USA > New Jersey > The New Jersey coast in three centuries; history of the New Jersey coast with genealogical and historic-biographical appendix, Vol. III > Part 38
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Mr. Hankinson was a firm believer in the truths of Christianity and was for many ycars one of the board of elders of Madison Avenue Reformed church, in New York City, and for seven years hc was the superintendent of the Sunday-school. Socially he was a member of many clubs both in business and social life, and of the chamber of commerce.
October 18, 1881, Mr. Hankinson was united in marriage to Miss Mary F. Hunter, born in Newburg-on-the-Hudson, and a daughter of Joel Du Bois and Frances H. Hunter. Three sons were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hankinson,-John H., George H., deceased, and Kenneth Hankinson. Mrs. Hankinson has passed her life in New York City, where both shc and her esteemed husband were prominently identified with both the social and religious life of the metropolis, and where a large circle of friends sincerely mourned the death of so cstimable a man, public-spirited citizen, and firm friend, as John Henry Hankinson.
SAMUEL C. C. HARRIS.
To a large degree the growth and development of a locality is due to its real estate dealers, those who control the purchase and exchange of property. Foresight, tact and business skill will do much to secure a good class of citizens and cause improve- ments to be made that are of a substantial and attractive character. In this regard Mr. Harris has done much for the town of Carteret, where he located in 1871 and where he has since handled property, conducting transfers and aiding in the judicious. investment of capital.
Mr. Harris was born in the city of New York, February 18, 1832, and is a repre- sentative of the old Harris family of Connecticut, many of whose representatives have been men of prominence. His father, David C. Harris, was born in New London, Connecticut, and married Miss Margaret M. Conyard, whose birth occurred in Nor-
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folk, Virginia. For many years they resided in New York City, where Samuel C. C. . Harris was educated, attending the public schools and also private schools conducted by the society of Friends. At the age of eighteen he entered upon his business career in the capacity of bookkeeper in the employ of Sheldon Martin, who was in the lumber trade on Cherry street. A year later he obtained a situation as clerk with the firm of Hardman & Osborn, of New York City, who were agents for many of the largest estates in the metropolis at that time. For about ten years he remained with that firm and his duties were often of a most responsible character. He then became associated with Edward J. Powers, a real estate dealer of New York, for whom he bought and sold property for a number of years. Mr. Powers owned a large tract of land in that part of Woodbrige township, Middlesex county, New Jersey, where the town of Carteret now stands and Mr. Harris sold the first lot on that site. Locating there in 1871, he has since been engaged in real estate dealing and has handled some valuable property.
On the IIth of September, 1861, occurred the marriage of Mr. Harris and Miss Victoria E. Huber. They have two sons; Uriah L., the elder, was born in Brooklyn, November 2, 1868, is a moulder by trade and resides in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He married Miss Margaret Smith, and their children are Leverson Smith and Edwin Scott. Samuel M. Harris, the second son of our subject, unmarried, was born in Carteret, February 18, 1877, and is a machinist and electrician of his native town. Mr. Harris exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Republican party and has filled the office of commissioner of appeals for Wood- bridge township, Middlesex county, for nine years. He is also a notary public and commissioner of deeds and in connection with his other business interests he writes both fire and life insurance. His religious faith is that of the society of Friends. His worth as a man and citizen is widely acknowledged and is manifest in the high regard and good will which are uniformly extended to him.
JOHN W. BORDEN. 1
John W. Borden, real estate and insurance, a prominent figure in public affairs of the town of Manasquan, New Jersey, was born in Howell township, Monmouth county, New Jersey, May 16, 1843, the son of Aaron Borden and Sarah (Emmons) Borden. The ancestral line of the family goes back to two brothers who came from England and settled in colonial times at Fall River, Massachusetts. The family par- ticularly descended from Richard Borden, whose children located, some in New York state and others at Shrewsbury and Bordentown, New Jersey, giving their name to the latter place. The Shrewsbury branch were among the most thriving farmers and extensive land owners of Monmouth county, descending from Francis, the fourth son of Richard. Amos, Mr. Borden's grandfather, was a foremost citizen of Farmingdale, a prosperous hatter, and died there in 1855. Aaron Borden, the father of John W., a shoemaker by trade, by vocation a farmer, later a conveyancer and successful business man at Howell, New Jersey, was a Democrat in politics, a school trustee and a man of progressive ideas in educational matters. In early life he was a Baptist, subsequently a Methodist, and an active member of the Jerseyville Methodist Episcopal church, where he was a trustee and active Sunday-school worker. He was twice married. By his first wife, Sarah, daughter of David Emmons, of Howell, who died in 1845, he had three children: Daniel, a farmer in Howell township; James A., a contractor and builder at Howell, now deceased; and John W. By his second wife, whom he
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married in 1861, Esther, daughter of John Robbins, of Howell, he had one son, Aaron, a farmer in Howell township. He died in January, 1894, at the age of eighty years.
John W. Borden, was educated at the district school and for five years in early life taught school in the district now Asbury Park. In 1865 he established at Manas- quan a general mercantile business, which he followed successfully for four years. He then resumed teaching at Manasquan for three years. In 1874 he laid the foundation of his present thriving business at Manasquan. His business has a wide scope and takes in real estate, insurance and conveyancing, surveying, civil engineering and auc- tioneering. He is also a notary public and commissioner of deeds. In his business operations he has become a large real estate holder in Manasquan and vicinity and elsewhere.
Mr. Borden is active in local affairs, and in politics is a Democrat. He served as justice of the peace of Manasquan at twenty-one years of age and held the office continuously for five years. He has served as clerk of the board of education and while a member of that board organized the school districts under the new law, in 1893. He is a member of the board of trade and is a director of the First National Bank of Manasquan, and was one of its organizers in 1883. He has also served as a member of the board of his township committee and filled other important local po- sitions. For many years he has been secretary of the Manasquan Building and Loan Association, and for over a quarter of a century has been superintendent of the Sunday-school of the Presbyterian church of Manasquan, and has been also an elder in the church for many years. He is a member of Excelsior Lodge, No. 88, I. O. O. F., Unity Encampment, No. 25; and was one of the organizers of the I. O. R. M. He is a Knight of Pythias, a K. of G. E., and is a past officer of all the above orders at Manasquan.
He has been twice married; in 1868 to Elizabeth, daughter of Captain John Os- borne, of Manasquan. She died in 1871; a daughter, Lottie, died in infancy. In 1874 he was married to Hannah V., daughter of Osborne Curtis, by whom he had one son, John. He also has an adopted daughter, Bertha B. Curtis, a niece of Mrs. Borden.
AARON W. HAND.
Classified among the leading business men of Cape May, and one who has exerted a strong influence upon the commercial, social, moral and intellectual development of the city is Aaron Willman Hand. He was born in Camden, New Jersey, February 10, 1857, and is descended from one of the oldest families in this section of the state. His ancestors came from England in the seventeenth century and located on Long Island. After a few years they removed to Cape May, where members of the family became owners of a large acreage in the Fishing Creek neighborhood. Elisha Hand, the great-grandfather of our subject, held a commission as an officer in the colonial army during the war of the Revolution, and Aaron Hand, the grandfather, was en- rolled in the Cape May Independent Regiment in the war of 1812. Noah Hand, the father, was born in Cape May county and in early life went to sea as first mate on a sailing vessel trading with southern ports. He was afterward quartermaster of a steamer of the same line. He resided in Camden, New Jersey, for many years, and in 1873 came to Cape May county, where he has since resided and enjoys the respect and confidence of all with whom he has been associated. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Jane A. Hannah, died December 31, 1895, at the age of seventy- seven years.
aaron W. Hand
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Aaron W. Hand acquired his early education in Camden, completing the grammar school course there at the age of eleven years, and then attended the public schools of Philadelphia for two years. He afterward studied under a private tutor and also spent a year in the United States Military Academy. His love of books has prompted liim to continue his reading, study and investigation in later years, and he is con- tinually adding to his fund of knowledge. When he put aside his text books to learn the more difficult lessons in the school of experience he was employed for three years in various capacities in Philadelphia. In 1873 he came to Cape May with his father. At the age of nineteen he became a teacher at Heislerville, Cumberland county, and subsequently was engaged in teaching at Dennisville and at Rio Grande, for six years at Cape May Point, Cape May county, and for two years was the prin- cipal of the schools of Cape May city. In 1881 he became associate editor of the Cape May Daily Star, published during the summer, and in 1889 purchased an interest in The Star of the Cape and the Cape May Daily Star printing and publishing busi- ness, with which he has since been connected, being now general manager of The Star of the Cape Publishing Company. He is also interested successfully in several other business enterprises.
In 1877 Mr. Hand was united in marriage to Miss Letitia Byers Reeves, a member of one of the most prominent pioneer families of Cape May county. Her grandfather. David Reeves, was a member of the militia during the war of 1812 and was a leading factor in all public affairs in Cape May county for forty years-the middle of the nineteenth century. During the Civil war Abijah D. Reeves, Mrs. Hand's father, served in Company F, Twenty-fifth New Jersey Infantry, as color corporal. David Reeves, the great-grandfather, was the ensign in Captain Forrest's company in a brigade formed in southern New Jersey for service in the Revolution, and Abijah Reeves' great-grandfather was also a soldier of the Revolution. Mrs. Hand's mother was Amanda Deprefontaine, a daughter of John Deprefontaine, who was a French Huguenot, and Hannah, nee Gardner
In his political views Mr. Hand of this review is a stalwart Republican, and, keeping well informed on the issues of the day, gives an intelligent support to the principles of the Republican party. He has held several minor offices, achieving a reputation for thorough attention to duty in them. In 1896 he was appointed super- intendent of public schools for Cape May county, to which position he was reap- pointed in 1899. In this capacity he has reorganized the school system, placed it on a modern basis, and has greatly stimulated interest in the schools throughout the county. He has devoted himself to the work of this office with untiring zeal and en- thusiasm and his labors have been productive of great good, placing the schools of the county on a higher plane than they have ever before occupied.
In his religious faith Mr. Hand is a Presbyterian, having joined the Cold Spring Presbyterian church in 1875. Socially he is connected with various civic societies. In 1885 he joined Cape Island Lodge, No. 30, F. & A. M., and was its organist for several years. He became a member of Cape May Conclave, No. 183, I. O. H., in 1890; of Ogallalla Tribe, No. 157, I. O. R. M., in 1892, passing all the chairs and entering the great council of New Jersey in 1895 as a representative. In 1897 he joined Cape May Lodge, No. 21, A. O. U. W., passed through all the chairs and was elected to the grand lodge. He has ever been an active business man, who has energetically carried forward to successful completion whatever he has undertaken. In all life's relations his career has been honorable and upright, commending him to the confidence and good will of all with whom he has come in contact. He is a man of social nature, genial disposition and unfailing courtesy, and his circle of friends is almost co- extensive with the cirele of his acquaintances. His children are Albert R., who has
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been united in marriage to Sara E., daughter of Mayor Thomas W. Millet of Cape May, and whose only child is Millet Hand; Bernard R .; Rena; Ellwood S .; and twin daughters, Jeannette R., and Anita R.
HON. FRANK E. DE GRAW.
Hon. Frank E. De Graw comes from an illustrious ancestry, one branch of which is traceable to Francis Joseph Paul, Comte Grasse-Tilly, popularly known as Count De Grasse, who in company with Lafayette and Rochambeau devoted his sword to the cause of American freedom, and was present at the surrender of Cornwallis in 178I. Three brothers named De Graauw, French Huguenots, natives of Picardy, France (twenty-two miles west from the city of Amiens), fled from the religious persecutions in France, 1620, to Utrecht, Holland. Between 1620 and 1630 they left Holland for the port of New York. One brother settled in New York, one in New Jersey and one on Long Island. (See records of "Old Dutch Church," New York, June, 1675.)
Abram Voorhees De Graw (grandfather) resided in New Brunswick, New Jer- sey, where for years he was the proprietor of a public house in that place. He was also connected with a line of packet-sloops carrying passengers and freight between New Brunswick and the city of New York. Politically he was an adherent of the Whig party, and in his religious relations he was a member of the Dutch Reformed church. His wife was Elizabeth Voorhees, and they were the parents of six children, named as follows: Peter Voorhees; Abram P .; Jane, wife of Rev. William Van Doren, of Washington, D. C .; Eliza, deceased; Katharine; and Adelaide, wife of Dr. John Baylis, of Princeton, New Jersey. Mr. De Graw died in 1832, and his wife survived until 1856.
Peter Voorhees De Graw, the father, was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where he received his education. After completing his studies he found employment with his father in the packet line, subsequently locating in the city of Princeton, New Jersey. The Camden & Amboy Railroad subsequently employed him as collector on the Delaware & Raritan canal, and this position he held for many years, while at the same time he conducted a large farm in the vicinity of Kingston, New Jersey, of which he was then owner. When the Camden & Amboy Railroad completed the new freight piers at South Amboy he was placed in sole charge, and acted in that capacity from 1854 to 1864. In the latter year he became weighmaster for the same company, and continued as such until his decease in 1870. Mr. De Graw voted the Democratic ticket; in his early life he was a member of the Presbyterian church, and he subsequently embraced the Protestant Episcopal faith. Mrs. De Graw passed away in 1877. They were the parents of the following children: Anna; Virginia : Charles S., deceased; Antoinette and Imogene, who both died in childhood; Frank E .; Peter V .; and Elizabeth, who died in infancy.
Frank E. De Graw, second son of Peter Voorhees De Graw, was born September 17, 1844, at Princeton, New Jersey. He acquired his education in the public schools of South Amboy. In 1861, when he was. seventen years of age, the Camden & Amboy Railroad Company employed him as a telegraphic operator, and so faithful did he prove himself in the discharge of his duties, and so proficient did he become, that three years later he was appointed train-dispatcher at Bordentown. After a short period he resigned and accepted the position of operator for the United States Tele- graph Company at New York. In 1867 he was placed in charge of the telegraph and cable systems of the Camden & Amboy Railroad and of the Western Union Telegraph
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Company. He resigned from this position in 1869, in order to accept employment with the firm of E. A. Packer & Company, coal shippers, with whom he remained for three years. In 1872 he formed a partnership with Leonard Furman, under the style of De Graw & Furman, and engaged in the lumber business. Earlier in the same year he was engaged in the wholesale and retail coal business on his own account. Both of these ventures proved remunerative, and at this period he built a handsome resi- dence on Main street, South Amboy, where he now resides. In 1875 he disposed of his business interests and removed to Norfolk, Virginia, where he engaged in farm- ing and market gardening. He only remained there one year when he returned to South Amboy, and became a wholesale and retail dealer in coal, hay and brick. In 1877 he became general foreman of all shipping and shipping wharves for the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company at South Amboy, where he is at the present time.
Politically Mr. De Graw is a Republican, and he served as a member of the council in 1888, the first council elected after the organization of South Amboy, and the following year he was elected mayor of the town. He was also a member of the Middlesex county Republican committee during the years 1880 to 1885, and he has been a delegate to various conventions of his party. In March, 1900, F. E. De Graw was elected a member of the board of freeholders of Middlesex county, receiving the largest majority ever given any candidate for any office, upon either political ticket, having more majority than his opponent had votes, and being the first Republican candidate ever elected from his district. He has been a member for sixteen years of the board of education, and in 1895 he was made president of that body. He is actively interested in the Protestant Episcopal church of South Amboy, holding the position of vestryman for thirty years, and also acting as treasurer and warden. Fra- ternally he is connected with St. Stephen's Lodge, No. 63, F. & A. M., Goodwin Chap- ter, No. 36, R. A. M., and Good Samaritan Lodge, No. 52, Knights of Pythias, of South Amboy. He is vice-president and treasurer, as well as chairman, of the regatta committee of the South Amboy Yacht Club. He was president of the Inde- pendence Engine and Hose Company of South Amboy in 1893-94. He also served for three years as colonel of the First Regiment of New Jersey, Uniform Rank, K of P. At the termination of that period he was appointed and served two years upon the staff of Major-General Carnahan.
Mr. De Graw was thrice married, his first wife being Katherine D. Stewart, a daughter of John and Jane Stewart. They were married December 28, 1865, and she died in 1867, leaving no issue. His second wife, whom he married in 1869, was Theodora H. Bostwick, daughter of the Rev. S. B. Bostwick, of Sandy Hill, New York. She died August 15, 1889, leaving him five children : Lillian, wife of Frank M. Parker, of Brooklyn, New York; Annie H .; Ruth F .; Arthur, deceased; and Theo- dora. On June 1I, 1891, Mr. De Graw was married to his present wife, Eliza Watson, daughter of Hugh Watson, of South Amboy.
! WILLIAM CLEMONS.
There are in every community men who are recognized leaders in public affairs, exerting strong influence in molding public policy and assisting materially in the work of progress, improvement and advancement along those lines which are beneficial to the majority. Such a one is William Clemons, who at the present time is serving in several positions of public trust, discharging his duties with marked promptness and fidelity.
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He was born in Pennsylvania on the 11th of February, 1844, and in the public schools and the academy of his native town pursued his education. During his youth he worked upon a farm and afterward went to Scranton, Pennsylvania, where for ten years he was employed as a clerk in a furniture store. He afterward engaged in agricultural pursuits for a few years and then served as first officer in the reform 'schools at Jamesburg, New Jersey, and at Providence, Rhode Island. In 1886 he re- turned to Pennsylvania, and, again purchasing a farm, once more engaged in the tilling of the soil and the production of crops until 1889.
In that year Mr. Clemons came to Helmetta and accepted the position of outside superintendent for the George W. Helme Company, now the American Snuff Com- pany, serving in that capacity for one year, and for twelve years he has been manufac- turing superintendent. He thoroughly understands the business and his capable super- vision is an active factor in the success which is attending the industry. Although his business interests claim the greater part of his attention, he yet finds time to devote to the faithful discharge of his duties of citizenship, and his fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, have frequently called him to public office. He is now serving as president of the board of education, is chief of police, and chief of the fire department-thus representing three divisions of the public service which are of the greatest value and importance.
Mr. Clemons was married at Montrose, Pennsylvania, to Eliza Isabel Spencer, a daughter of Ambrose E. and Abigail Spencer, formerly of Massachuse ts but at that time residents of Montrose. The Spencer family is of English origin and the grandmother of Mrs. Clemons was a descendant of Governor Winslow, of Massa- chusetts. Unto our subject and his wife has been born one son, Arthur H., who was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, June 14, 1876, and is assistant superintendent of the American Snuff Mills. Mr. Clemons is a member of Maple Council, No. 1407, Royal Arcanum, and assisted in the organization of the Episcopalian Memorial church, of which he is one of the vestrymen.
EDWARD E. HAINES, M. D.
The concomitants which insure success to the medical practitioners are strong mentality, earnest purpose, a love of scientific research and a deep and abiding interest in one's fellow men. All of these qualifications are found in Dr. Haines, who is well known as a competent and reliable physician of South Amboy.
A native of New Jersey, he was born in Vincenttown, Burlington county, April 30, 1859, a son of John and Rachel (King) Haines. The Haines family is of English ancestry and was founded in America by five brothers of the name, who at an early period came from England to the new world, the progenitor of the branch to which the Doctor belongs settling in New Jersey. The father, John Haines, was born in Burlington county, in 1818. a son of John Haines, Sr. He learned and followed the stonemason's trade and spent his entire life in his native county. He married Rachel King, and they became the parents of ten children, namely: William K., Annie, the widow of Edward Hazelton; Elwood, who married Annie Deacon; Barclay P., who wedded Lydia Garskill; Albert L., who married Lucinda Wright; Emma, the wife of William A. Weber; Mary, who died in infancy; George, who married Sarah Aus- tin; John B., who is engaged in prcaching the gospel, and who married Buela Brown; and Edward E.
The Doctor pursued his primary education in the schools of his native town, and
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HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY. COAST.
from the time of leaving the common schools he worked at various occupations. During the winter of 1877-8, and also through the succeeding winter, he engaged in teaching school. With a determination to devote his life to professional labors, he then matriculated in the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, where he pursued a thorough and systematic course, being graduated on the 2nd of April, 1890. After leaving that institution he went to Pennington, New Jersey, where he cared for the practice of Dr. Dwelling for a short time, and since the 17th day of May, 1890, he has engaged in practice in South Amboy. He is a close and discriminating student, a conscientious practitioner, and has won enviable success as a representative of the med- ical fraternity.
Dr. Haines was married at Lima, Indiana, on the 8th of June, 1894, to Miss Lola Maudc Springle of Virginia, and they now have one daughter, Maude Cordelia, born on the Ioth of December, 1896. The Doctor affiliates with several fraternal or- ganizations, including the Knights of the Golden Eagle, at South Amboy. He like- wise belongs to Central Lodge, No. 44, F. & A. M., of Vincenttown, and is a past master. In his religious views he is an Episcopalian, and in his political belief is a Re- publican. He has served as a member of the school board and is now president of the town council. Public-spirited and enterprising, he co-operates in a hearty manner in every movement for the general good and his labors have been of marked benefit to his community. In the line of his profession he has membership relations with the Middlesex County Medical Society, of which he is now vice-president. For ten years he has been surgeon for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at this point, and has in addition a very large and important private practice, which is indicative of his ability and the confidence reposed in him by the public.
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