USA > New Jersey > Passaic County > Passaic > The Passaic valley, New Jersey, in three centuries.. Vol. 2 > Part 23
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He has long been a member of the Masonic fraternity, having received his first knowledge of its mysteries in Corin- thian Lodge, No. 488, of New York, in 1882, from which he demitted to Union Lodge, No. 11, of Orange, and later to Hope Lodge, No. 124, of East Orange. He became a mem- ber of New Jersey Sovereign Consistory, S. P. R. S. 32ยบ, of Jersey City, November 29, 1898, and of Orange Chapter, No. 23, R. A. M., in the same month, and is also a member of Mecca Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of New York City. He is a member of the New England Society, of the East Orange Republican Club, of the Arsdale Golf Club of East Orange, and of the Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church and one of its official board.
Mr. Brnen married, October 16, 1881, Jennie Aylesworth Peebles, daughter of Thomas W. and Melissa C. Peebles, of
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Chester County, Pa. Their children are Clarence Edward, Edythe May, and Marion Aneta.
J. CROWELL MUNDY, a prominent business man and publie official of Newark, was born in Rahway, N. J., Febru- ary 3, 1838. His parents were Henry E. and Fanny ( Crowell) Mundy, both natives of Rahway. In his paternal line his ancestry in this country dates back to 1640. ITis maternal great-grandfather, Joseph Crowell, served in the patriot army in the Revolution, and was taken prisoner and confined in the notorious prison ship, from which he effected his escape. Mr. Mundy's paternal great-grand- father, Sammel Mandy, married a Miss Barron, of Virginia. His pater- nal grandfather. Henry Mundy, lived in Piscata- way, N. J., and married Phobe Ayers (born in Metnchen, N. J.); he was President of the old Es- sex and Middlesex Turn- pike, and subsequently became a Director in the New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company. Mr. Mundy's father, Henry E. Mundy, was born in 1812. In conjunction with Tim- HENRY E. MUNDY. othy B. Crowell he laid the first railway to hanl out vessels from the Passaic River at Newark, and also was a builder of vessels, one of which, a bark, gained notoriety by engaging in the slave trade. Abont 1850 he sold ont and removed to Rahway on a farm. He removed to Newark again in 1866. He had five sons who grew to manhood's ostate : J. Crowell, Henry II., William B., Joseph S., and G. Warren. All the brothers live in Newark
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except G. Warren, who resides on the eastern shore of Mary- land, where he has been very prominent in politics. Henry H. has served for seven years as Alderman from the Tenth Ward of Newark.
J. Crowell Mundy received his education at Rahway, N. J. He has been a mason and builder all his life, and is one of the leading citizens of Newark in those lines of business. Among the structures which he has erected are the exten- sion to the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance building, the New- ark Library building on Park Street, and the factory of the Jaenecke Printing Ink Company.
He is a Republican in politics, has served for one term as a member of the Board of Freeholders, and since 1894 has held the office of General Superintendent of Public Works.
Ile is a member of Damasens Commandery, K. T., of Northern Lodge, F. and A. M., of Corinthian Conneil, A. O. U. W., of the Northern Republican Club, of the First Ward Republican Club, of the Republican Society, and of the Park Presbyterian Church.
He married, first, Josephine G. Rice, of Newark, by whom he had one child, Fanny Crowell Mundy, wife of Philip E. Meeker, of Cambridge, Md .; and second, Anna R. Moore, danghter of James Moore, of Belleville, N. J., by whom he had one child, now deceased.
ALBERT FREY, M.D., was born in Newark, N. J., where he still resides, June 24, 1863, and is the son of Albert and Josephine ( Kipp) Frey, the former being a native of Carls- ruhe, Baden, Germany, born in 1818. The family is of royal birth, the great-grandfather being one of the founders of Carlsruhe. Albert Frey, Sr., was a merchant in Germany and a loyal citizen during the Revolution of 1848. He came to the United States in 1849, locating in New York, where he accepted a position with the well known firm of Lord & Taylor, with which he remained until 1851, when he re- moved to Newark, N. J., and became associated with Ed- ward Balbach & Son in their gold and silver smelting and refining works (now the Balbach Smelting and Refining Company). There he continued until his death, in 1873.
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The success of the firm was largely due to his energy and ability. He was a member of Newark Lodge, No. 7, and a devont adherent of the Lutheran Church. His wife was
ALBERT FREY, M.D.
also a native of Carlsruhe, and survived him until Septem- ber 4, 1890. They were the parents of five children : Jose- phine, now the wife of Francis B. Chedsey, of New York
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City; Louise. who married Martin Rilke, of Germany; Ida, the widow of C. W. Sudmacher, of Germany; Katie, the widow of W. Il. Erb, of Newark; and Dr. Albert Frey.
Dr. Frey received his early education in a private German school on Green Street, Newark, from which he was grad- uated in 1873. He then went to Germany and attended the gymnasium of Carlsruhe, a scientific college, where he pur- sued his studies for three years, at the end of which time he went to Muenchen-Gladbach and there entered the gym- nasium, graduating in 1880. Returning to America, he en- tered Phillips Academy at Andover, Mass., from which he was graduated in 1881. In that year he entered Yale Col- lege, but finished only the course of the freshman class. In 1882 he attended both the College of Pharmacy and the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City, pur- suing his studies at the latter institution until 1884, when he once more visited Germany and entered the University of Bonn, remaining there about a year. Upon his return to this country, in 1885, he became associated with Professor William H. Porter, of the Post-Graduate Medical School in New York City, taking charge of the pathological labora- tory and assisting in conducting post-mortem examinations in the city department of Bellevue Hospital. At the same time he attended the College of Physicians and Surgeons, graduating therefrom in 1SSS. He remained a year longer with Professor Porter, adding to his technical knowledge by assuming charge of one of the first bacteriological laboratories in New York.
In 1889 Dr. Frey located in Newark, N. J., and there en- tered upon the active practice of his profession, gaining the distinction of being the first physician in New Jersey to use antitoxin for the cure of diphtheria. He has given much attention to the diseases of children. He is also interested in surgery, and devotes a large portion of his time to in- creasing his knowledge in that important branch of medi- cine. He is a member of the National, State, and Essex Dis- trict Medical Societies, and was Secretary of the old New- ark Medical Association. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, his membership being in Newark Lodge, No. 7, F. and A. M., Union Chapter, No. 7, R. A. M., and Kane
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Council, No. 3, R. and S. M. In his religions faith he is a Lutheran. He is a member of the Society of Chosen Friends, the German Liederkranz of New York, the Arion and Ger- man Singing Societies of Newark, the Order of the Red Cross, and the Knights and Ladies of the Golden Star. He also holds the position of medical examiner for the Wash- ington Life Insurance Company of New Jersey, and is Com- missioner of Public Schools of the Sixth Ward in Newark.
Dr. Frey was married on the 10th of December, 1884, to Miss Louise Jung, a native of Germany. They have had three children : Irmengard Elfriede Josephine ( who died of scarlet fever at the age of three years and seven months), Ottmar Wedekind Rudolph, and Millie.
ALDEN FREEMAN, of East Orange, is descended from an ancient family whose records are found in England as early as the fifteenth century. Nearly all the families of this name bore substantially the same arms and crests, those of London and Northampton being: Arms .-- Azure three lozenges in fesso or. Crest-A demi-wolf argent, hold- ing between his paws a lozenge argent.
The progenitor of the New Jersey family of Freeman was Stephen Freeman, who was one of the original settlers of Milford, Conn., in 1646, and who, on October 30, 1666, was a signer of the Fundamental Agreement at Newark, N. J. He married Hannah Astwood.
Alden Freeman is descended in the seventh generation from Judge Freeman, 1670-1763, who married Elizabeth Bonne, 1673-1760. Judge Freeman was a prominent figure in the early days of the Province of East Jersey. He was sturdy in his assertion of the rights of the colonists against the encroachments of the royal governors, who, neverthe- less, recognized his worth by long continued appointments as one of the six judges of the Court of Common Pleas of Middlesex County. He was buried in the Presbyterian churchyard at Woodbridge, N. J., where his tombstone stands amidst the graves of seven generations of his de- scendants.
Henry Freeman, Jr., 1717-1784, son of Judge Henry and
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Elizabeth (Bonue) Freeman, married Mary Read, 1724-1796, whose brother, Rev. Israel Read, was graduated from Princeton College in the first class, with Aaron Burr as a classmate, and was the first regularly installed pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Bound Brook. Israel Freeman, born in 1742, married Louisa Miller. He was a soldier in
ALDEN FREEMAN.
the Revolution from Middlesex County. His son, Joel Free- man, 1770-1835, married Nancy McMinn, 1777-1864, whose grandfather, Dugald Campbell, was a Revolutionary soldier. Dugald was the son of Neil Campbell, whose father was one of the original settlers of Metuchen, N. J., and probably a member of the family of Argyle, Alexander Freeman,
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1807-1839, son of Joel and grandfather of Alden Freeman, married Hannah Maria Low, 1811-1896, and their son, Joel Francis Freeman, born October 12, 1836, who is still living, was for many years Treasurer of the Standard Oil Company. He married Frances Maria Abbey, born January 26, 1840, who is also living. She is descended from John Alden ( 1599-1687), of the " Mayflower "; from Jean Vassall ( who died in 1625), a Huguenot refugee in England, who equipped and commanded two ships of war against the Spanish Armada; and from William Harvey, 1510-1567, Clarencenx King of Arms, who was sent by Queen Mary in 1557 to de- clare war against France. Mrs. Frances Maria (Abbey) Freeman's father, Judge Seth Alden Abbey, of Cleveland, Ohio, enlisted at the age of sixty-three as First Lieutenant of the Second Ohio Cavalry, and served throughout the Civil War. His grandfather, Captain Thomas Abbey, of Enfield, Conn., was Adjutant of Chester's Connecticut Regiment and served in the Continental Army during the War of the Revo- Intion. Captain Abbey was the son of Lieutenant Thomas Abbey, 1686-1759; a grandson of Thomas Abbey, 1656-1728, who was wounded in the Great Swamp fight December 19, 1675; and a great-grandson of John Abbey, a settler of Salem, Mass., in 1636. Other ancestors on Alden Freeman's mother's side were Captain Miles Morgan, the " Hero of Springfield," Massachusetts, grandson of Sir William Mor- gan, of Tredegar, in Wales, who entertained King Charles I. there July 16 and 17, 1645, great-grandson of Thomas Morgan, of Machen, esquire of the body to King Henry VII., and a lineal descendant in the thirteenth generation of the Welsh chieftain, Cardivor-fawr, who died in 1089 and was buried in Carwarthen; Captain John Pease, founder of En- field. Conn., and father of the first white child born there; Captain Samuel Terry, of Enfield, Conn .; and William Vas- sall, who came with Governor Winthrop as Assistant Gov- ernor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630.
Mention should also be made of Lieutenant Edgar Free- man, 1789-1871, nephew of Israel Freeman. He served in the United States Navy and was in the War of 1812, being made a prisoner by the British. For his heroism at the time of the loss of the "Chippewa," Commodore Reed, he
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received a special vote of thanks from Congress. On his retirement from the navy he returned to Woodbridge, N. J., and was appointed for three successive terms County Judge of Middlesex County.
Alden Freeman, son of Joel Francis Freeman and Frances Maria Abbey, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, May 25, 1862, and received his preparatory education in the public and high schools of his native city. He entered New York Uni- versity in 1878 and was graduated from that institution with the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1882, receiving the degree of Master of Science therefrom in 1887. He studied architecture with Lorenzo B. Wheeler in 1882-83, was loan clerk in the Seaboard National Bank of New York in 1883-86, and was a salesman in the wholesale coal busi- ness with Talbot, Phillips & Co. in 1887-89.
His home in East Orange, where his parents also live, is one of the finest in that beautiful section. For ten years he has bred, reared, and trained, at his Elmwood stables in East Orange, many fine carriage horses, a business for which he has a decided fondness. A number of his horses have been exhibited at the horse shows in Orange and Newark.
Mr. Freeman was the founder in 1900 of the Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of New Jersey, of which he is the historian. He was also a founder and an incor- porator of the hereditary patriotic order of the Settlers and Defenders of America. He is a Trustee of the Revolution- ary Memorial Society of New Jersey, and also holds men- bership in the Councils of the Society of Colonial Wars, the Founders and Patriots in the State of New Jersey, and the Huguenot Society of America. He is a member of the Metropolitan, Players', National Arts, Reform, New York Yacht, Opera, Church, Twilight, and Nineteenth Century Clubs of New York City; of the Essex County Country Club, the Baltusrol Golf Club, and the Riding and Driving Club of Orange; of the National Hunt and Steeplechase Associa- tion, the Road ITorse Association of New Jersey, the Wash- ington Association of New Jersey, the New Jersey Historical Society, the Descendants of Colonial Governors, the Sons of the Revolution, the Saint Nicholas and Ohio Societies of New York, the New England Society of Orange, the Re-
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publican Club of East Orange, the Sons of the American Revolution, and the Psi Upsilon and Phi Beta Kappa fra- ternities.
AARON F. BURTT, undertaker and embalmer, of Orange, who has been connected with the business interests of that city for a number of years, was born in the family home on Halsey Street, Newark, N. J., March 6, 1854, the son of Aaron W. and Mary ( Smith) Burtt. Aaron W. was of Irish ancestry, and was born on the old Lyons farm in Essex County. His education was limited to the advantages af- forded by the district schools in his boyhood days, and after complet- ing his school course he served a regular ap- prenticeship at the trade of manufacturing car- riage bodies. He did not follow that pursuit very long, however, be- fre he decided to brave the perils and dangers of a seafaring life, and accordingly embarked on a whaling vessel at New Bedford, Mass., as ship carpenter. He rose to the position of first mate. Ile followed that pursuit for about four AARON F. BURTT. and a half years, during which time he endured many hardships. He then took up his residence in Newark and carried on his trade until 1861, when he entered the employ of the government at Alexan- dria, Va., in the ambulance corps in the capacity of superin- tendent. Having participated in the general military drill with his corps, he was made the Captain of the company, which position he held up to the time of his discharge at
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the close of the war. When hostilities had ceased Mr. Burtt returned to Newark and entered the employ of the Morris and Essex Railroad Company in their shops in that city, and continued there until within a few years of his death, which occurred when he had reached the age of seventy- eight years. He was a frugal, industrious man, a worthy citizen, and a faithful husband and father.
Aaron F. Burtt obtained his early education in St. Pat- rick's Parochial School of Newark, and at the early age of twelve years started out in life for himself. He is what the world terms a " self-made man," for all that he has is the result of his own efforts. He began serving an appren- ticeship at the carpenter trade with William H. Kirk & Co., of Newark, ending his term when eighteen years of age, after which he worked as a journeyman until 1873. He then embarked in business on his own account, manufacturing picture frames on Broad Street, Newark, and in that under- taking was very successful. In 1877 he added an undertak- ing establishment to his art store, and conducted both en- terprises with profit. In 1879 he established a branch un- dertaking store in Orange, which also proved a remunera- tive investment, and carried on his interest both in Orange and Newark until 1884, when he sold his store in the latter place and engaged in the livery business in Orange in con- nection with the direction of funerals, having invested about fifty thousand dollars in the two concerns.
Mr. Burtt is prominently connected with a number of benevolent and fraternal organizations in the Oranges. He belongs to the City of Orange Council, No. 235, Knights of Columbus, St. John's Council of the Catholic Benevolent Legion of Orange, and is a life member of the Young Men's Literary Union of Orange and a member of the Catholic Club of East Orange. Politically he is a Democrat of the true Jeffersonian type.
Mr. Burtt was married in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Newark, to Miss Susan E. Marley, a daughter of Daniel and Julia Marley, born September 26, 1861. To them were born nine children : Cecilia F., Aaron F., Susie, Gertrude, Florence, Agnes, Robert S., Paul Joseph (deceased), and Florence
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May. The family are all communicants of St. John's Roman Catholic Church of Orange.
CHARLES M. DECKER, President of the Orange Nation- al Bank since October, 1893, was born in Wellesburg, Che- mung County, N. Y., in November, 1850, his parents being Harrison Decker and Harriet Tubbs. The " History of Che- mung County " thus refers to his grandfather and grand- mother :
The first white child born in the town of Ashland, of which there is any record, was Eunice Kelsey, her birthday having been on March 16, 1789, her father being Abner Kelsey. Eunice grew to womanhood and married Jacob Decker.
Jacob Decker was a naive of Orange Coun- ty, New York, whence he removed to Chemning County. Johannis Deck- er is mentioned among the settlers of the Town of Montgomery, Orange
County, between 1768 and 1778. He was prob- ably a grandson of Abraham Decker, who came from Holland and settled at Copake, N. Y., in 1757. Among the six sons and two daughters of Jacob Decker and Eunice Kelsey was Har- rison Decker, who was born at Wellesburg, CHARLES M. DECKER. Chemung County, about 1821. Hle married llarriet, daughter of Charles Tubbs, a descendant of William Tubbs, of Duxbury, Mass., who was admitted a freeman of the Plymouth Colony in 1637, volun- teered in the expedition against the Pequot Indians in June of the same year, and was a member of Captain Miles Stan- dish's military company. The Decker family is thus de- scended from Holland and New England stock.
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Charles M. Decker's educational opportunities were lim- ited to the public schools of his native town. As a boy he was self-reliant and ambitious. At the age of fourteen he made his first trip to New York in search of employment. He visited an old friend of his father's, Stephen D. Herman, of Orange, N. J., through whose influence he obtained a situ- ation with Benjamin F. Cairnes, a grocery merchant. A year later he entered the employ of Mr. Herman, and con- tinued with him and his successors until 1869. In 1870 he went to New York and engaged in the butter business. The following year he returned to Orange and bought out his old employer, Mr. Cairnes, having then just attained his majority. He at once inaugurated an entire new system in the business. He stocked his place with the finest goods, established a delivery system, sold on " short credit," and gradually brought the trade from the New York to a home market. His business steadily extended through all the Oranges and into other towns. In 1890 he erected in Orange one of the finest business blocks in Essex County. He was eminently successful and very active in building up and improving the community. In October, 1893, he became President of the Orange Bank, one of the soundest fiduciary institutions in Eastern New Jersey, and in that capacity as well as in general business affairs he has displayed marked ability, sound judgment, and great enterprise.
Mr. Decker married a daughter of Alfred and Margaret E. (Peck) Jones, representing two of the oldest families of the locality formerly known as " Pecktown," now East Orange. They have had nine children : Margaret, Harrison, Charles M., Jr. (deceased), Harriet L., Arthur, May, Richard F., Katharyn, and Laraus.
GRAHAM HUNTING BREWER, of South Orange, N. J., was born in that place on the 9th of September, 1867, being the son of William Augustus Brewer, Jr., and Bella Calvert (Fisher) Brewer. His paternal grandparents were William Augustus and Marcy Sawin (Hunting) Brewer; his great- grandparents were Samuel and Sally Norton Brewer and
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Bela and Sarah Dunn Hunting. Ilis maternal grandparents were Charles Willis and Margaretta Sargeant (Graham) Fisher; his great-grand- parents were Willis and Caroline Fairbanks Fisher and Thomas and Arabella Calvert Gra- ham. On his father's side he is a descendant of Daniel Brewer, who was born in England in 1605, came to Roxbury, Mass., and was admitted a freeman of that place in 1634. In his mater- nal line he traces his ancestry to Anthony Fisher, from Syleham, England.
Mr. Brewer received his preparatory educa- tion at the South GRAHAM H. BREWER. Orange (N. J.) Academy and the Dearborn Morgan School, of Orange, N. J., and was graduated from Harvard University with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in the class of 1888. In September, 1888, he entered the Washington Life Insurance Company as a clerk in the actuary department. He was appointed as- sistant to the President of the company in January, 1892, and since April, 1896, has been the company's Secretary and also one of its Directors.
Mr. Brewer is a prominent citizen of South Orange. In April. 1900, he was elected one of the trustees of the village for a term of two years. He is a Trustee of " The Record " ambulance of Orange and Treasurer of the ambulance fund. Ile is a member of the Harvard Club of New York, the Un- derwriters' Club of New York, the Chi Phi fraternity ( Har- vard Chapter), the Orange Lawn Tennis Club, and the Bal- fusrol Golf Club.
He was married, April 28, 1892, to Alice Humphrey.
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Their children are Theodore Graham Brewer, born May 13, 1895, and Graham Hunting Brewer, Jr., born November 21, 1899.
HENRY ALBERT POTTER, of East Orange, is a direct descendant of George Potter, an officer in Cromwell's army, who accompanied that distinguished leader to Ireland and received for his services grants of land in County Ferma- nagh. Under the settlement of 1660, in the time of Charles Il., he was confirmed in the possession of several estates in that county, afterward known as Potterstown or Potters- rath. The family is of Norman origin, the ancient spelling of the name being Pot- tier or Porterie.
In 1791 James Potter became the owner of property in County Ty- rone which passed to his son, George Potter, who came to America in 1828 and settled in Philadelphia, Pa., and who by his wife, Ann Scott, had a son Thom- as. Thomas Potter was born at Relaghguiness, County Tyrone, Ireland, August 14, 1819, and died at Chestnut Hill, HENRY A. POTTER. Philadelphia, Septem- ber 29, 1878. He was educated in Philadelphia, served for many years as a member of the City Council, and as Chairman of the Finance Committee was chiefly instrumental in securing for the city the land now known as West Fairmount Park and in the establishment of the paid fire department. In 1837 he founded the house of Thomas Potter, Sons & Co., one of the largest oil cloth manufacturing concerns in the United States. He was President of the City National Bank of Philadelphia for many years up to the time of his death,
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held many positions of trust in municipal and financial cor- porations, and was a man of upright Christian character, He married Adeline Coleman Bower, daughter of George Bower and a granddaughter of General Jacob Bower1. Their children were George, born August 7, 1846, died October 4, 1876; Margaret, born July 16, 1848, died November 23, 1854; Thomas, Jr., born July 12, 1850; William, who was Minister to Italy under President Harrison; Margaret, 20, born De- cember 12, 1854, married Stephen J. Meeker, of Newark, N. J., a descendant of one of the " Elizabethtown Asso- ciates "; Henry Albert, the subject of this article; JJames Bower, born November 2, 1858; and Charles A., born Octo- ber 4, 1860.
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