USA > New Jersey > The New Jersey coast in three centuries; history of the New Jersey coast with genealogical and historic-biographical appendix, Vol. I > Part 56
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Soon after entering upon journalistic work, Mr. Hall had come to be recognized as a writer and editor of great ability and as among the ablest of his profession in the State. His marked per- sonality was deeply impressed upon his pages, and none other influence was more potent in ad- vancing the highest interests of his city and county. His interest. in educational concerns has been fervent, abiding and intelligent, and for three years he occupied the important position of presi- dent of the board of education, during a period when the effi- 1 J. F. HALL. ciency of the school system was greatly advanced. His esthetic tastes moved him to give his aid to the Forestry Association of New Jersey, and he was a persistent advocate of its purposes through the columns of his newspaper and in public addresses .. . Among his utterances under this head was an address delivered at James- burg, New Jersey, on Arbor Day, in 1898, which was widely distributed in pamphlet form. Mr. Hall is also an active and deeply interested member of the Citizens' League, an association of representative citizens and tax- payers of Atlantic City and county, whose object is to preserve a pure ballot box, clean elections, aid in the election of men of ability and integ- rity, and to promote public interests in all commendable ways.
Mr. Hall has never been a political aspirant, but in 1898 he was brought forward as the Democratic candidate for congress against John H. Gardner,
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who was candidate for the fourth successive term. In this hopeless contest, Mr. Hall's personal popularity enabled him to reduce the majority of his successful opponent to 6,668, as against 9,741 and 17,449 in the two pre- vious elections.
Mrs. Mary Townsend Rush, of Ocean City, is one of the most indus- trious writers on the coast, and her work has been widely circulated and generously commended. In 1893 she published "The Ocean City Guide Book and Directory," a finely illustrated volume containing a succinct his- tory of the city from its founding to the year in which the narrative was written, together with an account of the notable shipwrecks which occurred off the shore from time to time. The work met with such favor that a second edition was printed within a few days after the appearance of the first. Mrs. Rush has also for some years been a highly appreciated con- tributor of short stories, verses and news letters to various leading mag- azines and newspapers in New York and Philadelphia. She is now en- gaged upon a romance founded on tlie traditions of the Jersey coast. She continues to act as reporter for metropolitan journals and to carry on an extensive advertising agency, besides tracing family lines of de- scent and title to property in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, in the in- terest of non-resident heirs. She is author of the excellent chapter "Along the Strand," in this work, descriptive of the shells and marine MRS. MARY T. RUSH. vegetation of the coast.
Mrs. Rush is descended from a long line of authors and patriots. Among the immediate members of her family in the maternal line who remained in England and Ireland were Dr. John Moore, a novelist and writer of travels, his son Sir John Moore, the famous British General, and Thomas Moore, the Irish poet. She is descended in direct line from Cap- tain Samuel Moore, of the Newtown (Long Island) militia, who was one of those appointed to choose delegates to the assembly in New York, in 1683, which adopted the charter of liberties, and from Captain John Moore. who fought in the French and Indian wars. Her maternal grandfather
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was Samuel Moore, an officer in the war with Great Britain, and who was an editor, and his wife descended from the immediate family of Captain James Lawrence, who commanded the United States frigate "Chesapeake." Mrs. Rush was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Edward and MarthÃa (Moore) Townsend, the former named a clergyman, and a Vir- ginian by birth, and his wife a native of Long Island. Mrs. Rush com- pleted her education at Gilbert's Academy, Chester, Pennsylvania. She was married to Jerome S. Rush, of the old Philadelphia family of that name. A son born of this marriage died in infancy.
William H. Fischer, of Toms River, contributed to the "Cyclopedia of Biography of Ocean County," published in 1899, a number of important historical chapters, the only purely local narrative extant covering the his- tory of that region from the original occupation by the whites down to the year of publication. The work is highly creditable, and involved per- sistent and systematic research. The chapters written by Mr. Fischer are those on "Its Physical Features," "Its Political Divisions," "Its Dis- coverers," "Its Indian Inhabitants," "Its Early Settlers," "Its Early His- tory," "Its Colonial Growth," "Its Revolutionary Struggles," a most excellent narrative; "Its Industrial Development," "Its History as a County," "Its Political History," "Its Venturesome Sons," and others. Among other contributors are the Rev. J. T. Irwin, on "The Baptist Church of Toms River;" Prof. George D. Horner, "Historical WILLIAM H. FISCHER. Sketch of New Egypt;" the Rev. A. H. Dashiell, D. D., "Township of Lakewood ;" Dr. Theophilus T. Price, "History of Little Egg Harbor," and "The First Settlers."
Mr. Fischer has also made his journal, "The New Jersey Courier," the mediuni for the preservation of much valuable local history. He is a native of New Jersey, born at Bass River, Burlington county, August 30, 1867. His parents were John and Susan Mccullough ( Adams) Fischer, the father being a German who came to the United States as a young man, and the mother being descended from some of the earliest settlers of Little
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Egg Harbor and Bass River townships, in Ocean county. In 1871 the parents removed to Toms River, and the son was there educated in the pub- lic schools. He learned printing in the office of "The New Jersey Courier," at Toms River, and in 1891 he and Charles T. Patterson became the owners of the paper. His partner died April 18, 1896, since which time Mr. Fischer has been sole owner and editor. He was elected clerk of the Ocean county board of freeholders in 1895, and was re-elected in 1898. He served as calendar clerk of the New Jersey Senate in the session of 1897 and 1898.
After the publication of the small volume by Dr. Maurice Beasley, no work touching the history of the lower part of the New Jersey coast region appeared until Mr. Lewis Townsend Stevens published his "His tory of Cape May County," in 1897. This was a well made octavo volume of 480 pages, and was printed in a printing house in Cape May City. Its writing necessitated long and painstaking labor on the part of the author, who delved industriously into public records as well as into various old and, in some cases, almost illegible manuscript diaries and memoirs. The result has been a well arranged narrative, and the work has found cor- dial recognition by librarians and persons engaged in historical research as a comprehensive and accurate narrative, dealing with all the details of the development of the Cape May region from the earliest days. The chapters on "The Pioneers and Whaling," "The Settlers and their New Homes," "Life Early in the Eighteenth Century," "Maritime Tendencies and Cattle Owning," "Ancient Loans and Taxes" and "The Religious Controversies," are particularly valuable, while the local color, and vivid portraiture of the habits and customs of the people, are given in extracts from the quaintly written journals of those old wor- thies, Jacob Spicer and Aaron Leam- ing. The author, Mr. Stevens, brought to his work a genuine en- thusiasm born out of his loyalty to an honored ancestry native to the LEWIS T. STEVENS. soil. He takes a deep interest in his- torical and genealogical matters, and is constantly accumulating data in these lines for future use.
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Mr. Stevens was born in West Cape May, August 22, 1868, son of William T. Stevens. His great-grandfather, Joshua Townsend, was a member of the New Jersey Legislative Council from 1831 to 1834, a mem- ber of the Assembly, 1819-21, 1822-23 and 1827-30, and was first lieuten- ant of the Cape May Volunteer Company in the War of 1812, serving on the Delaware Bay. Another great-grandfather, Daniel Stevens, while commanding the ship "Pennsylvania" in the War of 1812, had his vessel captured from him by the British. Of his great-great-grandfathers, John Hooper, of South Carolina, was a patriot soldier in the Revolutionary war, and was a brother of William Hooper, a signer of the Declaration of In- dependence; others were William Smith, a captain of the Gloucester Coun- ty Company of the New Jersey troops in the Revolution; Henry Stevens, a captain in the coast guards in the Revolution, and Henry Young Town- send, captain of the Fourth Company of the Cape May Regiment of the patriot army in the Revolution, who fought with his regiment in the battle of Germantown in 1777. The latter named was also a member of the New Jersey Assembly in 1780, and sheriff of Cape May county from 1774 to 1777. He was also elected a member of the Assembly in 1777, but did not serve because of being in the field.
Mr. Stevens was educated in the public schools of Cape May City, and at Princeton University. When twelve years of age he began to learn the trade of a printer, working at the case ten hours a day for a year be- fore entering college, and devoting his evenings to writing news matter for leading New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore newspapers, and paid his way through college with the proceeds of similar work. In 1892-3 he was engaged in journalistic work in New York City, in the evenings attend- ing the Metropolis Law School. He was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1898 as an attorney, and in 1902 as counsellor. In 1894 and 1896 he taught in the public schools. He served Cape May City as a member of the city council from 1892 to 1895, and during the latter year was president of the body, being the youngest man who ever sat in the body, or presided over it. In 1898 he was receiver of taxes of the city, and he has served as a member of the board of health for ten years. He is a referee in bankruptcy, a master in chancery and a, commissioner of Pennsyl- vania in New Jersey. In 1897 he published for the city the "Charter and Ordinances of Cape May," compiled by himself.
Mr. Stevens was married on April 11, 1894, to Grace Anna Merwin, a descendant of the Thealls, Lewises and Deans, of Orange county, New York. Two sons were born of this marriage, Hobart Merwin, October 17, 1896, and George Mortimer, June 14, 1900. Politically Mr. Stevens is a Repub-
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lican, and has been chairman of several conventions. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
Dr. Theophilus Townsend Price, of Tuckerton, in 1877 wrote the de- scriptive and historical chapters of the "New Jersey Coast Atlas," pub- lished by Woolman and Rose. He has during many years, beginning prior to 1850, contributed to the press many articles and pieces of verse, and he has delivered many public addresses and lectures, principally upon histori- cal and educational themes. In other ways his life has been one of much usefulness. He was born in Town Bank, Cape May county, May 21, 1828, a son of Jolin and Kezia (Swain) Price. In his young manhood he was a school teacher, and he afterward became a physician. He was for many years township school superintendent; he was postmaster under Presidents Lincoln and Johnson ; and for seventeen years he was United States marine hospital surgeon at Tuckerton, and during this term he annually examined almost one hundred and fifty applicants for admission to the life saving ser- vice. He was prominent in the establishment of railroads and banks. He organized and for fifteen years conducted a union Sunday school in a desti- tute neighborhood, and he was active in Baptist Church work. He is a member of many historical, religious, educational and benevolent associa- tions.
In 1885 an historical and biographical work of nine hundred octavo pages, of Monmouth county, New Jersey, was published by Franklin Ellis, who was assisted by numerous contributors in various portions of the county. This work has a fixed place in historical compilations, saving the investigators, in many instances, the labor of delving afresh into widely scattered and often illegible original documents.
The works relating to the history of early churches are many and of great interest, and invaluable to the student, not alone with reference to the progress of religion, but to social conditions and the development of society. Reference is hereinafter made to only such as are distinctively representative of bodies which were of peculiar historic importance in their founding and in their relation to the community during the earliest days.
The Rev. Abraham Messler, D. D., for more than a half century pastor of the First Reformed Church of Somerville, published in 1872 "Eight Memorial Sermons, with a History of the Reformed Churches of Somerset County." He had previously (in 1836) written "Fruits of Early Piety," which was published by the American Sunday School Union, and was ex- tensively circulated. In 1853-4 he contributed about one hundred and fifty papers to the "Christian Intelligencer" under the title of "The Christian Ministry, the Reformers before the Reformation, the Confession of Faith,"
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etc., and for more than five years he wrote the principal editorials in the same paper. In 1878 he wrote "A Centennial History of Somerset County," and in 1899 "First Things in Old Somerset, including Sketches of Washing- ton Rock, Chimney Rock, and a List of the Freeholders in 1790."
The history of the Brick Church of Marlborough, also known as the Reformed Church of the Navesink, was written and published in 1877, by the Rev. Theodore W. Wells, then the pastor of the church, in a volume entitled "Brick Church Memorial, 1699-1877; the Days of Old and Their Commemoration." Until 1826 there was no other church of its denomina- tion in Monmouth County. Many of the facts concerning the parent church and those which took their being from it, are given with great par- ticularity in this work.
The Old Scots Church, as it was first designated, which subsequently became known as the Tennent Church, near Freehold, in its original mem- bership and for many subsequent years, was an important factor in the his- tory of Monmouth County. A narrative of its founding and growth was written in 1895, by the Rev. Henry Goodwin Smith, and published in the "Freehold Transcript," under the title "History of the Old Scots Church of Freehold, New Jersey, 1685-1732." .
The same historic church was written of in 1897, by the Rev. Frank R. Symmes, the fifteenth pastor, in a volume of 144 pages entitled "History of the Old Tennent Church." The narrative is exhaustive, and includes biographical sketches of all the various pastors, and contains numerous en- gravings, among which are views of the original and succeeding church edifices, and of the burying ground and of its ancient gravestones. In the appendix are given the text of the original deed to the church property, the royal charter granted to the first members, and the early records of baptisms and deaths. The work is an interesting addition to local history, and will be ever valuable for purposes of reference.
The history of Presbyterianism in New Jersey has received many valu- able contributions through the investigations of the Rev. Allen H. Brown, of Atlantic City. In 1850 he printed in the "Woodbury Constitution" a series of seven letters containing many interesting facts with reference to the Rev. John Brainerd, and he subsequently collaborated with Professor George Macloskie in the publication of "The Journal of John Brainerd for the years 1761 and 1762." Other monographs by Mr. Brown were: "An Outline History of the Presbyterian Church in West (or South) Jersey from 1700 to 1865." Character and Employments of the Early Set- tlers on the coast of New Jersey ;" and "Fifty Years Progress on the Coast of New Jersey." In 1888 he wrote "Historical Sketch of the Synod of New Jersey for the Quarter of a Century from 1861 to 1886," which was pub-
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lished by the Synod of New Jersey. He also produced many other papers of permanent historical value. His wife, who was Miss Martha A. Dodge, of Amherst, Massachusetts, was a woman of much literary ability, and a volume of verse from her pen, "Spring Flowers and Autumn Leaves," published in 1878, gave evidence of real poetic talent.
Notwithstanding the early coming of the Germans many years elapsed before their local history came to be written. The most exhaustive work pertaining to them is a volume of 667 pages, illustrated, published by T. F. Chambers, at Dover, in 1895, under the title "Early Germans of New Jer- sey ; Their History, Churches and Genealogy."
The institution of courts in New Jersey and the development of the judicial system have been written of in amplitude by capable writers from the earliest day. In this connection it is interesting to note that the first printed book bearing a Jersey imprint was an edition of the "Session Laws of the Provincial Assembly," enacted at Perth Amboy in 1723, and printed there in that year by William Bradford, who brought a press from Phila- delphia for the purpose. In 1728 William Keimer brought a printing press to Burlington for a similar purpose. In 1752 Samuel Neville, then second judge of the supreme court, published the first volume of "Laws of the Province," and the second volume appeared in 1761. These were printed at Woodbridge, by James Parker, Printer to the King.
William Griffith, the eminent lawyer of Burlington, gave a succinct account of the origin, history, jurisdiction and practice of courts in New Jersey, through the medium of his "Annual Law Register of the United States," in 1822.
In 1849 was published in New York, and appeared in the publications of the New Jersey Historical Society, a valuable monograph on "Provincial Courts of New Jersey, with Sketches of the Bench and Bar," from the pen of Judge Richard S. Field. This was but one of his many contributions to the "New Jersey Collections," and his numerous other papers and addresses delivered upon special occasions are valuable additions to the legal litera- ture of the State and nation, and contain much material of permanent in- terest to the general student, as well as to the historian and antiquary.
Judge Field was a native of New Jersey, born in Whitehill, Burlington county, December 31, 1803. He was graduated from the New Jersey Col- lege when eighteen years of age, and three years later was admitted to the bar, having studied law under the preceptorship of his maternal uncle, the eminent jurist, Richard Stockton, for whom he was named. He was for several years a member of the State legislature, and he was attorney general from 1838 to 1841. He was a member of the convention which framed the
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State constitution in 1844. In 1861 he was appointed by Governor Olden to fill the unexpired term of John R. Thompson in the Senate of the United States. In 1863 he was appointed by President Lincoln to the position of district United States judge for the district of New Jersey, and he served until April, 1870, when he was stricken with paralysis, from which he died May 25 following. He was a profound lawyer, and in his judicial life was characterized as a "wise, upright, fearless and merciful judge." He was deeply interested in educational concerns. He was chosen president of the first board of trustees of the State Normal School at its institution in 1855, and he was primarily the founder of the Law School connected with Prince- ton University and for several years served as its presiding law professor. He was deeply interested in the New Jersey Historical Society, and was serving as its president when his death occurred. His was a well rounded character, and no man left a deeper impress upon the history of the State.
An ample and exhaustive "Judicial and Civil History of New Jersey" was written in 1897, by John Whitehead, of Morristown. This important work begins with the discovery of Jersey and its first occupation by the whites, and covers the entire range of its civil and judicial development, in- cluding the origin and history of its legislative bodies and its various courts. It has been written with great care, and will ever prove invaluable to the student in legal and political lines. A biographical appendix contains brief sketches of lawyers and jurists from the institution of courts to the year in which the work was published. Mr. Whitehead has been a deep and life- long student of history and philology, and he has made valuable contribu- tions to literature along these lines and in that of his profession.
Mr. Whitehead was born in Jersey, Ohio, in 1819. Early left an or- phan, he came under the affectionate care of his uncle, Hon. Asa Whitehead, of Newark, a distinguished member of the New Jersey bar, who aided him in acquiring an academical education and was his law preceptor. On attain- ing his majority he was admitted to the bar, and entered upon practice, for a few years in association with his uncle and afterward alone. In 1856 he was appointed United States circuit court commissioner for the district of New Jersey, and he has served continuously in that position until the pres- ent time ( 1902), and enjoys the distinction of being, in period of service, the oldest United States commissioner now in office. With no taste for political life, Mr. Whitehead has devoted his leisure to literary and educa- tional affairs. In 1845 he became a member of the public school committee of Newark, and he was secretary and treasurer of the succeeding body, the board of education, from 1851 to 1855. Removing to Clinton, he was elected township school superintendent, and he served in that position for four years. In 1861 he removed to Morristown, where he performed a
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noble work in effecting the establishment of the public library, and in per- sonally supervising the collection of its thousands of books. He was school examiner for Essex county from the time the position was created by act of the legislature until it was abrogated by the same authority. He was for many years secretary of the State Society of Teachers and Friends of Education, and as representative of that body he visited different portions of the State, addressing meetings, and stimulating the people to- a deeper interest in educational matters. He also became a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Education, composed of the most dis- tinguished educators and advocates of education in the country. In 1891 he was elected president of the New Jersey Society of the Sons of the Amer- ican Revolution, and in 1893 he was elected a vice-president of the national body of the same order.
The history of medicine in its earlier days was well written by Stephen Wickes, M. D., in a volume published at Newark, in 1879, under the title "History of Medicine in New Jersey and of its Medical Men from the Settlement of the Province to A. D. 1800." Dr. Wickes also wrote "His- tory of the Oranges in Essex county, New Jersey, 1666-1806," which was published in 1892, after his death. He was born in Jamaica, Long Island, March 17, 1813, and was educated at Union College, Schenectady, New York. He made his home in Orange, New Jersey, and there practiced his profession. He was a valued member of the New Jersey Historical Society, and succeeded Mr. Whitehead as corresponding secretary. He was methodical and precise in the discharge of his duties. Courtly in his man- ners, he was in his later years a striking figure, with his white hair and long snow-white beard, and he habitually wore a dress suit.
Outside the special fields of authorship written of in the preceding pages, many valuable additions to the literature of the State have been made from time to time by graceful and forceful writers. Without at- tempt to trace the voluminous bibliography of the State in its entirety, reference is made to a number of volumes which will aid the student in investigating the most important topics which may claim his attention.
Dr. Samuel Lockwood, who came to the pastorate of the Reformed Church in Freeport in 1854, was an accomplished naturalist, and made some interesting discoveries with reference to the fossil fauna of Mon- mouth county. Among others, he unearthed from the cretaceous clay a relic of a larger reptile than was before known to the scientific world, which received the designation of Ornithotarsus immanis. He subsequent- ly made careful studies of the process of propagation in the sea-horse, and
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