The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 12

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

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HOMPSON, HON. JOSHUA S., A. M., Lawyer, of Swedesboro', was born in Somerset county, Maine, October 11th, 1815. His parents, James and Susan (Patterson) Thompson, were both na- tives of that State, where his father followed agri- cultural pursuits, but his grandfather, John Thomp- son, belonged to Londonderry, New Hampshire, coming from a long line of ancestors in that section. After a thor- ough preparatory course in the public schools and academies

in his native State, the subject of this sketch entered Water- ville College, in the town of Waterville, Maine, an institu- tion of high standing in New England, now known as Colby University. From this college he was graduated in 1839, after a four years' course zealously pursued, with the degree of A. B. In 1844 he received the degree of A. M., in regular course. Electing to join the legal profession, he began the study of law in the office of Hon. Wyman B. S. Moore, at Waterville. Here he enjoyed exceptional ad- vantages in legal training, his preceptor being among the eminent lawyers of the State. Subsequently Mr. Moore be - came, in 1848, Attorney-General of the State, and, later on, was appointed by the Governor to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate, caused by the death of Hon. John Fairfield. Some years afterwards he was nominated and confirmed as United States Consul-General for the British North American Provinces. Under the guidance of this distinguished lawyer Mr. Thompson completed his legal studics, and was admitted to the bar in his native county, in the State of Maine, in June, 1841. Thereupon he entered into a law partnership with Stephen Stark, Esq., a promi- nent lawyer of Waterville. This connection lasted, how- ever, for about a ycar only, the delicate condition of his health, caused by excessive mental labor, constant sedentary habits and the great severity of the winters in that latitude, compelling him to seek a more genial climate for a resi- dence. After due consideration he concluded to settle in Swedesboro', Gloucester county, New Jersey, whither he removed in August, 1842. He could not, however, at once resume the practice of his profession, the rules of the Su- preme Court of New Jersey requiring a longer course of study and residence in the State as a condition precedent to admission to its bar. In the meantime, therefore, having had the advantages of a thorough classical education, and appreciating the dignity and value of an educator, he, at the carnest solicitation of the leading men of the town, engaged

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in teaching in the academy at that place, and continued so occupied for two years, or until his admission to the bar, in September, 1844. This experience naturally aroused a lasting interest in educational matters in the community, and the manifestation of this interest has led to the reposing in him of various educational trusts by the community. Thus, about 1848 he was appointed by the Board of Chosen Freeholders of the county as Examiner of Public School Teachers, and this position, which he was so admirably fitted to fill, he occupied with great acceptability for about eight years. He was also for several years connected with the Board of Education of the county. He headed the first teachers' institute ever held in the county of Gloucester, at the ancient town of Swedesboro'. During this period an agitation was commenced having for its object the passage by the Legislature of a new school law, and the movement was entirely successful. A board of commissioners was ap- pointed to report a new school law, with other revisions. Among other changes introduced hy the new measure was the extension of the school-going age. Under the provisions of the old statute the limit was from five to sixteen years. Mr. Thompson entertained the opinion that instruction should be continued to children until they were eighteen years old, and that the school-going age should he extended to that time, believing that during the additional two years the scholars would be so much more alive to the advantages of education, and so much more capable of comprehending their studies, their minds being more expanded and matured, as to make far greater progress than during their earlier life. He would prefer and recommend, in the case of males es- pecially, an extension to the age of twenty-one, rather than to make eighteen the limit. He pressed his convictions on this subject so strongly upon the commissioners appointed by the Legislature to revise the school laws that his recommendation was adopted and the limit extended to eighteen years. He was married, on December 24th, 1844, to Frances Stratton Garrison, daughter of Dr. Charles Gar- rison, late of Swedesboro'. They have five children. The eldest daughter, Hannah, was married, October 20th, 1869, to George B. Boggs, civil engineer, and Resident Superintendent of the Delaware & Bound Brook Railroad, and live, at Trenton. During this time he had been making an excellent position in his profession, which from the date of his admission, in 1844, he had earnestly prosecuted. So high a rank had he secured by 1847, and so favorably was he regarded by the community generally, that his name was prominently mentioned by the press for a position on the Supreme bench of the State; but, regarding himself as too young in the profession for so exalted a station, he declined judicial honors and refused to take any steps to accomplish the fulfilment of the wishes of his friends. In September, 1848, he was licensed as counsellor-at-law, and on February 22d of the following year he was appointed Prosecutor of the Pleas for Gloucester County by Governor Daniel Haines. Five years later, on the expiration of his term, he was re-

appointed by Governor R. M. Price ; again, on March Ist, 1864, by Governor Joel Parker; again, on March Ist, 1869, by Governor Randolph ; again, on March 2d, 1874, by Governor Joel Parker. Upon the expiration of his present term he will thus have filled this important position for twenty-five years, the service being continuous, save for one interval, occurring between 1859 and 1864. This is in all probability the longest service ever rendered by any one in the State as Prosecutor of the Pleas, and that the office should have been so continuously held under successive adminis- trations is sufficient testimony to the zeal, ability and fidelity with which Mr. Thompson discharged his functions. The governor makes the nomination to the Senate, and they have the power to confirm or reject, as they may please. So popular and favorably known had he become that, at his last nomination, they confirmed by acclamation, without even referring his name to a committee, as was usual. On July 6th, 1848, at the time of his admission as counsellor, he was made Master in Chancery, and on November 17th, 1874, he was appointed a Commissioner of the Supreme Court. He has ever identified himself with the interests of Swedesboro' and his adopted State, and in all move- ments tending to their advancement, material and moral, he has taken an active part-in many being the prime mover and leader. In 1854, at the instance of the agents of the Camden & Amboy Railroad Company, he drew up a charter for a railroad from Woodbury to Swedesboro', called the Woodbury & Swedesboro' Railroad Company, and pro- cured its passage through the Legislature, but the road under this charter was never constructed by them, its ne- cessity being removed. In 1866 he succeeded in obtaining from the Legislature a charter for a railroad from Swedes- boro' to Woodbury, called the Swedesboro' Railroad, a distance of cleven miles, thus opening railroad communi- cation -the first-mentioned place previously being quite isolated from the rest of the world. This project had been broached by him several years previously, as appears above; but this time he was bound to succeed. He encountered not only opposition and discouragement from all quarters, but in some cases ridicule from those who would neither help huild it, nor let others do it. He, however, was well satisfied of its necessity, and of the great advantage to the country through which it would run, and undauntedly pushed the matter step by step, and year by year, until complete success in its accomplishment crowned his public- spirited efforts. Upon the organization of the commission- ers and of the Board of Directors he was very fittingly ' chosen President of both, and has filled that position ever since. The road was opened for travel in September, 1869. The friends of Mr. Thompson, and those who recognize the benefits conferred by the railroad on the country through which it runs, cheerfully acknowledge that, owing its ex- istence to his untiring efforts and unbounded energy, it constitutes the chef d'œuvre of his life. At the opening of the great Centennial fair in Philadelphia he was solicited

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

by the school authorities of New Jersey to write a sketch of the history of the old academy in Swedesboro', which was established in 1771, one of the oldest educational insti- tutions in this part of the State. It was a work that required extensive research ; and portions of it, together with other school histories of the State, are at this writing (October, 1876) shown in the Main Building of that extraordinary national exhibition. He is engaged in preparing a " His- tory of the Swedes in New Jersey," and of the church es- tablished by them in 1703, and of "Swedesboro': its Churches and its Schools." The old Swedes' Church has been changed to an Episcopal Church, and is called Trinity Church. Mr. Thompson has been successively elected a vestryman in the same for some thirty years past, having held that position for a longer period than any member of the Board. To the rising generation especially his life and character present a notable example of energy of purpose and perseverance in doing good to his fellow-man, against any and all obstacles.

OFF, CAPTAIN JOSEPH D., Master Mariner, of Keyport, was born near that place, in Middle- town township, Monmouth county, New Jersey. His father, William Hoff, a farmer by occupation, belonged to one of the oldest families in the county. His mother, Martha Dye, was born in New Jersey, but came of Danish descent. Captain Hoff, when a boy, attended the common schools of his native township, and acquired the elements of a sound practical education. Upon leaving school he was apprenticed to learn the trade of a carpenter, having developed a taste in that direction. After following this occupation for a period of about five years he became interested in ship-building in the town of Keyport, in association with a Mr. Rosevelt, the firm being styled Rosevelt & Hoff. From 1835 to 1838 he was engaged in mercantile pursuits at the same place. In 1839 he received an appointment as an Associate Judge of Conimon Pleas for Monmouth county, and sat upon the bench in that capacity for a term of five years, discharging his functions with ability, fidelity and general acceptability. During the same period he served as Justice of the Pcace. With a great desire to see distant countries, in 1853 he built a large schooner, the " T. A. Ward," and after coasting for two years, to North Carolina, Charleston and the West Indies, he went to Cadiz, Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro, New Orleans, and home. Ile then commenced the Mediter- ranean trade, and continued in it for nearly six years, making eleven voyages, or twenty-two passages, without ever an insurance job; visiting Gibraltar, Malaga, Aden, Denia, and Barcelona, in Spain; Marseilles, in France; Naples, in Italy; Palermo and Messina, in Sicily ; Venicc, Trieste and Pola, in Austria. At Pola he saw and eon- versed with Maximilian, who then was Admiral of the

Austrian fleet; he was a nobleman by nature as well as birth. At the commencement of the war he sold the schooner to the United States government, and then built a barque in connection with the great firm of A. A. Low Brothers, in 1862, and sailed to China ; he visited the ports of Shanghai, Hong Kong, Ningpo, Chefoo, Tientsin, Can- ton and Whampoa, in China; also Hakodadi, in Japan. In October, 1864, he sold his barque, and in November started for home by the overland route, and touched at Singapore, Penang, Point de Galle, in Ceylon, at Aden, Suez, Cairo and Alexandria, in Africa, and at Malta and Marseilles, where he left the steamer, December 23d, 1864. He then went to Paris, London and Liverpool, and embarked for home in the "City of Baltimore," and arrived, January 23d, 1865, in New York. In 1866 he started on a mining ex- pedition to Colorado, and visited all the principal mines from Cheyenne to Trinidad, and all about the range of the Rocky mountains, but made his home most of the time at Black Hawk and Central City, although he was a great deal at Georgetown, James Creek, Boulder City and Left Hand. He crossed the plains some eight times, four of the journeys being performed in stages. Since then he has made voyages to Venice, Trieste, Bordeaux, New Orleans, Rio and Santos. But after all his travels he says there is no place equal to Monmouth county, New Jersey. IIe has always been favored by fortunc. In all his experience as a sea captain he has never suffered the perils of ship- wreck, nor has he ever lost a man from any of his ships. Ile was married, September 20th, 1837, to Maria Acker- son, a native of New Jersey. A man of very estimable character, he is highly respected and esteemed in a wide circle.

OBBINS, HON. CHILION, Lawyer and cx-Jurist, was born, December 31st, 1842, in Allentown, Monmouth county, New Jersey, and is a son of Augustus and Lucy (Savidge) Robbins, both of whom are natives of New Jersey. His father was a mason by trade, and the family has for many years been identified with Monmouth county; while his mother is of English lineage, being a descendant of the Leigh family of Great Britain. Chilion was educated in the public schools of his district, and subsequently learned the trade of a mason, which he followed until he was twenty-two years of age. Ilaving determined to follow a professional life, he entered the law office of Judge E. W. Scudder, of Trenton, under whose preceptorship he pur- sucd his studies, and was licensed an attorney in 1866, and a counsellor-at-law in 1869. At first he located in Allen- town, where he opened an office and practised his profes- sion with good success until 1872, when he was appointed Presiding Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Mon- mouth County, to fill the unexpired term of Judge George

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C. Beekman, who had resigned that office. He took his seat upon the bench, March 14th, 1872, and occupied that position until April Ist, 1874. Upon retiring from office he settled in Freehold and resumed his professional duties at the bar, acquiring a large and lucrative practice. He has had charge of several important cases, among which may be mentioned the Ganby murder case, which attracted great attention in that section of the State, and in which he was associate counsel for the prosecution. At present (1876) he is the legal adviser of the "Oyster kings," who are one of the parties concerned in what is known as the " Keyport oyster case."

AMPBELL, HON. CHARLES A .; Merchant, of Woodbridge, was born, June 2d, 1836, in Wood- bridge township, Middlesex county, New Jersey. He is the son of John H. Campbell, who was himself a native of Woodbridge township, and who was a thrifty and successful farmer in that place. Charles A. Campbell received his education, so far as attendance at school was concerned, in the schools near his home. His studying, like everything else he under- took, was done with energy and with the success that energy brings, so that his limited time and opportunities were made productive of more than usually good results. When he had reached the age of fourteen years he left school and commenced the serious work of life. He went to work on his father's farm, and for several years was engaged in agricultural pursuits. At length he engaged in business in Metuchen, and remained there so occupied for a period of ten years. In the year 1864 he became inter- ested in the clay business at Woodbridge, but in 1865 he sold out his interest in that business and devoted his time and energies to other business pursuits. In the year 1867, however, he again purchased clay banks in the vicinity of Woodbridge, and ever since that time he, in connection with others, has been largely interested as a clay merchant, the style of the firm being C. A. Campbell & Co: The same firm, under the name of the Staten Island Kaolin Company, have large kaolin interests in Staten Island. They have there half a mile of private railroad track for transporting the kaolin from their extensive banks to the river for transportation ; and at Woodbridge they built, in 1868, a private railroad track a mile and a half in length, over which to transport their clay from the banks to the Raritan river. Their works are extensive, and up to the end of the year 1873 there were employed at their works about ninety-five men, and the products of their banks are shipped to various points in the Union, North, South, East and West, as well as to numerous places in the Canadas. Notwithstanding the ceaseless activity and great energy which have made him so successful in the prosecution of his private business, Charles A. Campbell has found, and still finds, time and strength to act in promotion of various

enterprises, public and corporate. He is a director of the Middlesex County Bank, at Perth Amboy, and has filled that position since the organization of the bank, in 1873. He has held various positions in township and county affairs, such as Commissioner of Appeals, Judge of Election, Town Committee and Freeholder .: He is one of the Trustees of the public school now being erected at Wood- bridge, a fine graded school, the building for which will cost $25,000; also a director of the Amboy Savings Institu- tion, and is President and one of the largest stockholders of the Masonic Hall Association, of Woodbridge, the build- ing of which was erected in 1873, at a cost of $20,000, and contains a handsome opera house, stores, etc. Moreover, he is the President of the Board of Trustees of a new Con- gregational Church, whose church structure has recently been completed at Woodbridge. This church is an off- spring from the old Presbyterian Church of that place, and he has been a prime mover in its organization, aiding it with both money and influence. Politically he is a Demo- crat, and in 1875 was chosen by that party in his district to represent them in the Legislature of the State. During his session there he served as a member of the committee to investigate the fees and salaries of all State officers ap- pointed by the Legislature. Woodbridge knows and recognizes him as one of her most enterprising and public- spirited citizens, and among other beneficial acts of his has been the erection of many fine buildings, which add very much to the beauty of the town. He was married in the year 1855 to Susan L. Clarkson, daughter of the late Noe Clarkson, himself an influential and greatly respected citi- zen of Woodbridge township.

GDEN, HON. ELIAS BOUDINOT D., Lawyer and Jurist, was born, 1800, at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, and was the son of Aaron and Eliza- beth (Chetwood) Ogden. His father was Gov- ernor of the State, and his biographical sketch will be found elsewhere in this volume. At the age of nineteen Judge Ogden graduated from Nassau Hall, and at once entered upon the study of the law. He was licensed as an attorney in 1824; was admitted a counsellor in 1829, and made a serjeant-at-law in 1837, being the last lawyer raised to that dignity in the State. Immediately after his admission to the bar he opened an office in Pater- son for the practice of his profession, and at once took a , leading rank among his brother advocates, and was made Prosecutor of the Pleas, which position he held for two terms. He was also elected a member of the Legislature, and again re-elected. He was chosen, in 1844, a member, from Passaic county, in the convention called for the pur- pose of remodelling the Constitution of the State, and took a leading and active part during its sessions. He was ap- pointed by Governor Haines, in 1848, as one of the Justices

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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.

of the Supreme Court, and upon the expiration of his term | State Senate. Their proceedings were ratified by a large in 1855 was reappointed by Governor Price; and a third time, in 1862, by Governor Olden. He resided in Pater- son until 1858, when he removed to Elizabeth and reoccu- pied the old homestead of his father. His political faith was that of the Democratic party as taught by Jackson, having originally been indoctrinated in the views of the Federalists, and as a Jackson Democrat he deemed it his duty to adhere to the cause of the Union during the period of the great rebellion. One of the decisions of the court, pronounced by him, was to the effect that, as a judge of the State court, he had no authority to interfere for the release of a person charged with an offence against the laws of the United States. His religious faith was that maintained by the Protestant Episcopal Church, of which he was an active and zealous member. He was one of the Trustees of Burlington College. He died in 1865.

URTS, HON. ALEXANDER, Lawyer, was born, 1799, in the village of Flanders, Morris county, New Jersey, and is the youngest of a family of eight sons, whose father was John Wurts, an ex- tensive iron manufacturer of that county. He died when Alexander was quite young, and the latter then went to Philadelphia, where he resided with his older brothers, and where he prepared for college. He en- tered Princeton College in 1812 and finished his senior year in 1815, in the seventeenth year of his age. He then re- turned to Philadelphia and began the study of the law ; and likewise devoted some time to travelling. In the winter of 1819-20 he removed to Flemington, New Jersey, where he completed his legal studies and was licensed as an attorney in 1820. He immediately commenced the practice of law in the village of Flemington. In 1824 he was elected a member of the Assembly, in which body he served one year. After three years he again became a candidate, and was elected successively in 1828-29-30 and '31 to the same body; and during the three last years was Speaker of the House. In 1833 he was nominated and elected a member of the Legislative Council, in which he served one year. In 1838 he was the candidate of the Democratic party for Con- gress on the general ticket, but was defeated, as was the entire ticket. In 1844 the Legislature of New Jersey called a convention to revise the State Constitution. To this con- vention he was elected from Hunterdon county. When the body assembled he was chosen vice-president, Isaac H. Williamson being elected president ; but as the latter was in exceedingly impaired health, the principal burden of the duties of a presiding officer devolved upon the vicc-presi- dent. And upon the resignation of Mr. Williamson, before the convention adjourned, Mr. Wurts was elected president. The convention framed the present State Constitution, abol- ished the Legislative Council, and adopted, in its stcad, the 8

majority of the popular vote when submitted to the people. In the autumn of 1844 he was elected the first State Senator from Hunterdon county, and served in that body for a two years' term. In 1848 charges of serious import were pre ferred against the Camden & Amboy Railroad and the Delaware & Raritan Canal Companies, and the Legislature appointed three commissioners to thoroughly investigate these matters. This commission consisted of Alexander Wurts, of Hunterdon, Aaron Robertson, of Morris, and James S. Hulme, of Burlington counties. The duty was a laborious one, occupying nearly a year in going over the en- tire work, which consisted of a minute investigation of the books and papers of these companies, covering all their transactions with the State and with the people; and the result was, that the commission, by an elaborate and ex- tended report, fully exonerated the companies from all the charges brought against them, thus entirely allaying all public excitement on these subjects. In 1853 Governor Fort nominated Alexander Wurts as Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of the State, and his nomination was at once confirmed by the State Senate; but he respectfully declined the appointment. In 1865 his friends again induced him to become the candidate of the Democratic party, to which he was attached, for the State Senate, which he accepted on the assurance that the party could thereby be harmonized. He was accordingly elected and served the usual term of three years. He has been for over twenty years one of the Managers of the State Lunatic Asylum, and President of the Board since 1859. Although he has now, in a great meas- ure, retired from public and professional life, he is often consulted on important legal questions. His unflinching integrity, thorough legal acquirements, and undoubted honesty, give weight to his opinions. There is not proba- bly another man in the State who has been in public life so long as he; and he yet retains the confidence of all parties in a great degree. He was urged, on two or three octa- sions, by his many Democratic friends to become a candidate for Governor ; and perhaps, if he had made the usual efforts put forth by many aspirants for office, would have secured the nomination. But he refused to embark in the canvass.

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The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 12

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