The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 111

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

USA > New Jersey > The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century > Part 111

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

ENTLEY, PETER, Lawyer, late of Jersey City, son ef Christopher and Eleanor (Althouse) Bentley- the former of English, the latter of Dutch descent -was born at Half Moon, Saratoga county, New York, September 7th, 1805. In his early youth he was enabled to receive but little knowledge from books, only such as could be gathered during the win- ter months in a country school-house, and in the winter evenings by the mingled light of pine-knots and the broad open fire; but these scant advantages he utilized to the ut- most, and on the slender foundation that, even when best used, they afforded he reared in after life, by determined effort, the superstructure of a liberal English and a very fair classical education. Alternating with his brief days of schooling was the wholesome exercise of outdoor life and labor upon his father's farm; and by the years thus spent in honest, hard work in the open air he acquired that physical vigor and endurance which gave him strength for his com- ing battle with the world. In 1825, when twenty years of age, without the aid of capital, or that of the sustaining power of influential friends, he came to Jersey City. En- tering the establishment of Yates & McIntyre, who at that time owned many of the lottery grants of the country, he acquired the art of printing, and was thus brought within the sphere of the movements of that period. Here he formed an acquaintance with the members of that firm, who were then prominent men, and, with some of their successors, he was on terms of friendship until they all passed away. The profession of the law then, as now, was regarded as the way to honorable distinction and fortune. Notwithstanding his limited means of early education he determined to enter a higher position. After remaining five years with Yates & McIntyre, in the early part of 1830 he began the study of the law with Samuel Cassedy, at that time the leading at- torney in the old county of Bergen, which stretched from Rockland county, New York, to Kill Von Kull. Not

many of the details of office business. His preceptor gave him the business of the justices' courts. Affairs in that court were more important then than now. Personal prop- erty at that time was confined chiefly to mortgages, shares in banks and insurance companies, and the struggles in the justices' courts were often participated in by lawyers of the first talent in the State. That was the training-ground for the young professional aspirant; and six or twelve free- holders were often assembled before the magistrate as jurors, to settle controversies which now would be regarded as in- volving amounts too small to merit serious attention. Ear- nest, zealous, and pertinacious, he here made his mark and attracted attention, and the Dutch descendants, who pre- dominated in Bergen county, soon became acquainted with and appreciated his sterling qualities. The confidence that the Dutch thus early reposed in his ability and worth re- mained unshaken throughout his entire life. Squire Para- dise, as he was called, a peculiar and eccentric man, who had a personal deformity from a curvature of the spine near the neck, held his court as a justice of the peace in York street, at Pawles Hook; and Mr. Bentley, from his efficiency and zeal, while yet a law student, became the Attorney- General in that tribunal. His native sagacity and practical sense supplied the want of erudition ; and confidence, the parent of success, was here acquired. In 1833 he was Clerk of the Board of Select Men of Jersey City, that being the early title of the municipal corporation. He was ad- mitted to the bar of New Jersey in the May term of the Supreme Court, 1834, and took the degree of Counsellor in September term, 1839. He at once showed his sagacity. The Pawles Hook ferry was then at the foot of Grand strect. On that street stood Billy Anderson's tavern, the proprietor of which was famous in those days for his humor and drollery, and along it passed all the travel to New York from the counties of Essex and Middlesex, and a large part of the county of Bergen. On this street, in the first square from the ferry, he purchased a lot and there erected a neat and commodious office. His success was almost immediate. Many matters of importance were in- trusted to him in the first few years of his practice, and his able management of these gave him a permanent standing at the bar. His Dutch clients constantly increased, and he invested their money on bond and mortgage; managed and settled their estates when the ownership was changed by death, and money flowed into his hands from the simple reason that he showed that he could be trusted, and could display sagacity in its use. He had an element of success which marks all able men. What he could not do himself he could find the right man to do, and he always in his cases showed his judgment by selecting the best assistants. He was essentially a manager of affairs. He came early in contact with the leading men in the profession, by call- ing in their assistance in the important cases in which he was engaged, and his practical judgment and acumen were

494

BIOGRAPIIICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.

always most valuable aids in any controversy. He became the attorney of the Select Men of Jersey City, and was engaged in the celebrated cause of The Select Men against Dummer, in which, in 1842, the doctrine of dedication by maps was decided. In 1843 he was elected Mayor of Jersey City. Such a selection at that period was not so much a matter of party success as an expression of confi- dence and good-will among neighbors. In his temperament he was earnest and zealous; and this quality imported force and energy to his character. He had one rare quality to a rare degree. He stuck to his friends. He would turn out of his way to render assistance to those who, when he was struggling to rise, aided him ; and the children of his bene- factors, unaware of the motives which impelled him, were frequently helped in the time of need. Though never claiming to be deeply read, he possessed a good working library, and took pleasure in keeping it up. He was familiar with where to find the needed information, and with a few practical suggestions and directions, urged students to work out their own difficulties. His advice was sound and practical. He had a quick and excellent perception of the right of a case, and of its reasonable probabilities. He was noted for bringing about settlements, and fought his clients' battles as cunningly and with as much tact, ingenuity and success in office conferences as many others do hefore the court. His shrewd judgment of the prohabilities of suc- cess was well shown (in 1843) in his adoption, with persist- ent energy and confidence, of the celebrated case of Mrs. Bell, involving the question of the right of the State to lands below high-water mark. After twelve or fourteen years of contest, in which he secured the aid of some of the ablest counsel in the State, and when it seemed likely that final success in the United States Supreme Court would justify his views, a satisfactory settlement was reached. The sale of the valuable rights in question to the Long Dock Company initiated the series of vast improvements which now line the Jersey City shores for miles, and what- ever may be said of the sure result, sooner or later, of the natural advantages of this shore, the persistent energy of Mr. Bentley greatly aided in hastening the advent of these improvements. Banking facilities thirty years ago were rare in Jersey City. The old North River Bank, in Green- wich street, was generally the resort of Jerseymen on the west banks of the Hudson. The banking enterprises in Bergen county had generally been disastrous. The Hudson County Bank was founded in the year 1851, and Mr. Bent- ley conceiving the need of another institution, and having, as already stated, the confidence of capitalists, organized the Mechanics' and Traders' Bank in the year 1853, and became its President. He evinced in that position his usual ability, and though he retired from that office on account of the conduct of others, who did not fully appreciate the delicacy of their position, the institution prospered under his management and won the confidence of the public. He became a prominent Trustee in the Provident Institution for

Savings in Jersey City, and was its legal adviser to the time of his death. His general advice was to invest in land, and instead of trusting to investments in corporations his maxim was, that he could best manage his own capital. In the purchase of lands, his preference was to acquire those on which there were some improvements, that interest and taxes might not absorb the value of the investment; a rule the soundness of which has been demonstrated by the disas- ters of recent times. While in the pursuit of business he had a maxim, which with him was successful in practice : that to get in debt for that which was fully equivalent to the responsibility incurred, stimulated to exertion, and led to success. On the 13th of October, 1842, he married Mar- garet E., daughter of John W. Holmes, of Jersey City, who was of English descent. His married life was harmonious, and he derived from that source an incentive to activity and progress. The strength and confidence which a man of well-constituted mind derives from happy domestic relations lead to great exertions; and the conviction that disaster will wreck more than one introduces the elements of prudence and caution. In the year 1854 he made a purchase of lands on the western slope of Bergen Hill, and there erected a commodious residence. This was his home for the remain- der of his life; and some relative, some friend or neighbor could daily be found under his hospitable roof. His wife, a lady of cultivated manners and kindly disposition, con- tributed her share to the entertainments. He had two chil- dren, a son and a daughter, and he lived to see his son en- gage in the profession that he himself so long had honored, and to see his children's children grow up around himn. He thus enjoyed that paternal pride which in imagination looks forward to future generations to perpetuate a name, and to whom he could transmit the fruits of his labors. Opposed to municipal extravagance, Mr. Bentley took an active part in all those plans designed to protect property from unnecessary taxes and wasteful assessments. Finding that extravagant and unjust assessments, provocative of serious litigation, had been imposed on property in Jersey City, he conceived in 1873 the plan of creating a commis- sion, to be composed of men of high character, who should be empowered to review all such cases, and adjust them on sound and equitable principles. With his usual energy he carried his project before the Legislature ; had a commission appointed, of which Judge Haines, who had heen the Gov- ernor of the State, and Justice of the Supreme Court, was made the head; and the result was a more just and proper distribution of the public burthens, and the assessments having been fairly established have been for the most part collected. Instead of shrinking from responsibility he was ever ready to oppose projects designed to oppress the prop- erty holder, and on many occasions he showed how much success could be obtained by earnest and persevering effort. He was Treasurer of the Jersey City and Bergen Plank Road Company; a Director in the Gas Company, and at one time Treasurer; and executed many trusts relative to

495

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.

property where individuals were concerned. He was also | Institute, where he remained two years, attending subse- Vice-President of the Savings Bank of Jersey City. To- quently the Union Academy, from which he graduated in 1853, entering the same year the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, at which he graduated in 1856. On receiving his medical diploma he settled in Belleville, New Jersey, and at once began the practice of his profession. Shortly afterwards he accepted an appointment as Surgeon on a New York and Liverpool vessel, whichi, on the completion of his first round voyage in her, suffered an outbreak of yel- low fever while in quarantine, and, the assistant health officer failing to report, he volunteered to supply his place for the emergency, which he did so acceptably that, in recognition of his promptitude and efficiency, he was soon after ap- pointed to fill the place regularly, receiving a commission as Assistant Health Officer of the Port of New York. This position, so honorably conferred, he held for one year. The following year he spent in perfecting his knowledge of surgical dentistry, and in the spring of 1858 settled at Dantown, New Jersey, where he remained until the break- ing out of the civil war, when he was commissioned Assist- ant Surgeon of the 9th New Jersey Volunteers, serving with the regiment in every engagement after the battle of Newbern till the close of the war, having meanwhile been commissioned a full Surgeon. Ile was mustered out with wards the close of his life he spent much time in travel ; visiting Europe and the Pacific coast, and wherever he went making friends by his genial disposition. In politics he was originally a Democrat, and acted with that party ; but no party ties were strong enough to control his action in a direction which his conscience did not approve; and when, in 1848, the Democratic party, at the dictation of the South, proclaimed its purpose to force slavery into all our Territories, his free spirit revolted, and uniting with similar spirits in the State, he took an active part in organizing the "Free Soil " party. Although the ticket then nominated received at the election in November following but about one hundred and forty votes in the State, the principles of that party which he then advocated took deep root in the nation, and he lived long enough to see their complete tri- umph in the absolute overthrow of the hated institution of slavery. In the great struggle that led to this consummation the nation contained no truer patriot or more staunch sup- porter than he. His patriotism, it is true, was not of that noisy and boisterous kind which characterized many who acquired a reputation for intense loyalty to the government, and found their reward in profitable contracts, moieties, and commissions; but of that quiet, retiring kind that watched passing events with intense interest, and spared not his wealth, when needed, to fill up and maintain our armies in the field. After the war was over he felt a deep interest and took an active part in politics, continuing to within but a short period of his death to give to his city and State the benefit of his counsel in public affairs. He died September, 1875. Peter Bentley was one of the active men who laid the foundations, who helped to plan the municipal corpora- tions, and draft the laws and charters upon which the insti- tutions of the county of Hudson have been reared; as a lawyer he was possessed of great ability, as a man, of no less great integrity, and in all relations of life he so con- ducted himself that at his death he left to his children that most honorable of all heritages-an unsullied name.

ILLETTE, FIDELIO BUCKINGHAM, M. D., of Plainfield, was born in Nile, Allegany county, New York, October 30th, 1833. He is a son of the Rev. Walter Bloomfield Gillette, a Baptist clergyman. His grandfather and great-grand- father were physicians, the latter having been a Huguenot, banished from France during the religious perse- cutions in that country. His family, indeed, has been noted for the number of physicians and preachers it in- cludes. When he was four years of age his father had charge of a Baptist church in Middlesex county, New Jer- sey, in the public schools of which he received his early education .. At the age of fifteen he entered the Du Ruyter

the regiment at Trenton, in August, 1865. His partiality for military service, however, survived the war, and induced him not to quit the army. In November of the same year, accordingly, he reported to Dr. Goodman, Medical Director at Vicksburg, and, receiving the contract of Acting Assistant Surgeon in the United States army, was ordered to Natchez, and placed in charge of the hospital there, in which capacity he served till the spring of 1868, when he was ordered to Texas as Medical Officer on the staff of General Gillem. Arriving at Galveston, he was made Post Surgeon, filling the position for three months, after which he filled the same position at Indianola, where he remained until the post was broken up. Later he was Post Surgeon at Corpus Cliristi, at which, however, after a few months, the post was also broken up; whereupon he crossed the plains with his family, who had joined him just before the close of the war, to Ringgold Barracks, near Camargo, and, after remaining there a few months, proceeded to Brownsville, Texas. In July, 1872, he resigned his position in the army, and, re- turning to New Jersey, settled in Plainfield, principally for the sake of securing educational advantages to his children. During the second year of his residence at Plainfield he was appointed City Physician, and in 1876 was appointed County Physician for the county of Union. The checkered, rough-flowing course of his professional career at last runs smooth in the midst of peace and its triumphs. He was married, in 1856, to Sarah E. McPherson, of Salem county, New Jersey. Whilst serving with the famous Third Division in the South he had the misfortune to lose his youngest daughter, who died at Greensborough, North Carolina.

496

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

ELCH, WILLIAM M., M. D., was born, Septem- ber 12th, 1837, in Bethlehem, Hunterdon county, New Jersey. His father was a farmer at Bethle- hem, the family being American as far back as it has been traced. He pursued his medical studies in the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1859, settling the following year in Philadel- phia. He is a member of the Philadelphia County Medical Greenwich cemetery. The mother of Henry R. Kennedy, Society, of which he was elected Treasurer in 1869; of the Northern Medical Association, of which he was President in 1869; of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society; and of the American Medical Association. He published in 1871-2 a Report on Epidemic Small-Pox, and has written a few papers, able though few, on medical topics. In the civil war he served for two years as Acting Assistant Sur- geon in the United States army. He has been one of the Attending Physicians to the Northern Home for Friendless Children, in Philadelphia, since 1865; and in 1870 he was appointed Physician-in-charge of the Municipal Hospital. For five years he served as Attending Physician to the Northern Dispensary, to which he is now one of the con- sulting physicians. He was for five years a member of the Medical Board of the Charity Hospital. He was married in 1863.

ENNEDY, HON. HENRY R., ex-State Senator, was born at Kennedyville, Greenwich township, Warren county, New Jersey, on the 10th of Jan- uary, A. D. 1815. He is the only remaining son of Judge Robert II. Kennedy, and grandson of Robert Kennedy, who was of Scottish descent, and emigrated to America with his father in 1748, and lo- cated first near Tinicum, Bucks county, Pennsylvania ; thence he removed in the year 1770 to Greenwich town- ship, Warren county, New Jersey, and finally settled on the Powhatcong creek, where he built a flour mill; and when the Revolution against Great Britain occurred, Robert Ken- nedy placed himself and his mills at the service of his coun- try, acting in the capacity of Brigade Wagon Master under General Washington; filling orders for flour and feed from his mills to the army at Morristown and the Short Hills, discharging his duties faithfully during the war, and there- after lived a quiet and unostentatious life, loved and revered for his kindness and benevolence. He died in 1812, and was interred in Greenwich cemetery, where in a plot forty feet square lie the remains of General William Maxwell, Captain John Maxwell, Captain Benjamin Mccullough, Conrad Davis, Thomas Kennedy and William Kennedy, brave and honored men of the Revolution. Robert HI. Kennedy, born in 1787, succeeded to the beautiful home- s'ead on the Powhatcong, being endowed with a kindly heart, which, in connection with his urbanity of manner and noble deportment, secured him the regard and esteem of

all. He early became the ensample of benevolence in the Presbyterian Church, and every call of charity met his prompt response. He served his township and county in divers official capacities, and in 1835 was elected to State Council for Warren county, being returned for a term of four years, faithfully fulfilling the trusts confided to him. He died in 1859, and lies buried in the family plot in the subject of this sketch, was the youngest daughter of John Key, Esq., who, with his brother Francis Key, the author of the " Star-Spangled Banner," took an active part for American freedom. Senator Kennedy was at an early age placed under the care and tuition of the Rev. John Vanderveer, of Easton, Pennsylvania, and completed his academic course at Rutgers College. He married in 1838 a daughter of General John Frelinghuysen. Mr. Kennedy being gifted with a goodly portion of the genial tempera- ment and integrity of character so prominent in his father's career, early attained the respect and confidence of the community in which he has served. Rearcd in the Pres- byterian faith, he united with the church in early life. He has served in the capacity of Ruling Elder nearly twenty years, liberally and conscientiously discharging the impor- tant duties of the position. He has served in many official positions, and has won the trust and confidence of those he serves. In the year 1863 he was elected to the Senate of New Jersey, and served three years in that body, to the sat- isfaction of his constituents. For a number of years he has been one of the Board of Managers of the State Lunatic Asylum at Trenton; is President of the Bloomsbury Na- tional Bank, and Chaplain of the H. R. Kennedy Lodge, A. F. and A. M., named in honor of him.

UER, EDWARD LOUIS, M. D., was born, Janu- ary 19th, 1836, at Crosswicks, Burlington county, New Jersey. He is a son of Dr. George S. Duer, of New Jersey, being of Scottish ancestry. He was educated at Yale College, from which he graduated in 1857, studying medicine at the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, and graduating from the medical de- partment of that institution in 1860. For two years he was Resident Physician of the Philadelphia Hospital, after which he practised medicine with his father for one year, when he settled permanently in Philadelphia. His specialty is obstetrics and diseases of women. He is a member of the College of Physicians; of the Pathological Society; of the Obstetrical Society, and of numerous other societies. He has written only a few short papers, which, however, suffice to show that he should write more, as he doubtless will when increased years have somewhat abated his ardor in the practice for which, notwithstanding his fine attain- ments and thorough culture, he has a manifest and decided

497

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

preference. He was for three years Acting Assistant Sur- geon in the United States army. He is Accoucheur and Clinical Lecturer on Diseases of Women and Children, and Visiting Physician to the Preston Retreat, as also to the State Hospital for Women. He was married, October 29th, 1863, to Miss Naudain, of Philadelphia.

ONDICT, REV. IRA, Vice-President of Rutgers College, Trustee of Princeton College, late of New Jersey, was a graduate of Princeton, and, after the completion of his studies at that institution, engaged in teaching school in Freehold. He af- terward studied theology with Rev. John Wood- hull. In April, 1786, he was licensed by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, and in 1787 installed pastor of the Pres- byterian Churches of Newton and Shappenac, New Jersey. In 1793 he became pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church in New Brunswick. At the revival of Queen's College, afterwards Rutgers, in ISOS, in effecting which he had an important agency, he was chosen Vice-President. Dr. Livingstone was the President, but the office was a nominal one, as he confined himself almost exclusively to his theo- logical professorship, so that his colleague was virtually the President until his decease in ISII. He had a strong, ath- letic frame, and was considerably above the medium height ; had dark eyes and hair, with an expression of countenance which indicated a vigorous masculine intellect. He was a man of great reserve and remarkable gravity.

Catechist at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, on a stipend of ten pounds per year, the church obliging themselves, in case he should be appointed to the mission, " to raise the sum of fifty pounds current money of the province per annum," in addition, and to provide him a convenient parsonage. On the 1 1th of December, 1749, the church purchased of Cap- tain John Emott, step-son of Mr. Vaughan, and son-in-law of Elias Boudinot, Sr., for a hundred and sixty-two pounds, a parsonage lot of ahout four acres, with the old dwelling- house built in 1696-97 by Andrew Hampton. The wardens at this time were John Halsted and Henry Garthwait, and the vestrymen William Ricketts, Jacob De Hart, Peter Trembly, Matthias De Hart, Jonathan Ilampton, and Mat- thias Williamson. During the same year Rev. Mr. Wood was appointed missionary to New Brunswick, with instruc- tions to " spend a Sunday or two every month at Elizabeth- town." At the close of May, 1750, that minister had made but two visits to the town, his duty at New Brunswick per- mitting him to officiate there only on every fourth Sunday. The most urgent representations were then made to the society for a resident rector, one who could give them his whole time, and Mr. Chandler, in response, was appointed in 1750 to be their missionary at Elizabeth, if, upon his arrival in England, " he shall be found worthy to be ordained a deacon and priest." Among the considerations urged was the fact that " the Dissenters in this town have five minis- ters settled, constantly to officiate in publick, to visit theni in private, ready to serve on any particular occasion, and, in a word, that are always in and among them." In the summer of 1751 he repaired to England, was admitted to the priesthood by Dr. Thomas Sherlock, Bishop of London, and early in September sailed again for America, arriving at home, after a passage of nine weeks, about the Ist of November. His salary was fixed at thirty pounds sterling from the society, and sixty pounds New Jersey currency, with a house and glebe from the people. At the close of 1754 the congregation included eighty-five families, and the communicants numbered ninety. In 1757, during the prev- alence of the small-pox, he was prostrated by the terrible scourge, and did not recover from its ill effects for nearly three years. In addition to his labors here as parish priest, he performed a large amount of missionary work in visiting and officiating in the remote parts of the town back of the mountains, and in the town of Woodbridge. His ministra- tions at the latter place, at the commencement of the year 1762, had required of him more than three thousand miles of travel, and nearly two hundred sermons, for all of which he had received in gratuities not more than five guineas. As he had been bred an Independent, and had in early youth become a convert to Episcopacy, " it was natural for him to magnify the importance of the Episcopal peculiari- ties." With all the zeal, therefore, of a proselyte, he sought to widen rather than to narrow the breach between " the church " and " the meeting." This object he sought to

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 111

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