USA > New Jersey > Passaic County > Passaic > The Passaic valley, New Jersey, in three centuries.. Vol. 2 > Part 19
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The firm conducted a large and successful business at the corner of Washington and Market Streets, Newark, un- til 1848, when their establishment was destroyed by fire, entailing a heavy loss. But they immediately purchased five acres of land near the county jail, then outside the city limits, and there erected large and suitable buildings, which were subsequently enlarged and remodelled, making the plant one of the best in the country. Soon afterward Sam- uel M. Howell died, and T. W. Dawson became interested with Theodore P. Howell in the business. This partnership continued until 1855, when Mr. Dawson withdrew, and Mr. Howell organized a company composed of five individuals, including himself, and since that time the establishment has become the largest in the world in the line of manufac- tures, many of its products finding a market in England, Germany, and other countries. Besides the works in New- ark the company, under the management of Mr. Howell, erected extensive works at Middletown, N. Y., for the manu- facture of Russian and other leather, and established, more- over, a slaughter house in New York covering seven city lots, where a quarter of a million of skins were handled annual- ly. To all this complicated business Mr. Howell gave his personal attention, and by means of telegraph wires termi- nating in his office in Newark was in constant communica- tion not only with the various departments of the great manufactory, but with the company's warehouse and sales- room at No. 77 Beekman Street, New York.
It is obvious that with such an immense establishment upon his hands Mr. Howell led a life of unceasing toil and vigilance. It was, in fact, a matter of pride with him to be at his post at seven o'clock in the morning, and to ring the bell for his workmen. He was cognizant of everything that was going on around him, and could give prompt and specific instructions upon any point that might be referred to him for investigation. Difficulties which would appear to many insurmountable were to him, apparently, but trifles, and on no occasion did he lose his self-possession or suffer his proverbial cheerfulness to be disturbed.
Notwithstanding the vast amount of business transacted by Mr. Howell every day, he never appeared to be in haste,
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and was always ready to give his time and attention when- over he could render either a public or private service. In polities he always took a prominent and active part, in early life as a Whig and later as a Republican, yet he never sought office, and only once allowed his name to be placed upon an election ticket. This was in 1856, when there were three parties in the field, and the Whig party, which Mr. Howell dearly loved, certain of defeat. The office of mayor was the prize to be fought for. The Democrats and the Native Americans each had a candidate, the Democrats certain of victory and the Native Americans certain of giving it to them. It was a difficult matter for the Whigs to find a suitable person who had the courage to become a candidate, but finally Mr. Howell, who could not bear to see his party without a head, and who also knew very well that his re- sponsibilities would not be at all increased by the result of the election, suffered his name to be used.
In everything that could redound to the credit or welfare of Newark Mr. Howell was always foremost. He was one of the most active of its citizens in securing the charters for the Plank-Road and the Newark and New York Rail- road, believing that increased avenues of communication between these cities would cheapen transportation and place the manufacturers of Newark in fait competition with those of other places. And for similar reasons he was also in favor of free roads. He believed it to be his duty as a citizen and as a business man to share the responsibilities which certain persons in every community mmst assume. For this reason, notwithstanding the arduous labors of his private business, he became a director of the Mutual Bene- fit Life Insurance Company, of the Mechanics' National Bank, of the American Insurance Company, and of the Howard Savings Institution. Ou many occasions he was foreman of the Grand Jury of Essex County, and it became a subject of remark that whenever he held that position the business of the Grand Jury was always expeditiously and thoroughly performed. Of the Park Street Church he was a constant attendant, and for many years President of its Board of Trustees.
Mr. Howell died December 3, 1878. He was a man of rare
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and excellent qualities, one of Newark's bravest and most valuable citizens, possessed of generous impulses, ever ready to contribute to public enterprises of a beneficent nature, and always in sympathy with the suffering and the needy, His widow and six children, two of whom were sons, sur- vives him. One son, Samuel C. Howell, who is acquainted with every department of the establishment, is now conduct- ing it with great success.
SAMUEL C. HOWELL has been a lifelong resident of Newark, where he was born on the 16th of October, 1849. He is the son of Theodore P. Howell and Elizabeth W. King and a grandson of Drake Howell and Elizabeth Williams.
Mr. Howell received an excellent private school educa- tion in his native city. From early boyhood he has been ac- tively connected with the tannery business, entering the es- tablishment founded by his father and others under the firm name of T. P. Howell & Co. in 1840. His father died in 1878, and Henry C. and Samuel C. Howell condneted the business until the death of Henry C., January 11, 1900, since which time Samnel C. Howell has been its executive head.
The tannery of T. P. Howell & Co. is one of the oldest and largest in the world, and during its career of more than sixty years has always enjoyed an extensive and successful business. Mr. Howell, besides being President and General Manager of this company, is also President of the Howell- Hinchman Company, of Middletown, N. Y., President of the Leather Manufacturing Company of New Jersey, Treasurer of the Consumers' Coal Company of Newark, and actively and prominently identified with other important enter- prises. He is an able business man, and has always main- tained the confidence and respect of all with whom he has come in contact. He is a member of the Essex Club and a Vestryman of Trinity Episcopal Church.
PATRICK H. MARTIN, of Newark, N. J., was born in Tarrytown, Westchester County, N. Y., March 12, 1847. His parents were Owen and Jane (Dongherty) Martin, both natives of Ireland, who came to the United States and short-
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ly afterward made their home at Tarrytown. He was edu- rated in the public schools of Tarrytown, and at an early age obtained employment with the Listers, who at that time had a factory there. In 1862 the factory was removed to Newark, where Mr. Martin has since lived. lle rose to the position of foreman in the Lister establishment, and final- ly to that of general su- perintendent, which he holds at present. He has worked for three gen- erations of Listers.
For a period of eight months during the Civil War he served in the Commissary Depart- ment at Nashville, Tenn., under General Thomas. He was in the battle of Nashville and took part in the three days' fight. He was a PATRICK H. MARTIN. member of the West End Club of Newark and of the Catholic Benevolent Legion. In polities he is a Democrat.
Mr. Martin was married in New York City by the Rev. Dr. MeGlynn, February 27, 1867, to Catherine A. Gongh, of Birmingham, England, and has eight children: Henry, Joseph, William, Alfred, Elizabeth, Kathryn, Theresa, and Loretta.
LOUIS PLAUT, one of the proprietors of the great mer. cantile establishment in Newark known as the " Bee Hive," was born in Hartford, Conn., December 29, 1862, and there received a good public school education. He is of German descent, his parents being residents of Hesse Darmstadt, Germany. They came to America when their eldest sons,
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L. Simon Plaut and Solomon Plaut were four and seven years old respectively, and settled in Hartford. At the age of sixteen Louis Plaut moved from Hartford to Newark, N. J., and entered the present busi- ness with his brother, L. Simon Plaut, who had been a buyer for Gerson Fox, of Hartford, and who had removed to Newark in April, 1870, when twenty years old, and engaged in mercan- tile business with Leo- pold Fox, a son of Ger- son, the firm name being Fox & Plaut. L. Simon Plant died in 1886, and by his will left the busi- ness to his widow and LOUIS PLAUT. his brothers, Louis and Moses Plant, and Oscar Michael. The active management devolved upon the three young men, and they were so successful that in 1890 they materially enlargel the store, and still carry on a large and flourishing business. Started in 1870, when the business gave employment to only one salesman, it has grown stead- ily until now nine hundred persons are employed in the vari- ous departments. The firm name is L. S. Plaut & Co., and under the sound and progressive business principles which were instituted by L. Simon Plaut it has become one of the best known firms in New Jersey.
Louis Plaut is an able and sagacions business man, and during his entire career has maintained the confidence and respect of all who know him. Genial, affable, and cour- teous, he is universally esteemed, and for years has occupied a leading place in Newark's business and social circles. Ile was a Director of the German National Bank of Newark for five years, when he resigned. For a number of years he
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was Treasurer of the Progress Club. He is a Director of the Federal Trust Company, of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, of the Hebrew Free School, and of the Home for Crippled Chil- dren, and a Trustee of Temple Buai JJeshurna. In these and other capacities he has displayed great publie spirit, sound judgment, and benevolence of character.
In 1885 Mr. Plant married Miss Carrie Katz. They have two children, a son and a daughter.
MOSES PLAUT, of the well known firm of L. S. Plaut & Co., proprietors of the " Bee Hive," of Newark, was born in Hartford, Conn., on the 23d of December, 1865. Hle ro- ceived his early education in the public schools of his native city. In ISTS he became a cash boy in the dry goods store of William H. Bulkeley, known as the " Bee Hive," of Hart- ford, where he laid the foundation of a snecessful business career. There he was advanced to a responsible position as salesman.
In 1881 the family moved to Newark, N. J., where Moses Plaut en- tered the employ of Fox & Plant, proprietors of the " Bee Ilive," with which he has ever since been connected, becom- ing a partner upon the death of his brother, L. Simon Plaut, in 1886. The old firm of Fox & Plant was succeeded by 1 .. S. Plaut & Co., and in the snecessful manage- ment of the enterprise Moses Plant has had a prominent part. This concern is more fully MOSES PLAUT. noticed in the sketch of Lonis Plant, which immediately precedes this article.
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He is a Director of the Newark Board of Trade and the Hebrew Free School and a member of the Progress Club of Newark and the Freundschaft Club of New York. As a busi- ness man he has been very successful, maintaining from the first a high standing for integrity, enterprise, and probity of character. He is actively identified with the af- fairs of Newark, where he has spent his manhood, and is honored and respected by all who know him. His success has been largely the result of his own efforts.
LESLIE DODD WARD, M.D., bears the names of two of the early settlers of the town of Newark, the records of which afford abundant evidence of their important ser- vices in building up the settlement and making it the fore- most city in New Jersey. His earliest ancestor in this State was Josiah, son of George Ward, of Branford, and the first, traditionally, to place foot on shore at the landing of the pilgrims on the Passaic. His father, Moses Dodd Ward, in the early part of the last century, removed to Madison, Mor- ris County, N. J., where Leslie Dodd Ward was born July 1, 1845. In his native place the lad received his preliminary education. Subsequently he became a pupil in the old and famous academy at Newark, with a view to a preparation for entrance into the College of New Jersey at Princeton.
It was near the close of the summer term of the academy, in June, 1863, that the Confederate Army, under General Robert E. Lee, invaded Pennsylvania, creating widespread alarm through the entire Northern States. An appeal was made by the Governor of Pennsylvania to the Governors of the adjoining States, and in response thereto the Governor of New Jersey called for volunteers to go to the aid of Pennsylvania in this emergency. In answer to this call eleven companies, consisting of seven hundred men and officers, went to the seat of war. Among them was the sub- ject of this sketch, as a Corporal in Company F, commanded by Captain William J. Roberts. It was a short campaign, and when completed the young soldier returned to his home and the resumption of his academic course. This he con- tinued to pursue with so much credit to himself that, at
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the approaching commencement exercises, when he was to be graduated, he was awarded a position of honor among the orators of the occasion. His name was called and the subject of his oration announced, but while the audience awaited his appearance the master of the academy stepped forward and apologetically stated that young Mr. Ward had just enlisted in the Thirty-seventh Regiment, and that his duties as First Sergeant of Company G prevented the de- livery of his speech. A shont of applause burst from the audience which no speech could ever have elicited. It was a fact that young Ward had, for the second time, ore he had reached the age of nineteen, enlisted as a soldier in the army of the Union. The commander of the regiment in which he last served was Colonel E. Burd Grubb, and with him he remained until the regiment was mustered out of service in October, 1864.
It was his experience among the sick and the wounded during his term of service in camp and field that led the young soldier to believe that the life of a physician was one that he ought to adopt. Returning to his home fully con- vineed of this, he entered after a short rest the office of Dr. Fisher, a well known physician of Morristown, N. J., where he began the study of medicine. In due time he became a student in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Now York City, and was graduated from that institution in 1868. Having determined to make Newark the field of professional labors, he became associated in practice at first with Dr. Lott Southard, a well known and esteemed physician of that city. This connection continued for two years, when Dr. Ward opened an office of his own, and soon made himself well and favorably known as a medical practitioner. In 1876 he became a member of the Medical Board of St. Mich- ael's Hospital, the oldest institution of the kind in Newark, and for several years was Secretary of this board. He was also visiting surgeon to St. Barnabas Hospital, a position which he held with credit to himself and with benefit to those who came under his care. In 1877 he was appointed County Physician of Essex County, an office which devolved upon him many duties that had been performed prior to 1876 by coroners and magistrates.
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In the organization of the Prudential Insurance Company of America Dr. Ward took an early and active part. He was one of its incorporators and a member of its first Board of Managers. As early as October, 1875, when it issued its first policy, he was its medical director, and continued in that position until 1884, when he was chosen its First Vice- President. The duties of this office, which are largely of an executive character, he still performs, and it may be truly said that. for its admirable discipline and the promptness with which its daily work is performed, this mammoth in- stitution is greatly indebted to Dr. Ward's admirable execu- tive ability.
Dr. Ward was married, March 5, 1874, to Miss Minnie, daughter of James Perry, of Newark, N. J., and by her has two sons: Leslie P. and Herbert E.
ISRAEL C. HEDDEN, the well known hat manufacturer of Newark, has been a lifelong resident of Essex County, New Jersey, having been born at Orange on the 5th of Angust, 1859. He is the son of Charles I. Hedden and Ma- tilda Myers.
Mr. Hedden acquired a good practical educational train- ing and entered upon an active career well equipped with those sterling qualities which invariably win success. In January, 1890, he established his present hat manufacturing business in Newark, and through his energy, integrity, and uprightness of character has gained success and reputation. He is a man of marked ability, active in promoting every worthy object, a public spirited citizen, and respected and esteemed by the entire community.
FRANK LUCIUS BOPPE, of Newark, N. J., was born in that city December 15, 1858. His parents were John A. and Elizabeth E. (Smith) Boppe; his grandfather, on the pater- nal side, was Franz L. Boppe, and his maternal grandmother was Nancy Torry Stacy, danghter of Mahlon Stacy. His father was born June 19, 1828, in the village of Wettingen,
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Canton of Aargau, Switzerland, and came to this country in the summer of 1852. On his mother's side he descends from American and French ancestors. Mahlon Stacy, a great-grand- father in the maternal line, was born May 11, 1765, took part in the Revolutionary War, and died April 8, 1850.
Mr. Boppe received his early education from private instructors, later entering the New- ark Academy, where he continued until 1875. In November, 1877, he ae- cepted an agency with the Prudential Insur- ance Company of Amer- ica, and in January, 1878, he entered the FRANK L. BOPPE. home office of that com- pany, in Newark, as a clerk. For a number of years he has been manager of the company's claim department. Ilis en- tire active life has been devoted to the insurance business in the interests of the Prudential, and he is one of the oldest persons engaged in industrial insurance in this country.
In the spring of 1874 he joined the Roseville Baptist Church of Newark. He has served on its Board of Trustees and as church Treasurer, also having been for nineteen years Treasurer of the Sunday School. He was married, November 16, 1892, at Buffalo, N. Y., to Myra L. Gardner.
GEORGE B. SPEER, of Newark, is descended from an old and prominent Passaic Valley family, his grandfather, Rineer S. Speer, being the first Sheriff of Passaic County, an office he held for three terms (1837, 1838, and 1839). Itis great-nele, James Speer, was a Indge of the Court of Errors
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and Appeals in New Jersey from 1845 to 1851, while his great-grandfather, Captain Samuel Speer, was a Captain of colonial militia during the Revolutionary War. Mr. Speer's father, Alfred Speer, married Helen Haskell,
daughter of Truman W. and Harriet Haskell, her father, Truman W., be- ing the first President of the Buckeye State In- surance Company, of Cincinnati, which oper- ated in Ohio in the early sixties.
Mr. Speer was born in St. Louis on the 31st of May, 1861, but received his education in the pub- lie schools of New York City, whither the family removed when he was young. He entered the GEORGE B. SPEER. service of the Pruden- tial Insurance Company of America, at Newark, N. J., in 1886, as a clerk, and two years later was appointed Claim Adjuster in New York. In 1890 he was made Special Inspector for the company, and travelled extensively. His field work attracted the atten- tion of the manager of the Ordinary Branch, and he was called into the home office and made assistant to the mana- ger in 1894. Six years later he was appointed Manager of Ordinary Agencies for the Eastern Division of the company. which position he still holds. Mr. Speer's long and active experience in various responsible capacities, his devotion to duty, and his knowledge of men and broad comprehension of insurance problems have won for him a high reputation as well as marked success. He is a member of the Newark Athletic Club and of the Republican Club of New York.
Mr. Speer was married, September 12, 1898, to Miss Georgie Edna Wolcott, and has one son, Leslie Wolcott.
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JOHN F. KEHOE is one of the prominent and success- ful business men and financiers of the Passaic Valley, and one as well known in New York as in New Jersey. He is President of Lister's Agricultural Chemical Works of New- ark, one of New Jersey's largest and most important enter- prises. Mr. Kehoe is a native of Essex County, N. J., and has resided in Newark and immediate vicinity all his life. His career has been marked with activity and success from the time he attained his majority, and few men have accom- plished more under the same circumstances. In 1867 he connected himself with the enterprise of which he is to-day the President and controlling spirit (then known as Lister Brothers), and for thirty-four years has been identified with the same, always in an executive position.
When he came to Lister Brothers he was given charge of their New York City branch, then an unimportant adjumet to the firm's business. Under the skilful management of Mr. Kehoe the metropolitan branch was made a great suc- cess and became a factor of the main business, and it was in so doing that he demonstrated that he was possessed of more than ordinary business ability, and paved the way to his subsequent promotion to the post of General Manager of the works, a position he filled with consummate skill and ability until he was chosen President of the corporation which had succeeded the old firm of Lister Brothers. To have been connected in an official capacity with one concern for a period of over thirty years is a record of which any man may well feel proud, but to advance solely upon one's merits from the position of manager of a department to that of President of a great corporation is an unusual career -- one that is achieved by but few men, even in this day and age of great and unusual achievements, and reflects great honor and credit upon the individual and stamps him as an extraordinary man.
The life Mr. Kehoe has led has been a most active one, and the success he has met with has been won by close ap- plication to business and by the exercise of his inborn and native business talents and executive ability. Still a young man, comparatively, Mr. Kehoe has business interests of great magnitude which ramify into half a dozen different
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States, and cause him to be a well known man, both person- ally and by reputation, in industrial and financial circles. He is a Director in the following important corporations :
JOHN F. KEHOE.
Northwestern Fertilizer Works of Chicago, Preston Fer- tilizer Works of Buffalo, North Jersey Traction Company, United Electric Company of New Jersey, Michigan Carbon Works of Detroit, and Empire Carbon Works of St. Louis.
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IRA ANDRUS KIP, SR. The first ancestor of the Kip family of whom any mention is made in history was Ruloff de Kype, of Bretagne, France, who was born in 1510. Hle was a warm partisan of François, Due de Guise, the bigoted leader of the Catholic party. On the triumph of the Protes- tants he fled to Holland, but in 1569 returned to France, joined the army of the Due d'Anjon, and fell in the battle of Jarnac. Of his three sons Ruloff was the only one to marry. He became a Protestant and died in 1596, leaving a son, Hendrick, who, in 1635, came with his wife and family to America, and was the first ancestor of the Kip family in New Amsterdam. Hle obtained, in 1643, a pat- ent for a plot of land near the fort, in what is now Bridge Street near Whitehall Street. In 1647 he was one of the mon appointed by for- Stuyvesant's Council to assist the Governor and Council, and also held this office IRA A. KIP, SR. in 1649-50. Ile was a scheppen in 1656, and admitted to the rights of a great burgher in 1659. The arms of the family were painted on the stained glass window of the first church erected in New Amsterdam, and were also carved in stone over the door of the Kip's Bay House, built by his son, Jacobus. His son. Hendrickson, married Anna, daughter of Nieassins de Sille, first conneillor of Governor Stuyvesant, and with Hendrick- son's son Cornelis was started the New Jersey branch of the family. Cornels, with George du Remos, bought, in 1720, six hundred acres of land near Paterson, N. J., for which they paid two hundred and seventy pounds. The Kip
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homestead remained there until 1867. Tra Andrus Kip, Sr., is the sixth in direct line from Cornelis.
Ira Andrus Kip, Sr., was born in Passaic, N. J., on the 16th of July, 1845. He is the son of Nicholas J. and Cor- delia (Andrus) Kip, and inherited all the sturdy character- isties of his ancestors. Having received a good practical education, he entered, in 1862, the employ of Henry H. Crocker & Co., East India brokers, of New York City, and there laid the foundation of a successful business career. In 1866 he became a partner in the firm and had much to do with its extensive and important oper- ations. He continued as a member of the firm until 1895, when he formed the pres- ent brokerage partnership of Ira A. Kip & Co., taking as a partner his son, Ira A. Kip, Jr., whose sketch follows.
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