USA > New Jersey > Passaic County > Passaic > The Passaic valley, New Jersey, in three centuries.. Vol. 2 > Part 13
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Timothy Merritt Ward, being a Methodist minister's son, spent his early life in various places, removing to Buckland in 1843, to Pelham in 1845 (when he began attending school), to Chicopee Falls in 1847, to Blandford in 1848, and to Chicopee Falls again in 1849. In 1850 the family ro- moved to Ware, where he attended school and lived on a farm. Two years later they went to Webster, where he at- tended school and worked at shoemaking. In 1854 they moved to Townsend, and there he went to school and la- bored at the cooper's trade. He became an errand boy in a dry goods store in Worcester in 1859. In these capacities he laid the foundations of a successful business career.
On the 18th of September, 1861. Mr. Ward enlisted in Company C, Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Volunteer In- fantry, Captain Josiah Pickett, and on October 7 was mus- tered into the United States service for three years. Ile left Worcester, Mass., for the front, October 31, and on April 16, 1862, was promoted Corporal and on September 1 Ser-
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geant. He became commander at Fort Williams, Plym- outh, N. C., April 1, 1863, and re-enlisted as a veteran Janu- ary 20, 1864, serving until mustered out, at Charlotte, N. C., July 12, 1865. He was wounded in battle at Arrowfield Church, near Petersburg, May 9, 1864, was commissioned First Lieutenant of his company November 29, 1864, to date from August 27, was assigned to the command of a pro- visional company March 6, 1865, and was appointed Acting Adjutant March 20 and Acting Regimental Quartermaster March 26. He was assigned to the command of Company A June 1, 1865, was appointed Aide-de-Camp on the staff of Brevet Brigadier-General M. T. Thomas, commanding the First Division, Twenty-third Army Corps, June 25, was commissioned Captain in the Twenty-fifth Regiment June 29, and was appointed Assistant Commissary of Musters, First Division, Twenty-third Army Corps, July 6. Captain Ward participated in the battles of Roanoke Island ( Feb- ruary 9), Newbern, N. C. (March 14), Ford's Mills (October 30), Kingston, N. C. (December 14), Whitehall, N. C. (De- cember 16), and Goldsboro (December 17), in 1862; in the sortie on the rebel camp near Pollocksville (March 7), in a skirmish ( March 13), and in the battle near Kingston, N. C. (March 22), in 1863; in the battle of Walthall Junction, near Petersburg, Va. (May 6), in a bombardment on the rebel batteries (May 7), and in the battle of Arrowfield Church (May 9), in 1864; and in the engagements near Gum Swamp, N. C., in March, 1865.
Returning from the war, Mr. Ward settled in Newark, N. J., where he accepted a position as bookkeeper in a shirt- bosom manufactory, in November, 1865. On September 25, 1869, he established a tea and coffee store, to which he added Japanese and Oriental goods in October, 1879, and which he has successfully conducted ever since. He was also Secretary of the Nickel Smelting and Peroxide Color Com- pany of Jersey City from May 1, 1885, to March, 1892.
Mr. Ward stands high in musical circles in Newark. He was appointed chorister and bass of the quartette choir in the First Congregational Church April 7, 1871, of the First Reformed Church April 1, 1876, of the Central Methodist Church January 1, 1878, of Christ Episcopal
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Church, Brooklyn, March 15, 1880, and of Trinity Episcopal Church, Newark, May 1, 1884. In 1874 he became a member of Apollo Quartette, of Apollo Lodge, I. O. O. F., which was changed in 1881 to Mendelssohn Quartette. He has always been identified with prominent musical societies.
WILLIAM ADEE WHITEHEAD, born in Newark, Feb- ruary 19, 1810, was the son of William Whitehead, the first Cashier of the Newark Banking and Insurance Company, the first bank chartered in New Jersey, and of Abby Coe, sister of Aaron Coe, a distinguished lawyer of that city. He was educated in private schools and at the Newark Academy. In 1823 he moved to Perth Amboy with his parents, and in 1828 was sent to Key West, Fla., as assistant to his brother, John Whitehead, one of the four original proprietors of the island. In 1830 he was appointed Col- lector of the Port of Key West. He became a member of the Town Council, Mayor of the city, and a founder of the first church, and there began meteorological observations which he continued ever afterward.
Resigning the collectorship July 1, 1838, he returned North, and finally became Treasurer of the New York and ITarlem Railroad Company and afterward was connected with the New Jersey Railroad at Jersey City. He was a member of the Newark Board of Education from 1861 to 1873, becoming its President in 1871, was long a Trustee of the State Normal School and the Newark Academy, and was a founder and the first Secretary of the Newark Library Association. To the New Jersey Historical Society he gave special interest. Ile was the author of " East Jersey under the Proprietors," "Contributions to East Jersey History," and a large part of the eight volumes of the " New Jersey Archives," besides hundreds of miscellaneous papers and articles on historical and meteorologieal topics. He died August 8, 1884, leaving a widow, a daughter, and one son, the latter being Bishop Cortlandt Whitehead, of Pittsburg, Pa.
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JOHN FAIRFIELD DRYDEN, President of the Pruden- tial Insurance Company of America, is known throughout the United States, not only as the head of one of the fore- most industrial insurance organizations in the world, but also as a public spirited citizen and an able financier. He comes from old and sturdy New England ancestry, one of his ancestors having crossed the Atlantic a few years after the landing of the " Mayflower." In their New World abode, free from polit- ical and religious perse- cutions, the family con- tinued to live and flour- ish for many genera- tions.
John F. Dryden was born at Temple Mills, near Farmington, Me., on the 7th of August, 1839. His father, a gentleman of more than ordinary culture and in easy circumstances, omitted nothing in his early education which could better fit him for any of the learned pro- fessions or for any occu- pation to which he JOHN F. DRYDEN. might choose to devote his life. The best school in the vicinity of his home furnished him with his prepara- tory education, and at a suitable age he was placed in Yale College, New Haven, Conn. With the assiduity which has ever characterized him, he here applied himself to study; but before he had completed his collegiate course sickness over- took him, and by the advice of physicians he laid aside his books and devoted himself to pursuits which demanded the exercises of physical rather than of his intellectual powers. To give up all mental work was, however, an impossibility; and, having a great fondness for mathe-
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maties, he amused himself with its problems after his out- door tasks were done. As his health improved he applied himself more closely to his favorite studies. His attention in the course of these studies having been directed to the subject of insurance, he soon made himself well acquainted with the resulis achieved by Milne, Heysham, Carlisle, and others, whose written experience and observations have made life insurance a veritable science.
Having become thoroughly familiar with this subject, and being intensely interested in it, it is not surprising that Mr. Dryden's attention should have been attracted by Elizur Wright's description of industrial insurance in England, as given in his report to the Massachusetts Legislature. This report contained utterances which did not meet with Mr. Dryden's approval, and he proceeded at once to make a thor- ough investigation of the subject. This investigation led him to believe that, although the demand for small policies might not be for some time so great in this country 'as in England, it would become, beyond doubt, sufficiently large to warrant an effort being made to introduce this means of saving among classes of people whose available capital is always small. Such an effort would certainly be benevolent and patriotic, and he at once undertook to devise a system of industrial life insurance which would mitigate the anx- iety of people of slender means and give them comparative independence.
His plans did not meet with immediate encouragement. In 1873 he was induced to visit the City of Newark, N. J., in the hope of being able to realize at some future day his system of industrial life insurance. Through his efforts and those of Mr. John Whitehead, who drew its charter and so- cured its passage by the Legislature of New Jersey, an organization was formed under the name of " The Wid- ows' and Orphans' Friendly Society." For eighteen months and more he performed the arduous as well as somewhat responsible duties of Secretary, and then, becoming asso- ciated with many of the most intelligent and influential men of Newark, he found in them appreciative listeners to his projects; and learned that the work of his life was destined to bring forth fruit. Gradually the experience gained in
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the operation of the Friendly Society made clear the need of something with a wider, further-reaching influence. and it was manifested that Mr. Dryden's claim that the in- dnstrial people would, because of its absolute safety, pur- chase life insurance if it conld be bronght within their means and adapted to their conditions was entirely correct, and the result proved him to be a matchless financier and mathematician. In about two years he obtained an amended charter for their institution and the Friendly Society lost its name. At its masthead floated the name of the Prudential Insurance Company of America, Mr. Dryden remaining the Secretary during these changes. In 1876 he was sent to London to make still further investigations in regard to the matter of industrial insurance, and there he was re- ceived with open arms and every facility placed within his reach.
John Whitehead, the first President of the Friendly So- ciety, resigned on account of the duties of his profession. and was succeeded by Allen L. Bassett. who also resigned soon after his appointment. Noah F. Blanchard, the last of the trio who had presided over the Friendly Society and the first who wielded the gavel in the board of the Pruden- tial. died in 1881. This man, eminent for his honesty and business qualities, was succeeded in his responsible office of President by the Secretary, John F. Dryden, who, from the foundation of this institution, had been its real guiding head, and whose magnificent executive ability has made it what it is to-day.
To give a detailed account of the work of this great in- stitution would require volumes. Its magnificent building covers more surface than any other in the city, and it towers upward till its topmost stone confronts the cap of the tall- est neighboring church spire. The moving spirit of this wonderful art- creation has brought within his view, and entirely under his supervision a living miniature of the busy world without. In addition to the hundreds upon hundreds of men and women who carry on the work in the institution at his bidding bankers and dealers in various commodities fill up the arches and intervening spaces of the lower story.
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Over the vast hall and galleries occupied by the army of clerks and typewriters of the institution story above story, for more than two hundred feet in height, are located bright, airy, and convenient offices with every possible appliance for the comfort and convenience of tenants, ocenpied mostly by lawyers, Commissioners of the United States and of the law courts of the State, and other professional men. On the sixth floor three chambers have been provided for the use of the Court of Chancery of New Jersey, with retiring and advisory rooms for the Vice-Chancellors and one for the Sergeant-at-Arms. The highest skill of architects has been exhibited in the preparation of these chambers, and no means have been left unemployed in their suitable decora- tion for the purposes to which they are devoted. No such court rooms can be found elsewhere, and, in all respects, they are models of their kind. The arrangements of the offices are inimitable, and they have commanded the patronage of first-class tenants. The topmost story furnishes accommo- dation for an immense law library of several thousand vol- umes for the use of the lawyer tenants, to which additions are constantly made, besides a large meeting room for use of the employees, for lectures, concerts, and other entertain- ments. It is possible that this great edifice, which the hand of time alone can crumble, may yet be devoted to the ex- elusive use of its proprietors. In awaiting this event, its erection was regarded as a judicious investment of a trifle, comparatively, of its constantly increasing revenues. The large volume of business of the Prudential, developed even since the erection of their original building, has obliged the directors to begin the construction of other structures, which, when completed, will be devoted to the purposes of the corporation, and also to make some needed changes in the first edifice. These new erections exhibit the same re- gard for utility combined with comfort and convenience and a high degree of art decoration as was already manifested in the first erection. The whole pile, when finished, will be of the most substantial character and will fully evince what can be done by the art and ingenuity of man.
No one save the subject of this sketch foresaw in its
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humble beginning the magnitude to which this institution would grow, and this magnitude has even transcended his nicest calculation. It is due to him in this connection to make public the immensity of the work which he has achieved, but to do this would require space far beyond that allotted to us here.
Mr. Dryden has served as Vice-President of the Fidelity Title and Deposit Company of Newark and holds office in other important financial institutions.
EVERETT G. GARRISON, of Newark, was born in Madi- son, Morris County, N. J., February 9, 1869, his parents be- ing Phineas D. and Margaret S. Garrison. His paternal grandparents were Samuel B. and Mary G. Garrison. He was educated in the public and private schools at Madison, and in 1888 entered the em- ploy of the United States Mutual Accident Association of New York. He remained with that company un- til May 16, 1895, when he resigned and became connected with the Accident Department of the Etna Life Insur- ance Company, of Hart- ford, Conn. In March, 1897, he resigned from the latter position to accept the management EVERETT G. GARRISON. of the New York Life Insurance Company for New Jersey, a position which he still continues to hold.
Although a young man, Mr. Garrison ranks with the most prominent representatives of the insurance interests in New Jersey. Ile is President of the New Jersey Life Under-
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writers' Association. He was married, September 15, 1892, to Mabel L. Hoyt.
DEWEY A. WHITEHEAD, of Newark, N. J., was born in that city December 22, 1858, being the son of Angustus B. and Mary F. (Bunnell) Whitehead and a grandson of Sammel Whitehead and Barney Bunnell. He was edneated in the Newark public schools and at the C. C. Insti- inte of Hackettstown, N. J., and studied law for four years with the late ex-Judge II. F. Göken. After being ad- mitted to the bar he was engaged for two years in the general practice of his profes- sion; since then he has successfully continued his practice with cor- porations. le is at present manager of the Renewal Department of the Prudential Insur- DEWEY A, WHITEHEAD. ance Company of America.
Mr. Whitehead was married, January 28, 1885, to A. Charlotte Plate, of Hackettstown, N. J., and has one son, Gustav B. Whitehead.
FREDERICK LUDWIG HOFFMAN, of Orange, statis- tician of the Prudential Insurance Company of America, was born in Varel in the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, North Germany, May 2, 1865. He is the son of Augustus Francis- ens Hoffmann and Antoinette von Laar. His father was a native of Hooksiel, North Germany, and a lawyer by pro-
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fession, and located at Varel in the Grand Duchy of Olden- burg, where he achieved distinction at the bar.
Mr. Hoffman was edu- cated in public and pri- vate schools and com- menced business life in September, 1880, as a clerk in a general store in a small country place near Bremen. Dissatis- fied with the economic and social conditions as they existed in Ger- many at that time, he decided to emigrate to the United States, and left for this country on November 16, 1884, ar- riving in New York on November 30th of the same year. His very FREDERICK L. HOFFMAN. limited experience in business matters, and his still more limited knowledge of the English language, made it necessary for him to accept a position as clerk in a grocery store in Cleveland, Ohio. It was there that he com- menced a course of study, materially assisted by the excel- lent local public library, which ultimately made it possible for him to secure the position he now holds as statistician of the Prudential Insurance Company of America.
During the next few years he traveled extensively through the West and Sonth, holding various positions of minor im- portance, being mostly interested in a comprehensive study of the life and labor of the people, until a satisfactory posi- tion was offered him by the Standard Oil Company as local agent at Brunswick, Ga. Largely on account of the dis- turbed state of business affairs, caused by a local epidemic of yellow fever, he was compelled to return to the North, and, visiting Boston, he obtained a position as local agent at Waltham, Mass., of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Com-
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pany of New York. Having always been interested in life insurance matters, his father having been the representa- tive of some of the leading German companies, Mr. Hoffman readily adapted himself to the requirements of his position, which offered a wide field for study and observation, and peculiarly fitted him for his future work. He availed him- self of every opportunity to increase his knowledge, and made use of the excellent opportunities afforded in the City of Boston to attend lectures and utilize libraries contain- ing works of reference not easily obtainable. The company with which he had connected himself transacted what is known as the business of industrial life insurance, and to the theory and practice of this business he devoted the suc- ceeding years of his life. While pursuing his course of studies he did not neglect his office duties, but continued to advance, and after a short residence as local agent in Water- town, Mass., he was transferred by the company to Chicago, Ill., as Assistant Superintendent. In Chicago Mr. Hoff- man had exceptional opportunities to make himself familiar with the conditions of life of the foreign population, obtain- ing much knowledge and information of value to him in his future work. For reasons of health he was compelled to resign his position and for a few months resided at Chattanooga, Tenn., where, however, he found it impossible to obtain the employment suitable and congenial to his spe- cial talent. He therefore accepted a position as Assistant Superintendent with the Life Insurance Company of Vir- ginia and located at Norfolk, Va. Having conducted his work to the satisfaction of the company, he was transferred to Richmond, Va., as local Assistant Superintendent, and subsequently as Superintendent to Newport News, Va., to open a district and develop the interests of his company in a section of Virginia in which they had formerly not been represented. It was during his life at Norfolk, Richmond, and especially at Newport News and Hampton that he had abundant opportunity to make himself familiar with the conditions of life of the negro population, and the first re- sults of his investigation and study of the statistical data pertaining to the mortality of the colored population were
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published in April, 1892, in the Arena, published in Boston, Mass.
The paper attracted considerable attention North and South, and made necessary further investigations into mat- ters but imperfectly touched upon in the first contribution to the subject. Interested in all matters pertaining to mor- tality and longevity, Mr. Hoffman paid special attention to the problem of suicide as it affected the interests of life insurance companies and the general public. He published his first paper on the subject in the Arena for May, 1893, en- titled " Suicide and Modern Civilization." Having been re- qnested to investigate the mortality of Richmond, Va., at the time a matter of discussion and controversy, he contributed a paper on the subject to the Richmond Despatch of July 17, 1894. A paper on the " Sex Relation in Suicide " was pub- lished by the American Statistical Association in June, 1894, and a paper on the " Vital Statistics of the Negro " in the Medical Nors for September, 1894.
The various contributions of Mr. Hoffman to statistical literature, but in particular his articles on the mortality of the negro, attracted the attention of the then actuary of the Prudential Insurance Company, John B. Lunger, who re- qnested him to make a number of special investigations for the purpose of supplementing the office experience of the company, which indicated conditions making it impossible to insure negroes at the rates charged to the white popula- tion. The work having been performed in a satisfactory manner, he was offered a position with the company, which he accepted, taking charge of his new duties on October 1, 1894.
In his new position he was offered every opportunity to develop his special talents, and the almost immediate re- sult is made evident by the large number of contributions to statistical literature made by Mr. Hoffman, too numerous to be separately mentioned. HIe contributed a paper on " Diphtheria in Its Special Relation to the Anti-toxin Treat- ment" to the New York Herald, December 24, 1894. An unwarranted attack having been made by New York news- papers on the corporation of Trinity Church, it being charged that the tenements of the corporation were in such
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an unsanitary condition that the mortality of the tenement population had been excessively high, Mr. Hoffman was re- quested to investigate the subject for the corporation and make a report to the vestry of the church. The report was published in March, 1895, and forms one of the most inter- esting and useful contributions to the literature of the tene- ment problem. As an evidence of his continued interest in the negro population. Mr. Hoffman published this year in the Quarterly Publications of the American Statistical Asso- ciation a paper on the " Negro in the West Indies," and he also contributed a paper on " The Value of Vital Statistics " to the Florida Health Notes of July, 1895. He read a paper on " The Medico-Legal Aspects of the Life Insurance of Chil- dren " before the Medico-Legal Congress in New York City in October, 1895, and among other contributions to The Spectator, an insurance publication of New York City, he contributed i wo articles on the " Jew as a Life Risk," which form one of the most useful contributions to the subject of Jewish statisties. The last named paper forms one of many articles relating more or less to mortality statisties in their application to life insurance problems contributed by Mr. Hoffman to The Spectator during the past few years. Dur- ing 1896 Mr. Hoffman was able to publish his first compre- hensive work on mortality statistics, entitled " The Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro." The work was published by the American Economic Association as a contribution to American sociology and economics, and in the words of Professor F. W. Tanssig: " The monograph is unquestionably a notable piece of work and a contribution of the first importance to our understanding of the negro problem." During the same year the author was able to publish a series of papers on " Tornadoes and Tornado In- surance " in The Spectator, which was subsequently repub- lished in pamphlet form. To the annual volume of the Engineering and Mining Journal and the Mineral Industry for 1897 Mr. Hoffman contributed an elaborate paper on " Coal Mining Accidents," a subject on which he has since con- tributed annual articles to the publication named. He also contributed a brief article on the scope and method of the Twelfth Census to the special report on the Twelfth Con-
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sus by the American Economic Association, and a most in- teresting paper on the Portuguese population of the United States, published in the Quarterly Publications of the Ameri- can Statistical Association for September, 1899.
Ilis close relation to the business of industrial life insur- ance, with which he has now been connected for a number of years, made it seem expedient to undertake the prepara- tion of a comprehensive history of the business in this and other countries. The task proved a most arduous one and has not yet been completed, but as a first result of his efforts in this direction there was published during the year 1900 a work entitled "The History of the Prudential Insur- ance Company of America." This work forms practically a treatise on the subject of industrial insurance, and in the opinion of qualified critics is one of the most useful contri- butions made to the history of the life insurance business. The work, being a volume of some three hundred pages, formed part of an exhibit made under Mr. Hoffman's direc- tion for the Prudential Insurance Company at the Paris Ex- position of 1900. This exhibit of the theory, practice, and results of industrial insurance, as illustrated in the history of the Prudential, secured the recognition of the Jury of Awards and a Gold Medal was granted to the company, be- ing the only award obtained by an American company ex- hibiting in the section of social economy at the Paris Ex- position. It became necessary for Mr. lloffman to go to Paris in connection with the installation of the exhibit, and he availed himself of the opportunity of his visit to Europe to examine carefully into the methods of French, German, and English statistical offices and the methods of life insur- ance companies in Germany and England. He was enabled to materially increase his library by purchase or by gifts from foreign governments, and his collection of statistical publications with special relation to life insurance and vital statistics is now the most complete in this country.
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