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 55
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Leaming M. Rice, of Dennisville, attended the old South Jersey Academy, at Bridgeton, and at the age of twenty years went to the west on government business. For many years he was engaged in surveying and in later years has devoted his time more exclusively to the real-estate business. He is well informed concerning realty values in this section of the state, and has handled much property. He has been the secretary of the Dennisville Building & Loan 'Association since its organi- zation, and for twenty or thirty years he held the office of freeholder. In 1867 he was elected to the state senate, the first Democrat ever sent by Cape May county to the upper house of the legislature. He has always taken an active interest in the success and welfare of his party and is a recognized leader of Democracy in his township. At one time he was a member of the Masonic fraternity, but is not now
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connected with that organization. He still resides in Dennisville, at the age of seventy years a respected and honored citizen. His wife passed away in 1882. They were the parents of six children: James Diverty, the eldest, is now deceased; Mary is the wife of Uriah Gandy, the proprietor of the Gatzmer House, at Dennisville; Han- nah is the wife of Louis B. Lloyd, a painter of Dennisville; Jane is the wife of Vincent O. Miller, of South Dennis, who for fifteen years served as the county super- . intendent of schools, and in 1898 was a candidate for the legislature; Edward is the fifth in order of birth; and Leaming completes the family.
Edward L. Rice acquired his preliminary education in the public schools of Dennisville and then entered Rutgers College, where he pursued his studies until eighteen years of age. He subsequently engaged in teaching in Gloucester county and then became a teacher in South Dennis, Cape May county. For three years he was principal of the schools in Tuckahoe and was then elected principal of the Cape May schools, but in the fall of 1889 he resigned the latter position to accept the office of county clerk, to which he was elected, defeating Jonathan Hand, who had filled that position for a half century. He was not then twenty-five years of age and was the youngest county clerk in the state. In his own township he received over three hundred votes out of four hundred cast. After entering the office he discharged his duties so ably and promptly that in 1894 he was re-elected by a majority of one hundred. Ali of the Republican county representatives were elected by a majority of from seven to eight hundred, and Mr. Rice was the only Democrat elected in the state with the exception of two or three assemblymen in Hudson county. This fact certainly indicates his personal popularity and the confidence reposed in him by the people of his native county. Mr. Rice has studied closely the political situation of the country and the questions which are now before the people, and is an ardent advocate of Democratic principles. He has done some campaign work and is a very pleasing and effective speaker.
Socially Mr. Rice is connected with the Tuckahoe Lodge, I. O. O. F., the Knights of Pythias in Dennisville, and is a director in the State Mutual Building & Loan Association. He was married in 1891 to Miss Phoebe, a daughter of Samuel and Eliza J. Steelman, her father a merchant of Tuckahoe. They now have three inter- esting children,-Dorothy, Edward and Martha. They have a beautiful residence in Cape May Court House, which was erected by Mr. Rice. It is built in a modern style of architecture, handsomely finished in hard wood, and its beautiful furnish- ings indicate the refined tastes of the inmates. Mr. Rice is endowed by nature with strong mental power, but this counts for naught without the individual efforts which cultivate it and applies it to the practical affairs of life. His marked (energy and laudable ambition, however, have enabled him to work his way steadily upward, and to-day he occupies an honored position in political and social circles.
ANDREW ALBRIGHT, JR.
Andrew Albright, Jr., the manager and owner of the Eaton Stud Farm, is one of the most successful and progressive young business men of Monmouth county. He was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1870, and was a son of Andrew and Almira (Crapser) Albright. Our subject was reared in Newark and there received his preparatory education, and then entered Yale College.
The fine farm upon which Mr. Albright raises the horses which have given Shrewsbury township its notoriety contains two hundred and fifty acres of land, and
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is fitted up with every modern improvement for the use to which it is put. Soon after leaving college Mr. Albright became interested in fine horses, and ever since that time has taken pleasure in carrying on a farm, where he keeps some twenty brood mares and averages some twelve race horses annually. These are of the highest strains, superior in intelligence, swiftness and strong constitution, while their beauty satisfies the eye of the most critical. The head of the stud at the present time (1902) is the noted Peep-O-Day (Imp.)
Mr. Albright is interested in the stud farm as a matter of pleasure, h's other interests taking much of his time. He is the vice-president of the Rubber and Cellu- loid Harness Trimming Company, of Newark, New Jersey, of which his father is the president, and is one of the directors of the Central America Commercial Company. In 1888 he established his summer home in Shrewsbury and thoroughly enjoys its pleasures and restful atmosphere, but his winters are spent in his palatial home in New York, where he is active in the great business world.
Mr. Albright was married in 1895 to Miss Miriam Bedell, who is a daughter of the banker, Horace Bedell, of New York, and to this union two children have been born, Andrew Albright, Jr., and Horace B. Mr. Albright is a member of the Sheeps- head Bay Club and a number of business and social organizations.
JOHN C. CLEVENGER.
John C. Clevenger, farmer of Freehold township and veteran of the Civil war, was born in Burlington county, New Jersey, August 17, 1839, son of John R. and Sarah (Saggers) Clevenger. He is descended from an old patriotic New Jersey family, which has contributed many soldiers to the country's wars. William Clevenger, one of the first of the family in America, fought under General Washington in the Revolutionary war, and was wounded in the battle of Monmouth. William Clev- enger, his son, and grandfather of John C. Clevenger, was a soldier in the war of 1812. He was a native of Burlington county, New Jersey, where John R. Clevenger, father of our subject, was born in 1808. John R. came from his native place to Monmouth county, where he settled at Smithburg, in Freehold township, and engaged in farming. For nine years he was on a man-of-war vessel, "Brandywine," and when General Lafayette made his first visit to America, Mr. Clevenger was an officer on the "Brandywine," on which boat Lafayette was entertained. He died in 1895 at the residence of his son-in-law, David Cottrell, in Freehold township. His wife, Mrs. Sarah Clevenger, died in 1890.
John C. Clevenger was educated in the public schools of Millstone township. In early life he worked at farming, but in 1861 entered the Union army and served throughout the Civil war. He enlisted in Company G, Third Regiment New Jersey Infantry, April 27, 1861, for three months, and was discharged July I. He returned to his home and the following September re-enlisted in Company E, First New Jersey Cavalry, and thereafter participated with his regiment in their various engagements. On August 9, 1862, he was wounded in the right leg, at Cedar Mount, Virginia, and , taken to the field hospital, from which he was sent, successively, to the hospitals in Alexandria, Virginia, Washington, D. C., and Philadelphia, being confined in the hospitals for seven months. At the end of that time he returned to his regiment, and thereafter, with the exception of a period during the latter part of his service when he was confined in the hospital with a fever, he was in active service till the close of the war. In 1863-64 he was an orderly on General Sedgewick's staff, and
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was on special detail service as a scout for General Sedgewick at various times. While on scout duty, he was taken prisoner in December, 1863, and after three days' imprisonment escaped, reached the Union lines at Culpepper Court House, and joined his regiment. In July, 1864, he witnessed an interesting incident which occurred at Fort Stephens, near Washington, and in which President Lincoln figured. The Presi- dent was present, the sharp-shooters' bullets were flying and President Lincoln was requested by an officer to retire; the President refused to do so, but ordered the officer to have one of his men demolish a building in which a Confederate sharp- shooter was concealed, and the order was obeyed to the relief of all. In September, 1864, Mr. Clevenger was discharged from service a few days after the expiration of his time, at Petersburg, Virginia. In 1865, however, he re-enlisted in Company B, Sixth Regiment Hancock's Veteran Reserve Corps, and was finally discharged in September, 1866. He returned home, resumed farming, and has cultivated a fine and profitable fruit farm in Freehold township. He has been a member of the Masonic order since 1861, and of the Knights of Pythias for fifteen years.
In 1868 Mr. Clevenger was married in Millstone township to Miss Mary Jane Hawkins. They have one child, Phoebe K., who married Richard Stillwell and is living at Long Branch, in Monmouth county. Mr. and Mrs. Clevenger are both mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church.
JAMES E. NOE.
James E. Noe, an active and prominent citizen of Perth Amboy, is the eldest son of David O. and Hester M. (Harned) Noe, who are referred to at length in an accompanying sketch in this work. He was born in 1845 in Perth Amboy. He ac- quired his preliminary education in the public schools of that city, and subsequently completed liberal courses in the Seminary of New Woodbridge and the Pennington school. Following this ample preparation he took a full commercial course in Eastman's Business College. He then engaged with his father in oyster planting and shipping, and the business association between father and son has been pleasantly and profitably maintained to the present time. For many years past the conduct of the business has practically devolved upon him, and he is widely and favorably known to the trade and to the business community of the city and of the marketing points to which it is related.
Mr. Noe is recognized as a man of enterprise and public-spirit, whose activities have been devoted to the welfare of the community in all laudable public undertakings and in the public service. He was a highly valued member of the board of education for several terms, and he served most acceptably and usefully as a member of the city council. In politics he is a Republican. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and has been for thirty years superintendent of its Sunday-school, and for several years the leader of the church choir. He holds membership in the order of the Royal Arcanum.
Mr. Noe was married to Miss Anna Valentine, a member of an old and influential family. Three children were born of this marriage. Edward, the eldest, is well established in an upholstering business in Newark, New Jersey; he married Miss Mary Eddy, of the city named, and two children, Thurston and Gertrude, were born to them. A daughter, Margaret, is the wife of Mr. William Anderson, of Boston, Massachusetts, to whom was born one child, Catherine. Another daughter, Catherine, resides with her parents.
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DAVID O. NOE.
The Noe family of Middlesex county, New Jersey, dates back to an early period, to the time when the family home was in the historic old village of Woodbridge. David O. Noe, born February 22, 1824, at Woodbridge, was a son of Mordecai and Hannah (Moorehouse) Noe. The father was a most exemplary man, a contracting stonemason and bricklayer, who died about 1892. Three of his children came to maturity-James, David O. and Charles. The first named is deceased, and the two last named are now living in Perth Amboy.
David O. Noe passed his boyhood in Perth Amboy, where he acquired his edu- cation. In young manhood he developed a taste for a sea life, and for several years he was engaged in the coasting trade, sailing on various descriptions of vessels. He subsequently engaged in oyster dredging and culture, and is numbered among the pioneers in the development of the last named important industry. For many years past he has worked large oyster lots or beds in Raritan bay and marketed the product in the Metropolitan market. His shipping business is one of the most considerable in its region, and he is numbered among the best known, as he is one of the most extensive and successful oyster planters and dealers in the waters tributary to New York. To his efforts is ascribable in large degree the splendid reputation which Rari- tan bay enjoys in the markets of the country. He maintains a spacious oyster dock, immediately upon the bay, and near it is his residence. Mr. Noe has always been among the most active and useful in advancing the interests of his community, and has been frequently elected to important public positions, having served as a member of the council and board of aldermen of Perth Amboy. In politics he is a Republican. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is a licensed exhorter, and also a member of the board of trustees.
Mr. Noe was married in early life to Miss Hester M. Harned, a most exemplary Christian woman, whose death occurred in 1899. Of this marriage were born seven children-James E., Sarah (deceased), Hester N. (deceased), David (deceased), Hen- rietta, now the wife of Robert Kipp; Elizabeth, now the wife of James Smith; and William K., who is engaged in the terra cotta business.
ADAM WORTH.
Adam Worth is one of the leading and representative citizens of Elberon, whose residence is located on Pearl street, near Norwood avenue. He was born September 7, 1858, in Ocean township, Monmouth county, on what is now the main avenue between West Long Branch and Asbury Park, but it was then called "Sandy Lane." He is a son of the late Adam and Rosina (Gerner) Worth, both natives of Germany. The father was a thirfty and industrious farmer, and by his honest toil succeeded in gaining a competence. His death occurred on the 19th of July, 1890, but his widow is still living. Their family consisted of eight children, seven of whom still survive.
Adam Worth, their fourth child in order of birth, was reared in his native town- ship, and his educational advantages were received in the same school of which he is now a trustee. Since early life he has been identified with agricultural pursuits, and for the past twenty years he has received contracts for keeping in the highest state of artistic beauty the lawns of many of the finest homes in Elberon. He has also been honored with the office of school trustee for a period of fourteen years, and dur- ing thirteen years of that time has served as secretary of the board. He is a mem-
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ber, and since 1881 has been secretary of the Elberon engine company, No. 4, being now an exempt fireman.
On the 5th of December, 1880, Mr. Worth was united in marriage with Miss Henrietta Brown, who was born in Lakewood, Monmouth county, in 1861, a daughter of Theodore and Louise Brown, also of that city. The children of this union are Edith, Estella, Christina, Milton, Donald and Rosina. Mr. Worth holds membership in the First Reformed church of Long Branch, in which he has served as deacon for many years, and for the past twenty-five years has been Sunday-school superin- tendent. During the summer season Mr. Worth has, since 1879, held the office of sexton of St. James Chapel, Protestant Episcopal church, Elberon.
JOHN WESLEY KEOUGH.
Of the men who have made a distinctive impress upon the town of Keyport, there is none whose industry, business sagacity, enterprise and sterling worth generally have contributed more materially to the substantial development of that community than John Wesley Keough. His success as a merchant, his identification as president of one of the most substantial banking institutions of the county, and his careful, con- servative and conscientious discharge of the duties of the offices which he has been called upon to fill, all attest his worth and emphasize the importance, in the interests of completeness, of outlining his career for this publication. John Wesley Keough was born May 15, 1851, in Hightstown, Mercer county, New Jersey, son of the late Christopher and Leah (Pullen) Keough, the former a native of County Kildare, Ireland, and the latter of Mercer county, New Jersey, a descendant of a colonial settler of that section. The late Christopher Keough was born August 10, 1819, and came to America about 1837, and immediately thereafter located at Hightstown, New Jersey, where he was for a number of years in the employ of Richard Moore Smith, for several terms state treasurer of New Jersey. He subsequently followed farming in Mercer and later in Middlesex counties, making a specialty of raising peaches, in which he was signally successful. For ten years prior to his decease, October 10, 1901, he lived in retirement in Keyport. Of his children the eldest is the immediate subject of this sketch; Margaret A., wife of Frank Perrine, a farmer of Middlesex county ; Mary J., wife of W. H. Martin, in the brick business at Perth Amboy; and Smith Keough, of Norwich, Connecticut. John Wesley Keough received his educa- tion in the public schools, this being supplemented by two winter's attendance at Brainard's Institute. He started into the serious business of life, the earning of a livelihood, when fifteen years of age, finding employment at New Brunswick, New Jersey, where he remained seven years. In 1875, largely with his own savings, he established himself in a modest way in the retail grocery trade at Keyport on a part of the site of his present extensive establishment. In connection with the grocery business he has added successively the feed, hay, straw and grain, agricultural imple- ments, and fertilizer branches, in all of which lines of merchandising he is one of the leaders in the county of Monmouth. Mr. Keough was one of the founders of the First National Bank of Keyport and one of its board of directors, and has been a member of that board through the entire period of the operation of that institution and its successor, the Keyport Banking Company. Of the latter he is now president. Mr. Keough has been, since attaining his majority, active in his identification with the interests of the Democratic party, and has contributed liberally of both his time and services to its work. He has served as chairman and treasurer of the township com-
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mittee and as delegate to numerous local conventions. He served also as member and chairman of the board of commissioners of Keyport for several years, and as collector of the township. In 1899 he was elected to fill the unexpired term of John Carr to the office of freeholder, and was his party's nominee and elected to the same office in 1900, and re-elected thereto in 1902. He is president of the Keyport Build- ing and Loan Association. He was married November 20, 1875, to Eliza, daughter of the late James Barr, of New Brunswick. Mrs. Keough died May 23, 1891, leaving three children : Maggie M., wife of David C. Walling, Jr., of Keyport, who has one child, Stanley; Bessie A .; and John C. Keough. Mr. Keough married a second time, August 25, 1901, Miss Mary W., daughter of the late George W. Holmes, of Keyport. Miss Holmes was one of the efficient educators of Keyport, and served as vice- principal of the graded school of that town.
GEORGE N. WOOD.
The ancestral history of the Wood family goes back to a period before the Revolutionary war. His great-grandfather, Winaut Wood, removed from Long [sland long before the strife between the colonies and the mother country in the independence and liberty of a great nation. He located in Middlesex county, New Jersey, where he became the owner of extensive real-estate holdings and was known as an influential and leading man. Among his children was Timothy Wood, the grandfather of our subject. He was a worthy and honorable man and throughout his entire life resided in Middlesex county, but when the colonies, aroused by the injustice of the mother country, gathered at the seat of war and began to fight for their liberties he, too, put aside all business and other personal considerations and became colonel of a regiment which did some hard fighting in defense of those principles which were so dear to him and for which he was willing to sacrifice his life. After the war he took an important part in affairs in the community, and for some time was justice of the peace and also constable of his township. A consistent Christian gentleman, he held membership with the Methodist Episcopal church and died in that faith at the age of seventy-four years. He married Sarah Lambertson, and unto them were born four children: Mary E., Cornelia, Sarah J. and David.
The last named, the father of our subject, was born in Madison township, Middle- sex county, in 1828, and throughout his entire life was connected with agricultural pursuits. He owned and operated an excellent farm of one hundred and twenty-five acres and was thus enabled to secure a comfortable living for his family. In 1856 he was united in marriage to Miss Emily Maxfield, a daughter of Ambrose and Jane Maxfield, and their children were as follows: Timothy, who was born in 1858; Sarah J., who was born in 1860 and is now deceased; Orient, born in 1862; Ernest, in 1866; David, in 1868; George N., in 1872; Emily, in 1873; and William, who was born in 1875 and is now deceased. The father died in 1899, and the mother passed away April 9, 1902.
Upon his father's old homestead George N. Wood resides, and the occupation to which he was reared he has made his life work. He has a rich and productive tract of land there, and the well tilled fields annually return a golden tribute for the care and labor bestowed upon them. He has good buildings upon the place, the latest improved machinery and all modern equipments, and its neat appearance indi- cates to the passerby the enterprising character of the owner.
On the 28th of October, 1896, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Wood and
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Miss Dora Dowdell, a daughter of Edward and Martha Dowdell, of South Amboy, in which place Mrs. Wood was born. Their marriage has been blessed with two interesting children: Myron G., born October 3, 1898, and Norman M., born October I, 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Wood have a pleasant home in Madison township and through- out Middlesex county their friends are found.
GEORGE H. REEVES.
Everywhere in our land are found men who have worked their own way from lowly and humble beginnings to places of leadership in the commerce, the great pro- ductive industries and the management of the veins and arteries of the traffic and exchanges of the country. Obstacles and difficulties in their path seem but to serve as an impetus for renewed effort on their part, and they find that labor is the key that unlocks the portals of success. Such has been the career of Mr. Reeves, who now occupies a leading position in the industrial circles of Cape May county, being now at the head of an extensive gold-beating concern in Cape May.
A native of West Cape May, he was born January 29, 1849, and is a son of Joshua and Eleanor (Woolson) Reeves. His father was a shoemaker and farmer in West Cape May and a representative man of that town. He was a great Bible student and particularly prominent in church work. He served for many years as ruling elder in the Presbyterian church at Cold Spring and took an active part in the work of the Sunday-school. He was a strong opponent of the liquor traffic, be- longed to the Sons of Temperance, and gave his aid and influence to all measures which he believed would uplift humanity. His death occurred in the forty-seventh year of his age, and his wife died in August, 1898, at the advanced age of eighty-four years. This worthy couple were the parents of eleven children, two of whom died young,-Charles W. and Anna E. The other nine are as follows: David, a gold- leaf manufacturer of Cincinnati, Ohio, married Lizzie A. McWilliams, and had' one ' son, Lewis F .: Swain S., a farmer of Cape May Point, in Lower township, married Sylvina Church, and their children are George H., Edward S. and Elmer; Andrew H., a gold-leaf manufacturer of Chicago, Illinois, married Carrie Bright, of Illinois, and had four children,-Eleanor, Harry, Carrie and Charles Fowler; John W., a farmer of West Cape May, who has several times served as freeholder and one term as sheriff of Cape May county, married Emma L. Nott, and their children are Andrew H., David Leroy, A. Carl and Samuel W .; Joshua H., a lighthouse keeper at Sea Isle City, married Josephine Ross, and their children are Bertha and John W .; Mary E. is the deceased wife of Charles Schellenger, and their children are Jennie, Taylor and Washington; George H. is the next of the family; Eliza W. is at home; and Anna E. is the wife of Fred Neal, a farmer in Rio Grande, and their children are Lydia, Warren, Mary E. and Robert.
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