USA > New Jersey > The New Jersey coast in three centuries; history of the New Jersey coast with genealogical and historic-biographical appendix, Vol. II > Part 30
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In 1873 he brought the first case for the recovery of bonus money or usury, and secured a judgment for his client, Joseph W. Willianis, of Deal, in a justice's court. The case was appealed, and his contention was sustained by the court of common pleas. ' He instituted other suits of like nature, and the principle for which he contended was definitely sus- tained by the supreme court, as reported in Ioth Vroom, 22. This de-
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cision affected a revolution in the usury business in New Jersey, and was cited in other states as a clear elucidation of a new and much vexed ques- tion.
Among other cases in which important principles were decided ac- cording to his contention, and which appear in the law and equity reports of New Jersey, were State ( Swanson) vs. Pierson, and State ( Hubbard ) vs. Reckless, which settled important questions of law and practice in laying out public roads and in the appointment of chosen freeholders to review the same; and State (Chadwick) as. Erickson, growing out of the wreck of the schooner "Margaret and Lucy." March 2, 1877, which established the right of the coroner (over a justice of the peace) to hold inquest, settling a disputed question in the shore regions.
In the James P. Allaire will case Mr. Beekman was counsel for the contestants in the first jury trial in New Jersey and secured a verdict. In this trial the eminent opposing counsel were Hon. George C. Ludlow and Hon .. Cortiandt Parker, the burden of reply to whom devolved upon Mr. Beekman.
A case in which he recovered for his client the largest damages ever awarded by a Monmouth county jury in a suit for slander was that of Daniel Bray vs. William W. Conover. He also recovered damages for Smith E. Hughes, for injuries sustained in the falling of the walls of the Presbyterian church in Freehold. Between 1874 and 1878, in face of what appeared to be insurmountable obstacles, he brought action for the Township of Freehold against Patterson (a defaulting official ) and his bondsinen, and recovered a considerable amount. Among other cases at various times which attracted great attention were his successful de- fense of John H. Silvers, indicted for forgery; of Charles Cavanaugh, indicted for arson; and of Dr. H. S. Kinmonth, indicted for the illegal sale of liquor. The latter case was regarded with such deep interest at Asbury Park, that the local newspapers printed the speeches of the oppos- ing counsellors in extenso.
Among the suits conducted by Mr. Beekman during the more recent years of his life, were a number which attracted public attention in a marked degree, as establishing important legal precedent, as may be seen by reference to the law and equity reports of the state.
A real cause celebre was that continued for many years between Caroline H. Pemberton and her two brothers, John P. and Henry H. Pemberton, both leading physicians of Long Branch. It originated in the will of their mother (who died suddenly in London, England, where she was visiting), who devised the bulk of her property to Caroline H. Pem- berton, her only daughter, who had supported herself by conducting a boarding house in Asbury Park. The Pemberton brothers, through their respective counsel (Vrendenburg & Parker and Robbins & Hartshorne ) filed with the surrogate of Monmouth county caveats against admitting the will to probate. The instrument was admitted to probate by the Orphans' court, after hearing evidence and arguments. The brothers ap- pealed, and the decree was affirmed by the Ordinary of New Jersey ( 13th
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Stewart, 590, Equity Reports. ) The brothers separately appealed to the court of final resort-the court of errors and appeals-the Hon. Cort- landt Parker now appearing in the case in addition to their former coun- sel. The court by unanimous vote affirmed the decree of the Ordinary, and for the reasons which Mr. Beekman gave.
The case had now been in the courts for several years, and had en- gendered bitter feeling among the litigants. Caroline H. Pemberton in- stituted a slander suit against her brother, Henry, for charging her with the murder of their mother. He denied having made such a charge. The case was brought to trial at Freehold, and the jury found for him. The case now became more complicated. Caroline H. Pemberton brought ac- tion for the detention of a trunk containing her private papers and other personal belongings, which had come into possession of Matthias Wooley, who had been appointed administrator, pendente lite, on the petition of her two brothers, and she recovered judgment against her brother, John, against whom the action was brought. Mrs. Caroline M. Pemberton, wife of Dr. John P. Pemberton, now brought suit against Caroline H. Pemberton, claiming damages in twenty thousand dollars for false im- prisonment. The jury found for plaintiff, but affixed the damages at only forty-nine dollars-an inconsequential sum. The plaintiff's motion to set aside the verdict was refused. There were other proceedings-suit was brought against Caroline H. Pemberton for alleged debts owing to her mother, and a verdict was given for the defendant; and, finally, the will was sustained in the court of errors and appeals, and Caroline H. Pember- ton was placed in charge of the estate as executrix. Through all this litigation Mr. Beekman was her only counsel and advocate, and he suc- cessfully fought her battles against nearly all the combined legal talent of Red Bank and Long Branch-an arduous and long continuing battle, in which his success was most conspicuous.
The trial of William Bullock, a colored man indicted for the mur- der of Michael Walsh, a constable of Red Bank, not only aroused intense excitement, but was attended by most sensational incidents. There were three trials, one of which was before a struck jury. Twice the accused was found guilty of murder in the first degree; and in each case the ver- dict was set aside-one by the trial judge, and one by the court of errors and appeals (August 2, 1900) by unanimous vote, because of the admis- sion of improper evidence. In the last instance the case was argued for the accused before a full bench by Mr. Beekman and Mr. Leonard. The de- cision is given in 36th Vroom, 557, and is one of the most carefully con- sidered opinions ever handed down by that eminent jurist, Judge De Pue, who died shortly afterward.
The trials in this case were attended by various sensational incidents -the earnestly intent throng which crowded every foot of standing room in the Freehold court house at the first trial, and the coming in of the struck jury and their discharge by Judge Collins just after the bell had tolled twelve on Sunday midnight-the retiring of the jury at midnight, when the last pleas had been made at the third trial-these afforded awe-
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some scenes never to be forgotten by any who witnessed them. A ver- dict of guilty was returned, and the court of errors and appeals had granted new trial as before narrated, but the death watch was set upon the cell of the prisoner. From that time Bullock has never been seen in New Jersey. From the beginning to the end (if it has really ended) the career of this man abounds in incidents which would well afford material for a dime novel-his shooting of Walsh, his escape across the Shrewsbury river, Itis capture at midnight of the same day in South Amboy, his sensational trials, his escape from the prison cell, leaving its door locked,-his unknown whereabouts afterward, and his reputed death in Virginia by violence.
judge Beekman has at various times occupied various public posi- tions, political as well as in the line of his profession. In 1869 he was appointed by Governor Randolph to the position of presiding judge of the Monmouth county courts, which he resigned in 1872, when a law was enacted which debarred a judge from practice. While upon the bench be originated rules for the court of common pleas which, with some slight modifications, are now operative. In a notable case (State vs. Cushing and Van Tassel) he delivered a charge to the jury which resulted in the conviction of the accused for river thieving, or piracy, and virtually broke up a practice which was a stigma upon the fair name of the state. His signal ability as a jurist is evidenced by the fact that in no instance was liis decision reversed by a higher court.
In politics Judge Beekman has pursued a course of independence, holding his convictions as to public interests paramount to mere partisan ends. In 1860 his first vote was cast for three electors on the Douglas (Union) Democratic ticket. When war became imminent, he provoked the enmity of many because of his fealty to the Union, and his articles in the "Freehold Inquirer" under the pen name of "Jackson Democrat" were trumpet calls to the loyal at a time when such a journal as the "New York Tribune" was not bold enough to denounce secession. He stumped the state from end to end in the same year, and aided largely in the election of the famous war governor, Joel Parker. In 1876 he was a delegate to the national Democratic convention in St. Louis, which nominated Mr. Tilden for the presidency, but he became dissatisfied with the methods of that body and with its platform inconsistencies, and since that time has declined to be considered an obligated member of a political organization. Twice he was appointed a delegate to national conventions of the Anti- Monopoly, or People's party, but this was without his knowledge or con- seni, and he declined.
This independency on the part of Judge Beekman led him to identify himself with various reform movements, and brought him into a field of great usefulness. Thoroughly democratic in every thought and purpose. he had long viewed with apprehension the constantly increasing growth of an entirely un-American plutocracy, and he rose to resent and resist its progress. In 1878, in a convention of the People's party, held in Freehold, he was made chairman of the committee on resolutions, and he drafted in
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major part the vigorous declaration of principles which he reported and which was enthusiastically adopted as expressive of the sentiments of the great assemblage. The preamble recited the abuse of legislation in the interests of great corporations to the detriment of the industrial classes, and declared for an equitable system of taxation which should reach all classes; for reduced salaries of public officials; for the abolition of use- less offices ; for the abolition of the fee system and the establishment of reasonable fixed salaries for county officers; for the discontinuance of ex- pensive publication of laws in favored newspapers; for the simplification of the judicial system by reduction of number of courts and judges, and by vesting equity powers in circuit courts; for one term of occupancy of profitable county offices; and for other salutary changes in the conduct of public business.
When the convention came to nominate a ticket, the contest seemed so hopeless in face of a great normal Democratic majority that it was difficult to induce candidates to accept, and one named for the state sen- atorship absolutely refused to enter the lists. At this juncture General Haight named Judge Beekman for the last named position, and the nom- ination was made by vociferous and unanimous acclamation. Without arrangement or consultation, the Republican convention endorsed Judge Beekman, and after a bitter contest before the people, he was elected, the Democratic candidate being defeated for the first time since the county of Ocean was set off from that of Monmouth.
Judge Beekman's career in the senate was entirely in keeping with his professions, and at every stage he strenuously advocated every princi- ple for'which he had previously contended. He was radically a reformer, but, as was said of him by a prominent Republican writing in the "State Gazette," of Trenton, a leading Republican journal, he was "not a pro- fessed reformer of the demolishing sort, but simply an honest and earnest citizen, anxious to promote the welfare of the state." He served on various important committees and he originated, drafted and secured the enactment of many important laws-the act reducing by one-half the cost of mortgage foreclosures, under three hundred dollars; the act obliging the beneficiary in real estate to pay the taxes; the act exempting the mortgage debtor to the state, school and sinking funds from paying taxes on such indebtedness; and the act known as the "Bribery Law." He drafted the excellent law forbidding selling or giving intoxicants to minors without written permission from their parents, but this was lost through antagonistic influences. He advocated and voted for the various laws enacted which substituted fixed salaries for the chancellor and supreme court justices instead of fees, the law reducing the fees of certain county officials, the law setting aside sheriff's sales for inadequacy of prices, and others equally salutary.
In a notable instance Senator Beekman performed labor of enduring worth. He introduced the bill (which became a law) making a state appropriation of $10,000 for the erection of the Monmouth Battle Monu-
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ment, and advocated it in a brilliant and impassioned speech, which was a gem of patriotic oratory.
Senator Beekman served on the special committee appointed to ex- amine into and report upon complaints made against the agents of the Proprietors of East Jersey, and he was the principal in the work of in- vestigation, and drafted the greater portion of the report, which appeared among the legislative documents in 1882. In this he incurred the ani- mosity of various persons whose interests were jeopardized, but he was sustained by those who were disinterested and who discerned the real facts and conditions. By a curious coincidence one of the assemblymen associated with him on the committee was his law partner, Holmes W. Murphy, and both were lineal descendants of that Jonathan Holmes ( writ- ten of elsewhere in this work) who was elected from Middletown to the first assembly in 1668, and who began the long continued resistance to the Proprietors by refusing to take the oath of allegiance to them, and for such refusal was dismissed.
'Senator Beekman drafted various laws designed to effect a change in the method of selecting grand and petit jurors, to prevent the packing of juries, and to abolish the publication of the session laws in newspapers, and the publication of long descriptive sheriff's sale advertisements at the expense of the debtor. These measures were defeated through the effort of those whose revenues and interests were threatened, and Senator Beek- man was made the target for countless shafts of opprobrium. but he en- joyed the approbation of his own conscience, and the commendation of the discriminating and disinterested intelligence of the state. At the close of his two years term of service, he declined to seek a renomination in order to devote himself entirely to his profession.
Judge Beekman's service as historian and annalist are referred to at length in "A Chapter of Literary History" in this work. A deep student his life through, he is broadly informed on all subjects of living interest. Not bound closely by written creed of church, he is a practical Christian, intimately acquainted with the Scriptures, which he holds in veneration for their spiritual teachings, and has the admiration of a scholar for their literary beauties. He has been a Freemason for nearly forty years, and has taken the Royal Arch degrees. He served twice as worshipful mas- ter of Olive Branch Lodge, No. 16, of Freehold-once for three years, and again for one year, and is now the oldest living past master of that body. He was formerly a member of the Holland Society of New York City. and was elected a member of the Third of October Association of the city of Leyden, Holland-on organization founded in 1571 to commemorate the deliverance of the city from Spanish rule.
Judge Beekman was married in 1877 to Miss Laura B. Alston, a de- scendant of the Alston family of Staten Island. Four children were born of this marriage-Alston, born July 1, 1878; Anna Crawford, born April 9, 1880: Jacob Ten Brocck, born May 19, 1883; and Edwin Laurens, born August 25, 1889.
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HON. HENRY M. NEVIUS.
Hon. Henry M. Nevius, circuit court judge, ex-president of the state senate, and for twenty years one of the most prominent lawyers of the state of New Jersey, also a gallant officer of the Civil war, is at present an esteemed citizen of Red Bank, where he has resided since May, 1875, previously in Freehold and vicinity. He is a grandson of David Nevius, who was a brother of Judge James S. Nevius, president judge for many years of the Monmouth county circuit, and a son of James S. and Hannah Bowne Nevius, and was born January 30, 1841, in Freehold town- ship, Monmouth county, New Jersey. He received his early educational training in Freehold Institute, and subsequently took a course in the uni- versity at Grand Rapids, Michigan. In April, 1861, he resolved upon the study of law, and accordingly registered as a student in the office of E. Smith, Jr., and General Russell Alger at Grand Rapids, Michigan, but upon the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion cast his fortunes for the cause of his country, and accordingly in July of 1861, he enlisted in a company being organized at Grand Rapids, which became known as the "Lincoln Cavalry," Company K, attached to the First New York Lincoln Cavalry. Having served with distinction in this department of the army, in January, 1863, he was promoted to second lieutenant of Company D, Seventh Michigan Cavalry, which, together with the First, Fifth and Sixth Michigan Cavalry, constituted the celebrated brigade under the leadership of General George A. Custer, and won such brilliant fame in the campaign of the army of the Potomac. He returned home during the winter of 1863-4, but the following spring re-enlisted in the Twenty-fifth New York Cavalry Regiment, and soon after was promoted to first lieutenant. On the IIth of July, 1864, during an engagement in front of Fort Stevens, he lost his left arm, this making the fourth wound he had received in the service. For meritorious conduct in this battle he was promoted to the rank of major. While confined to the hospital under- going treatment for his wounds he was serving on detached duty, and re- mained in the service up to July. 1865. Now that the war was over he returned to reside in quiet and peace at Marlboro, where he established himself in the insurance business, and in connection with this he served as assessor of internal revenue of the district, comprising Monmouth county, from 1866-68, when he resigned to enter upon the study of law in the office of General Charles Haight, at Freehold, with whom he re- mained until admitted at the February term, 1873. He at once located in practice at Freehold, where he remained up to May, 1875. when he be- came a law partner of Hon. John S. Applegate, at Red Bank, with whom he remained four years, 1884-88, when the firm was dissolved : thereupon Mr. Nevius associated with him Edmund Wilson, a former student, which relation has lasted ever since. He was admitted as a counsellor in 1876. In recognition of his legal learning and ability, in 1896 Governor Griggs appointed him circuit court judge of Hudson county district, one of the most enviable positions in the judicial department of the state, in which
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position he is ably serving at the present time. In politics he is an uncom- promising Republican, but never an aspirant for office; however, after having several times refused the nomination for member of general a sembly and once that of senator, in 1887, upon the solicitation of his friends, he was induced to accept the nomination, and was elected to the lat- ter office, and in 1890 served as president of that body. He was especially active and useful as a public speaker during the presidential campaigns of 1880, 1884 and 1888, having delivered during the latter campaign over sixty speeches, and he bears the enviable reputation of being one of the most eloquent political and Grand Army speakers in the state. He is a member and was one of the chief organizers of Arrowsmith Post, No. 61, G. A. R., in 1881, at Red Bank, and served as its commander up to 1884, when he was elected commander of the department of New Jersey, serv- ing up to 1885, when he was re-elected by acclamation. He married, December 27, 1871, Matilda H., a daughter of the late William W. Her- bert, of Marlboro, this county, and they have one daughter, Kate T.
Judge Nevius. as a soldier and an officer, was possessed of a cool head and a bold courage, which knew no fear, and he bears an enviable record. As a lawyer he is well versed in all the subtleties of the. law, is careful in the preparation of his cases, is an eloquent pleader, and true to his client. As a statesman, his ability and eloquence as a public speaker and debater soon won for him recognition as being one of the ablest and most popular men in the senate, which resulted in his election as its presi- dent. As a jurist-his latest honor-which has engaged his time since March, 1896, he is able, broad-minded and impartial.
REV. ELLWOOD HAINES STOKES.
With the history of Ocean Grove is closely associated the name of the Rev. Ellwood Haines Stokes, who was made president of the Ocean Grove Association at its organization, and who served in that capacity until his death. The association has been written of at length in another portion of this work, and it is our province at present to depict in some degree the personality of the man who was so instrumental in its formation and in carrying its purposes to consummation.
His heredity marked him for the life which he chose. He traced the line of his descent from a powerful English family, which inherited the stubborn endurance of the Saxon and the vigorous aggressiveness of the Norman. In the upheavals of religion characterizing the Cromwellian era, the family adopted the doctrines of the Friends, or Quakers, and, with William Penn, sought freedom for their worship in the new world, settling in Pennsylvania. As the generations passed, the father of Ell- wood H. Stokes located a farm near Medford, New Jersey, where the subject of this sketch was born in 1816.
In his boyhood he developed an eager taste for books which bred dis-
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satisfaction with farm life, and, upon the removal of his father to Phila- delphia, he entered a bookmaking establishment, in which he remained until 1843, when, at the age of twenty-seven years, he entered upon the real work of his life, that of the ministry, as a licentiate of the Methodist Epis- copal church in its New Jersey Annual Conference.
In this new field the mysticism of his ancestral belief and early train- ing, combined with the aggressivness of the Norman blood which flowed in his veins, fitted him in a peculiar degree for the public positions to which he was afterwards called. He was trained in his ministerial work in part in the sands and in part in the mountains of New Jersey; in its smallest churches and in its largest; in eight years' service as a presiding elder ; and in membership in the General Legislative Conference of his church.
With other godly men with whom he had been associated in these re- lationship, he conceived the idea of the establishment of summer resorts, in which the world of fashion, with its frivolities, should be forgotten, and where religious sentiments should be inculcated. Thus minded, he connected himself in vigorous activity with Pitman Grove and Ocean Grove-the former a rural resort and the latter a seashore realization of this conception, of which, in 1878, he became the president. To this posi- tion he was re-elected from time to time during his life, which he unstint- ingly devoted to the purpose so dear to his heart.
Previous to his entering the ministry, the wife of his youth had died, leaving to him the care of a little daughter, who under his affectionate guardianship grew to young womanhood, when she, too, passed from earthly vision. For his second wife he had married the daughter of a clergyman, Miss Sarah A. Stout, who gave to his child the devoted affec- tion of a real mother, and who, in a beautiful old age, survives her hus- band and his daughter. The loss of the daughter depressed the loving fa- ther deeply for a time, but, under the inspiration of the great idea to which he had devoted himself, he pressed all the force of his nature into his work, and sought surcease from his deep sorrow by devoting himself actively to his religious work.
He retained his working ability to the last. He had often exerted himself far beyond reasonable limits, when he would seek rest and pleasant recuperation by a brief sojourn in the mountains of the north or in the genial climates of the south. It was during these excursions that he wrote the great number of the tender and delightful verses which earned for him the distinction of a poet of more than ordinary ability. The half of one of his later years was passed in foreign lands, and during this pilgrimage he wrote an interesting volume containing his observations, which was afterwards published and found wide circulation. His writings, sermons and addresses were characterized by vigor rather than elegance. Like his friend and associate, Dr. Ballard, while an earnest advocate of education and a firm ally of schools, he owed to such but little in the formation of his tastes or manner of expression. The fact of engaging in the work of his own maintenance during his boyhood years worked deprivation of
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