The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 114

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

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and success. He is at present Consulting Physician to the Philadelphia Dispensary, and Councillor of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. He was married in 1834.

LOAN, JOHN, M. D., late of Easton, Pennsyl- vania, son of the Rev. William B. Sloan, for many years pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Greenwich, Warren county, New Jersey, was born in that town, May 26th, 1799. After being licensed as a physician he established himself in Bloomsbury, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, and in 1821 was one of the founders of the Hunterdon County Medical Society. He subsequently removed to Washington, Warren county ; thence in a short time to Easton, Pennsyl- vania ; thence to New York city, where he opened an apoth- ecary shop, and also engaged in practice; thence to Utica, New York ; thence to Asbury, Warren county, New Jersey, and finally, about 1835, returned to Easton; where he died on the 10th of February, 1849. His roving disposition pre- vented him from achieving any great measure of success in his profession, yet his ability was above the average, and as a practitioner he was popular. He was disposed to analyti- cal investigation of disease-a taste by no means common among country practitioners of his time-and in the ar- chives of the Hunterdon County Medical Society is still preserved a well-written essay by him, on " Intermittent Fever," read before that body at the semi-annual meeting in October, 1822,

LOAN, REV. WILLIAM B., Pastor of Greenwich, and late of that place, was born in Lamington, New Jersey, in the last quarter of the past century, and removed thence to Princeton, where he pur- sued his studies and became eventually a graduate of the college. At the completion of his general and literary studies he devoted himself to theology under the guidance and preceptorship of Dr. John Woodhull, of Freehold, New Jersey, and May 31st, 1797, was licensed by the Presbytery of New Brunswick. In 1798 he was or- dained by the same preshytery and installed as pastor of the United Congregations of Greenwich and Mansfield. For seventeen years he served, with noteworthy zeal, fidelity and usefulness, the two congregations, and at the expiration of that time became pastor of Greenwich only. Ultimately, through increasing infirmities, he was compelled to resign also the latter charge, and his pastoral relations with it were dissolved in October, 1834. " He was a man of noble presence, above the medium height, erect, slender, but well- formed; his features were finely chiselled, yet manly and dignified in expression ; his eye was a clear, expressive blue : and his gait and bearing were stately, yet uncon- strained. His talents were respectable, though not great ;

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his style simple and unaffected. He was not a very vigor. ous thinker, but was an earnest and affectionate preacher." He died July 3d, 1839.

cDOWELL, REV. JOHN, D. D., Trustee of Princeton College, late of Philadelphia, Peunsyl- vania, was born in Lamington, New Jersey, Sep- tember Iotlı, 1780, and reared on the paternal farm. He was the son of Matthew McDowell, whose father, Ephraim McDowell, migrated in 1746 from the north of Ireland, where his ancestors, fleeing from persecution in Scotland during the previous century, had found an asylum. Ephraim purchased a tract of 400 acres of wild land on the western borders of Somerset county, New Jersey, in what has since been known as the village of Lamington, about ten miles northwest of Somer- ville. Here Matthew McDowell was born, in 1748, and through his life was engaged in farming and agricultural pursuits; he married Elizabeth Anderson, whose parents also were from the north of Ireland. Both were exemplary members of the Presbyterian Church of Lamington. At the age of eleven years " he experienced religion," and entered upon a course of study for the ministry, under the instruc- tions of Rev. William Boyd, then teaching in the neighbor- hood of his home. In 1799 he entered the junior class of the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, graduating with honor in 1801, in the same class with Nicholas Biddle, afterward eminent as an able and remarkable financier. He studied theology under the direction, first, of Rev. Holloway W. Hunt, of Newton, New Jersey, and then of Rev. John Woodhull, D. D., of Freehold, New Jersey. At the latter place he made public profession of his religion in Septem- ber, 1802. April 25th, 1804, he was licensed by the Pres- bytery of New Brunswick, at their meeting in Basking Ridge. He was then providentially directed to Elizabeth- town, and there preached his first sermon on the first Sab- bath of July. The call was presented August 21st, 1804, and he was duly installed on the following Wednesday, December 26tlı, at eleven o'clock A. M. On this occasion Rev. Dr. Macwhorter, of Newark, presided, offered the ordaining prayer and gave the charge to the minister; Rev. Amzi Armstrong, of Mendham, New Jersey, preached from Titus i. 5; and Rev. Edward D. Griffin, of Newark, New Jersey, gave the exhortation to the people. In the faithful and laborious discharge of the duties of his office, as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, of Elizabeth, he continucd for a period of twenty-eight and a half years, greatly favored of God and honored of man. The attendance on his minis- trations steadily increased until it reached the full capacity of the church edifice ; so that, in February, 1820, mcasures wcre adopted for the gathering of a second Presbyterian church. The number added to his church during his min- istry, on profession of faith, was 921; and on certificate

223; in all, 1,144. The baptisms numbered 1,498, of whom 282 were adults. This notable success in his work was brought about by repeated outpourings of the Holy Spirit upon the congregation. The more remarkable of these seasons were the years 1807-8, 1813, 1817 and 1826. In 1808 the additions to the church by profession were III ; in 1813, " the year of hostility," 100; in 1817, 167; and in 1826, 138. Other seasons of refreshing, but of a less gen- eral and extended character, were enjoyed, also adding to the church on profession, in 1820, fifty-nine; and in 1831, forty-four. The number of communicants in 1804 was 207 ; in 1820, 660. In the year 1818 the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by the Uni- versity of North Carolina and by Union College. He was then already high in repute as a preacher, a scholar and an author. As a Trustee of the College of New Jersey, and as a Director of the Theological Seminary at Princeton, he rendered the most important services to the cause of edu- cation and of religion. Calls were extended to him, at different times during his ministry in Elizabeth, from the Collegiate Reformed Dutch Church and the Wall Street Presbyterian Church, both of the city of New York, and from the Presbyterian Church of Princeton, New Jersey. Overtures were made to him also from other quarters, but were not entertained. He was chosen a Professor in the Theological Seminary at Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and in the Union Theological Seminary of Virginia. He was also appointed Secretary of the Board of Missions. In pas- toral labors he ranked among the most useful ministers of the church. Every portion of his extensive charge was regularly visited at set seasons every year; Bible-classes, embracing a very large proportion of the youth in his con- gregation, were regularly instructed. Sunday-schools were introduced in 1814-16, and vigorously conducted; while all the benevolent operations of the church found in him an earnest and powerful advocate. In consequence mainly of his strenuous opposition, repeated attempts at Sabbath-pro- faning and horse-racing were cffectually frustrated; and his influence was felt all over the town, in all its interests, and only for good. A call was extended to him in April, 1833, by the Central Presbyterian Church, of Philadelphia, which hie accepted ; and, being released by the presbytery from his pastoral charge, he bade his people farewell, May 12th, and on the following June 6th was duly installed in his new field of labors. He married, at Newark, a few weeks after his installation there, February 5th, 1805, Henrietta Kollock, daughter of Shepard Kollock, and sister of his predecessor in the pastoral office. His death occurred February 13th, 1863, nearly thirty years after his removal from Newark, New Jersey, the whole interval having becu filled with faithful, laborious and effective service in his Master's vineyard. In the churches to which he so happily ministered, in the benevolent and educational boards of which he was a member, in the presbytery, the synod and the General Assembly (of the last of which he was for

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eleven years Permanent Clerk, and four years Stated Clerk), his memory is precious, and his good works rev- erently remembered. "Few men in this or any other community have left behind them a more grateful savor; and to none with more propriety could the Master say at the last, ' Well done, thou good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.' "-Rev. Dr. E. F. Hatfield.

AYRE, LEWIS ALBERT, M. D., was born, Feb- ruary 29th, 1820, at Madison, Morris county, New Jersey. He is a son of Ephraim Sayre, Quarter- master on General Washington's staff in the Revo- lution. In his youth he attended the Madison Academy and the Wantage Seminary, at Decker- town, subsequently entering the Transylvania University, at Lexington, Kentucky, from which he graduated in 1839, going the same year to New York city, where he began the study of medicine with Dr. David Gunn, and graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, March Ist, 1842. He at once settled in New York. Shortly after his graduation he was appointed Prosector of Surgery in the College of Physicians and Surgeons. In 1844 he organ- ized the Pathological Society of New York. From 1844 to 1866 he was Hospital Surgeon of the Ist Division of the New York State Militia. In 1853 he was appointed Sur- geon to Bellevue Hospital, a position which he still fills. From 1857 to 1871 he was Surgeon to the Charity Hospital, to which he is now Consulting Surgeon. From 1857 to 1866 he was Resident Physician of Charity Hospital. His specialty is surgery, in which his name stands among the very first in America. He is a member of the New York County Medical Society; of the New York State Medical Society ; of the American Medical Association ; of the New York Academy of Medicine; of the Pathological Socicty of New York ; of the New York Neurological Society ; and of the Medico-Legal Society of New York; and an honor- ary member of the New Brunswick Medical Society and of the Medical Society of Norway; and in 1872 was created by the King of Sweden a Knight of the Order of Wassa .. His medical writings, valuable, though not voluminous, comprise a paper on the " Exsection of the Head of the Femur," 1854; a report on " Morbus Coxam," 1860; a paper on "Compulsory Vaccination," 1862; a treatise on the " Mechanical Treatment of Diseased Joints," 1865; a report on the "Contagion of Cholera," 1866; a paper on " Club. Foot," 1869; an essay on " Reflex Paralysis and In- cordination from Genital Irritation," 1870; an exposition of a " New Treatment of Fractured Clavicle," 1871; a re- port on " Fractures," 1874; a paper on "Anchylosis," 1874: a treatise on "Orthopedic Surgery and Diseases of the Joints," 1876; a report on " Pott's Disease," Transactions of the American Medical Association, 1876; a paper on

" Lateral Curative," Transactions of the New York State Medical Society, 1876; and one on " Hip Disease," read before the Medical Congress, in 1876. He is not a poli- tician, but nevertheless he has very distinct and rooted political convictions, being a Democrat of the strictest sect, taking for his guide the Constitution as interpreted by the great chiefs of the Democracy, and rejecting all measures and all men that fall short of that standard. Personally he is one of the most genial and attractive of men. Although he early became an adopted son of New York, and is cher- ished as a son by Kentucky, in whose hlue-grass region he pursued his academical studies, New Jersey still claims him as her own by right of nativity, and asserts her title to share in his brilliant professional renown. Happily for him and for them his renown is great enough to go all round. He was married, January 25th, 1849, to Eliza A. Hall, daugh- ter of Charles H. Hall, of Harlem.

CHUREMAN, REV. JOHN, Pastor of the Re- formed Dutch Church at Millstone, New Jersey, Vice President of the New Brunswick College, late of New Brunswick, was born near that place, October 19th, 1778. In 1795 he graduated from the college there, and, after pursuing his theo- logical studies under the guidance of Dr. Livingston, was licensed to preach in 1800. In the course of the following year he settled at Bedminster, where he remained for six years. The Consistory of Millstone, possessing no parson- age, had disposed of all interest in their last property to Six Mile Run church ; he lived, after accepting the call of April 20th, 1807, on the place afterward occupied by Jacob Van Cleeve, near Blackwell's mills. During his ministry an important reformation in the management of the finances of the church was attempted, and met with partial success. Many of the pew-holders surrendered their old deeds to the consistory, and received new ones in return, in which the pews were made directly assessahle for all the expenses of the church. But his short pastorate there prevented the plan from being carried out fully, and in 1828, at the re- building of the church, " it was, unfortunately, not estab- lished." November 17th, 1809, the consistory agreed to his request to dissolve their relations, he having accepted a call to the Collegiate Church in New York. During the two years and a half of his ministry at Millstone he received into the church, on profession, seventeen ; and by certificate ten. His health soon failed him in New York, and in ISII he removed to New Brunswick, having been chosen Vice- President, as successor to Dr. Condict. He received, mean- while, successive calls from the church of New Brunswick, and in the spring of 1813 was installed as its pastor. " But his poor health, in three months, compelled him to give up this charge." In 1815 the church, appreciating his abilities,

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appointed him Professor of History and Church Govern- ment. Dr. Livingston writes concerning him : " He was mild and pleasant; discerning and firm; steadfast, but not obstinate ; zealous, but not assuming. The frequent hemor- rhage of his lungs, and the habitual weakness of his consti- tution, prevented him from close and intense studies ; yet he was a good belles-lettres scholar. His style was correct and pure; and he made such progress in the official branches of his professorship that his lectures upon eccle- siastical history and pastoral theology were highly accept- able and very useful. The suavity of his manners and the propriety of his conduct endeared him to the students, and recommended him to the respect and affection of all who knew him. He was growing into extensive usefulness, and, had he lived and progressed as he began, would have become a treasure to the Theological College." He died at New Brunswick, in May, 1818.

ABRISKIE, REV. JOHN L. (" Father Zabris- kie"), Pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church at Millstone, New Jersey, was born March 4th, 1779. He was of Polish extraction, having de- scended from Albert Saboroweski, who arrived in this country in the ship " Fox," in 1662, and settled at once in Hackensack, New Jersey; he had studied for the Lutheran ministry, it is said, but was in some manner impressed into the army, and at a favorable moment availed himself of an opportunity which offered to effect a safe flight to the new world. He purchased from the Indians a large tract of land, called Paramus, where many of his children resided permanently, and whence the family has sent forth numer- ous members and branches. He graduated at Union Col- lege in 1798, being a member of the first class in that insti- tution, and in 1801 was licensed to preach by the Classis

of Rensselaer. He. first settled over the united churches of Greenbush and Wynantskill, succeeding Rev. J. V. C. Romeyn, and where he continued for about eight years. " He preached here for the first in the month of February, 1810, and moved to Millstone in May, 1811, and was in- stalled by Rev. Mr. Cannon." The church, at the time of his settlement, had not more than about seventy members and eighty-four families; and his ministry began about the time when the incipient steps were in progress of all those great union associations of piety and philanthropy " which have since so greatly blessed, and are still blessing, our world." He was among the earliest friends of the New Jersey Bible Society, the first of those State societies which, when their numbers had increased, merged themselves into the one grand American Bible Society. " It scems to have been his work to build up this church to strength and num. bers through the Spirit's influence, that she might then take an active and important, yea, a prominent, part in these

great plans of God." Shortly after his settlement, early in 1812, the consistory again provided a parsonage property for themselves. They bought the lot, afterward occupied by Dr. Fred. Blackwell, of Daniel Disborough for $1,250, and immediate repairs bestowed swelled this amount to $2,232. During the first eighteen years of his ministry he preached in the old church. The building had received a slight re- pairing during the Revolution, and a more considerable one in 1783; again in 1800 it was very thoroughly reno- vated, and the pews rearranged; in 1805 was agitated the matter of putting in a gallery, but the project did not meet with success. The old building continued to be occupied till April 22d, 1828, the subject of rebuilding " having been agitated for twenty-five years, without a majority being able to agree on the best. course." On May 26th, 1827, how- ever, a memorial was presented to the consistory, signed by eighty persons, respectfully requesting a call to the congre- gation for a meeting to devise means for enlarging or re- building the church edifice. Frequent meetings were held, and finally the consistory determined that, in conformity with the wishes of a large portion of the congregation, a new church should be erected, the edifice to be built after the model of the new structure at Six Mile Run. The Building Committee consisted of Stephen Garretson, Daniel H. Disborough and Abraham Beekman, subject to the di- rection of the consistory. The corner-stone was laid June 8th, 1828, and an address delivered by the pastor from Gen. xxviii. 22. The church was dedicated on Christmas, Sabbath, 1828. His ministry, respecting additions to the church during the occupancy of the old building, had been quite successful ; and during his whole ministry in the new church, of twenty-two years, he received 280 on profession of faith, and 118 by certificates from other churches; while, during his whole pastorate of forty years, the total number received was 446 by profession, and. 162 by certificate. His last report to classis, in the spring of 1850, makes the church membership to be then 291, and 176 families. " Father Zabriskie died August 15th, 1850, at the age of seventy-one years. His dust lies in the adjoining churchyard, where his memorial monument reminds the passer-by of the vencrable ' minister of God' of more than half a century's service."

OUNG, NELSON, Merchant and Banker, of Som- erville, New Jersey, was born near Flemington, Hunterdon county, in that State, in 1814. His father was William P. Young, an old and, highly- esteemed citizen of Hunterdon. He received a fair business education, and during several years was engaged with his brother in the milling business near Flemington. In the year 1842 he removed to the city in which he at present resides, and entered into the grain trade there. Here he continued by himself till 1848. In

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that year the firm of Young & Bound was organized, for | membership to the church in Pearl street, then under the wholesale and retail business in the same line of trade, and pastoral care of Rev. Dr. Phillips, of which he was or- dained an elder in February, 1823. In the vigorous and faithful discharge of the duties of that office he continued during the pastorate of Dr. Phillips, Mr. Monteith and Drs. Rice and Rowland, until his removal to Elizabeth, New Jersey, in the spring of 1836. For the church there, its pastors and its members, he maintained an affection pecu- liarly strong. Soon after his connection with it he was elected to the office of Ruling Elder, and was installed March 4th, 1837. " His life-business in New York was that of a merchant. And whilst he was successful in his calling, and twice met with reverses that swept from him much of his gains, his high integrity was never questioned." He died in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in the spring of 1857. the seat of business removed from Flemington to New York. It soon became one of the largest establishments in the grain trade in New York, and continued to hold that position till 1863, when Mr. Young relinquished business, retired from the firm, and, returning to Somerville, took up his permanent residence there. On the organization of the First National Bank, of Somerville, which took place about that time, Mr. Young was elected its Vice-President, a position which he held till the retirement of Colonel Hope from the presidency of that institution, in 1874. He was then elected its President, an office he still holds. He is also President of the Dime Savings Bank, of Somerville, and has been since that institution was organized. He is a strong Republican, and has belonged to the party from the earliest date of its formation. He is, however, neither an active politician nor an office-seeker, having never either sought or held office. In 1842 he married the daughter of Mr. Jones, of Flemington, New Jersey.

AN FLEET, HON. ABRAHAM V., Vice-Chan- cellor of the State of New Jersey, was born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, about 1825 ; was admitted to the bar in the November term, 1852, and made counsellor in 1858. He opened his first law office in Flemington, New Jersey, where he soon acquired an extensive and lucrative practice. Al- though an ardent Republican and sincere believer in the doctrines of that party, he has taken no active interest in politics, devoting himself to the interest of his profession. In 1875 he was appointed by Chancellor Runyan, and com- missioned by Governor Bedle, Vice-Chancellor of the State of New Jersey for five years; his term of office will expire in 1880. In the office of Vice-Chancellor he has confirmed his previous reputation of being one of the finest chancery lawyers of the State.

GILVIE, ALEXANDER, Merchant, late of Eliza- beth, was born in Stirling, Scotland, August 2d, 1767. Of his father he had but little remem- brance, but of his mother he often spoke with the tenderest affection. The minister of his child- hood was Rev. Mr. Stuart, of whose person and preaching he had a most vivid recollection, and to whose fidelity he bore the strongest testimony. He became, early in life, a communicant of the church, and was a scrupulous and pious Christian. He arrived in New York in 1794, and at once connected himself with the church in Cedar street, of which the late Dr. John M. Mason was the youth- ful and eloquent pastor. Subsequently he removed his

COVEL, HON. ALDEN CORTLANDT, Lawyer, of Camden, son of the Rev. Alden Scovel, some time Principal of the Hudson River Seminary, New York, was born at Princeton, New Jersey, June 13th, 1830. His preliminary education was received mainly under the able tuition of his father; and having determined upon law as his profession he went through the prescribed course of study, and in 1856 was admitted to practise as an attorney at the New Jersey bar. In the same year he established himself in Camden, and in 1859-having been, meanwhile, admitted as a coun- sellor-he formed a partnership with the Hon. George M. Robeson that continued until the latter was appointed Sec- retary of the Navy. Early identifying himself with the Republican party, he has now for a number of years been prominent in local and State politics, and has been elected to various positions of importance in both the municipal and State governments. For a considerable period he was Clerk to the Board of Chosen Freeholders of Camden, and at the same time was counsel to that body; in 1867 was elected, by popular vote, City Solicitor of Camden for a term of two years, and in 1869 was re-elected for a term of three years. He has also served for three years in the Camden City Councils. The esteem in which he is held in the business community of the city may be inferred from the fact that he is a Director of and counsel to the National State Bank of Camden-one of the oldest and most sub- stantial financial institutions in New Jersey. His career in State politics began in 1874, when he was elected to the Assembly, a position to which he has since been annually re-elected. At the beginning of the first session of 1877 he was made, by acclamation, the Republican nominee for Speaker, and was only defeated in the election for that office through the change of vote of four members of his party. In all the public positions which he has held, and especially since his election to the Assembly, he has served

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The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 114

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