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 50
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during 1890, up to 1895; in the latter year he was president of the board. In 1896 he was elected first mayor of Sea Bright and served continuously as the incumbent of that office by re-election up to 1900. In 1896 he was a candidate before the Republi- can convention for the office of state senator. He was appointed commissioner of deeds of New York by Governors Morton and Roosevelt, notary public by Governor Voorhees, and a commission of deeds for New Jersey by the state senate. .
Mr. Packer put forth much time and energy in getting the handsome new draw- bridge over the Shrewsbury river at Sea Bright. He was chiefly instrumental in se- curing the extension by the New Jersey Telephone Company of its lines in Mor mouth county, and has ever since continued as the company's manager. He has also been manager of the Sea Bright exchange of the New York and New Jersey Telephone since 1873.
He is the founder of Ashland Council, Junior O. U. A. M., and for several years was its representative in the grand council in the state, and in 1893 was elected grand vice-councillor of New Jersey, and in 1894 grand state councillor of New Jersey. Dur- his administration he installed thirty-five new councils and secured into the order eight thousand two hundred and forty. :
.He is a member of the Sea Side Lodge, Knights of Pythias, a past chancellor commander, a member of the grand lodge of the state, and presen't grand chancellor of the Knights of Pythias of New Jersey ..
REV. I. P. BROKAW, D. D.
Mr. Brokaw is a native of Somerset county. He was born not far from New Brunswick, July 27, 1845, and is of French Huguenot and Holland-Dutch descent. After completing his preliminary education he entered the freshman class in Rutgers College in 1859, the late Vice-President Hobart being a classmate from the sophomore year; there he pursued his studies until after the beginning of the Civil war, when feeling that his duty was to his country in her hour of need he enlisted on the Ist of September, 1862, in the Thirtieth New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, serving in the First Corps of the army of the Potomac. He participated in the battle of Chancellors- ville, from the Ist to the 4th of May, 1863, and after partial recovery from illness contracted in the service he re-entered college and was graduated with honors in the class of June, 1866. Continuing his studies in the Theological Seminary at New Brunswick, he was ordained to the ministry in May, 1869, and was the first pastor of the East Reformed church, now Trinity Reformed church, of Newark, New Jersey, filling that pulpit from 1869 until July, 1874. During his ministry there, a substantial church edifice and a parsonage were erected and the work moved forward in substan- tial manner along many lines.
A new organization having been effected on Jersey City Heights under the name of the South Bergen Reformed church, Dr. Brokaw was called to take charge, and labored in that field until January, 1879; and in the meantime he was instrumental in securing the erection of a comfortable chapel. The church has since been trans- ferred to the Congregationalists. Removing to Freehold in January, 1879, he still resides here in the twenty-third year of his pastorate, enjoying the love, confidence and respect of his people and of many outside of his denomination. He has been a member of the board of education and is still of the board of domestic missions of the Reformed church; for several years he was vice-president of the New Jersey State Sunday-school Association' and has been an official member of various religious
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societies in Monmouth county during the most of his ministry in Freehold, being at the present time stated clerk and treasurer of the particular synod of New Bruns- wick of the Reformed church.
In 1870 Mr. Brokaw was united in the holy bonds of matrimony to Miss Emma E. Perlee, of Raritan, New Jersey, and they have three living children. Mrs. Brokaw is a faithful assistant to her husband in his great work, and the influence of their home is widely felt for good. A man of strong convictions and earnest purpose, yet considerate of the feelings and rights of others, he is warmly upheld by his loving people in the work to which he has devoted his life.
REV. HOWARD ERNEST THOMPSON.
Rev. Howard Ernest Thompson, rector of St. Peter's Episcopal church, Freehold, Monmouth county, New Jersey, is a native of Bordentown, New Jersey, and succeeded to the charge of his present parish in 1900. He is a graduate of the General Theolog- ical Seminary of New York, and was ordained deacon at Princeton, New Jersey, by Bishop Scarborough, June 9, 1878, and the year following was ordained priest at Trenton, New Jersey, by the same bishop. Following his ordination to the priest- hood, he ministered as curate of St. Timothy, Roxborough, Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania, and successively as rector of Trinity church, Woodbridge, New Jersey, of Christ church, Woodbury, New Jersey, and of Emmanuel church, Allegheny, Penn- sylvania. He was instituted rector of St. Peter's parish, Freehold, Monmouth county, on St. Peter's day, 1900.
St. Peter's church is one of the historical landmarks of this section of the state. The parish was prominent in colonial days, and the church was standing on its present site at the beginning and throughout the Revolutionary war. Its erection dates between, 1751 and 1763. At the beginning of the war Rev. Samuel Cooke, a Church of England priest, was in charge of the parish, having been sent out from the mother country, and in his flight it is thought he carried with him the early records of the church. It is known, however, that the original church gathering was at Topenemes in Free- hold township, in October, 1702, and that its first pastor was Rev. John Keith. In 1736 the organization received its charter, granted by Colonel John Hamilton, com- mander in chief and president of the province of New Jersey. This charter, dated June 4, 1736, is recorded in the office of the secretary of state at Trent:n, New Jersey. The church passed through many trials, and remained uncompleted until 1838, during the rectorship of Robert B. Croes. It is of record that on May 8, 1838, Bishop Doan consecrated the structure, making the following minutes: "On Tuesday, May 8th, I consecrated St. Peter's Church to the worship of Almighty God." He also adds : "The signs of life which at the visitation in the autumn were apparent were now far more than realized. It seems impossible that the old church building, never finished, in which I had officiated, could be the neat, commodious, and beautiful building which I was now called upon to consecrate." In 1878 the church was enlarged in harmony with the original style of the building and entirely refinished, as shown by the records of Rev. Thomas H. Cullen. He records at the same time that some of the timber of the original church at Topenemes was brought and used in its construction between 1751 and 1760. At the present time, under the efficient control of Rector Thompson, this old historic church is one of the foremost in Monmouth county. Many of the leading and most influential families of Freehold are among its communicants.
Rev. Howard Ernest Thompson was married to Matilda Roberts French, eldest
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daughter of General Samuel G. French, formerly in the United States regular army, thereafter in the Confederate service during the Civil war. The marriage ceremony was celebrated in Christ church at Woodbury, New Jersey, January 7, 1897. General French is now in his eighty-second year, a resident of Florida, and in the enjoyment of phenomenal health and strength.
JOHN WILLIAM ROOME.
John William Roome, who resides in a handsome residence on South street, Freehold, New Jersey, was born in New York City, September 14, 1864. He is in the seventh generation from ancestor Peter William C. Roome, who came from Hol- land in 1684 and married Hester VanGelder in New York City. His descent from this ancestor is through Peter (2d), Samuel (3d), John (4th), Peter (5th), Martin R. (6th), his father. His father, Martin R., was born in New York City, December 9, 1826, and died at Pompton Plains, Morris county, New Jersey, February 14, 1895. His mother, Rachel Ann (Ryerson) Roome, was born at Wayne, Passaic county, and is living at Pompton Plains, New Jersey.
John William Roome was reared and educated in New York, where he learned his trade, and removed to his present residence in Freehold in 1891. In September, 1890, he was married to Marietta, daughter of Robert Cook Smock and Eleanor (Schenck) Smock, now of Freehold. Both the Smock and Roome ancestral lines are traced back to Holland ancestry, the immigrant ancestor in either case being among the earliest settlers in New Jersey. The Smock ancestral line traces back as follows : Robert Cook Smock, Mrs. Roome's father, was born February 26, 1823, on his father's farm in Holmdel, Monmouth county; was married to Eleanor Schenck Smock, Feb- ruary 18, 1847, on her father's farm in Marlboro township. His father, George G. Smock, was born May 8, 1788, in the same township, and was married December 19, 18II, to Sarah Schenck Smock. He died on his farm April 21, 1868. His father, George Smock, was born November 24, 1754. Hc was a private in the Revolution, and at the battle of Monmouth was detailed to cut off British supplies, and got back just as the battle was over. He captured a gun from British soldiers, which is now in possession of Mrs. V. P. Buck. He was married May 4, 1779, to Sarah Conover, and died December 7, 1834, on his farm in Holmdel. His father, Colonel John Smock, born February 13, 1727, married Elizabeth Conover, May 7, 1747, and died February 26, 1808. Colonel John Smock's father, Hendrick Smock, was born in Holmdel, October 16, 1698, was married in 1721 to Mary G. Schenck, and died May 30, 1747. His father, Johannis Smock, was born in 1665 and married Catherine Barrents in 1692. He died December 14, 1754. He was born and married on Long Island. He bought property at New Utrecht, Long Island, but left there and located at Holmdel, Monmouth county, in 1712. Hc bought there three hundred acres of land, for which he paid eight hundred pounds sterling. Hc died on his farm, which was the original Smock homestead, although subsequently divided between his sons. His father, Hendrick Malijsen Smock, was born in Holland and came to Long Island in 1654. He married Gearje Hermans in Holland. Mrs. Eleanor Schenck Smock, wife of Robert Cook Smock, and the mother of Mrs. Marictta Roome, was the daughter of Aaron Smock, son of Captain Henry Smock, who was the son of the famous Colonel John Smock. The Smock family of Holland trace their ancestry back to royalty. A coat of arms is now in possession of Robert Cook Smock's family in Freehold. The Smocks have been members of the Reformed Dutch church for generations and
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are at present members of the Reformed Dutch church of Freehold, as are and have been the Roome family, past and present.
Colonel John Smock fought in the Revolutionary war in the First New Jersey Regiment .. He was captain, then major, and lieutenant colonel at the battle of Mon- mouth. He was captured, escaped, and captured and confined in the British prison in New York City. The Colonel's brother, Lieutenant Hendrick Smock, was con- fined in a British prison for four years; another- brother, Garrett Smock, was a colonel in a North Carolina regiment. Colonel John Smock received two thousand dollars in Continental money for five months' service, and with it he purchased for his wife two calico dresses. Captain Henry Smock, son of Colonel Sinock, was cap- tain of a company of the First New Jersey Regiment and took part in the battle of Monmouth. He was also captain of artillery in the battle of Germantown in 1780. Aaron Smock, father of Mrs. Eleanor Schenck Smock, was a lieutenant in the war of 1812, and was engaged at Sandy Hook.
JOHN C. PATTERSON.
The career: of General John C. Patterson of Ocean Grove, New Jersey, is replete with thrilling experiences which would delight the military novelist. It has been his fortune to serve during many of the most arduons campaigns of the Union army during the Civil war, and to serve his state for a phenomenal term of years as a member of the National Guard, and he was honored in both by the conferring upon him of high rank. He has been fully as distinguished in the more important of the peaceful walks of life, in one of which he has received the most signal recog- nition that can be bestowed under the national authority.
He was born October 29, 1834, in Howell, Monmouth county, New Jersey, son of John C. and Sarah (Riddle) Patterson. He was educated in the public school in his native town, and passed his youth on the parental farm, laboring in the field and at the carpenter's bench, his father being a mechanic as well as a farmer. When he was eighteen years of age he gave his sole attention to the trade which he had learned, in association with his father. The opening of the Civil war distracted his attention from civil pursuits, and inspired by patriotic ardor, young Patterson. enlisted as a private in Company F, Fourteenth Regiment New Jersey Volunteers .. His capability for leadership was recognized at once and at organization he was elected to the first lieutenantcy. Promotion came to him rapidly, well won. through splendid soldierly conduct. In October, 1863, he received his commission as captain. At the battle of Cedar Creek, West Virginia, October 19, 1864, a desperate contest was made for the possession of McKnight's battery of six guns. Captain Patterson, with his company of seventy men, rushed in to save the guns and succeeded in rescuing five of them, after a protracted conflict and three charges and counter charges. General Wright, commanding the Sixth Corps, rode up and said to Major McKnight, "Major, you saved your battery." McKnight responded that the credit was due to Captain Patterson, whereupon General Wright saluted and addressed Patterson as "Major Patterson." The gallant deed was reported to the war department by Major McKnight and General Wright, who united in recommending promotion, and Captain Patterson shortly afterward received the commission of brevet major. He was made full major January 27, 1865, and April 9, 1865, the day of Lee's surrender, he received the two brevet commissions of lieutenant-colonel and colonel. He participated in all the campaigns of the war in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania, and took part in
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thirty-two engagements, among them being some of the most desperate and bloody battles of modern times. June 27, 1865, he was honorably mustered out of the service, the war having ended two months before, and the national flag having been re- established throughout the land.
His service as a member of the National Guard of New Jersey covered the re- markably long period of thirty-four years, and during that time his soldierly conduct and capacity for command served to advance him by regular gradation from the lowest to all but the highest rank. Enlisting as a private he was soon promoted to se geant. He was subsequently commissioned lieutenant, and rose through the various line and field grades to the full rank of colonel, and was finally retired with the brevet. rank of brigadier-general.
He was for sixteen years a member of the United States Life Saving Service, and in his line of duty was conspicuous for many noble deeds of daring, at his own imminent peril. For thirteen years he was on duty at Station No. I, Sandy Hook, and for three years at Station No. 7, at Avon. He received the highest acknowledge- ment which is made under the national authority, the gold medal awarded by the Life Saving Service under act of Congress, "for saving life from the perils of the sea." He was for six years a member of the United States life saving board for testing and passing upon all appliances used in the Life Saving Service.
General Patterson took up his residence in Ocean Grove in 1871, and from that day he has been prominent in all public affairs in that village, and has proved a most useful citizen. For more than thirty years past he has occupied his present position of chief of police, and for several years past he has also been building in- spector. His political affiliations arc with the Republican party, and he has ever been an active and influential advocate of its principles. In the recent presidential campagn he was president of the Mckinley and Roosevelt Republican Club of Ocean Grove. For the last six years he has served as president of the Monmouth county board of election. He is a member of the C. K. Mall Post, No. 41, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he was the first commander; of Asbury Lodge, No. 142, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Asbury Park; of Neptune Lodge, No. 84, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows; and of Monmouth Lodge, No. 107, Knights of Pythias.
General Patterson was married June 29, 1859, to Miss Mary Parker Corlis, daugh- ter of Chandler and Maria Corlis. Their children are George W., born February 13, 1862; and Alida, born September 19, 1866:
JAMES J. BARKALOW.
James J. Barkalow, a member of the Barkalow family, whose genealogy is, else- where given, was born in Freehold, Monmouth county, New Jersey, August 23, 1835, son of Henry and Elcanor (Errickson) Barkalow, both born in Freehold town- ship, the former in 1803, the latter in 1802.
He received only an ordinary district school education. His father dying when he was young, he was compelled to earn his own living and recalls working on a farm for twenty-five cents a day. This farm is across the road, opposite the farm which he now owns. He early learned the carpenter's' trade and commenced housekeeping in Freehold with his mother, whom it was his ambition to comfortably support. One of the most satisfying recollections of his life is that he was able to provide his aged mother with all the comforts of life during her declining years. He made for her a home until she died at his house in 1885. Mr. Barkalow worked at his
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. trade in Freehold until 1862; he then bought and carried on the undertaker's business in Freehold, in which he was successful. Suffering from ill health, he relinquished this business and followed farming for two years. He then re- engaged in the undertaker's business at Freehold, continuing from 1872 till 1895. He then retired from active business, purchasing a farm one mile from Freehold, and now spends his time leisurely between his farm and his fine residence on South street.
In November, 1859, Mr. Barkalow was married to Roxana Garrett. They have had four children : John V., Emma D., Kate and Harry. John V. is in the Penn- sylvania Railroad service. In 1881 he married Medora Sherwood and resides at Camden, New Jersey. They have two children, Harold and Nelly. Emma D. is now Mrs. Morris L. Rarey. Kate is now Mrs. Edwin Thompson, of Freehold, and has one child, Edwin. The youngest child, Harry, lives at home, and is a graduate of a commercial college.
FRANKLIN PATTERSON.
Franklin Patterson, the efficient and popular superintendent of the New York Yacht Club, No. 8, located at Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, was born on January 23, 1861, at Sandy Hook, and is a son of the late Charles W. and Anker ( Pettinger) Patterson, the former of whom was the trusty light keeper of the main light at Sandy Hook during the long period between 1860 and 1888, and the latter is a daughter of Richard Pettinger, of Ardena (now Adelphia), New Jersey.
John C. Patterson, who was the grandfather of our subject, was not only a prominent resident of Howell township, in Monmouth county, where until his death he held the office of assessor, but he was also the father of men who became distin- guished in the public affairs of the state. These sons need only to be mentioned to be recalled by every loyal son of New Jersey. Austin H. Patterson, a citizen of Asbury Park, served in the state legislature for six years, and during two years of that period was speaker of the house. He was the author of the free school system of the state, which came into force while he was speaker. During the Civil war he was a member of the Fourteenth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, and finally became its gallant colonel; General John C. Patterson, now of Ocean Grove, was also an officer during the Civil war, organized a militia company, and finally became brigadier-general of the state troops; George W. Patterson was captain of the Four- teenth Regiment during the (war of the Rebellion, was also a member of the New Jersey legislature and was the author of the anti-usury bill; while Charles W. Patter- son has most acceptably filled the public position in which he was placed. The latter was the father of three sons, Travonian, Franklin, and Edwin Stanton Patterson.
Franklin Patterson was reared and educated at Sandy Hook, first at a private school near his home, later at Pennington Seminary under the tutoring of the dis- tinguished Dr. Thomas O. Hanlon, and later at Freehold institute. After completing his education our subject engaged for a time in teaching, acceptably filling positions in Turkey and Squankum, New Jersey. Alert and ambitious, his mind was full of en- terprises, and one of these developed in the founding of the "Monmouth Press," at Freehold, in 1889, of which he was both editor and publisher, successfully conducting it for three years and then selling it to Prof. E. A. Cook, of Atlantic Highlands. One year later he again assumed control, but subsequently sold it to George Barcals, and soon after it was merged into the Atlantic Highlands Independent, but still later,. when Mr. W. J. Leonard took charge, it was reorganized under its original name.
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For four years Mr. Patterson was an employe of the United States government at Sandy Hook proving grounds; at this time the dynamite company was formed, with Mr. S. F. Schuyler as president, to place two fifteen-inch guns and one eight- inch gun as defences of the harbor of New York, and Mr. Patterson was made super- intendent of this important work.
In 1895 Mr. Patterson was made superintendent of the New York Yacht Club, and this important position he has held with dignity and thorough comprehension. In 1898 he was also made a justice of the peace, having previously been both notary public and postmaster under the administration of President Harrison.
Mr. Patterson is a consistent Christian, and it was mainly due to his faithful efforts that the first Protestant church was established on Sandy Hook, a success which re- flects much credit upon him. As Mr. Patterson was a local preacher, he supplied the pulpit in the new church until a regular pastor could be appointed. He is held in high esteem in his neighborhood. In politics he is a Democrat and during the last presidential campaign was one of the most convincing expounders of Democratic doctrine, being much gifted as an orator and debater.
Mr. Patterson married July 17, 1889. Miss Jennie Warner Prickett, daughter of Hon. William Augustus Prickett, United States consul at Rheims, France, an office to which he was appointed by President Mckinley in November, 1896, and re- appointed in 1901. Mr. and Mrs. Patterson have two children, Warner Forrest and William Augustus Patterson.
DANIEL CONOVER.
One of the landmarks of Monmouth county is what is known as the "Old Brick Church," in Marlborough township. Upon the old Conover farm near by occurred the birth of our subject, June 4, 1838. There he lived and died, and when his life's labors were ended, August 10, 1893, he was laid to rest in the cemetery adjoining the old church where he had worshiped for so many years. He represented one of the most prominent of the old families of his county, the name of Conover having been through many decades connected with the history of this region. His father, John E. Con- over, son of Elias Conover, was born on the old homestead farm, February 26, 1801, carried on agricultural pursuits there for many years and then passed peacefully away, July 24, 1871. In the old Brick church, March 27, 1822, he had married Eleanor Peacock, who was born October 8, 1803, and died in 1873.
The ancestral family home was the playground of Daniel Conover in his youth, as well as the scene of his business activities after he had attained to man's estate. His educational privileges were those afforded by the district schools. Throughout his entire life he engaged in the tilling of the soil, and year after year planted his crops, watched with interest their growth, and at length garnered his harvests. He kept in touch with the improved methods of the times, was progressive and enterpris- ing, and became widely known as a prosperous and influential farmer.
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