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, 1919-1920, Vol II, Part 73

Author: Sackett, William Edgar, 1848- ed; Scannell, John James, 1884- ed
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Patterson, N.J. : J.J. Scannell
Number of Pages: 1454


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, 1919-1920, Vol II > Part 73


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ROBERT LEE SAUNDERS-Irvington, (1156 Clinton Ave.)- City Supt. of Schools. Born at Luzerne, Pa., Dec. 28, 1881, son of Walter Jacob and Cecilia (Hess) Saunders, married at Nanti- coke, Pa., July 23, 1907, to Edith Daniels, daughter of Llewellyn and Anna Thomas Daniels.


Children : Herschel, July 3, 1909; Constance, Sept. S. 1913; Rob- ert Lee, Jr., July 10, 1917.


Robert Lee Saunders is of old New England and Pennsylvania Dutch stock. In his early life, he attended the public schools of Wyoming, Pa., graduating from the high school in 1899. He then took a course at the Scranton Business College, from 1899 to 1901 and spent three years at the East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, Normal School. In 1913 he entered the New Jersey Law School and in 1916 the Hamilton College of Law of Chicago, Ill.


He is a member of the Library Commission of Irvington, vice-president of the Home and School League of Irvington, N. J. He is a pioneer in es- tablishing alternating schools in the state with school savings banks and departmentalization of special subjects in grammar schools. He was su- pervising principal of schools at Metamoros, Pa., Secaucus, N. J., nine years, and has been superintendent of schools, Irvington, N. J., for the past three years.


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He is a member of the F. and A. M., Enterprise Lodge, of New Jersey, the Irvington Forum.


His business address is Office of the Supt. of Schools, Irvington, N. J.


SAMUEL SCHLEIMER-New Brunswick-Lawyer. Born at Washington, D. C., on November 6th, 1873, son of David and Esther (Fishman) Schleimer ; married at New Brunswick, N. J., on April 20th, 1898, to Louisa M. Terrill, daughter of J. Newton and Mary (Meyers) Terrill.


Children : Mary Louise, born June 30th, 1899.


Samuel Schleimer, although born in Washington, D. C., has spent most of his life in New Jersey. In his early days, he attended the public schools of Elizabeth, graduating in 1901. He decided upon law as his chosen profession, and after completing his course at New York University in 1904 with the degree of LL. B., he entered the law office of the late P. H. Gilhooly, of Elizabeth, where after four years he was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 1896. He has since practiced in New Jersey, with offices in Elizabeth, his home town. His practice includes some of the largest civil and criminal cases, and during his period of practice, he has appeared in the courts of every county of the state.


He has always been active in the public affairs of Middlesex county, and for the past seven years has been president of the Middlesex Demo- cratic Club. In September 1916 he was chairman of the committee in charge of the notification of President Wilson at Shadow Lawn. During the great war he was on the executive committee and state counsel of the Four Minute Men and chairman of the Four Minute Men in New Brunswick. In September 1918 he was appointed by Secretary of State Martin as one of the commissioners to take the votes of the soldiers in the camps.


He is a member of the following organizations: Masons, Elks, and numerous clubs.


His business address is 207 Broad Street, Elizabeth, N. J.


HENRY PARSELL SCHNEEWEISS-New Brunswick, (49 Bay- ard St.) .- Treasurer of Rutgers College. Born at New Brunswick, N. J., July 19th, 1856, son of Franz M. and Mary (Parsell) Schneeweiss; married at New Brunswick, N. J., April 14th, 1892, to M. Cornelia Hardenbergh, daughter of J. Rutsen and Catharine (Van Dyck) Hardenbergh.


Children : Catharine Hardenbergh, born Oct. 5th, 1893.


Henry Parsell Schneeweiss is of Austrian and old Dutch and Hugenot stock. His father, Franz M. Schneeweiss attended the University of Vienna at the time of the uprising under Kossuth. His mother Mary (Parsell) Schneeweiss is descended from old Dutch and Hugenot families that lived in New Jersey and Long Island for the past two hundred years.


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In his early life he attended Rutgers Preparatory School and was a . member of the class of 1877 of Rutger's College Classical. Upon complet- ing his college course, he joined the International Silver Company, at Maiden Lane, New York City, where he took charge of the accounting department. Later he took charge of the export business. In all he spent thirty five years in the employ of the company from 1880 to 1915. In May, 1915, he was named treasurer of Rutgers College, which position he still holds.


He was for many years Elder in the Second Reformed Dutch Church in New Brunswick and its treasurer and much interested in that denon- ination, being a member of its Board of Education in the City of New York and also in its Permament Committee on Public Morals, as well as Delegate several times to its General Synod.


He was connected with the organized charity work in New Brunswick and for several years Treasurer of the charity organization society.


He is a member of the following clubs: Sons of the American Revo- lution.


His business address is Rutger's College, New Brunswick, N. J.


FRANK D. SCHROTH-Trenton, (23 Delewareview Avenue) .- Secretary of the State Board of Taxes and Assessments. Born at Trenton, October 18, 1884; son of the late Assemblyman John Schroth and Margaret (Donahoe) Schroth; married at Trenton, July 6, 1914, to Loretta E. Nolan, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas F. Nolan.


Children : Margaret and Loretta.


.


Mr. Schroth was educated in the public schools of Trenton. After completing his schooling he entered the newspaper profession as a reporter for the "Trenton True American," then a morning paper. From 1905 to 1915 he was connected with the "Trenton Evening Times," for which paper he was the Legislative reporter for many years. During the Legislative session of 1914 he was Secretary to Speaker of the House, A. M. Beek- man. In 1915 he was the State Supervisor of the Census, named by the late David S. Crater, then Secretary of State. He was continued in that capacity by Secretary of State Thomas F. Martin until the completion of the work in the same year. Mr. Schroth was the Trenton correspondent for many New York and Philadelphia papers. He was appointed as Secre- tary of the State Board of Taxes and Assessments December 14, 1915, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Irvine M. Maguire.


His business address is State House, Trenton.


WILLIAM M. SCHULTZ-West Hoboken, (364 Hudson Boule- vard) .- Assemblyman. Born at Jersey City, N. J., May 11th, 1869.


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William M. Schultz was educated in the public schools of New York City and has always taken a leading part in the politics of West Hoboken, his home, and from 1908 to 1914, he filled the office of Commissioner on Assessment. At the fall of 1918 election he was elected over Mayberry, his Republican opponent with a plurality of 19,591 votes.


AUSTEN SCOTT-New Brunswick .- College Professor. Born at Maumee, O., on August 10, 1848; son of J. Austen and Sarah (Ranney) Scott ; married on February 21, 1882, to Anne Prentiss Stearns, of Newark.


Austen Scott was Private Secretary to George Bancroft, the historian, and spent seven years between 1875 and 1882, in gathering the material and arranging it for the several volumes of that noted writer's "History of the Constitution of the United States." He has been a frequent contributor to reviews on varieties of topics.


Dr. Scott entered Yale College and graduated with the A. B. degree in 1869. He attended the University of Michigan receiving the A. M. degree in 1870 and spent three years after that in attending lectures at the Uni- versities of Leipzig and Berlin. While abroad Dr. Scott was Private Sec- retary to Bancroft. Upon returning to this country he engaged in teaching German at the University of Michigan. After he had concluded his labors in assisting Mr. Bancroft with his History he became Associate in History at Johns Hopkins University and was made Acting Professor of History in 1883. The same year he became Voorhees Professor of History, Political Economy and Constitutional Law in Rutger's College at New Brunswick. In 1890 he was promoted to the Presidency of the college and held it until 1906, when he retired to resume his work as Professor of History and Political Science in the Institution.


Dr. Scott was given the degree of Ph. D. by Leipzig University in 1873, and in 1891 Princeton University conferred the LL. D. degree upon him.


THOMAS ALDEN SHIELDS -- Hackettstown .- Assemblyman. Born at Hackettstown, N. J., September 22nd, 1885.


Thomas Alden Shields was educated in the public schools and in 1906 he graduated from Lafayette College, with the degree of C. E., and for the year following served with the Engineer Department of the Pennsyl- vania Railroad at Renove, Pa.


He is now secretary and treasurer of the Shields Chamberlain Com- pany, a corporation engaged in the handling of coal, building material and pedigreed grain seed, and breeders of registered Tamworth swine. He has made a particular study of agricultural chemistry and bacteriology. He was elected to the Assembly in 1918.


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Assemblyman Shields is a member of the board of directors of the New Jersey Lumbermen's Association.


HOWARD EVERHART SHIMER-Belvidere, (Third St.) .- County Superintendant of Schools. Born at Shimerville, Pa., June 1, 1881, son of Llewellyn and Clara (Everhart) Shimer ; married at Doylestown, O., June 28th, 1906, to Lucile Miriam Miller, daughter of Samuel H. and Ellen (Snyder) Miller, of Doylestown, O.


Children : Charles Llewellyn, born Sept. 3rd, 1908; Samuel Mil- ler, born July 4, 1912.


Howard Everhart Shimer traces his ancestry back to Jacob Scheimer, who came to America about 1720. He was educated in the public schools of Shimerville, Pa., his birthplace, and thereupon entered Perkiomen Seminary, from which he graduated in 1898. He then entered Muhlenberg College, from which he graduated in 1901, being second in his class. From 1913 to 1914 he took the education courses at Columbia University.


Upon completing his education, he taught mathematics and English at the Allentown, Pa., Preparatory School and in 1902 he became principal of the Nazareth, Pa., High School, holding the office for three years. In 1905 he became superintendent of the Nazareth schools and at the end of five years moved to Newton, New Jersey where he took charge of the schools of that city for seven years. Last year he became county super- intendant of the schools of Warren county, which office he still holds.


He is a member of the New York Schoolmaster's Club and the Jersey Council of Education.


JOSEPH SIEGLER-Newark, (34 Wallace Place) .- Lawyer and Assemblyman. Born at Newark, N. J., September 6th, 1889, son of Louis and Bertha Siegler; married at New York, N. Y., on March 25th, 1913 to Edith R. Untermann, daughter of Louis and Lena Untermann.


Children : Doris, born March 26th, 1914.


Joseph Siegler began his career as a newsboy. He attended the pub- lie schools of Newark, graduating from the Morton street school in 1904. He then entered Newark High School which he attended until 1905 and thereupon New York University Law School, where he graduated in 1909. . From the time he was nine years, until entering Law School. he sold papers in his home city, which helped to pay the expenses of his education.


After graduating from law school he went to the law offices of Edward I. Croll and Frederick Jay, where he remained until being admitted to the bar at the June term of court in 1910. Since then he has been prac- ticing law for himself. In June, 1913, he was admitted as a counselor at law, and as master in chancery June 28, 1913.


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He is a member of the Newark Lodge of Elks, Court Montefiore No. 92, Foresters of America, progress Aerie No. 1987, Fraternal Order of Eagles, Newark City Lodge, I. O. Brith Abraham, Eziekiel Lodge, Bnal Brith, Granite Lodge, Knights of Pythias. He is treasurer of the Demo- cratic Lawyers Club of Essex County.


His business address is 31 Clinton Street, Newark, N. J.


LOUIS SILVER-Town of Union, Weehawken P. O .- Real ยท Estate and Assemblyman. Born in New York City, N. Y. October 3rd, 1871.


Louis Silver was educated in the public schools of Weehawken. At the fall 1918 elections he was elected to the State Assembly with a plurality of 19,448 votes over his Republican opponent Mayberry.


HAROLD M. SIMPSON-Sussex .- Lawyer and Assemblyman. Born at McAfee, N. J., Dec. 27th, 1886; son of Ora C. and Mag- dolene B. (Mabee) Simpson; married at Newton, N. J., June 29th, 1915, to Grace E. Hess, daughter of William H and Elanore Hess, of Shinandoah, Pa.


Children : Frances E., Jan. 22, 1917.


Harold M. Simpson is of Revolutionary stock. The family has lived in Sussex County for over two hundred years, Ora C. Simpson, the As- semblyman's father served as country clerk of Sussex for fifteen year.


Assemblyman Simpson was educated in the public schools of Newton. He attended the English and Classical School of Newton and later Lehigh University and Princeton University.


He was appointed District Supervisor of Inheritance Tax for Sussex County and was elected to the Assembly in 1918.


He is a member of the following organizations, Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Independent Order of Owls, Loyal Order of Moose, Knights of Pythias, and the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity.


ALBIN SMITH-Paterson, (741 East 22nd St.)-Lawyer. Born at Franklin Furnace, Sussex county, N. J .; son of A. M. Smith, of Paterson, N. J.


Senator Albin M. Smith received his early education in the public schools of Paterson, and upon his graduation from public school was em-


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Smith


ployed as a telegraph operator and railroad clerk, and having a desire to study law, he took evening courses at the New York Law School. In 1905 he was admitted to the New Jersey bar as an attorney and in 1911 as a counselor. He has been practicing law in Paterson since his admission to the bar.


His public life began in 1903 when he was elected an Alderman of Paterson, in which office he remained until 1907. In 1917 he was elected to the Assembly, and in 1918 he was elected Senator of Passaic county.


His business address is 152 Market St. Paterson, N. J.


JAMES SMITH, Jr .- Newark, (326 Ferry Street. ) -Manufac- turer. Born at Newark, on June 12, 1851.


James Smith, Jr., Was United States Senator from this state for the term beginning March 4, 1893, and ending March 4, 1899. It was he too who first gave to Woodrow Wilson, through the nomination for Governor of New Jersey, the introduction into American politics that eventuated in Gov. Wilson's attainment of the Presidency of the United States. The advance- ment of Dr. Wilson from the Presidency of Princeton to the Presidency of the nation was the culminating triumph of Mr. Smith's long activity in poli- tics and statesmanship.


Senator Smith had already became a prosperous business man of New- ark when he began to exhibit an interest in the movement for the upbuild of the city and in its politics. There were then, as there have been since, but few civic and citizens movements without his participation. In 1883 he ac- cepted a nomination for a seat in the City Council and was elected by more majority than the republican candidate against him had votes. It is a matter of history that his work in the City Council was in the direction of the substantial improvement of conditions in the city.


He was pressed afterwards to become a candidate for Mayor ; and even after he had refused to consent to the use of his name a City Democratic Convention put him in nomination and he was obliged to put his second declination in a form that was seen to be final. The convention that ten- dered him the nomination was that which named Schoolmaster Haynes for the office and Mr. Haynes was Mayor for several succeeding terms. There were, however, other departments of the city government in which Mr. Smith thought he could render efficient service for the community; and when the Legislature created the City Board of Works, Mr. Smith became one of its members. He was the promoter there of the movement for the in- stallation of a new water plant for the city ; and it was mainly through his energy that it was accomplished. Commissioner Smith supervised all the plans for its construction, carried on the negotiations with the East Jersey Water Company and attended to all the details of its introduction until water was turned in from the new supply heads. No public improvement


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Smith


has so much contributed to the aggrandizement of Newark as the replacing of the undesirable old supply from the Passaic River with the new supply from purer fountain heads.


Senator Smith's political activities meanwhile branched out from the city to the state, and he was soon recognized as a force by the state leaders. He became a member of the Democratic State Committee, and when the democratic joint meeting in the Legislature of 1893 hesitated to promote Gov. Lean Abbett to the United States Senate, Mr. Smith was made the caucus nominee instead and elected for the six year term ending in 1899. When his term closed, a republican legislature was in control of the State House and he was of course supplanted by a republican.


There was a fair prospect in 1910 of the election of a democratic candi- date to the Governorship provided the party put a commanding name be- fore the people. Senator Smith induced Woodrow Wilson, then the Presi- dent of Princeton University, to consent to enter the lists as an aspirant. The Senator had enough influence with the State Convention to carry Dr. Wilson's name through it and financed his election ; and Dr. Wilson's nomi- nation at Trenton in September was ratified by a plurality approaching 50,000 at the polls in November. His election as Governor was made with a view to his promotion to the Presidency of the United States, in the Na- tional Campaign then taking shape.


In the winter of the following year (1911), a successor to John Kean in the United States Senate was to chosen by the Legislature. Ex-Senator Smith was an avowed aspirant for the distinction, and the democratic ma- jority of legislators who had been elected in the fall of 1910 were under- stood to be favorable to his candidacy. New Jersey had, meanwhile, adopted what was called a "Preferential Senatorial Primary Law," under which the party electors were privileged to express their preferences among the aspirants for the United States Senate. The primary vote was merely ad- visory, however ; and Senator Smith, taking the view that the election of a Senator was a purely legislative function, failed to enter into the contest at the primary polls. James E. Martine, of Plainfield, who announced himself as a candidate against Mr. Smith, had things pretty much his own way in the democratic popular poll. When the Legislature convened for the elec- tion of a new Senator, Gov. Wilson took the view that the popular nomina- tion of Mr. Martine made in incumbent upon the Legislature to elect Mr. Martine to the Senate, and his espousal of Martine's cause resulted in Sen- ator Smith's defeat.


By the time the Senatorial campaign of 1913 opened, the constitution of the United States had been changed so as to provide for the election of United States Senators by popular vote instead of by the legislatures; and Senator Smith became a candidate in the State senatorial primary. He was again opposed by President Wilson and again defeated. He has since had little to do with politics.


Senator Smith was educated at private schools and had a collegiate training in Wilmington, Del. For a time he was in the dry goods business there. He subsequently engaged in the manufacture of patent and enameled leather in Newark, under the firm name of J. H. Halsey & Smith. The busi- ness grew into large proportions rapidly, and the products of its plant were sold in the markets of Europe as well as of the United States. Mr. Smith


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became President of the Federal Trust Company in Newark and held that position for some years.


Senator Smith has been a delegate-generally a delegate-at-large-to all of the recent Democratie National Conventions.


GEORGE WASHINGTON SNOW, Jr .- Jersey City, (84 Win- field Ave.)-Assemblyman. Born at Jersey City, N. J., Aug. 11, 1881; son of George W. and Mary R .. (Southard) Snow ; married at Bayonne, N. J., Oct. 30, 1904, to Katherine A. Sheridan, daugh- ter of Thomas W. Sheridan.


Children : Jean, born April 1st, 1906, (deceased Dec. 1st, 1909) ; Katherine Randolph, born Oct. 8th, 1907, and Ethel Marie, born April 9, 1914.


George Washington Snow, Jr., traces his ancestry back to the two Snow brothers who came from England and settled in New York and Massachusetts in 1713. His maternal ancestors were the Southards and Randolphs, two old families, mentioned in New Jersey's early history.


In his early life he attended the public schools of Jersey City, gradu- ating from the Jersey City High School and thereupon entering the La Salle School. He was elected to the Assembly in 1918.


He is a member of the following clubs: Jersey City Lodge No. 211, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, New York Bay Lodge, No. 298, B. R. T.


His business address is, Greenville Terminal Pennsylvania Railroad, Jersey City, N. J .


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 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


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Spencer


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 Som- mer, 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.


ROBERT ELLIOTT SPEER-Englewood, (Walnut Street) .- Secretary Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. Born at Hunt- ingdon, Penn., September 10th, 1867; son of Robert Milton and Martha (McMurtrie) Speer; married at Harrisburg, Penn., April 12th, 1893, to Emma Doll Bailey, daughter of Charles L. and Emma H. (Doll) Bailey.


Children : Elliott, born November 1st, 1898; Margaret, born No- vember 20th, 1900; Eleanor, born May 5th, 1903; Constance, born November 9th, 1907, and William, born December 6th, 1910.


Robert Elliott Speer was educated in the public schools of Hunting- " don, Pa., and in 1883 entered Phillips Academy at Andover, Mass., which he left in 1885. That same year he entered Princeton University, gradu- ating in 1SS9 with the degree of B. A. and from 1890 to 1891 he attended the Princeton Theological Seminary.


He has travelled extensively in the interest of foreign missions, particularly to Asia and South America. He made five distinct trips, namely in 1894, 1896-'97, 1909-'10 and 1915. In 1891 he was appointed secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Churches of the United States. He is the author of several books on Missionary and religious subjects. During the war he was appointed chairman of the Gen- eral War Time Commission of Churches.


His business address is 156 Fifth Avenue, New York City, N. Y.


EDNA EARLE COLE SPENCER (Mrs. John Onens) -Bridge- ton, (88 East Avenue.)-Author and Religious Worker. Born at Barnesville, Ohio, September 14, 1881; daughter of Charles M. and Florence (Cunard) Cole; married at Barnesville, N. J., on November 29, 1917, to John Onens Spencer, son of James and Nettie (Lane) Spencer.


Mrs. Edna Earle Cole Spencer is of English stock. Her paternal an- cestors came from England about 1800, while her maternal ancestors are. Southerners for many generations back.


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She was educated in the public schools of Barnesville, Ohio, her birth- place. In 1902-1904 she attended Mt. Union College at Alliance, Ohio; in 1905 entered the Hartford School of Religious Pedagogy, from which she graduated in 1908.




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