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 38
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ALFRED BAILEY DAYTON VAN DOREN.
Alfred Bailey Dayton Van Doren, civil and criminal justice of the peace for Monmouth county, with offices at Long Branch, was born at Matawan, Monmouth county, New Jersey, April 9, 1840. He is a son of the late Isaac and Eleanor ( Hankinson) Van Doren, natives of Monmouth county and descendants of early settlers of the colony of New Jersey, both ancestral lines antedating the Revolutionary war by one hundred years. Mrs. Eleanor (Hankinson) Van Doren was a grand-daughter of Kenneth Hankinson, who won fame with Washington at the battle of Monmouth and was at one time the largest tax payer in Monmouth county. The tract owned by him is now represented in eleven large farms of Man- alapan township. Peter Van Doren, grandfather of the immediate sub- ject of this sketch, was a soldier in the patriot army during the Revolu- tionary war and his son, Isaac, was a soldier in the war of 1812. The latter was a millwright at Matawan, where he held the office of assessor for some years; he was a leading member of the Dutch Reformed church, and a Jackson Democrat by political affiliation. He died in 1856, his wife about twenty years later. Of their children-eight in number-there sur- vive four: Jane W., wife of John Henry Smock, of Holmdel township; Isaac Van Doren, carpenter and builder of Asbury Park; Emma, wife of Colwell Lane, photographer of Brooklyn, New York; and Alfred B. D. Van Doren.
Judge Van Doren received the education afforded by the schools of Matawan, Holmdel and Marlboro townships, was for sixteen years there- after engaged in farming with an uncle, William Van Doren, of Marl- boro. In 1862 he enlisted in Company G, Twenty-ninth New Jersey Vol- unteer Infantry, and served ten months, participating in all of the engage- ments of the First Army Corps during that period. Upon his discharge he went to Brooklyn, where he became engaged in a clerical capacity with Whitehouse & Pearce, manufacturers of, and wholesale and retail dealers in, shoes. Returning on a vacation to New Jersey he met with an acci- dent which incapacitated him from business for one year, and this led to his permanent location at Long Branch. He was there for sixteen years connected in a managerial capacity with the Mansion, Brighton and Hol- land hotels. In 1872 he was appointed police justice, to which office he was continuously reappointed for six terms. For four years thereafter
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he was engaged in real estate business, with the specialty of managing the Helmbold, Phillips and Cohen estates. In 1885 he was elected magistrate and to this office he has been continuously re-elected up to this time.
Judge Van Doren has been, since attaining his majority, active in his identification with the interests of the Republican party, and has rendered conspicuously efficient service as county committeeman and as delegate to township, state and congressional conventions. Judge Van Doren was a candidate for the assembly in 1895 and for three days was supposed to have been elected by a majority of eighty-five votes. At the expiration of this time the vote from Marlboro township, number- ing three hundred and twenty-seven (an extraordinary vote for that time), had been finally counted, and Judge Van Doren was alleged to have re- ceived of this number twenty-seven votes. His opponent was consequently declared to have been elected, but the irresistable conclusion of many of the best citizens was that Judge Van Doren had actually been returned to the office by the votes of the people.
He is a member and had filled all the chairs of James B. Morris Post 46, Grand Army of the Republic. He was married December 28, 1864, to Eleanor L., daughter of David and Phoebe ( Hendrickson) Williamson, of Holmdel township. One child born of this union is Miss Anna May Van Doren. The family reside at 108 Garfield avenue, Long Branch, and attend the Dutch Reformed church.
LEWIS PENNINGTON SCOTT.
Lewis Pennington Scott, a prominent citizen of Atlantic City, is a descendant on both the paternal and maternal side from an ancestry well known in New Jersey. His father, the late John Hancock Scott, of Bur- lington City, was descended from Henry Scott, one of the London ten commissioners who secured from the crown ten thousand acres of land in America, in what now constitutes Burlington county, New Jersey. John Hancock Scott followed the occupation of contractor and railroad builder. He secured the contract for building the glass works in the year 1834 at Estelville, Atlantic county, New Jersey, for John and Daniel Estell. While he was thus employed he became acquainted with Mary, daughter of John Pennington, of Mays Landing, and she eventually became his wife. Mrs. Scott is still living, surviving her husband; he died in 1874, in southern Virginia, where he was engaged in railroad construction. They were the parents of nine children, of whom Lewis P. Scott was the youngest.
Lewis P. Scott was born in Burlington, February 9, 1854. He re- ceived his education in the public schools of Philadelphia. For several years he was engaged in the theatrical business, and was known as an apt and useful member of the profession. He subsequently became a com- mercial traveler for a carpet house, and followed this occupation success- fully for a number of years.
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In 1888 he removed to Atlantic City, and entered into a partnership with William A. Bell, under the title of Bell & Scott, dealers in carpets. He was also extensively interested in the real estate business, and his operations in this direction aided materially in the development of the city, and have proved satisfactorily remunerative to himself. In 1895 he was elected to the position of county clerk for a term of five years, and while thus serving he effected various advantageous changes in the con- duct of the office, among the innovations being a method of double-index- ing. effecting great saving of time in examination. So satisfactory was his first tenure of this office that he was renominated and re-elected thereto.
Mr. Scott has been married twice, and the first wife left to him a daughter, Isabelle G. Scott. He subsequently married Miss Catherine Gifford, eldest daughter of Captain Daniel Gifford, of Mays Landing. Of this marriage were born the following named children: Gifford, Lewis, Daniel and Pennington Scott.
CAPTAIN BENJAMIN GRIGGS.
Captain Benjamin Griggs, one of the leading business men of Port Monmouth, was born on the 10th of July, 1842, a son of William and Lydia A. (Holman) Griggs. In his youth Benjamin worked upon his fa- ther's farm, receiving his educaton in the common schools of the neigh- borhood. He has been engaged in the steamboat business since 1869, and is now captain of the W. V. Wilson, carrying passengers and freight be- tween Port Monmouth and New York. The first steamboat which plied between these ports was the Eagle, with Captain H. E. Bishop in charge, and this was in the year 1852. A few years subsequent a long dock was built, and in 1859 the boat was sold to Captain Tremper, of the steamboat J. W. Baldwin. In 1864 the Cornelia, commanded by Captain Groton, was put in service on these waters, and in 1866 the Scorpio was put upon the waters between Port Monmouth and New York, but in November of the same year, this was burned to the water's edge in the Port Monmouth docks. In July, 1867, a little steamboat, the Falcon, under the command of Captain Stephen Stoney, ran for that season, and was followed in 1868 by the steamer North State under command of Captain John Swaim. In the month of September, 1869, Captain Griggs became an employe upon the Orient, which carried both passengers and freight, and on which he filled the office of clerk, but in reality was captain, as in the following year he took entire charge. He remained upon that boat until 1880, at which time the company built another boat, called the W. V. Wilson, in honor of Rev. W. V. Wilson, whose sketch appears in this volume, and this boat he has ever since commanded. Through the influence of Captain Griggs there was granted to Port Monmouth by the United States government an appropriation of twenty-five thousand dollars for the opening of a chan- nel and the construction of a proper wharf for the convenience of the farm- ers adjacent to that port, who are extensive shippers.
Serjamin Griggs
Amberessa nesse
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HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY COAST.
In 1876 he was made overseer of roads, which office he still retains, and in the discharge of its duties he has shown himself master of the situation. Prior to that time the roads were mere sand beds, impassable- for man or beast, but at the present time no better roads can be found in the township. In 1882 Captain Griggs was chosen to represent the third legislative district in the New Jersey legislative assembly, which office he filled to the entire satisfaction of all concerned, and in 1889 he was made collector of the township, of which office he is still the incumbent. In addition to his many other business duties he is also vice-president and a director of the Atlantic Highlands National Bank.
Captain Griggs was united in marriage to Miss Martha, a daughter of the Rev. W. V. and Lydia (Seabrook) Wilson, the wedding being cele- brated on the 2d of January, 1873. Unto this union has been born one child, Annie S., now deceased. The Captain is an ardent adherent of Republican principles, and since 1891 he has been a member of the Mon- mouth county Republican executive committee, now serving as its vice-presi- dent. The cause of education also finds in him a warm and sympathizing friend. Religiously he is a trustee of the New Monmouth Baptist church. Captain Griggs is a stirring man, of large mental calibre, and his extensive and various business enterprises have been successful not only in promot- ing his own welfare, but also in adding to that of others. He is a large- hearted, whole-souled, genial gentleman, who makes and retains many friends.
LEWIS MITCHELL CRESSE.
In the building of a nation or the developing of a new country there are names which form the foundation and corner stones, that stand strong, unalterable and secure. In the history of Cape May county that of Cresse is one upon which the structure largely depends, on account of its associa- tion with the early landed proprietors, the judiciary representatives, and the religious organizations. The southern portion of New Jersey, of which Cape May county forms a large section, is surrounded by historic waters and is itself rich in traditional lore, which has been saved by faithful trans- mission from father to son, and in facts recorded by hands that were bap- tized in blood as they established hearthstones in a wilderness of savages and later helped to wage a warfare that gave liberty to a new world. Tra- dition claims the advent of the name of Cresse with the first white settlers of the state, and it is true that when the county came into existence by pro- prietary law in 1692, it appears upon the records as belonging to one of the first public officials.
The same year a company of whalers, attracted by the wealth of these waters, came from Long Island, and settling here constituted a large portion of the then sparse population; and in this band the prominent organizers and most loyal adherents to a new country and government were the members of this family.
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HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY COAST.
Arthur Cresse, the father of the line of descendants of whom we write, purchased three hundred and fifty acres of land from the West Jersey Society in 1692, and the same year he and John Townsend became jointly the first collectors of the county, which position they held until 1700, when they were succeeded by John Cresse and Jacob Spicer.
So great was the fertility of the soil, which had never been cultivated, that the raising of cattle was extensively followed. The herds roamed to- gether, and each man's property was distinguished by a brand on the ears. This law was made by an act of assembly at Burlington February 17, 1692. The legal form of recording the "ear-marks" was a sketch of a cow's head with a peculiar mark of the owner on the ears, accompanied by a written description. The first "ear-mark" in the archives of the Cape May county courts was recorded by a Cresse on July 13, 1692.
A deep religious sentiment has dominated the executive strength of the family, and in church as well as state they have been leaders. When the first Baptist services in 1675 resulted in a permanent organization, with a church structure, in 1712, at Cape May, the name of Arthur Cresse was first upon the list of its members, as was that of Nathan Cresse first on the list of members of the first Methodist church of the county, which was founded at Dennisville. The early records of the first Presby- terian church are lost, but tradition claims that the Cresse family was also largely interested in its organization. The name of Lewis Cresse continues in almost unbroken succession down the ancestral line, appear- ing officially as early as 1712.
When the fiery spirit of patriotism burst forth in a document of May 27, 1778, in which eighty-seven Cape May county citizens renounced their allegiance to King George and swore to "bear true faith" to the govern- ment of New Jersey, the names of Arthur, Lewis, Daniel, David and Zebulon Cresse appeared on the list of its signers. Lewis was a notorious wag and versemaker. Daniel, a brother of Lewis, and the great-grand- father of our subject, was a landowner, the proprietor of Dias creek tavern and a sea captain. His son, Daniel, married Hannah Hand and settled at Gravelly Run, where he operated one of the largest farms in that re- gion. Six children were born to them: Philip, Rhoda, Ellen, Huldah, Daniel and Lewis. Philip was possessed of fine inventive genius and se- cured a number of patents on agricultural machinery ; he died in middle age. Rhoda and Ellen died in early womanhood. Huldah married William Hand, of Cape May Court House, and to them were born three children : Ludlam, a merchant of Cape May Court House; Huldah, who married Joshua Bennett ; and Elizabeth, who became the wife of Israel Woolson. Daniel, the fifth child of Daniel and Hannah Cresse, was the father of James, a prominent citizen of Burleigh. The only survivor of the six children is the youngest, Lewis Cresse, Sr., the father of Lewis Mitchell Cresse.
The father was born at Gravelly Run in 1824 and was educated in the private schools of that county. When a young man he spent three years in California, attracted by the discovery of gold. Upon his return he married Mary Ann Hoffman, a teacher in the village school of Gravelly
用
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Run. Mr. Cresse first engaged in the milling business at that place, but later purchased a farm of one hundred acres at Townsend Inlet (now Swainton), where he has since resided. His political support is given to the Republican party ; but being a man of domestic tastes he has pre- ferred the enjoyment of his fireside to the cares of public life. Four chil- dren have been born to him: Huldah, the wife of Coleman Leaming, Jr .; Mary Hoffman, the wife of W. Scott Hand; Lewis Mitchell, of this re- view; and George Hoffman, now of Princeton University. The parents of these children are now attaining a ripe old age. They are people of the strictest integrity, and command the honor and respect of a host of friends.
Lewis Mitchell Cresse was borne at Townsend Inlet September 12, 1867. He acquired his early education in the public schools of his native village, and was afterward graduated from the high school of Cape May Court House, in 1885, and later from the Quaker school at Woodstown. He then accepted a position as the principal of the high school at Al- monesson, Gloucestor county, but resigned to complete a business course in the National College of Commerce, in Philadelphia, graduating from that institution in 1888, and becoming one of its teachers in bookkeeping and accounting. He abandoned the work of an educator to become identified with the financial interests of his native county, first as the cashier of the People's Bank, of Sea Isle City, where he remained nearly three years, then he accepted a position with the Union National Bank, of Atlantic City. The "Cape May County Times," of Sea Isle City, paid him the following tribute when he resigned the position of cashier of the People's Bank : "Mr. Cresse has been with us about three years, during which time he has not only gained the confidence of his employers, but also of the entire community. He has filled more positions of honor and trust while among us than any other man in the town, and his loss will be keenly felt by the community at large."
Three years later, in 1896, Mr. Cresse became the executive head of the Ocean City office of the Central Trust Company, of Camden. This bank was established and opened for business on the 13th of May, 1896, occupying a handsome brick structure which was erected in the spring of 1897, equipped with a fire and burglar-proof vault. A general banking business was conducted, and success attended the enterprise from the be- ginning, a fact largely attributable to the efforts and management of Mr. Cresse. On January 2, 1902, the Central Trust Company sold its busi- ness to the First National Bank of Ocean City, and Mr. Cresse was called to the presidency. In addition to discharging the duties of bank president, Mr. Cresse is also extensively interested in the business of paper manufac- turing at Pleasant Mills, New Jersey. The office of the Pleasant Mills Paper Company, of which he is the president, is at No. 608 Chestnut street, Philadelphia, and to the management of this important enterprise he has devoted much attention. His fine executive ability in business and cor- porate enterprises has been so well recognized that he has had many calls to public office. He was for a number of years one of the most efficient of the members of the board of education of Ocean City. In 1902 he was
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elected president of the board of trade of Ocean City, and this event was' thus referred to in the New York "Financial Review :"
"The election of Mr. L. M. Cresse, of Ocean City, New Jersey, to the presidency of the board of trade is what might have been expected of an organization which has been so successful and exerts such a salutary in- fluence in business circles generally. Owing to Mr. Cresse's association with the body, and the fact that his ability has been so thoroughly dem- onstrated, no other result was logically looked for. Mr. Cresse is a gen- tleman who has not alone enjoyed wide experience, but he has so observed things as to profit largely by what he has learned during a busy career. He holds the confidence of substantial men of affairs both in Ocean City and his county generally, and is to be congratulated upon this evidence of the high opinion his fellow business men have of him."
True to the firmly established old line Whig and Republican party affiliations of his family, Mr. Cresse has been actively identified, since at- taining his majority, with the interests of the latter named party, and has served in local organizations and as convention delegate. He was a can- didate for the state legislature in 1900 and was elected by the largest majority on his ticket, and was renominated and re-elected to the assembly in 1902, again receiving the greatest number of votes. He proved a most capable member of the assembly, and was called to the chairmanship of the committee on education and to membership in several important com- mittees.
On the 12th of September, 1896, Mr. Cresse was united in marriage with Cecilia, a daughter of Alexander and Marion Hislop, of Troy, New York. They occupy an enviable position in social circles and enjoy the highest esteem of many friends. Mr. Cresse has traveled much in America and abroad, and has acquired a rich fund of general information along all those lines which mark the man of high intelligence and close dis- ·cernment. Mr. Cresse is a Mason and a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and is popular in social as well as business circles. His success in all that he has undertaken has been marked, and his methods are of interest to the commercial world. He has based his business prin- ciples and actions upon strict adherence to the rules which govern in- dustry, economy and uncompromising integrity. This enterprising and progressive spirit has made him a typical American in every sense of the word, and he well deserves mention in the history of his native state. Scarcely beyond the heyday of his youth, but with the experience of mature years, the past career of Mr. Cresse presages a future that will honor his ancient lineage and brighten the pages of the history of his community. county and state.
JOHN B. CONOVER.
In one of the historical chapters of this work is told the story of the rearing of the stately Monmouth Battle Monument, and it is to be here noted that in its projecting and building was engaged a representative of
HENDRICK CONOVER.
JOHN B. CONOVER.
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HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY COAST.
one of the oldest and most prominent families of Monmouth county in the person of John Barriclo Conover, who was treasurer of the Monument As- sociation from its organization until the work was completed.
Mr. Conover is directly descended from that Wolfhert Covenhoven who came from Holland in 1630, sent by the Patroon of Albany to care for the landed interests of that great landlord, and who was progenitor of a long line of Covenhovens and Conovers, to which latter form many of his descendants changed the patronymic. It is also to be said as referring to the wonderful spread of this prolific family, that, according to the most reliable estimates, its members have intermarried in almost one hundred and fifty instances since the coming of the pioneer Covenhoven to Mon- mouth county about 1696 or 1698.
The general history of the Conover family is narrated in cther pages of this work. It is only necessary in this narrative to note that Mr. Con- over traces his descent directly from the pioneer Covcnhoven to Elias, born in 1778, who married Mary Schenck, of a family as old and honorably known as his own. Of this marriage were born three sons, Ruliff, John and Hendrick. The youngest of this family was Hendrick, a farmer, who inherited the family homestead, upon which was located the old historic Topanemus burying ground, which has ever been preserved from desecra- tion. He married Mary Barriclo, of an old Dutch family, various of whose members have made the name appear as Borculo and Barkalow. Of this marriage were born three sons and a daughter, all of whom died young except John. In 1861 Mr. Conover removed to Freehold in order to afford this last remaining child all necessary educational facilities. Mr. Conover was a man of most excellent character, and was highly regarded in the community. He had been reared in the old Dutch church, which his wife attended with him. She, however, had been brought up in the old Tennent church, and after their removal to Freehold they attended the Presbyterian church.
Their son, John Barriclo Conover, was born on the old homestead, passed his boyhood days upon the farm and began his education in the neighborhood schools. He was about thirteen years of age when his father removed to Freehold. He was prepared for college in the Freehold Institute and the Lawrence Preparatory School. In 1870 he entered Princeton College, from which he was graduated in 1873. He had the great distinction of being made the class poet, and his poem was a pro- duction of unusual merit, of considerable length, and constructed in vari- ous pleasantly contrasting metrical forms. In 1876 he received from his Alma Mater the degree of Master of Arts. In 1873 he entered the Law Department of Columbia College, and after receiving his diploma in 1875 he was engaged in practice for five years. For two years he was occupied in the law office of Governor Joel Parker, and for four years he was an assistant in the office of Surrogate Davis S. Crater. His health failing him, he abandoned all work for a period of about ten years, and resumed active pursuits in 1900. In that year, in association with James Buchanan he organized the Midnight Sunlight Company, of which he is president and
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the latter named is treasurer. This corporation, with offices in New York City, began with the use of an incandescent gas burner of German con- struction, but is now about to operate under patents of its own. The light produced is of remarkable intensity and evenness, entirely free from the spluttering peculiar to the electric light, and is recognized as the most at- tractive and efficient artificial light known to the commercial world. It is already used in New York, Brooklyn and in various New Jersey cities and towns, and has attracted the favorable attention of artificial light experts throughout the country. There would appear to be no limitable field for its operations, inasmuch as it is practically without rival in point of real usefulness and economy.
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