USA > New Jersey > Passaic County > Passaic > The Passaic valley, New Jersey, in three centuries.. Vol. 2 > Part 27
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for the last four years Superintendent of its Sunday school. In these capacities as well as in business affairs with which he has been connected he has displayed ability and estab- lished a high reputation.
lle was married, February 21, 1892, to D. Elizabeth Con- trell, of Newark, and has two children : J. Henry Hunting- ton, 3d, and Robert Graham Huntington.
WILLIAM H. V. REIMER, of East Orange, is the son of Frederic Reimer and Elma Vale and a grandson of Hans Frederic Reimer and Gilbert Vale, and was born in Orange Township, N. J., January 17, 1848.
Mr. Reimer obtained his preliminary education in the public and private schools of Orange and East Orange, and subsequently studied civil engineering, a profession he has always followed with marked success. Hehashad charge of im- portant city engineering work for thirty years. and now holds the posi- tions of City Engineer and Street and Sewer Commissioner of East Orange, where he re- sides.
Mr. Reimer has not only gained a high repu- tation in his chosen profession. but has also taken a deep interest in public and civil affairs. He was for some time a member of Company B. Second Regiment, N. G. N. J., under Colonel Al- WILLIAM H. V. REIMER. len, and is a member of Longfellow Council, Royal Arcammm. He married Martha, daughter of Isaiah Adams, of Decker- town, Sussex County, N. J.
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JOSEPHI H. HAYDON, M.D., a well known physician of Newark, was born in New Orleans, La., April 12, 1851. and is the son of William B. Haydon and Mary E. W. Jewett and a grandson of Elijah Haydon and Martha Stearns. He was educated at the University of Virginia, graduating from the Academic Department in 1866 and from the Medical Department with the degree of M.D. in 1870. He was also graduated, in 1872, from the Medical Department of the University of the City of New York. Subsequent- ly he served in the Char- ity Hospital, in the New York City Asylum forthe Insane, in the Colored Home Hospital, and in the Epileptic and Para- lytic Hospital on Black- well's Island, acquiring in these institutions a wide and valuable expe- rience.
In 1875 Dr. Haydon began the active prac- tice of his profession in Newark, where he has for a quarter of a cen- tury enjoyed a large and successful business. He JOSEPH H. HAYDON, M.D. became identified with the Prudential Insurance Company, as medical examiner, and during fifteen years in that capacity examined more than thirty thousand risks. He has also acted as examiner for no less than ten or twelve other insurance companies. Outside of his professional practice, which has always been an extensive one, Dr. Haydon has been a public spirited citizen, active and influential in the community, and deeply interested in the prosperity of the city. He is visiting physician to St. James's Hospital and served two years as President of the Chatelet Social Club. In 1874 he married Sarah C. Green, of Ashby. Mass.
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FORREST FAIRCHILD DRYDEN, of Newark, son of John Fairfield Dryden, President of the Prudential Insur- anee Company of America, and his wife, Cynthia Fairchild, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, December 26, 1865. He has spent most of his life, however, in Newark, N. J. He was educated at the Newark Academy and at Phil- lips Andover Academy in Massachusetts, and afterward engaged in the insurance business. He is now connected with the Prudential In- surance Company.
Mr. Dryden served five years in the First (Essex) Troop, N. G. N. J. He is a member of the Essex County Conn- try Club, the Essex Club, the Newark Athletic Club, the Garfield Club of Newark, the Lotos Club of New York, the Blooming Grove Park FORREST F. DRYDEN. Association of Pike County, Pa., and the Somerset County Country Club of Ber- nardsville.
He was married in June, 1890, to Grace Marion Carleton, of Bradford, Mass., and has two children: John Fairfield Dryden, 2d, and Dorothy Dryden.
ROBERT S. RUDD, of Glen Ridge, was born in New York City on the 14th day of May, 1857. Ilis father, Joseph Rudd, son of Richard, was born in England, came to America In his boyhood, and settled in New York, where he became an influential citizen, being for many years prior to his death engaged in business in Maiden Lane. His wife, Eliza E.
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Barnes, was the daughter of Erastus Barnes, a native of Greene County, New York, whose father moved from Con- necticut and was a de- scendant of the New England family of that name.
Robert S. Rudd at- tended Public School No. 35, in the Ninth Ward, New York, under Thomas Hunter, a noted educator and now Presi- dent of the Normal Col- lege of New York City. Subsequently he entered Hamilton College, at Clinton, Oneida County, N. Y., where he was graduated in 1879. Hle then entered the office of Rodman & Adams, in ROBERT S. RUDD. New York City, and dili- gently pursued the study of law. He was admitted to the bar in New York in 1882, im- mediately thereafter entered upon the practice of his pro- fession, and for nineteen years has devoted his time and attention to the law, his practice being principally that of counsel to estates, corporations, etc.
Mr. Rudd has a large and handsome residence at Glen Ridge, and as a public spirited citizen has contributed ma- terially to the advancement and welfare of the town. He was active in the movement which made Glen Ridge an in- dependent municipality and in April, 1895, was elected its first Mayor, an office he now (1901) holds, having been re- elected successively in 1897, 1899, and 1901, without oppo- sition. Mr. Rudd was an active Democrat until 1896, serv- ing on State and county committees of his party.
Mr. Rudd was married in 1884 to Miss Kate N. Skeer, of Chicago, III., and has two sons and two daughters: Naomi, Robert Barnes, John Skeer, and Alethea Sanford.
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EDWARD WESTON, of Newark, the well known invent- or and electrician, was born at Brinn Castle, near Oswes- try, Shropshire, England, May 9, 1850. His family were well-to-do farmers, but his father possessed remarkable me- chanical genius, and removed with his family to the man- facturing town of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, thus af- fording his son special advantages in the way of mechanical education.
The latter attended the schools of the Established Church, had a private tutor, and later attended St. Peter's Collegiate Institute, where, under the direction of the prin- cipal, Henry Orton, his inclination for natural science was greatly stimulated. During his early years Mr. Weston ex- hibited mechanical genius, constructing models of steam engines and other machines. At nine years of age he se- enred a copy of Snell's " Elements of Electro-Metallurgy," and, becoming fascinated, pursued the study and experi- mentation in chemistry and electricity, constructing bat- teries, electric motors, and other models. Ile even con- structed a small telegraph line, and gave some attention to steam propulsion on common roads. At the age of sixteen he had become so well qualified and acquired such appara- ins that he was enabled to deliver a public lecture which attracted attention.
About this time his parents endeavored to force upon him, successively, the professions of dentistry and medicine, but neither was to his liking, and after three years of medi- cal study, finding his parents persistent, he left home for America, arriving in New York City in May, 1870. Ile found some diffienlty in obtaining a situation, but at last seenred one with a firm of manufacturing chemists, with whom he remained about a year. Ile then accepted the position of chemist and electrician to the American Nickel Plating Company. " Here his skill found wider scope, and many of the most important processes which are now com- monly in use in nickel plating are due to his intimate know]- edge of the principles underlying the art and to his invent- ive genins." Unfortunately for himself, however, he took out no patents. In December, 1873, having begun a study of dynamo-electric machines, he engaged in the nickel-plat-
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ing business for himself. This he pursued until 1875, when he removed to Newark, N. J., and formed a partnership for the manufacture of dynamo-electric machines. This part- nership was re-organized as the Weston Electric Light Com- pany, July 10, 1877; in 1881 the latter was consolidated with the United States Company of New York City, the new cor- poration being known as the United States Electric Light Company.
Mr. Weston is universally accorded a foremost place among the electricians of the world. He has taken out hundreds of patents, and the mere mention of all his im- portant inventions would be an arduous task. In 1873 he prepared the first copper-coated carbons, now i world- wide use in the are form of electric lighting; invented the dise armature; " was beyond a doubt the first man who suc- ceeded in producing a true dynamo-electric machine which would serve for electro-metallurgical work "; made many advancements in the art of nickel plating; invented the so- called hydro-carbon treatment process; was the first to solve successfully the problem of running arc lamps in series; contrived a number of devices to make the lights burn equally; and constructed a number of motors which were employed to propel electric torpedo boats. In the de- partment of electric transmission of power he has perfected a group of inventions which " constitute the most complete system " yet devised. He invented a preparation of tami- dine which was characterized as " the most valuable contri- bution hitherto made to the art of incandescent lighting."
It is sufficient to add that every one of the examples cited are of inventions perfected during the first ten years of Mr. Weston's activity in this direction. No mention has been made in this sketch of his achievements during the last fifteen years, which have been among the busiest and most successful years of his life. The subject is too extensive to be attempted here.
WILLIAM A. FREEMAN, of Bloomfield, Essex County, is the son of William A. Freeman, Sr., and Harriet Spear,
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and was born in Orange, N. J., April 20, 1848. He obtained his education in the Bloomfield public schools, to which place the family removed when he was young. He has spent most of his life in the ice business. Some fifty years ago his father and his uncle, Henry F. Freeman, engaged in the ice trade under the firm name of I. F. & W. A. Freeman. They finally sold out to the Newark City lee Com- pany. William A. Free- man, Sr., was President of the Newark Ice Com- pany, guided it along a successfulcareer, and for a long timehis son, Will- iam A., was superin- tendent of the business. The father died at the age of seventy-six. The son finally succeeded the Newark Ice Company and established the business at Bloomfield.
Mr. Freeman has had a successful business career, and has always enjoyed the respect and confidence of the entire WILLIAM A. FREEMAN. community. He is an enterprising citizen, possessed of sound judgment, and active in the welfare of his native county and adopted town. He married Grace Roberts, daughter of Tuttle Roberts, of New York City, owner of the old Fourth Avenue stage line.
AUGUST SOFFEL, of Newark, was born in New York City, August 30, 1864, and there spent his boyhood, receiv- ing his education in the public schools and at Cooper lasti- tute, where he completed a special course in drawing, re- ceiving a diploma for marked ability. fle is the son of
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August Soffel, Sr., and Charlotte Gillman, both natives of Germany, who were married shortly after their arrival in the City of New York in the early 'forties.
Mr. Soffel was asso- ciated for eleven years with the famous house of Tiffany & Co., of his native city, and became a practical and skilled silversmith. Subse- quently he was for three years foreman for Thomas G. Brown. & Sons. Desiring to estab- lish a business of his own, he began to manu- facture silverwarein the City of Brooklyn, and was very successful.
In 1893, to enlarge the business, he formed a partnership with Un- termeyer Brothers, of AUGUST SOFFEL. New York, and this con- cern is still engaged in the business of manufacturing ster- ling silver hollowware and novelties, having their factory at 878 Mount Prospect Avenue, Newark, and an office at 192 Broadway, New York. This is one of the largest con- cerns of the kind in New Jersey and has built up an ex- tensive business.
In politics Mr. Soffel has always been a Republican. He has taken an active part in political affairs, and in the dis- charge of both public and private duties has displayed marked ability, sound judgment, and unfailing enthusiasm. In 1898 he was elected a member of the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders, an office to which he was re-elected for a second term in 1900. He is Chairman of the Finance Committee of the board and a member and Secretary of the Jail Inspection Committee, which has charge of the peni- tentiary and county jail. He is a member of the Essex
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County Republican Advisory Committee, of the Indian League, and of other organizations. He is a self-made man, and honored and respected by the entire community.
He was married, January 11, 1887, in New York City, to Martha Washington Hoffman, daughter of JJacob Hoffman. They have one child, August Milton Soffel, born January 22, 1898.
HUGH PATRICK RODEN, M.D., of Newark, was born in Wednesbury, England, June 13, 1815, his parents being George Roden and Rachel Patrick. On the maternal side he is descended from the Patricks now holding property in Ayrshire, Scotland. They settled and held office about the Monastery of Kilwinning long prior to the Reformation. Charters and deeds of the abbey property are attested by John Patrick as early as 1459. A portion of the family, during the reign of James VI., accompanied Hugh Montgomery, of Broadstarre, to the North of Ireland and settled near Belfast, where their descendants still possess consider- able property. It is from this branch that Dr. Roden is descended. His great-grandfather, Hugh Patrick, engaged in business in Belfast. IIe left one son, Hugh Patrick. Robert, second son, an architect, immi- grated to New York in 1797. William, the third son, a merchant, immi- HUGH P. RODEN, M.D. grated to Pittsburg, Pa., in 1798, and had issne Robert, a banker, of Pittsburg, Pa .; John, a farmer; Andrew, a physician; and Wallace, a
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banker. Hugh, the fourth son, a surgeon, had issue Robert, a surgeon, of Silverwelhouse, Bolton-le-Moor, England; Hugh, chemist, of Golden Square, London; George, a den- tist; John J. R., M.D., of Belleville, Ill .; Andrew, a jeweler; Rachel, wife of George Roden, of Newark, N. J .; Agnes, wife of John Halbirnee, M.D., of Bath, England; Dora, deceased; and Jeanette, wife of Richard Boatman, M.D., of Arkansas. Andrew, fifth son, was tutor in Queens College, Belfast, Ireland. James Patrick, sixth son, journalist of New Phila- delphia, Ohio, had issue. Andrew Patrick; James, attorney and County Judge; Abraham, State Senator; Rachel ( Mrs. McFarlane); Kate, wife of Hon. Joseph Medill, of Chicago; and Anna, wife of John Moffat, of New Philadelphia, Ohio. Hugh Patrick, great-grandfather of Dr. Roden, had two brothers who emigrated to Virginia about 1755, and mem- bers of this family still reside in Patrick County in that State.
In 1861 Dr. Hugh P. Roden enlisted in the Union Army in the Seventh New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, which formed a part of Hooker's division. He participated in the battles of the Army of the Potomac and was honorably discharged in 1864.
When in his twentieth year Dr. Roden went to St. Louis, Mo., where he commenced the study of medicine with his uncle, Dr. J. J. R. Patrick. He was graduated from the Missouri Medical College, St. Louis, in 1870, with the de- gree of M.D., and soon afterward came to Newark, N. J., where he has built up a large and successful practice, be- coming one of the prominent physicians of that city. He served as Secretary of the Board of Pension Examiners un- der President Harrison, was a member of the Newark Board of Education for a time, and is a member of the Essex Coun- ty Medical Society and of Lincoln Post, G. A. R., of Newark. He is also a Royal Arch Mason, President of the Board of Pension Examiners, and a member of the Medical Staff of St. James's Hospital.
WILLIAM F. POUCHER, a prominent citizen of East Orange, is the son of Edward S. Poucher and Carrie C.
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Folger, and was born in Hudson, Columbia Comty, N. Y., June 21, 1855. He was educated in boarding schools at Hartsville, Pa., and I'mionville, Orange County, N. Y., and subsequently engaged in business as a broker in Wall Street, New York City, in which he continued for twenty years. Later he established himself in the real estate business in New York, and in 1893 he engaged in the same line in East Orange, N. J., under the present firm name of Wester- velt & Poucher.
In his various busi- ness operations Mr. Poncher has been very successful, always main- taining the confidence and respect of those with whom he has come in contact. His knowl- edge of real estate values is broad and ac- curate, and has brought him into such favor and prominence that he has been retained in the of- WILLIAM F. POUCHER. lice of Assessor continu- onsly since 1892. He served as President of the East End Republican Club in 1900, is also a member of the East Orange Club, and is actively identified with the affairs of that section.
He married Stella, daughter of James R. Edwards, of New York City, and has one child, George S. Poucher.
GEORGE ELDRIDGE RUSSELL. of Newark, N. J., is a native of Brooklyn, N. Y., where he was born, September S, 1864. He is the son of Benjamin and Phobe E. Russell, his father being an engraver. On both sides his ancestors are of English antecedents,
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He was educated at the Chestnut Street Publie School, Newark. At thirteen years of age, however, he entered the shop with his father and learned the engraver's trade -- the art of engraving and chasing on fine jewelry. When seventeen years of age he abandoned this profession to enter upon a mercantile ca- reer, engaging in the grain business. He is now manager of the grain department of Wilkinson, Gaddis & Co., of Newark.
Mr. Russell has al- ways been an enthusias- tic Republican worker and an able and fluent political speaker. He was one of the founders of the Gar- field Club of New- GEORGE E. RUSSELL. ark and was its Presi- dent in 1894-95. In 1896-97 he was chairman of the Ninth Ward Republican Executive Committee of Newark. He is now also a member of the Republican Executive Com. mittee of Essex County and a member of the County Repub- lican Society, the Republican Indian League, the Garfield Club and other Republican organizations, of St. John's Lodge, No. 1, Free and Accepted Masons, and Imperial Con- elave, Independent Order of Heptasophs. He takes an ac- tive part in all political campaigns in Essex County, attend- ing and speaking at all Republican meetings. In the fall of 1899 great interest was centered in the selection of a Re- publican Senator for Essex County, and, after an exciting campaign, when the convention assembled it was apparent that either Mr. Russell or T. N. McCarter, Jr., would be se- lected. It was thought by many that Mr. Russell would be nominated, but after a contest in the convention Mr. Mc-
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Carter was declared the nominee. Mr. Russell took a very prominent part in that campaign, which resulted in the election of his former opponent and of the entire Republi- ean ticket.
Hle married, July 27, 1887, Mary E. Bond, and has a danghter, Marjorie Bond Russell, and a son, William Ben- ton Russell.
LOUIS SHREVE OSBORNE, rector of Trinity Church, Newark, was born in Salem, Mass., the birthplace of his father, Henry Osborne. His mother, Lonisa (Shreve) Os- borne, was a native of Saco, Me. He is of English descent, his ancestors coming to New England in early colonial days. The name is variously written Osborne, Osborn, Osbern, and Osbernus, and persons bearing it appear in the Doomsday Book as tenants in chief of different counties in England. By Ferguson it is traced to a Norse derivation, meaning " the divine bear," a significance of much import of old and surrounded with legends of prowess and divine origin. The name was borne by some of the earliest and most distin- guished families in Old England, while that of Shreve, which is iden- tical with the old Eng- lish . Shreeve " of " Shrieve." meaning sheriff, was held by a family descending from one of the earliest in- emubents of that honor- LOUIS SHREVE OSBORNE. able office.
Rev. Louis Shreve Osborne received his early education in the private, grammar, and high schools of his native
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town. Upon the completion of his preparatory studies he entered Harvard University and was graduated in the class of 1873. He then became a student in the Divinity School of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, Pa., where he continued until the completion of his divinity course in 1876. In that year he received an appointment as a missionary, and began his clerical life in Xenia, Ohio, leaving that place two years later to become rector of Grace Church, Sandusky. Ohio. Mr. Osborne remained in San- dusky until 1884, in which year he accepted the office of rec- tor of Trinity Church, Chicago, Ill., where he continued until called to Newark, N. J., in 1890. The history of his con- nection with old Trinity Church is well known. The stand taken by him in his pastoral relations with his parish, and in the diocese to which he belongs, has ever been that of the zealous servant of God, stanch in belief, steady of pur- pose, wide in his sympathies, without prejudice in admin- istration, in word and deed taking counsel of his own con- science. He is a power in the church and among those who may not be its adherents. He is a preacher of great energy and force, and a thinker whose range is not circumscribed by any man's dictation; because of this he is both beloved and honored by those of his own communion and others. He has published many sermons, lectures, and essays, with occasional poems and other articles, and as an office bearer has been connected with many representative bodies in the church. He was deputy to the General Convention and to the American Church Congress, and while transacting the duties of these and other important offices his services were constantly marked with the stamp of the resolute, God- fearing man.
FREDERICK SEYMOUR was born at Whitney's Point. N. Y., on the 2d day of August, 1856, the second son of George Whitfield Seymour and Mary Freeman Seymour. He stands in the eighth generation from Richard Seymour, the first of that name in this country and the progenitor
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of a distinguished family, who came from England to Hart- ford, Conn., in 1639, and who died in Norwalk, Conn., at the residence of his son, Thomas Seymour. In the second generation in this conn- try the family branches in such wise that the late Horatio Seymour, of New York, Chief Jus- tice Origen S. Seymour, of Connectient, and the late Judge Edward W. Seymour, of Connecti- ent, are found in one line, the late Governor Thomas Seymour, of Connectient, in another, and the subject of this sketch in still another.
On his mother's side Mr. Seymour is de- sconded from Edmund Freeman, his seventh lineal ancestor, who FREDERICK SEYMOUR. was admitted to the General Court at Plymonth, Mass., and to whom, with ten other immigrants, was granted liberty to choose a place for permanent homes for themselves and their families. They selected the Town of Sandwich. Edmund Freeman was assistant to Governor Bradford for six years, and died in 1682, leaving a daughter Alice and two sons, John and Edmund, both of whom married daughters of William Prince, who was Governor of Massachusetts at that time. This Edmund had a son Edmund, born in 1655, who died in 1720, leaving a family of nine children, of whom the oldest, Edmund, the fourth of that name, removed to Mans- field, Conn., where he died in 1766. He left a son Edmund, the fifth of that name, who was graduated from Harvard College in 1733, and died at Mansfield, Conn., in February, 1800, leaving seven sons and a daughter, some of whom bo- came distinguished in public life. One of these sons,
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Stephen Freeman, was the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. He married Clarissa Thompson, daughter of Joseph Thompson, of Mansfield, Conn.
Frederick Seymour was educated in the Whitney's Point High School, at Yale College in the class of 1881 in the academic department, and at the Columbia Law School. He was admitted to the bar in September, 1882, from which time to the present he has practiced law in the City of New York, achieving an enviable distinction in corporation law and in contested litigation of the greatest moment. He has always taken a leading position at the bar, having the en- tire confidence and respect both of the bench and of his associates.
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