USA > New Jersey > Passaic County > Passaic > The Passaic valley, New Jersey, in three centuries.. Vol. 2 > Part 16
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REV. ISIDOR KALISCH, D.D., one of the most distin- gnished rabbis of his time, was born in Krotoschin, Dutchy of Posen, Prussia, November 5, 1816, and died in Newark, N. J., May 9, 1886. Rev. Burnham Kalisch, his father, of Krotoschin, was " widely known throughout the Dutchy " as a " man of learning, piety, and benevolence," and was " deeply versed in Hebraic lore." He died at Krotoschin, September 1, 1856. His wife was a woman of strong intel- leet and great force of character. Of their seven children the oldest was Rev. Isidor Kalisch, D.D., the subject of this article.
Dr. Kalisch was even more illustrious than his father, receiving international recognition through his public labors and his published works. From early childhood he evinced decidedly scholarly predilection, and " in his ninth year was remarkably proficient in Tabnudical and Hebrew learning." After finishing the curriculum of the gymna- sium ton a par with our American colleges) he studied at the Universities of Berlin, Breslan, and Prague, obtaining tes- timonials from the most eminent professors. During this time he was a contributor to leading German periodicals, notably the Breslauer, Beobachter, the Figaro, and Dr. Julius
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Fuerst's Orient. He was the author of one of the most popular songs of that warlike period in Germany, " War Song of the Germans " ("Schlacht Gesang der Deutschen "), which was dedicated to the Prince of Prussia, December 31, 1842, and was accepted by the Prince-afterward Emperor William-in a note to Dr. Kalisch, January 12, 1843. The song was set to music by Music Director Mueller, of Breslau, and at once became the fashion. His attitude has thus been characterized :
Imbued with the love of liberty, and witnessing the oppression of his fellow- men under the forms of government and law, his generous nature decried these things; he wrote poems breathing the true spirit of liberty; contributed articles to newspapers which were condemned as seditious by tyrannical censors; and thus, when, in 1848, the revolutionary fever had reached a crisis, he became one of the many obnoxious citizens who were inimical to the welfare of Prussia because they were stumbling blocks to the progress of tyranny and oppression. He was compelled to leave Germany. He made his way to London, England, and after a sojourn there of several months, he left for New York City.
Dr. Kalisch delivered at Krotoschin, in 1843, the " first German sermon ever preached in his native town." He ar- rived in New York, August 28, 1849, and in the following July was called as minister of the congregation " Tifireth Israel," of Cleveland, Ohio. Here Dr. Kalisch began the distinctive work which was afterward to characterize his labors as a rabbi and carry his name in every section of the country. Finding his charge at Cleveland strictly " ortho- dox " (" hermetically attached to all the useless and mean- ingless Jewish religious rites and ceremonies of bygone ages "), the doctor " unhesitatingly and boldly planted the banner of reformed Judaism " in their midst, and by means of his sound reasoning disarmed opposition, and presently saw the congregation " thoroughly infected " with his own spirit of reform. His work in Cleveland has been well characterized as a " sudden revolution in the affairs of the Jewisl. church." It inaugurated a movement which spread in every direction. The immediate effect is best described in the words of the Memoir previously cited : " The preach- er's course, while it received the sanction of his congrega- tion, drew him into heated newspaper controversies with the orthodox Jewish ministers in various cities. They were, however, silenced by his trenchant and facile pen." The
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result of his vigorous onslaught on the worthless cere- monies, customs, and rites practiced by orthodox Jews was the assembling of the first conference of rabbis at Cleve- land, Ohio, in 1855. The object of this conference was to better the spiritual condition of the Jews in America; to strip the Jewish divine service from heathenish and idola- trous enstoms; to weed out senseless and useless prayers; and to establish a uniform divine service throughout the land.
Dr. Kalisch's removals from one city to another were largely induced by his zeal to spread and perfect the move- ment begun at Cleveland. Moreover, he devoted several years between pastorates to lecturing and preaching in all the large cities of the Union, carrying on the same propa- ganda. Yet in no instance did he fail to devote himself with equal zeal to the material condition of his congrega- tion. At Cleveland, through his exertions, a new syna- gogne and school were erected. At Milwaukee he accom- plished a similar achievement after having reunited a con- gregation which had divided into two factions, worship- ping in separate synagogues. Through his efforts was also organized at Milwaukee the " Die Treue Schwestern," a benevolent society among the Jewish ladies.
As a profound scholar, philologist, and prolific author Dr. Kalisch must always remain best known to the learned world. He wrote numerous essays on religions and secular subjects, maintained and carried on extensive religious con- troversies in the Jewish press, both aggressive and defen- sive, with the orthodox and ultra-reform elements in Juda- ism, and wrote poems which appeared at frequent inter- vals in various German newspapers and periodicals. His lecture on the " Source of all Civilization " attracted wide attention and was reviewed by James Parton in the Atlantic Monthly ( August, 1867); another on " Ancient and Modern Judaism " was not less notable; while still others of note were on " Divine Providence," " The Origin of Language and the Great Future of the English Tongue," " Jewish Ethics," and " Life and Works of Moses Maimonides." He contributed a series of articles on the Tahnud, " The Wine
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of the Bible," " All Christians Astray on Baptism," and kindred topics, to the Christian Union, of which Henry Ward Beecher was then editor; and in various periodicals in this country published such essays as the " Origin of the Doc- trine of Demons and Evil Spirits taught by Judaism and Christianity Ilhistrated," "Opinions on the Value of the Talmud by the Most Learned Christian Theologians," " On the Sphere of our Activity as Israelites," " The Old Biblical Doctrine of the Idea of God," " On the Science of Educa- tion," together with critical biographies of Moses Maimo- nides and Naftaly Hartewig Wessely. His " Wegweiser fuer rationelle Forschungen in den Biblischen Schriften," published in 1853, received the flattering notice of the Ger- man, English, and French press. In this profound work he contends upon the basis of a critical examination of the New Testament Scriptures that all that is distinctive in Christianity is derived from Judaie doctrines and customs. In 1855, at the solicitation of Professor Gibbs, of Yale Col- lege, Dr. Kalisch deciphered the Phoenician inscription found at Sidon, Asia. His rendering was read before the London Syro-Egyptian Society and published in the trans- actions of that society as preferable to the translations sub- mitted about the same time by the Duc de Luynes, of Paris, E. C. Dietrich, of Marburg, Germany, and W. M. W. Turner. Dr. Kalisch published a splendid English translation of Lessing's " Nathan der Weise," and rendered the same ser- vice for the " Sepher Yezirah," the first philosophical book ever written in the Hebrew language. In connection with this last he also issued a " Sketch of the Talmud," in which he summarizes the results of fifty years of study.
Besides his rare learning and fecundity as a prose writer he was a poet of unusual powers. Hle possessed the extraor- dinary ability of cultivating the muse in three languages, German, English, and Hebrew. In 1865 his German poems to that date were collected in a volume entitled "Sounds of the Orient " (" Toene des Morgen-Landes "). Such gems iu this volume as " Die letzen Lebensmomente Moses," " Die mnystiche Harfe," "Der Teufelstein," and "Gesicht der Seele " are unsurpassed of their kind. Of his Hebrew
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hymns many are to be found in the Reformed Hebrew Prayer Book. Another poem in Hebrew, read before the Cleveland Conference already referred to, has been pro- nouneed a masterpiece. " After his death," we learn, " among his manuscripts was found a considerable coller- tion of original Hebrew poems, tales, and fables, and trans- lations from German and English poets into Hebrew, which have never found their way into print." Among his other published writings may be mentioned his contributions to Talmudical lexicography in the London Jarish Chronicle and Hebrew Observer (March 22, 1867) and in the Jndische Literatur Blatt ( Magdeburgh, Germany); English sermons which appeared in the Jewish Messenger on " Timely Words " in 1870 and on " Excellence of Judaism " in 1871; a series of " Exegetical Lectures on the Bible " (The Ori- dent, Phila., 1851 and 1852); a series of " Contributions to Philosophical Literature " (American Isradite, 1854 and 1855); " Prefatory Remarks to the Book of Esther " (1857); " The Book of Antiochus" ( translation from the Hebrew, 1859); " A Disquisition Concerning the time of Composing the Accents of the Hebrew " (1863); " Hebrew Literature and Proselytism according to the Biblical Talmudical Laws " (1866); " Discourse on the Preference of the Mosaic Laws," as delivered by Rabbi Moses ben Nacham in 1263, before King Jacob, at Saragossa ( translation, 1866); " Con- tributions to the History of the Jewish Liturgy" (1870); " Historical Researches -Who was Tryphon, mentioned by Justin the Martyr," etc. (1880); " Disquisition on some Liturgical Subjects " (1880); " The Value of the Hebrew Language " ( 1880); " Real Treasures of Earth " (1880).
Dr. Kalisch left tive sons, of whom four, Leonard, Samuel, Abner, and Burnham, became lawyers, and one, Albert, bo- came a journalist.
SAMUEL KALISCH, son of Rev. Isidor Kalisch, D.D., was born in Cleveland, Ohio. April 18, 1851. He was edu- rated under his father, and mastered Greek and Latin at the age of twelve. In 1869 he was graduated from the
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Columbia College Law School with the degree of LL.B. He was admitted to the New Jersey bar as an attorney in Feb- ruary, 1871, and soon afterward began active practice in Newark, where he has since resided. In February, 1874, he was admitted to the bar as a counsellor.
Very soon after he be- gan the practice of his profession Mr. Kalisch came into prominence as one of the leading criminal lawyers in the State, and for many years held the foremost place in that depart- ment of legal practice. This, however, he grad- ually abandoned, owing to the large increase of his civil business, which consists principally of damage cases against railroads, yet he is still SAMUEL KALISCH. recognized as one of the ablest and most prom- inent criminal lawyers in New Jersey. Among his noted criminal cases may be mentioned that of Joseph Koerner, indicted for murder, whose acquittal he secured in 1878. He also successfully defended Westbrook, of Newton, and Burke, Noonan, and Dunn, of Union County, and in 1880 se- cured a reversal in the Supreme Court in the judgment in the case of Dr. Gedicke. His eloquent pleading also re- sulted in a verdict of manslaughter in the seemingly hope- less case of George Stickert, " Fiddler " Smith, William Hoffman, John Weiss, Thomas Hefferan, and Wildinghaus. He carried the famous cases of James B. Graves and John Chisholm ( the latter indicted for wife murder) through the higher courts before relinquishing his efforts. In his ap- peals to the higher courts he has been remarkably success-
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ful, often establishing precedents and frequently surpris- ing the bench by unearthing forgotten statutes. He was the first lawyer in the State of New Jersey to get a man ont of State prison under a writ of habeas corpus.
In recent years Mr. Kalisch has devoted himself exclu- sively to important civil litigations, a department in which his efforts have been no less notable and successful. He is counsel for many important interests. From 1877 to 1879 he was counsel for the American Protective Association, and in 1875 he was elected Corporation Attorney for the City of Newark, filling the position with distinguished abil- ity. He was nominated for the New Jersey Assembly on the Democratie ticket in 1879, and was defeated by a very narrow margin. Outside of his profession his tastes are distinctly literary, as were those of his father. In his study days he occupied himself considerably in journal- ism, both as editor and special writer, and is the author of poems, essays, sketches of travel, and other miscellany. Ho is the author of a memorial of Dr. Kalisch, published in 1886, an article on " Influence of Women on American Juries," " Up the Hudson," " Newark to Nashville," a poem, " Legend of the Talmud," and many similar efforts. His series of article on " Legal Abuses " are credited with hay- ing " led to the reform of the minor judiciary and the estab- lishment of the district courts." His memorial volume of his father, published in 1885, attracted wide attention in the religious world. He has gathered an extensive library, which, added to the valuable library inherited from his father, constitutes a notable collection. To this he has added some of the rarest treasures of the bookmaking art, which he acquired in the course of his extensive travels abroad.
JOSEPH FEWSMITH, M.D., of Newark, N. J., prominent in the medical profession of that city, was born in Auburn. N. Y., January 31, 1851. He is the son of the late Rev. Joseph Fewsmith, D.D., and Emma C. ( Livingston) Few- smith. His father was for thirty-seven years pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Newark, and left a most
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honored name. The Rev. Dr. Fewsmith's father was Joseph Few Smith, and the present style of the family name, Few- smith, is therefore one of but recent adoption. Dr. Fewsmith de- scends from Quaker and Revolutionary ancestors in his Smith line and also through the Leh- man family, a collateral paternal branch. On his mother's side he de- scends from the Living- ston, Lefferts, and Roose- velt families, of Scotch and Dutch antecedents. The branch of the Liv- ingston family to which his mother belonged sprang from titled Scot- tish ancestors.
JOSEPH FEWSMITH, M.D. The present Dr. Joseph Fewsmith received his preparatory edneation at the Newark Academy and Phillips Academy of Andover, Mass., and was graduated from Yale College in the class of 1871. Ile pursned his medical studies at the College of Physicians and Surgeons (Columbia Col- lege, New York), from which he received his degree in 1874. After graduation he served for a year and a half as interne in the Roosevelt Hospital, New York City, and he then de- voted nineteen months to further studies in Vienna, also spending a short time in the Woolwich Military Hospital of London, England. He began the practice of his profession in Newark, in 1877, and has attained a high reputation. Since engaging in practice in Newark he has served as at- tending surgeon at St. Barnabas Hospital, St. Michael's Hospital, and the Foster Home, and as consulting surgeon of the Home for Crippled Children. He has also acted as medical examiner for several insurance companies. He is a city district physician and dispensary physician, and is a
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Trustee of the Foster Home, the Industrial School, and the City Home at Verona.
He is a member of the State and County Medical Societies, the old Essex Medical Union, the present Medical and Sur- gical Society, and other professional organizations. He is also a member of the Essex Club, the Essex County Country Club, and the Forest Hill Club.
He was married, in 1880, to Jean A. Hendry, and has had five children, of whom only one, JJean 11. Fewsmith, now sur- vives.
WILLIAM SCHEERER, of Orange, N. J., was born in New York City, October 21, 1856, and was educated in the Newark public and High Schools. After completing his studies he engaged in business employment in Newark. He is largely interested in financial and corporate enterprises, occupying a conspien- ons position in the business and financial community of Newark and Essex County. He is Cashier of the State Banking Company, Vice-President of the Newark and South Orange Railroad Com- pany, a Director of the Fidelity Trust Com- pany, Vice-President of the Orange and Passaic Valley Railroad Com- pany, Vice-President of the Newark Consoli- dated Gas Company, and one of the Sink- ing Fund Commission- WILLIAM SCHEERER. ers of Essex County. He is a member of the Essex Club and the Essex County Country Club. Mr. Scheerer has secured these several posi-
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tions by his superior business talents, his financial ability, and his great integrity and scrupulous fidelity in the per- formance of duty.
He married Miss Lois Durand, of Lake Forest, Ill., and has four children: Lois Durand, Paul Renner, William, Jr., and Joseph B.
FREDERICK BAILIE MANDEVILLE, M.D., of New- ark, N. J., was born in that city August 16, 1840. He is a descendant in the seventh generation of Giles Jansen de Mandeville, who married Elsie Hendricks in Guilderland in 1640, having fled from Rouen, France, to escape religious persecution, and who, in 1649, emigrated to America in the ship " Faith." The line of descent to Dr. Mandeville is as follows: Giles Jansen (1), Hendrick (2), Giles M. (3), Abra-
ham (4), Yellis M. (5), James C. (6), and Fred- erick B. (7).
Dr. Mandeville re- ceived his general edu- cation at the Newark Academy and Rutgers College, and completed his medical studies in 1863, graduating from the New York Medical College in 1861 and from the New York Homeopathic Medical College two years later. After receiving his de- gree he entered the army in connection with the medical de- FREDERICK B. MANDEVILLE, M.D. partment of the service, and in 1863 became act- ing assistant surgeon. He has been practicing his profes- sion in Newark since leaving the army and is one of the leading physicians of that city.
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For many years Dr. Mandeville has taken an active part in public affairs. He served as Coroner from 1870 to 1872, as a member of the Board of Education of Newark for eleven years, as chief officer of the Health Board for five years, and as a member of the Board of Health for ten years, being its President for two years. He was twice President of the New Jersey Homeopath- ie Medical Society, twice Vice-President of the American Institute of Homeopathy, twice President of the New Jersey Medical Society, and for some time pro- fessor of diseases of F. A. MANDEVILLE, M.D. children in the Homeo- pathie College of New York City. He has also been Presi- dent of the United States Industrial Life Insurance Com- pany, and is a Mason, a member of Lincoln Post, G. A. R., and a member of the Park Presbyterian Church.
Dr. Mandeville married Sarah Tucker Teel, of New York City, in October, 1863, and has four children-three sons and one daughter. His son, Frederic A,, was born in New- ark, Angust 16, 1864, was graduated from the Newark Academy, Rutgers College (1887), and the New York Home- opathie College and Hospital, and received a certificate from Vienna, Austria, in 1889. lle is a successful prac- ticing physician in Newark.
ELVIN WILLIAMSON CRANE, of Newark, was born October 20, 1853, in Brooklyn, N. Y., and is the son of Sant- uel and Naomi (Williamson) Crane, both of old colonial
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stock. The family moved to Newark, N. J., when he was quite young. On his mother's side he is descended from General James Williamson, a soldier of the War of 1812.
Mr. Crane was educated in the public and St. Paul's Schools of Newark, read law there with Hon. Joseph P. Bradley and Colonel G. N. Abeel, and was ad- mitted to the New Jer- sey bar as an attorney in February, 1875, and as a counsellor in Feb- ruary, 1882. Since his admission he has had large experience in criminal law.
He was Assistant Prosecutor of the Essex County Pleas under Col- onel G. N. Abeel and Oscar Keen, and in 1888 succeeded the latter as Prosecutor, to which of- fice he was re-appoint- ed by Governor Werts ELVIN W. CRANE. in 1893 for a second term of five years. He has been connected with a large number of murder and other criminal cases, notably those of Emma Wood, Fiddler Smith, and Henry Kohl. He became a Trustee of the New- ark City Home in October, 1881, and served several years. Ile was Chairman of the Democratic City Central Commit- tee for a time, and in 1887 was elected a member of the New Jersey Legislature. In 1898 Mr. Crane was the candidate of the Democratic party for Governor of New Jersey and came within less than 6,000 votes of being elected. In every capacity he has served with great credit, fidelity, and dis- tinction. He is a member of the Masonic order and of the B. P. O. Elks.
Mr. Crane was married, July 9, 1879, to Emma J., daugh- ter of Jacob Esch,
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JAMES BROOKS DILL, of East Orange, N. J., lawyer, was born in Spencerport, N. Y., Inly 25, 1854. His parents were Rev. James Horton and Catherine ( Brooks) Dill. Mr. Dill's father was born in Plymouth, Mass., January 1, 1821, was educated at Yale College and Yale Theological Semi- nary, and entered his first pastorate at Winchester, Conn. He removed to Spencerport, N. Y., and remained there for eight years. It was said of him that he did more to es- tablish Congregational Churches in Western New York than any other man during a period of twenty years. Subsequently he re- moved to Chicago and was pastor of the South Congregational Church. After the breaking out of the war he enlisted in the "Railroad Regi- ment," the Eighty-ninth Illinois, as Chaplain. He died in the service of his country. His wife, Catherine, was the daughter of Captain Jeremiah Brooks ( horn in 1792), of Cheshire, JAMES B. DILL. Conn., and a grand- daughter of Enos Brooks, who in the War of the Revolution was Corporal of the Second Company, Seventh Connecticut Regiment, commanded by Colonel James Webb. Corporal Enos was the son of Enos, son of Thomas, son of Henry Brooks, who with his brother John came from England and settled in the New Haven Colony abont 1670. The Rev. James Horton and Catherine (Brooks) Dill had two sons: James Brooks Dill and Rey. Arthur Cushing Dill.
James B. Dill, at the age of fourteen, began a three years' preparatory course of study at Oberlin, Ohio. At the end
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of the freshman year at Oberlin College in 1872 he left that institution for Yale. He was graduated from Yale College in the class of 1876. lle then taught for a time in Phila- delphia, meanwhile beginning the study of law with E. Copes Mitchell, a noted equity lawyer. In 1877 he became an instructor in Stevens Institute, Hoboken, N. J., entering the senior class of the University Law School, New York City; and in 1878 he was graduated from that institution as salutatorian of his class and with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the bar of New York in the same year and subsequently to the bar of New Jersey, and at once engaged in New York in the practice of his pro- fession. Ile devoted himself to such general practice, with the usual hard experience of a young lawyer without means or influential backing. He early applied himself to the specialty of corporation law, and gained a recognized repu- tation in that department of his profession. Mr. Dill en- joys to-day an eminent standing among the corporation lawyers of the country.
Locally, he was one of the incorporators of the People's Bank of East Orange, of the Savings Investment and Trust Company, and of the Registration and Trust Company, all located in East Orange. Ile has been officially identified with these companies from their organization. He organ- ized the Corporation Trust Company of New Jersey, becom- ing and remaining its counsel and Chairman of its Execu- tive Committee. He is a Director in the Ninth National Bank of New York City, the North American Trust Com- pany of New York, the North American Trust Company of New Jersey, the Carnegie Company, the National Steel Com- pany, the American Tin Plate Company, and many other corporations.
He is a member of the Brick Church Presbyterian Church, having served as Trustee and Treasurer, and is a member of various clubs and societies. lle has resided on Harrison Street in East Orange since 1880.
Mr. Dill was married, in 1880, to Mary W. Hansell, daughter of Standish Hansell, of Philadelphia, Pa. They have three daughters.
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JACOB EWING WARD, of Newark, lawyer, was born in Afton, Morris County, N. J., July 17, 1853, and is the son of Moses D. and J. Lonisa (Sayre) Ward. His paternal grandparents were Jacob and Abigail Ward; his maternal grandparents were Elias and Abby Sayre. Mr. Ward was graduated from Rutgers College in the class of 1875. He was admitted to the New Jersey bar as an attorney in June, 1878, and as a counsel- lor in February, 1892. After his admission he pursued a general prac- tice in Newark until 1891. when he became assistant counsel of the Prudential Insurance Company of America, later being appointed counsel of that com- pany - a position in which he still con- tinues. Mr. Ward has earned a high reputa- tion in his profession.
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