complete it at his own expense if the government would consent to reimburse him after its usefulness had been proven. The Government neglected the offer, and the vessel was still un- finished when Edwin A. died, in 1868. He bequeathed it to New Jersey with $1,000,000 endowed for its completion. The million dollars was ex- hausted before the Battery had been finished and it was afterwards broken up.
Edwin A. Stevens, the father of Col. Edwin A. Stevens, was born in 1795 at Hoboken. His work was largely connected with that of his older brother Robert Livingston ; it is difficult to distinguish the original source of much of their work. It is certain however that Edwin was the originator of the closed fire room system of forced draft. Jointly and in connection with their nephew, Francis B. Stevens, they brought the side wheel beam engine to the type in which it is still used. They anticipated many modern rail- road improvements such as vestibule connections between cars, etc.
The crowning monument to the genius of Edwin Augustus Stevens, was the establishment of the Stevens School of Technology at Hoboken. It is devoted to engineering education ; and some of the most noted men in that line of endeavor carry its diploma.
Col. Edwin A. Stevens, the present head of the family, inherits the in- ventive and constructive genius of his ancestors and has been, besides, a large figure in the church and political life of the state. An Episcopalian în religion he has been Treasurer of the Diocese of Newark for many years. and a delegate to all the Episcopal General Conventions since 1901. In
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politics, he has been a member of the Democratic State Committee and was Presidential Elector, on the democratic ticket, in 1888 and 1892. He has served also at various times as member of numerous State Commissions. Not being able to accept free silver, Col. Stevens in 1896 withdrew from active participation in party affairs but has always maintained a connection with the party.
In 1906, at the request of a number of younger and more progressive democrats he announced himself as a candidate for United States Senate. His platform was based on the election of U. S. Senators by direct vote of the people, a corrupt practice act, an income tax, workmen's compensation and an election law that would prevent bribery. He carried on his canvass in conformity with this platform, speaking in every county and defraying his own expenses. He published an itemized statement of the latter on the Saturday before election showing a total disbursement of about $2,000. This canvass was generally regarded as altrustic and without the range of practical politics. It was Col. Stevens last active effort in politics.
In 1911 Gov. Wilson made him the State Commissioner of Public Roads in New Jersey. The organization of the Department as an engineering of- fice, an insistence on the necessity of a State Highway system and on the application of modern American engineering methods to road administration in this country have been the main features of his work as Road Com- missioner. Administrative policy based on these principles would require legislation which has not been forthcoming.
In 1917, upon the re-organization of the State Roads Department, Gov. Edge appointed Col. Stevens a member of the State Highway Commission.
In his professional line, Col. Stevens designed the first screw-propeller ferry boat, the "Bergen," of the Hoboken Ferry Line, and several subsequent vessels of that type, and also did much work in the development of high speed steam engines.
Col. Stevens was educated at St. Paul's School, Concord, N. H., gradu- ated with the Princeton College class of 1879 and took special courses at the Stevens Institute. He is the author of numerous papers on naval designs and on road work and administration.
Col. Stevens's wife is descended from Martha Washington by her first marriage as well as from Betty Washington, General Washington's sister.
FREDERIC 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.
Frederic W. Stevens has been Vice Chancellor of the Court of Chancery 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.
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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 190S 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. İn 1889 he was made County Counsel of Essex. He is a Democrat.
With Judge Dillon of New York, Judge Stevens was one of the arbi- trators in the litigation over the back taxes of the Delaware 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. As 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.
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EUGENE STEVENSON-Paterson, (580 Park Avenue. )-Judge. Born at Brooklyn, N. Y., on June 28th, 1849; son of Paul Eugene 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 for 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).
EDWIN STEWART-South Orange .- Naval Officer (retired). Born in New York City, May 5, 1837; son of John and Mary (Aikman) Stewart ; married at Andover, Mass., August 24, 1865, to Laura Sprague Tufts, daughter of Charles Tufts, of Andover, Mass., (died February 3, 1875) ;- 2nd, on May 17, 1877, to Susan M. Estabrook (died December S, 1909.)
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Children : Edwin, born March 5, 1869, (died May 9, 1886) ; Wil- liam E., born September 13, 1870; Donald S., born December 13, 1882; Lawrence Sprague, born June 17, 1886.
Edwin Stewart was Paymaster General in the United States Navy from 1890 until the date of his retirement in 1901. He is of Scotch ancestry, and completed his education at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., where he was graduated with the class of 1858 and at Williams College, where he was of the class of '62. From Williams College he has received the B. A., M. A. and LL. D. de- grees.
Admiral Stewart was appoint- ed from New York as Assistant Paymaster in the Navy in 1861 and became Paymaster in 1862. At that time the Civil War was raging ; and he participated un- der Dupont and Farragut, in the blockade of Charleston and Mo- bile and in the battles of Port Royal, Port Hudson and Mobile Bay. His appointment as Pay- master General of the United States Navy came in 1890, and he was reappointed in '94 and again in '98. On May 5, 1899, he retired with the rank of Rear Admiral. After the war Ad- miral Stewart was located in Washington '69 to '72, stationed in China '72 to '75, at European ports from '83 to '85; and he lived in Washington during the eleven years for which he served as Paymaster General of the Navy. In 1917 he was appointed by the Mayor of the City of New York on the Committee of citizens to welcome and entertain the War Commissioners from Great Britain and France.
Admiral Stewart was elected Commander of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, Commandery of the State of New York in 1913-'14-'15-'16 and '17 and is a member of the Metropolitan Club of Washington, D. C., the Uni- versity of New York City, and the Essex County Country Club at West Orange.
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.
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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 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 Prosectuor 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 Trenton.
Mr. Stockton is President of the Nassau Club of Princeton, a member of New Jersey Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution and of the Society of Colonial Wars of New Jersey and connected with the Lotus Club of Trenton and the Princeton Club of Trenton.
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LILLIAN JOSEPHINE STOCKTON (Mrs. Charles W.)- Ridgewood, (Paramus Road. )-Women's Clubs. Born in Clarin- da, Ia., on June 10, 1864 : daughter of Thomas Rich- ard and Elizabeth Pierce Stockton ; married at Long- mont, Col., on September 17th, 1891, to Charies Wil- liam Stockton, born at La Grande, Ore., June 6, 1863, son of William M. and Nancy Farris Stockton.
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