The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 100

Author: Robson, Charles, ed; Galaxy Publishing Company, publisher
Publication date: 1877
Publisher: Philadelphia, Galaxy publishing company
Number of Pages: 924

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ments of an elegant social life increased. In 1848 he an entire change in the character of the people coming preached his fortieth anniversary sermon, which was pub- within the sphere of his influence." On the day that his resignation was laid before the parish he was stricken down by sickness ; and after several days of suffering, he passed from earth "as peacefully as a little child passes into sleep." In his able and interesting history of the Presbyterian Church, Dr. Gillett thus describes him : " Frail and feeble in appearance, and supposed by all to be consumptive, he was spared to the discharge of a long and useful pastorate. But while faithful to his special charge, he did not neglect the missionary field around him. With the best men of the Jersey Presbytery he bore his full share in itinerant evan- gelization, going from Powles Hook to the Delaware, to tell the destitute of Christ. The monuments of his success were scattered around him far and near. One of the most cmi- nent of his contemporaries, the Rev. Albert Barnes, re- marked that he " knew of no minister whose walk and labor and success had been so admirable as those of Mr. King, of Rockaway. His great ambition was to win souls. Ilis one book was the Bible." As a preacher, he was simple and scriptural; and his whole course was characterized by good sense, consummate judgment, earnestness of purpose and devotion to his work; and usefulness he placed high above eloquence or learning. Yet his utterance was always forcible and manly, and at times touchingly fervent. He rested from his labors on the 10th of April, 1862, and on the 13th his remains were consigned to the grave, " in the midst of such a concourse of people as was never before gathered in the old yard at Rockaway." At his own request, the funeral sermon was preached by his colleague in the pas- torate of the church. lished, and preserved among the pamphlets of the New Jersey Historical Society. "The greatness and value of the good man's labors are related in that discourse with far too much modesty, in view of the results flowing from his residence in the State." In December, 1853, he pronounced his forty-fifth anniversary discourse, which he was unwilling to publish. December 24th, 1854, he again preached an anniversary sermon, the forty-sixth of his pastorate, and the forty-ninth of his ministry in the one church, since he preached his first discourse in Rockaway, January 24th, 1806. December 12th, 1858, the session of the Presbyte- rian Church at Rockaway adopted a minute, and directed a copy of it to be sent to him, its senior pastor, in view of the fact that the fiftieth anniversary of his installation as pastor was at hand. In this minute the session speak in terms ex- pressive of gratitude to God for sending such a faithful man to be their pastor, and for the abundant results of his minis- try. "Let it be added that he was spared to his people more than three years after the occasion referred to. He some- times preached, but oftener exhorted, and always with ac- ceptance. His mental faculties remained unimpaired, and his interest in everything pertaining to his friends, the church, and the country, was as warm as in early manhood. The Monday night the news of the Bull Run disaster gave such horrible unrest to vast multitudes in the loyal States was spent by him in sleep as trustful and sweet as an infant's ; and he said : 'Children, it cost us seven years of dreadful war to give us a nation, it will cost us years of more dreadful war to save that nation; but you need not fear as if it were not to be saved. It shall live, and not die.' In the spring of 1862 it was thought best by himself that he tender his res- ignation formally to the parish; but, to their honor, his faithful people refused to receive it, professing to him an un- abated attachment." He had then filled the pastorate fifty- three years and several months. "On the second Sabbath in March, 1862, he had performed his last official act in public, with a singular fitness, it being on the occasion of his last communion with the church, at the close of which he stretched forth his hands and with such pathos and beauty pronounced the apostolical benediction, recorded in the thirteenth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, that many were moved to tears, and some even said they had never heard the words before." More than fifty-six years before he had preached for the first time in that congrega- tion, and more than fifty-four years (from October, 1807) had been preaching there regularly, lacking only less than a year of being their pastor during that long period. Thus writes Rev. Dr. Joseph F. Tuttle : "The first half of this century was marked by no cvent more important in its re- sults to the region of country of which Rockaway, Morris county, is the centre, than the entrance of the Rev. Barna- bas King upon his duties as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in that town; the moral force he exerted effecting

ONES, REV. JOSEPH II., D. D., late Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of New Brunswick, New Jersey, was born in Tolland county, Connecti- cut, and graduated at Cambridge, Massachusetts, wherefrom, by appointment, he became a tutor in Bowdoin College. At the expiration of one year he removed to Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, and after spend- ing two or three years in that place prosecuted his theolog- ical studies at Princeton Seminary. He was then engaged one year as stated supply of Woodbury, New Jersey, and subsequently was called to New Brunswick, with a salary of nine hundred dollars. "The church prospered greatly under him ; and his pastoral attention was unremitting." Every successive year of his ministry here brought with it new evidences of prosperity. A parsonage was built in 1827, at a cost of three thousand three hundred and fifty dollars ; and in 1832 a new frame session-house was erected adjoining the church, at a cost of two thousand six hundred and ninety-six dollars. The old session-house was sold with permission of the session, and the proceeds, with rents amounting to one hundred and seventy-nine dollars and forty-four cents, were divided among the owners pro rata.

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At a later period the congregation had increased so much that the project of a second organization was entertained, and ventilated in a public meeting called for the purpose, but after a warm discussion the subject was indefinitely postponed. But, although the project was discountenanced by the majority, there were a few who continued to uphold it ; and eventually a second church was organized. "As in consequence of the determination to erect a new edifice the pretext of want of room was obviated, it was shrewdly sus- pected that theological differences were at the bottom of this scheme; and these suspicions grew into belief when, on the division of the General Assembly in 1838, the second church elected to adhere to the new school, while the first church adhered to the old. It is gratifying to be able to add that the second church having in the course of time become freed from its original elements, has since returned to the old school connection, and the congregation are now wor- shipping in a new and tasteful building, erected chiefly by the liberality of three individuals. Although there was no small debate about it, it was at last determined by the old congregation to take down their house and erect a larger one nearly on the same site, viz., on the corner of George and Paterson strects." In the interval that elapsed, the consis- tory of the Dutch church courteously offered the use of their house on Sabbath afternoons, which was gratefully accepted, the morning service being held in the lecture-room. The new church was dedicated on Thursday, December 15th, 1836; Dr. John Breckinridge preaching in the morning, and Dr. McClelland in the afternoon, to crowded auditories. The amount of money disbursed was twenty-three thousand three hundred and twenty-eight dollars and fifty-six cents, of which six thousand dollars were borrowed. This debt was shortly after generously assumed in different proportions by ten gentlemen, viz. : Charles Smith, James Neilson, John W. Stout, Frederick Richmond, Joseph C. Griggs, Samuel Holcomb, F. R. Smith, Peter Dayton, A. S. Neilson, and Augustus R. Taylor. A lien was given them on the unsold pews, and the income arising from them; but when it was soon after discovered that there was still a further debt on the church property to the amount of two thousand eight hundred and twenty-six dollars, they voluntarily proposed to relinquish their lien, on condition that the rest of the con- gregation would raise money sufficient to wipe off this re- maining incumbrance. The condition was fulfilled; fresh subscriptions were made, and the congregation had ulti- mately the satisfaction of occupying their new church, with- out fear of sheriff's writs or foreclosure of mortgages. In 1837 a remarkable revival of religion occurred, “ altogether unprecedented in the history of New Brunswick," whose fruits were the addition of one hundred and forty-nine persons to the communion of the Presbyterian church, and of about three hundred and fifty to the other churches of the city. During that period of grace, the pastors were relieved in their arduous duties by the visits of eminent clergymen from other places, among whom were Dr. John Breckin-

ridge, Professor Dod, Mr. Rodgers, Drs. Murray, Archibald, James W. Alexander, David Abeel, Thomas L. Janeway, and Armstrong. From New Brunswick, the revival spread to the neighboring towns; and the churches of Bound Brook, Somerville, Plainfield, and Piscataway, in particular, largely shared the blessing. "In the First Presbyterian Church there have been other seasons of refreshing, but for power and extent the revival of 1837 stands without a parallel, either before or since. In attempting to account for it, he is of opinion that no natural causes were adequate; neither the cholera of 1832, the tornado of 1835, the com- mercial embarrassments of a later period, the predisposition of the people, or the ordinary means of grace; in short, he prefers to ascribe it to that mysterious and divine agency which, like the wind, bloweth where it listeth. It only re- mains to add that the great mass of the converts have done credit to their profession." The singular success of his ministry drew on him the attention of the Sixth Church of Philadelphia, which was languishing, and turned to him as one likely to promote their resuscitation. At first he declined the invitation, and his people fearing to lose his services, at once raised his salary to twelve hundred dollars with the parsonage. Eventually, however, yielding to urgent importunities and the advice of the Princeton pro- fessors, he conceived it to be his duty to go, and accordingly gave up his charge in New Brunswick, in the spring of 1838, thus closing an honorable and useful career of thirteen years, amid the profound and openly expressed regrets of his people. "His name and services still continue fragrant in the memory of New Brunswick." At the time of his de- parture, April 24th, 1838, the session reported the large number of four hundred and eleven communicants.

OCKHILL, JOIIN, M. D , late of Pittstown, Hunt- erdon county, New Jersey, descended from a family of Lincolnshire, England, and son - of Edward Rockhill, of Burlington county, New Jersey, was born in the latter county, March 22d, 1726. His professional studies were prosecuted under the supervision of Dr. Thomas Cadwallader, of Phil- adelphia, and upon being admitted to practise he established himself at Pittstown, where he was actively engaged during the ensuing fifty years. The range of country over which his functions were exercised was enormous, being limited only by the Blue mountains on the north, and the Delaware on the west, and extending on the south and east fairly into the territory covered by the physicians of Burlington, Rari- tan and New Brunswick. Owing to the troublous state of the times, his practice was largely surgical, one of his nota- ble cases being a most dangerous gunshot wound that he treated with remarkable skill and success. During a foray on the part of the Indians living to the north of the moun- tains, the house of a settler named Wedges was attacked,

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captured, plundered and burned; and while the family were escaping to the woods, one of the children, a girl of twelve, was shot directly through the lungs. She fell, as was supposed, dead, but when her people returned the next morning, she was found in the brush, very much exhausted, but yet alive. Dr. Rockhill was sent for-the distance to Pittstown was nearly forty miles, and the roads were little more than blazed tracks through the woods-and by his exertions saved her life. She entirely recovered, subse- quently married a son of Edward Marshall-the Edward Marshall who took the famous " long walk " along the Delaware-and reared a family of twelve children. Beside attending to his large and far-reaching practice, Dr. Rock- hill found time to transact a large amount of other business as well, being considerably engaged in public affairs, and being for a number of years employed as Surveyor to the West Jersey Board of Land Proprietors. He married a Miss Robeson, by whom he had several children. The brother of this lady married Dr. Rockhill's sister, George M. Robeson, late Secretary of the Navy, being a great- grandson of the latter couple.

AIGHT, CIIARLES, Lawyer and ex-Member of Congress, of Freehold, New Jersey, son of Thomas G. and Ann Eliza (Van Meter) Haight, and descended from William Haight, one of three brothers who emigrated to this country from Germany, was born at Colt's Neck, Monmouth county. New Jersey, January 4th, 1838. Entering the Col- lege of New Jersey, Princeton, as a sophomore, in 1854, he graduated from that institution in 1857, and in the same year began the study of law in the office of that eminent barrister, Joel Parker, sometime Governor of New Jersey. Completing his legal education in the office of Messrs Cummins, Alexander & Green, counsellors and attorneys- at-law, New York, he was licensed to practise as an attor- ney at the bar of New Jersey in 1861, and as a counsellor in 1865 Upon being admitted to the bar he established himself at Freehold, where he rapidly built up an extensive practice. From early manhood he has taken an active and important part in politics-a sphere in which his father was also distinguished In 1860 he was elected, on the Demo- cratic ticket, a member of the State Legislature, and in the session of 1861-62 was Speaker of the House, a position the delicate dutics of which he discharged in a manner HETWOOD, IION. WILLIAM, Lawyer, late of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, was born in that place in 1770, and was the son of Jolin Chet- wood, one of the Justices of the Supreme Court. Ilis family were originally Quakers, and settled first in Salem county, but, after the removal of Judge Chetwood to Elizabethtown, became connected with satisfactory to both parties. In 1867 he was elected to Congress from the Second Congressional District (compris- ing Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean counties), and in 1869 was re elected from the same district. While in Congress his record was highly creditable, and in 1872 his name was brought prominently before the State Demo- cratic Convention as that of a candidate for the governor- I the Episcopal Church. He was educated at Princeton Col-

ship. He has frequently been a Delegate to the conven- tions of his party-was a member and Chairman of the New Jersey delegation in 1872 to the convention that nomi- nated Horace Greeley for the Presidency-and in conven- tions and party councils generally his opinions are listened to with respect and have a considerable influence in mould- ing the line of policy adopted. He is regarded as one of the leaders of the younger bar of New Jersey, and in 1873 was appointed, by Governor Parker, Prosecutor of the Pleas for Monmouth county. He was married, in 1862, to Mary B., daughter of Dr. J. L. Taylor, of Trenton, New Jersey.

OLCOMBE, HENRY, M. D., late of Everittstown, Hunterdon county, was born in Hunterdon county, August 5th, 1797. Having graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1818, he read medicine with his cousin, Dr. George Holcombe, of Allentown, Monmouth county, New Jersey-a physician who at that time stood at the head of his profes- sion in the State-subsequently entered the medical depart- ment of the University of Pennsylvania, and from that insti- tution received his degree of M. D. in 1821. Having been duly licensed to practise as a physician in New Jersey, he settled at Rowland's Mills, on the south branch of the Raritan, but in the ensuing year (1822) he removed to Everittstown, where he was engaged in active practice during the ensuing thirty-seven years. His exceptionally thorough education gave him a decided advantage over the medical men of the locality, and his services were soon in general demand ; in a few years his practice extended over almost the entire county, and even across the river into Pennsylvania. In 1821 he was one of the founders of the Hunterdon County Medical Society, was Treasurer of that organization in 1825-26-27-28, and a member of the Board of Censors in 1825. He was also an honorary member of the Philadelphia Medical Society. He married Catherine, daughter of Samuel Case, Esq, by whom he had one daughter, Elizabeth, subsequently the wife of Baltus Pickel, Esq, of Trenton. In agricultural pursuits he took much interest, owning a large farm, the affairs of which he man- aged with remarkable skill and success. He died on the 7th of April, 1859

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lege, graduated from that institution in 1792, and subse- | Mr. Stiger's employment at Clinton. In 1854 he removed quently pursued a course of studies in law, under the to New York city, and served as clerk in the house of Young, Bonnell & Sutphen, on the dissolution of which, in 1856, he became a partner in the reconstructed firm of Young, Bonnell & Co. Four years later Young retired from the firm, when the style was altered to A. Bonnell & Co., and afterwards to Bonnell, Dusenbery & Co., and finally on the Ist of May, 1869, this latter partnership was dissolved to make way for one composed of himself and his brother, Joseph Warren, under the name of Dusenbery Brothers, in West street, New York. Thus was his business career crowned. Never was commercial success more gradual, regular, or legitimate, the way for each forward step in his course having been made smooth hy the preceding one. After faithfully toiling at the bottom of the ladder, and slowly but surely mounting the rounds, he reached at last the top, where he has since stood, and now stands, not only a thoroughly successful man of business, a commercial leader in the commercial metropolis of the land, but a citizen universally esteemed and implicitly trusted. It is safe to assume that a success thus attained will be steadily maintained at its full height. Ile finds time to discharge with acceptability all his civic and social duties, but none for the mere contests of party. In religious belief he is a Presbyterian, and is a Ruling Elder and President of the Board of Trustees of the First Presbyterian Church, Bergen, Jersey City, New Jersey. He is a Director of the Library Association of Bergen, and President of the Central Savings Bank of Jersey City; but, though several times nominated, he has always declined political office. Ile is married to Emily A. Stiger, daughter of Adam Stiger, of Clinton, an old resident and merchant of Hunterdon county. guidance and care of his father. During the memorable " Whiskey Insurrection," he became a volunteer, and served on the staff of General Lee, having the rank then, or after- ward, of Major, by which title he was usually addressed. He was licensed as an attorney in 1796, as counsellor in 1799, and in 1816 was made a serjeant-at-law. He was elected a member of Congress by the Jackson party, being one of those Federalists who preferred him to Adams. Afterward, however, he acted chiefly with the Whigs. He accumulated a very handsome estate, a considerable part of which was invested in New York insurance companies, and ultimately lost by the great fire of 1835, leaving him, how- ever, a competent support. He was for many years a con- stant attendant on the sittings of the Supreme Court at Trenton, and " was one of those indefatigable workers, who, by persistent industry, are pretty sure to succeed." A story was formerly told of him that is not without piquancy : On one occasion he attended court in his own carriage, as the custom then was, expecting to remain only a day, and without a change of linen. Unexpectedly detained, it be- came necessary for him to go to Sussex county without returning home ; and he turned his shirt, in order to appear as decently as circumstances would permit. But before it was possible to procure a change, he found it expedient to turn it back again, and so arrived at home about as he left, but with a shirt rather the worse for wear. Ile married a daughter of Colonel Francis Barber, who was killed during the revolutionary war by the falling of a tree. He died at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, in 1857, at the advanced age of eighty-six years and six months.

USENBERY, IIENRY, of Jersey City, was born in New Hampton, New Jersey, April 21st, 1828. Ile is a son of Joseph Warren Dusenbery, of New Hampton, formerly engaged in the mercan- tile and milling business there, and a grandson of Major Henry Dusenbery, a merchant of Phila- delphia, who afterwards settled at New Hampton. He attended the village school at New Hampton until he was fifteen years of age, when he became a clerk in the service of Benjamin Shackleton, a merchant at Quakertown, New Jersey, whose head-quarters were at Belvidere, Warren county, of which the Quakertown business was a branch. Ile remained in that position for three years, engaging then in the same capacity with M. S. Stiger, of Clinton, the first mayor of that town, and remaining with him for about the same period. Leaving the employment of Mr. Stiger, he went to Imlaysdale, Warren county, and set up in busi- ness as a general storekeeper on his own account, conduct. ing the business for three years; after which he returned to

USENBERY, JOSEPH WARREN, younger brother of the subject of the preceding sketch, was born at New Hampton, New Jersey, March 12th, 1830. He was educated principally at the village school, which he attended until he was seventeen years of age, when he entered St. Matthew's Hall, Port Colden, New Jersey, where he pursued his studies for one year, and then, accoutred as he was, plunged in the " angry flood " of life. He first entered the employment of Benjamin Shackleton, at Quakertown, serving laim as clerk for some three years, at the end of which he went to Clinton, New Jersey, and in the same capacity served Joseph Stiger for about the same length of time. His service with Mr. Stiger having been terminated by that gentleman's death, he formed a partnership in the general mercantile business with Alexander Bonnell, at Clinton, under the name of Bonnell & Dusenbery, which continued for ten years or thereabouts. During his mem- bership in this firm he was chosen a Director of the Clinton Bank. His integrity, talents and success as a business man

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had already given him an enviable standing in the com- In 1789 he petitioned the Legislature of New York for a grant of the exclusive navigation of the waters of that State, his petition being accompanied with draughts of the plan of his steamboat. The right demanded was, however, not granted. In 1804 he constructed a propeller, a small open boat worked by steam, and success meeting this venture, he built the " Phoenix," a steamboat which was completed but a short time after Fulton had finished the "Clermont." Fulton having obtained the exclusive right to the naviga- tion of the Hudson, his coworker placed his boats on the Delaware and Connecticut. In 1812 he published a re- markable pamphlet, urging the government to make experi- ments in railways traversed by steam carriages, and pro- posed the construction of his projected railway from Albany munity. Subsequently he established himself in business on his own account in the same town, prosecuting the enter- prise for about two years, after which he removed to New York city, where he became a partner in the firm of Bon- nell, Dusenbery & Co., on the dissolution of which he united with his brother Henry in establishing the present house of Dusenbery Brothers, in West street, New York. In this house his fortunes, like his brother's, and through remarkably similar vicissitudes, have culminated, capping with substantial and visible success a long, patient, faithful, energetic and honorable course of mercantile toils and ven- tures. When the prizes of life are so won, they can excite only satisfaction in the beholder, as they should bring nothing but happiness to the possessor. He has been twice to Lake Erie. " The railway engines," he thought, " might

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The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 100

Author: Robson, Charles, ed; Galaxy Publishing Company, publisher Publication date: 1877 Publisher: Philadelphia, Galaxy publishing company Number of Pages: 924

Author: Robson, Charles, ed; Galaxy Publishing Company, publisher
Publication date: 1877
Publisher: Philadelphia, Galaxy publishing company
Number of Pages: 924