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 32
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CHARLES H. GREEN
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and his descendants married into the Holmes, Stout, Bray and other pio- neer families.
To James and Eliza Green were born a most excellent family of chil- dren, and of these brief mention is to be made. J. O. Green, the only sur- viving child, a highly educated man, became a physician, and is yet actively engaged in practice in Long Branch. Charles H. is to be referred to here- after. Lewis C. Green passed his life on the home estate, as did Elwyn S. Green, who was a lieutenant-colonel in the state militia. Walter S. was an early volunteer life saver, after the government life saving service was inaugurated, he became captain of a life-saving crew and was instrumental in making many notable rescues. Elizabeth became the wife of Denise li. Smock.
Charles Haight Green was born on the family estate, and was named for the distinguished Charles Haight, of Freehold, whose brilliant and useful public services at the bar, in the legislature and in congress form an important chapter in the history of the state. He was an intimate friend of James Green, in whose children (childless himself) he took an abiding interest .. It is a matter worthy of note that, from his association with the Greens, and from knowledge of coast disasters obtained from them, he derived much of that inspiration which moved him to so zealously and effi- ciently aid in the establishment of the governmental life saving service while he was serving as a member of Congress.
Inheriting the paternal tastes, Charles H. Green, while caring for his large estate, passed much of his time in sailing and fishing, building his own boats and making his own fishing apparatus. His effort also went out to all that would conduce to the good of those about him, and to suc- coring those in distress. Particularly were his sympathies enlisted when a vessel came into jeopardy or was cast ashore. After he had rendered his aid upon such occasions (long before the organization of the govern- mental life saving service) he became impressed with the great necessity for organized effort, and he formed from among his neighbors a volun- teer crew at Green's Pond, now Lake Takaneesee, which separates West End from Elberon. Space forbids telling of all the scores of notable res- cues made by Captain Green and his men, but one is deserving of special mention, not only in recognition of the act itself, but because of the fact that it was acknowledged in the bestowal of the first gold medal of the Life Saving Benevolent Association of America on the New Jersey Coast, and that the name of his wife was coupled with his own in the inscription : it is believed that in the latter particular the award stands alone in the his- tory of the organization.
The ship "Adonis" was cast ashore March 7th, 1859, off Long Branch, in front of the spot on the Green estate where the United States Life Sav- ing Station now stands. In spite of the raging surf, after a desperate struggle, Captain Charles H. Green and his volunteer crew succeeded in landing all who were aboard, without the loss of a single life. The life savers were encouraged in their mission by the presence of Mrs. Green, who took the shipwrecked men to her home and provided them with food,
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dry clothing and all that would aid in their restoration and add to their comfort. For this noble achievement the association previously named presented to Captain and Mrs. Green a massive medal containing sixty dollars worth of fine gold. Upon the obverse it bears a most artistic alto- relievo representation of a ship engulfed in high rolling waves, and the name of the association. Upon the reverse is beautifully inscribed the fol- lowing: "Presented to Charles H. Green and Annie H., his wife, as an acknowledgment of the rescue of the crew of the ship 'Adonis,' wrecked at Long Branch, March, 1859.'
When the United States Life Saving Service was instituted, Captain Green was placed in charge of the life saving station and crew, and he rendered splendid service in that capacity until his death, which occurred in 1871.
In 1856 Captain Green was married to Miss Ann Christopher, of Freehold, daughter of Daniel D. Christopher, a prominent citizen, who served as county clerk. From the year of her marriage until the present time she has resided upon some portion of the Green ancestral estate. Dur- ing the life of her husband, she was his companion in every meaning of the word, and her aid, sympathy and encouragement went out to him in all his splendidly heroic effort for the saving of human life, and, so far as woman could, she shared in that effort. Scores of dreadful disasters have been before her eyes, and it has been her fortune to contribute to the saving and succor of hundreds upon hundreds of all sorts and conditions of God's inisfortunate children. Pleasure, too, attended the pair. They joyed in witnessing the building up of beautiful homes and the coming in of a large population about them, on the very ground they had known as almost a wilderness. All who came were their friends and esteemed them for their unaffected gentility and openhearted hospitality, and among those who were delighted to be their guests were President and Mrs. Grant and other notables of their day.
One child was born to Captain and Mrs. Green, a daughter, Ella. She was educated in the Freehold Young Ladies' Seminary, when it was a most excellent institution of learning under Professor Amos Richardson, who to the acquirements of the scholar added the instincts of the real gen- tleman whose life was a constant benediction. upon all about him. She was married November 20, 1890, to Mr. James H. Peters, whose father was of French birth, a member of a famous old family of Normandy, and whose mother was of the old Taylor family of Monmouth county. Mr. Peters was educated in Dresden and was a most scholarly and accomplished gen- tleman, a fine linguist, having fluent acquaintance with several of the con- tinental tongues, and with all the tastes of the literateur and lover of art. He had prepared himself for the life of a physician, but the scenes of the dissecting room, with their revelations of what would be expected of him in the profession were repulsive to his delicately strung mentalism, and he entered upon a mercantile life at Red Bank, where he conducted a large establishment. Capable of occupying and adorning any position in county or state, he was wholly destitute of ambition for public distinction, and
Virgil M. D. Marcy
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gave himself to his family and his home. He gathered about him the choicest of books in remarkable number for an individual, and in these he found a never failing source of delight, and he was, besides, an excel- lent observing traveler. Whether in his home, or in journeyings abroad, his wife, with similar tastes, was ever his delighted and delightful compan- ion, and they never returned without new knowledge and fresh treasures of literature and art. Life was brightest to him when he succumbed to dis- ease, and his death occurred April 13, 1898, at Red Bank, New Jersey. His end had no terrors for him-nothing save the pitiful sorrow of parting from his loved ones. He was a member of the Presbyterian church, a modest. well living Christian.
After the death of Mr. Peters, Mrs. Peters removed to Hollywood, (and the pleasant little village was given its name by her), where she and her mother now reside. Their splendid home is a portion of the Green an- cestral estate, and is one of the most ideal homes the writer of these pages has ever visited. The residence is concealed in a small forest of beautiful trees, and the grounds are adorned with all manner of shrub and flower. The home is a veritable mansion of the colonial times, with its spacious outdoor galleries supported by stately Corinthian colonnades. A part of the residence was built two centuries ago-the exterior has been renovated to comport with the extensive modern addition built to it, but the interior. with its dignified door and window frames, adorned with Doric friese and cornice, are maintained as they originally were. In this portion of the building courts were held, nearly a hundred years ago. The walls are adorned with beautiful specimens of painting brought from abroad, and a fine enlarged reproduction of the coat-of-arms of the Peters family. There are also many articles of vertu from the old Normandy family chateau, and ornaments from many historic places on the continent. And everywhere are the book treasures gathered by husband and wife during the years of their companionship.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Peters were two children-Mary Taylor, aged nine years, and James H., aged six years, who are receiving their education under a most capable governess, Miss Sarah A. Little, of Red Bank, New Jersey.
V. M. D. MARCY, M. D.
In studying the lives and characters of prominent men we are naturally led to inquire into the secret of their success and the motives that prompted their action. Success is more often a matter of experience and sound judg- ment and thorough preparation for a life work than it is of genius, how- ever bright. When we trace the career of those whom the world acknow l- edges as successful and of those who stand highest in public esteem, we find that in almost every case are those who have rise gradually by their own efforts, their diligence and perseverance. These qualities are undoubtedly possessed in a large measure by the gentleman whose name introduces this
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sketch, and added to these is a devotion to principle that may well be termed the keynote of his character. It is this which commands the confidence and respect so uniformly given him, and it is this that has secured him his liberal patronage as a member of the medical fraternity of southern New Jersey.
Dr. Virgil Maro Dow Marcy is now a well known practitioner of Cape May, and is numbered among the native sons of Cape May county, his birth having occurred at Cold Spring, January 5, 1823. He is a repre- sentative of one of the oldest American families and traces his ancestry back to John Marcy, of whom the first written notice appears in Elliot's Church Record in Roxbury, Massachusetts, as follows: "John Marcy took the Covenant, March 7, 1685." Among his descendants many have gained positions of distinction, including William Larned Marcy, once secretary of state, and governor of New York; General Randolph B. Marcy, and Dr. Erastus E. Marcy. John Marcy, the original American ancestor, was a son of the high sheriff of Limerick, Ireland. He was born about the year 1662, and in April, 1686, joined a colony that took possession of Quatosett, now Woodstock, Connecticut. He married Sarah Hadlock, a daughter of James and Sarah ( Draper) Hadlock, of Roxbury, Massachusetts. She was born December 16, 1670, and they spent the greater part of their lives in Woodstock, where John Marcy died December 23, 1724, at the age of sixty-two; his wife, May 9, 1743, at the age of seventy-three. They were the parents of eleven children.
James Marcy, their third child, was born in Woodstock, Connecticut, February 26, 1691, and married Judith Ainsworth, who was born January 25, 1722, a daughter of Edward and Johanna ( Hemmingway ) Ainsworth. His death occurred January 29, 1765.
Of his eight children Reuben, the third, was the great-grandfather of our subject. He was born in 1732 and married Rachel Watson, of Barring- ton, Rhode Island. He had four children, the third being Reuben, Jr., who was born in 1768 and married Hannah Sumner, of Roxbury, Massachu- setts. She was born in 1770, and died in Berlin, Connecticut, in 1843. His life was spent as a farmer in Willington, Connecticut, where his death occurred in 1824. They had four sons and four daughters. The sons were: Edward, who died in Will county, Illinois; Samuel Sumner; Mathew, who served as the judge of Cape May county; and William W., who was born in November, 1805, and married Martha Knowlton.
Samuel Sumner Marcy, the father of the Doctor, was born in Will- ington, Ashford county, Connecticut, about 1798 or 1799, obtained his general education in the public schools of his native state, and then pre- pared for the practice of medicine in the office and under the direction of Dr. Palmer, of Ashford, and in Yale College, being graduated from the medical department of the institution about 1820. Throughout his business career he engaged in the practice of his chosen profession and won dis- tinction as one of its most able representatives in southern New Jersey. From 1820 until 1830 he served as a surgeon in the New Jersey militia. He took up his abode in Dennisville, New Jersey, soon after his gradua-
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tion, afterward removed to Cold Spring, Cape May county, and in 1849 went to Cape May City, where he continued in practice until his death. He held a number of local offices, discharging his duties with marked promptness and fidelity, and his political support was given to the Democ- racy. He was a valued member of the County Medical Society and the State Medical Society, and always kept abreast with the profession in its advancement in various lines of medical research. He died at the ad- vanced age of eighty-nine years, and his wife passed away at the age of sixty.
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This worthy couple were the parents of eight children: Virgil M. D., is the eldest. Harriet Matilda married John K. F. Stites, who in early life followed farming, but later became a Sunday-school missionary and traveled throughout New Jersey, organizing Sunday-schools in behalf of the Presbyterian church; he has made his home in Cape May and Camden, and by his marriage he had four children: Samuel, who died in child- hood; John, Winfield Scott and Alva Freeman. Martha Maria Coburn be- came the second wife of Rev. Augustus Theodore Dobson, a Presbyterian minister, of Long Island, New York, who afterward removed to Chester, Pennsylvania; they had three children: Augustus T., Jr., Samuel and Elizabeth, the two latter of whom died in childhood. Sarah Mckean, the fourth of the family, died in childhood. Hannah Elizabeth was the first wife of Rev. Augustus T. Dobson, and had two children: William A., who was in the employ of the government for a time and is now a drafts- man in the Cramps shipyard, of Philadelphia; and Mattie, the wife of James Hargan. Alexander, the sixth child, died in early boyhood. Alex- ander (2d), a physician, married Hannah Ann Mecray and they have two children : John W., a member of the medical fraternity, and Mary A. Tryphena Edmunds is the widow of James Gass, who was a merchant, and they had two sons and two daughters, Robert, Samuel S., Harriet M. and Mary Jane.
Dr. V. M. D. Marcy, whose name introduces this record, was edu- cated in private schools in Cold Spring and in Berlin, Connecticut, thus gaining a good preliminary education. In 1840, when seventeen years of age, he matriculated in Yale College and was graduated with the class of 1844. He was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa, an honorary society to which only about one-third of the class was eligible. He received the de- gree of Bachelor of Arts upon his graduation, and two years later the degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him. He prepared for the medical profession within the classic walls of his alma mater and in the University of Maryland at Baltimore, and after his graduation from the latter institution, in 1846, he located in Gloucester county, Virginia. where he engaged in practice for three years. At the expiration of that period he returned to Cold Spring to become his father's successor, and in 1849 his father removed to Cape May, where they continued practice together until 1876, when the father retired. Dr. Virgil M. D. Marcy has since been alone, and for many years he has occupied a position of marked prestige among the representatives of the medical fraternity in this part of the state. He is also engaged in the drug business in connection with his
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practice, and finds it a profitable source of income. He is a member of the county and state medical societies, and is a physician of rare skill and ability, whose large practice is an indication of the position which he occu- pies in the public confidence and regard.
On the 19th day of November, 1848, Dr. Marcy was united in mar- riage to Miss Mary Jane, a daughter of Abraham Bennett, who was a pilot. Seven children have been born of their union: Samuel Sumner, engaged in the drug business, wedded Mary Moody, and they have two children, Samuel Sumner and Martha Grant. Henry Bennett, farmer and stock dealer, married Jennie Alzina Walter, and they have three children, Virgil M. D., who is named for his grandfather; Fred W. and Martha D., besides Frederick Avery, who died in childhood. Sarah Bennett is the wife of William H. Nelson, a grocer of Chester, Pennsylvania, and they have had five children : Joseph, Jennie, deceased, Mary, William, Henry and Margaretta. Alexander studied medicine with his father and also in the University of Pennsylvania, where he was graduated. He engaged in practice for some years in Camden and has since been living in retirement in Riverton, New Jersey; he married Mary Ann Marcy, and their chil- dren are: Alexander, deceased; Alexander, the second of the family, also deceased ; Hannah A .; Margery and Reuben Sumner. Jennie is the wife of James E. Taylor, and they have two children, Mary Marcy and Logan B. Alvin Parker married Lizzie Fox and was a machinist in the Pavonia car shops in Camden, New Jersey, now a farmer at Cold Spring ; his children are Sallie, Benjamin, Margaret, Virgil and Alexander; the home of the family is in Rosedale, New Jersey. Fred Williamson, the youngest, studied medicine in the University of Pennsylvania, and is now practicing in Cam- den, New Jersey.
In his political views Dr. V. M. D. Marcy has always been a stanch Democrat, unswerving in the principles of his party. He has served as township clerk, but has never been an aspirant for official honors, pre- ferring to devote his time and energies to his professional duties and the enjoyments of social life. He is a valued and exemplary member of the Masonic fraternity and for eleven consecutive years was master of his lodge. He is a man of strong personality, self-contained, with a quiet and persistent determination that overcomes obstacles and makes possible the attaining of the desired goal. In manner he is at once genial and kindly, yet bearing the impress of that dignity which is noticeable in men who feel that they have an important life work to perform, and who are extending their best energies to that end. He is admired throughout the country, has won respect among the medical profession of the state and has made many warm personal friends at home and abroad.
REV. W. V. WILSON, D. D.
So closely is the name of Dr. William Vandolah Wilson associated with the moral and intellectual development of eastern New Jersey that no history of the coast would be complete without extended reference to
( Williams V. Wilson New monmouth n. L.
frey 25th, 1901
Day Lewis Publishing Co
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this gentleman who has honored the state to which he belongs and whose labors have been of untold benefit. "By their fruits ye shall know them," and in the light of sober investigation we find that he has wrought along the lines of great good to the multitude.
Rev. Wilson was born near Center Bridge, over the Delaware river in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, on the 18th of November, 18II. He has passed the psalmist's span of life by two decades, but although the snows of many winters have whitened his hair, he has the vigor of a much younger man and in spirit and interests seems yet in his prime. Old age is not necessarily a synonym of weakness or inactivity. It need not suggest as a matter of course want of occupation or helplessness. There is an old age that is a benediction to all who come in contact with it, that gives out of the rich stores of learning and experience and grows stronger intellec- tually and spiritually as the years pass. Such is the life of Dr. Wilson, an encouragement to his associates and an example well worthy of emula- tion to the young. In his early youth his time was largely occupied with work upon the home farm, where he remained until fourteen years of age, when he went to Pike county, Pennsylvania, being employed as a lumber- man on the Shelolah creek near where it empties into the Delaware river. During the greater part of the time for four years he was in the sawmills, converting into boards the logs which had been driven down the stream for from four to six miles and which were mostly pine. Then when sawed they were carted to the river and rafted down to tide water at Tren- ton or sold on the way.
After attaining the age of eighteen years the life of Dr. Wilson greatly changed. He left the lumber regions for his old home in Hunterdon county, where he entered upon a course of study, first attending a manual labor school near Sergeantsville, Hunterdon county, and later entering other institutions of learning, concluding a period of ten years largely de- voted to the acquirement of an education by a course in the Princeton Theological Seminary, completing his work in that institution in 1840. The following year he was ordained as a preacher of the gospel at the Bap- tist church in Middletown, New Jersey, and began missionary and pas- toral work at Keyport, Monmouth county, where he labored for twelve years, making his home in the family of Commodore Seaport on the Bay shore, called Shoal Harbor. It was there that Dr. Wilson found his first and his second wife and there he resided for very nearly half a century, from 1842. For twelve years he served as pastor at Keyport and for thir- ty-eight years at Port Monmouth. There were no churches at either place when he entered upon his pastoral labors there, but his zeal and the power of the truth soon awakened a sentiment in favor of the establishment of the churches, and the work was carried on through the long period men- tioned, the churches growing in influence and power under the able busi- ness ability and spiritual guidance of Dr. Wilson.
He also effectively put forth effort for the material welfare of his fellow men and contributed in large measure to the substantial improve- ment of the community in which he resided and to the growth of other
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portions of the state. He made it his work to secure better transit com- munication with the outside world. When he located at Shoal Harbor, the only way to reach New York was by the slow and uncertain sloop, and he soon became interested in running a line of steamboats between the Jersey coast and the metropolis. Subsequently he was instrumental in securing railroad communication, first the Raritan and Delaware Bay Rail- road and afterward the "All Rail" from Atlantic Highlands to New York by way of Matawan. Another effort which Mr. Wilson put forth for the good of the community and which was likewise crowned with success was the securing of postal accommodations. In this work he was almost alone. He was an officer of the railroad over which the mail would have to be transferred and after securing the grant for the establishment of a post- office he was made the postmaster and remained in that position for twenty- five years, beginning with the first year of the Civil war. Those were troublous times in old Middletown. The sentiment there was strongly in favor of the Confederacy, rendering it oftentimes anything but pleasant for a Union man, and occasionally his life and property were menaced.
In 1872 Dr. Wilson entered upon a new work. He was chosen a member of the board of the Peddie Institute, of Hightstown, New Jersey, and was soon appointed financial agent to meet and manage a debt of sev- enty-five thousand dollars which was then resting upon the school. A fore- closure suit had already been commenced by the trustees of the Continental Life Insurance Company of New York. The school had borrowed forty thousand dollars from the company in its prosperous days but it failed and the money must be paid. Mayor Grace, of New York, had the matter in hand. Mr. Wilson, for the board of trustees, asked of him a reasonable delay before selling the school and property in order to meet the indebted- ness. This delay was granted and with untiring energy and resolute pur- pose the almost herculean task of raising seventy-five thousand dollars was begun. The attempt was successful but it meant most unremitting effort and sacrifice on the part of a few faithful souls, chief among whom was Dr. Wilson. He was appointed treasurer of the institution and filled the po- sition for twenty-three years without giving bonds and without making any charge for all his labors of every kind. To-day the school is in a flourishing condition, with an endowment of one hundred and seventy thousand dol- lars. It is a Christian school of high standing among educational institu- tions, and although it is Baptist in its government control, pupils of all Protestant denominations are admitted and welcomed, and the attendance has received many additions from other states besides New Jersey. The school is largely a monument to the labors, the zeal and strong purpose of Dr. Wilson, who well regards it as his great life work. The Bucknell University, of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, conferred upon him the degree of D. D. That he has a vein of humor is shown in his statement referring to this: "They meant it doubtless for Divinity, but I take it as meaning Doctor of Debts as well." The committee appointed to prepare a minute relating the resignation of Treasurer William V. Wilson, offered the fol- lowing: "It is with profound regret that owing to the onerous and in-
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