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 36
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50
Politically Mr. Brown is a Republican and has creditably filled local offices of trust and importance; he has also been quite a number of years an honored member and trustee of the Presbyterian church at Woodbridge, of which his parents were faithful and zealous adherents.
JOSEPH HARKER BRYAN, M. D.
Dr. Joseph H. Bryan, a son of James R. and Lydia ( Harker) Bryan, was born in Newark, New Jersey, December 15, 1865. His paternal ances- tors came to the colonies from Wales. The Bryan family in America was founded by two brothers of that name, one of whom located near Philadelphia, in southern New Jersey, the other in Pennsylvania, and the former was the great-grandfather of our subject, while the latter was the progenitor of the branch of the family to which Hon. William Jennings . Bryan belonged.
The father of Dr. Bryan was a Methodist Episcopal minister and the boyhood of our subject was passed in the neighborhood of New York City, in various towns in the states of New York and New Jersey, and also in the city of New York, to which place the father was assigned by the conference. Reared in a refined home, in which the predominating influences were re- ligion and education, he unconsciously absorbed much useful knowledge, which prepared him without much effort for admission to the Haverstraw Mountain Institute, where he prepared for college. He became a student in the University of New York, from which he was graduated with the class of 1886, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. From childhood he took a deep interest in vocal music and earnestly cultivated a naturally musical voice. While at college he was the leader of the singing club of his own college and also acted in a like capacity for the clubs of Steven's Institute and the New York Homeopathic College. After his graduation in the University of New York he acted as secretary for the Metropolitan Conservatory of Music, but having decided to make the study and practice of medicine his life work he entered the Homeopathic Medical College, and after three years of diligent practice was graduated in 1890. Until the year 1893 he practiced his profession in New York City, and in the latter year he purchased the property and practice of Dr. Bruce S. Keator, who wished to retire from the cares of the profession, and located in Asbury Park. Dr. Bryan at once entered upon a profitable practice, which he has increased from year to year, it gradually becoming so large that in 1899 he deemed it advisable to admit a partner, selecting as such Dr. J. E. Burt.
Although deeply engrossed in his profession the Doctor takes an ac-
Joseph kanyan
The view 'ablishanty
Galaxy Pub. Lo Philad !~
Um H. Berry ry
329
HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY COAST.
tive interest in musical affairs and also gives much of his time and atten- tion and considerable of his income to the advancement of religion. He is a leader and controlling spirit in the Shubert Glee Club and has charge of the choir of the First Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is a member and one of the stewards. He is interested in athletics and is presi- dent of the Asbury Park Lawn Tennis Club. Industrious and studious, he keeps himself thoroughly informed of all advancement made in his profession, and as a member of a number of medical societies he is in close communion with his fellow practitioners. He is a member of the New York Homeopathic Society, the New Jersey State Homeopathic So- ciety, the American Institute of Homeopathy, the Materia Medica So- ciety, the New York Paidological Society ( Homeopathic) and theAcademy of Pathological Sciences.
WILLIAM H. BERRY.
The lives of great men show us what possibilities are wrapped up in common humanity. They encourage us to mount the gleaming heights, whose summits they have reached. Their achievements are the material out of which the world's history has been made. Even though they have passed out into the great unknown, their influence still extends to other lives. The life of William H. Berry, of Woodbridge, New Jersey, illus- trates this idea. He was born in Litchfield, Maine, on September 18, 1805,. and died in Woodbridge, New Jersey, March 5, 1891. He is descended from Revolutionary stock. His grandfather, Lieutenant Nathaniel Berry, whose father was Captain Nathaniel Berry, was also born in Maine, on December 22, 1755. He served throughout the Revolutionary war and distinguished himself for bravery and daring. Shortly after December, 1777. he became attached to General Washington's Life Guard, a body of fearless and courageous men, who were with Washington at Valley Forge; he was also on the northern frontier with General Schuyler at the retreat of Saratoga, at the surrender of Burgoyne and the skirmish at White Marsh. He received an honorable discharge from the army in Jan- uary, 1780, His death occurred August 20, 1850, at Pittston, Maine, when he was ninety-seven years of age. At the time of his death he was the last surviving member of Washington's Life Guard. Lieutenant Berry married Lydia Berry, who was born in Maine August 22, 1765. She was the first white girl born in Gardiner, or Pittston, Maine, and was the daugh- ter of Lieutenant Samuel Berry, who was born in Maine August 10, 1737. Jolin Berry, a farmer, the father of William H. Berry, was born February 17, 1783, and died in Gardiner, Maine, October, 1860. He married Eliz- abeth Robinson November 8, 1804. She was born in Maine October 26. 1784, and died in Gardiner August 21, 1867.
After attending the public schools of Gardiner, Maine, William I. Berry, at the age of nineteen years, entered upon a maritime career, and fol- lowed the sea for six years, crossing the Atlantic several times and visiting
330
HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY COAST.
many foreign lands. His first experience was as a common sailor before the mast, but he finished as first officer. Upon retiring from a seafaring life in 1830 he was associated with his brother, Albert, for a period of two years in the business of baling and shipping hay in Jersey City, New Jersey. Two years later he removed to Woodbridge, where he conducted the hay business on his own account; he continued this until the year 1845, in the meantime also engaging in the coal business. He was the first to intro- duce anthracite coal to that community, bringing it from Roundout on the Hudson river; so slowly did anthracite coal come into general favor that only forty tons of it were sold in the first two years after its introduction into Woodbridge. In 1845 he began the manufacture of fire brick. With his characteristic energy he speedily rendered this one of the leading indus- tries of the community, and in this he engaged up to the time of his death ; the business was continued under the firm name of William H. Berry & Co. up to the year 1896. With two of his business partners Mr. Berry was associated for thirty-eight years, and with a third for forty years. At the time of his death he was the senior fire brick manufacturer of this country as well as the oldest clay miner, having been engaged in the latter business from 1845. Energetic, public-spirited and generous, he was fore- most in every effort to improve his town and community. He was a leading member and officer of the Methodist Episcopal church, and for many years one of its most efficient trustees. He also acted as superintendent of the Sabbath-school of the same church.
It was largely due to Mr. Berry's efforts that the fine public school building of Woodbridge was erected; he was the first president of the board of trustees of the consolidated schools, an office which he held for many years. He was a man of strong political convictions, originally a Democrat, but joined the Republican party in 1856. He held several local offices, and was for many years chairman of the township committee.
During the war of the Rebellion he was an ardent supporter of the Union cause, taking an active part in the drilling of troops at home, and the furnishing of medical and other supplies to the soldiers in the field. His son, William C. Berry, was a lieutenant in Company H, Fifth New Jersey Volunteers, and was killed at the battle of Williamsburg, Virginia, on May 5, 1862; and the G. A. R. Post at Woodbridge has been named in his honor. Mr. Berry took an active part in the raising of funds for the soldiers' monument in Alpine cemetery.
His marriage to Miss Margaret I. Coddington was solemnized on April 28, 1835. To them were born ten children, five of whom lived to years of maturity, as follows: Elizabeth, wife of L. F. Browning, of Woodbridge; William C., killed during the war; James E .; Albion R., died in 1900; and Arthur E., living in Woodbridge.
Margaret I. Coddington, wife of William H. Berry, was born in Woodbridge, New Jersey, January 9, 1817, and died January 5, 1893. She was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, a de- vout Christian, and in all respects she proved herself to be a true woman. She was the daughter of William Inslee Coddington and Christian Crowell,
331
HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY COAST.
the latter being a descendant of Edward Crowell, who came to this country on the ship "Caledonia." Her father was a farmer and mariner, and car- ried supplies to the American troops at Sandy Hook in the war of 1812; her grandfather, Robert Coddington (whose wife was Mary Inslee) served under Washington in the Revolutionary war for seven years, being twice wounded and crippled for life. He was connected with many important events of the Revolutionary war. In 1777, then being sixteen years of age, at the battle of Ash Swamp, then in the limits of Woodbridge town- ship, he acted as guide for the American troops. He was also one of a party of three men who captured off Perth Amboy a British vessel loaded with stores. It was a bitter cold night in winter when the attack was made. The ice was thick enough along the shore to sustain a heavy bur- den. The stores were drawn on the ice to Perth Amboy, together with one of the British cannon, which was used in Woodbridge for many years in celebrating American independence. In 1874 the town committee pre- sented the gun to the New Jersey Museum of Revolutionary relics, at Mor- ristown, New Jersey. Robert Coddington was also engaged in the capture of Colonel Christopher Bulloch in 1779. In the records of Woodbridge, in the year 1687, the name of Coddington appears, but there is no question that it antedates that period. The Inslee record dates back to 1669, but all three names, Coddington, Crowell and Enslee have appeared many times on the patriotic side of the Revolutionary history.
James E. Berry, son of William H. Berry and Margaret I. Codding- ton) Berry, born in Woodbridge September 4, 1845, is one of the promi- nent business men of the town of Woodbridge, New Jersey, where he conducts the fire brick manufactory established by his father in the year 1845. Our subject attended the public school and also the Elm Tree In- stitute at Woodbridge and the Fort Edward (New York) Collegiate In- stitute. He was engaged in teaching school for a short period and for two years conducted the Woodbridge Gazette. After being in business in New York City for four years he returned to Woodbridge in 1870 and entered into his father's business as an employe; later he was admitted to the firm; in 1885, when his father's health began to fail, he became the active mana- ger of the firm, which at that time was conducted under the firm name of William H. Berry & Co., but in 1897 the name changed to that of James E. Berry, and is being carried on successfully up to the present day. The works occupy several acres of ground, are located on the navigable waters of Woodbridge creek and have direct connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad. Operated in connection with the fire brick works are extensive fire clay and fire sand mines belonging to the heirs of the late W. H. Berry.
Politically Mr. Berry is a Republican, always taking an active interest in all matters pertaining to state and nation ; he was elected to the office of town collector, creditably filling that position from the years 1873 to 1877; and was also township treasurer for the same period. He was a school trustee from 1889 to 1894 and president of the board for two terms, as well as its clerk. Mr. Berry was also appointed by Chief Justice Beasley as one of the commissioners to appraise lands for a railroad
332
HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY COAST.
right of way. George C. Ludlow, ex-governor, and later a justice of the supreme court, was president of the commission. Mr. Berry married Vir- ginia Hancock, of Woodbridge, and they have three children living: Mrs. Jennie Potter, William H. Berry and George H. Berry, all residing in Woodbridge.
MICHAEL AYRES.
For the best part of his eighty-two years of life Michael Ayres has been engaged as a contractor and builder in the town of Little Silver, besides be- ing thoroughly well known throughout the country round about. He learned his trade when a mere lad at his father's bench, who was a builder before him, and under whose watchful eye Michael became a thoroughly competent mechanic. Mr. Ayres first launched out as a contractor on his own account in the year 1851. He is now enjoying the fruits of his ac- tively busy life as a gentleman whose competence is ample to keep him in comfortable retirement for the remainder of his days. While eighty- two years of age, Mr. Ayres enjoys remarkably good health, and is pos- sessed of all his faculties. He makes his home in a handsome residence built by himself at Little Silver, having purchased the site upon which his house now stands in 1847, at which time Little Silver laid claim to only four houses. The work of his hands can be seen on every side in the town, that has grown to such wide proportions, and as a summer resort is sur- passed by few of the many popular places within the state of New Jer- sey. Mr. Ayres was born in this same town on August 2, 1819, and here ne received his education and laid the foundation of his successful life work. He is the son of the late Benjamin and Jane (Craven) Ayres, the former a native of White Hall, Pennsylvania, the latter of Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The father was born in 1790 and died of consumption in 1845 in his fifty-fifth year. The mother was born in 1801 and died in 1871, at the age of seventy years. Their family consisted of nine children, three of whom are now ( 1901) living: Elizabeth, Benjamin T. and Michael.
Michael Ayres, our subject, was the first master mechanic to intro- duce the ten-hour system in that section of the country; this was in 1856. He employed a great many men and utter failure was predicted by his contemporaries, yet like so many seemingly impossible reforms, in spite of the opposition engendered, the movement was a success.
His marriage to Ann M., daughter of Joseph Van Cleff, of Red Bank, was solemnized in 1845. the result of which was the birth of three chil- dren, namely: Amelia, Annie and Joseph, the last named deceased. Annie married John McColgan, merchant of Red Bank, and has one child, Mar- guerite. Amelia married Thomas Skidmore, of Atlantic Highlands, and has five children, Mary. John, Hattie, Thomas and William. Mrs. Ann M. Ayres died January, 1899.
Mr. Ayres has in the past held several township offices, which were
1
michael Ayres
健園藝餐音餐
333
HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY COAST.
creditably filled. His life has been singularly smooth and uneventful, yet in his quiet, unobtrusive way he has exerted considerable influence in his community, more, possibly, than the majority of men in their walk through life.
JEHU P. APPLEGATE.
The Applegate family is one of the oldest and most honored ones of the east. They trace their lineage back to 1674, when Bartholomew Apple- gate applied to a council assembled at Fort William Hendrick for per- mission to purchase land from the Indians at Middletown, near the Nave- sinks. A patent was granted him for this land, which is located on the Rari- tan Bay, at what is now known as Applegate's Landing, a portion of the tract being now owned by W. T. Conover, whose wife, Annie Cooper, is a descendant of Bartholomew Applegate. On the maternal side our subject is descended from the Rev. John Bray, a Baptist minister from England, who, about the year 1688, organized the first Baptist church at Holmdel. During the period of the Revolutionary war the ancestors of our subject were supporters of Colonial independence and were valiant soldiers in that terrible struggle for freedom. His great-grandfather, John Patterson, was a judge of the circuit court and a relative of William Patterson, one of the signers of the constitution of the United States and a resident of New Jersey. James Patterson, the grandfather of our subject, was in the New Jersey senate for many years, and he left several sons, who held high and honorable offices and were leaders in the politics of the county and state. Their names are Jehu, John H., Samuel, James H. and C. Ewing, but all are now deceased with the exception of John H., ex-keeper of the New Jersey state prison, and C. Ewing, formerly clerk ofMonmouth county.
The paternal grandparents of our subject, Joseph S. and Ann ( Bray) Applegate, followed agricultural pursuits and were much esteemed for their true worth of character. Joseph S., the father of our subject, was born at Nut Swamp, in Middletown township, on the 25th of August, 1824, and was there married, on the 12th of February, 1851, to Mar- garet K. Patterson. Unto this union have been born the following children : Joseph S., Jehu P., Allen P., Margaret (deceased) and Lydia P. John S. Applegate, the father, is a successful and practical agriculturist and now resides on a farm of one hundred acres of choice land. He has also been honored with public office, having served as school trustee and as overseer of highways. His straightforward course in life has won for him the re- spect and esteem of his fellow citizens, and he and his estimable wife are now enjoying the comforts of life at their pleasant country home. Theirs has been a long and happy married life, and in 1900 they celebrated their golden wedding.
Jehu P. Applegate, the subject of this sketch, was born in Middle- town township, December 21, 1853. He prepared for college at Red Bank.
334
HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY COAST.
New Jersey, under a private tutor, and at the age of sixteen years he en- tered Colgate University, in which he graduated at the age of twenty. He immediately entered the office of his uncle, ex-Senator John G. Applegate, and was admitted to the New Jersey bar as an attorney at law during the June term of 1877, after which he located at Matawan, New Jersey. Fol- lowing in the official footsteps of his ancestors, he was elected auditor of Monmouth county in 1885, which office he held for five years, and dur- ing that time he received and paid out millions of dollars, and on his retire- ment received a vote of thanks from the county board of freeholders for his efficient service. The one notable act of his official career was the re- sisting of the onslaught on the county treasury by private detective bills. The county was being mulcted out of thousands of dollars by them, and getting no "value received," a simple affidavit of the detective and the signature of the prosecutor was their passport to unlimited amounts. Mr. Applegate opposed both detectives and the prosecutor and broke up the system of robbery, for which Senator Bradley, at the head of the Asbury
Park Journal, dubbed him "the watch dog of the treasury." For two years he was mayor of Matawan and was a prime mover in many im- provements there, such as the building of the Little street bridge and the crossing over the Meadows to the "Little Farm." The first sidewalk from the depot to the village, a distance of a half a mile, was built during his term as a commissioner, the walk theretofore for fifty years or more hav- ing been but an Indian path, over which after dark no man could pass with safety. His idea was that good streets and easy approaches helped business, and he carried out his aim to its fulfillment. He drew up and systematized the first orderly system of collection of fines and licenses for Matawan; an effectual system of police was established; the fire depart- ment improved, and in all these improvements he was ably assisted by ex- Senator Henry S. Terhune, ex-Freeholder Dunlop and William A. Close, of the town committee. That board of commissioners, of which he as mayor was a member, was the most enterprising one Matawan ever had and laid the foundation upon which all others have builded.
Mr. Applegate is the author of several articles of note. The onc entitled "Trial by July as a Relic of Barbarism" was published in the Sep- tember number of the New Jersey Law Journal, 1901, and attracted favor- able comment from the bar. The other, "Mckinley vs. Bryan," published during the presidential campaign of 1900, was accepted by both the Re- publican state and national committees. In that paper he argued with much force the question of free silver, gold and expansion from the Re- publican point of view. In that document his answer to the plank in the Democratic platform, "We favor the coinage of silver at sixteen to one without waiting for the consent of any other nation," is quite striking. Mr. Bryan in his speeches had said often, "Must we bend our knee to England and ask her consent as to what ratio or kind of money we shall have?" Mr. Applegate's answer was as follows: "I don't presume other nations care whether we ask their consent or not or whether we use marbles or pebbles as coin among ourselves, but when we trade with them they demand that
335
HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY COAST.
we use good money. They believe as the Republican party believes, that one dollar good all the way through is better than a dollar good only half way through. But we will certainly have to ask their consent under a free coinage system, when we put a dollar stamp on fifty cents worth of silver, whether they will take it for the value of the stamp there is upon it or the value of the metal there is in it. Now, as they settle their balances with us in gold at one hundred cents on the dollar it is not likely that we can settle our balances with them with fifty-cent dollars unless they give their consent. A nation is not going to exchange gold for wampum. If you sell with gold you must buy with gold and you can't do it with fifty- cent dollars without the other fellow's consent."
On the question of imperialism he says: "Assuming that Aguinaldo represented the people of the islands, the cession of the soil by treaty, by law, carried with it the people; and as part of the domain, and under the jurisdiction of the United States, they had no more right to sever their re- lations by force than would have the people of Arizona, or even those of the state of New Jersey. There may be extreme cases when the people may, if they choose, throw off any government, when it becomes oppres- sive and intolerable. and erect a better one in its stead. Blackstone admits as much in the theory of the English constitution. The same principle was asserted by Daniel Webster in his famous argument with Haynes against the nullification acts, but I say, he says, 'the right of a people to annul the laws, and resist the authority of the general government, can not be maintained, but on the ground of the inalienable right of man to resist intolerable oppression.' The Americans had not oppressed the Filipinos ; they were their rescuers from oppression ; and when attacked by Aguinaldo they had not as yet established a government. It then became an insurrec- tion, which was our right and duty to suppress as we would do in Alaska or Hawaii, if one occurred. On such occasions, when men like Jefferson and Atkinson, by writing, etc., give aid and comfort to the enemy, it be- comes treason under our constitution, and they are virtually Filipino spies, within the American lines. On the other hand, Aguinaldo and his sympa- thizers claim the right of 'resistance in favor of liberty.' This same right was claimed by the leaders of South Carolina in 1830 against the author- ity of the general government. The right of resistance in favor of liberty, which led Mr. Webster in the United States senate to ask: 'But what sort of liberty?' The liberty of establishing their own opinions in defiance of all others, the liberty of deciding exclusively themselves, in a matter in which others have as much right to judge and decide as they, and even more; the liberty of placing their own opinions above others, above laws, above treaties and above the constitution. This is their liberty, and this is the identical proposition contended for by the gentlemen." But Aguin- aldo not only claimed all these liberties in his right of resistance, but the further high-handed liberty to arm and incite the tenants to insurrection, and then attempted to evict the landlord at the point of the bayonet, from his own property, which he had acquired lawfully at a cost of twenty mil- lion gold dollars, and the loss of many brave sons.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.