The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 120

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

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in the prosperity of the Camden & Atlantic Railroad Com- pany, upon whose line his works are situate, and, conse- quent to this, in the welfare of the town at the seaward terminus of the road. For a number of years he has been prominent in the Board of Direction of the Company, and for years has been its President. His manufactory, near White-Horse Station, materially contributes to the revenues of the road, a large amount of freight being received at and shipped from this point under his orders. Personally, he is genial and affable, combining the shrewd business man with the polished gentleman." Among the members of the mei- cantile community his name for honesty and integrity stands second to none.

HILLDIN, ALEXANDER, Merchant, of Phila- delphia, was born in that city, January 28th, 1808. His father, Captain Daniel Whilldin, a native of New Jersey, and a resident, in early life, of Cape May, was a well-known shipmaster at the begin- ning of the present century. In 1812 Captain Whilldin sailed from a French port for America and was never heard of again. ' IIis widow, with her son and two daughters, removed to the old homestead at Cape May, and on the farm there the son remained until he was sixteen years old, receiving in the winters such education as was obtainable in the country schools. In 1824 he returned to Philadelphia, and entered a store as an apprentice, his hon- esty, industry, and ability rapidly gaining for him the con- fidence and esteem of his employers and of all with whom he was brought in contact. After eight years of faithful service, during which time he was advanced to positions of trust and considerable emolument in the firm, he determined upon beginning business on his own account, and to this end, in 1832, established himself as a commission merchant in cotton and wool, the first year with a partner who brought in needed capital ; after the first ycar alone. The business then founded, almost half a century ago, has since grown to immense proportions, and the house of Alexander Whill- din & Sons is now one of the foremost in America, dealing in wool, cotton, and yarns. In the development of this great commercial establishment he showed, from the outset, rare business talent. Prudent, sound in judgment, courteous, industrious, self-reliant, and possessed of indomitable energy and remarkable administrative and executive ability, he could not fail to achieve success ; and although at one time, during a period of unusual depression in mercantile affairs, he was very considerably embarrassed in his resources, he was enabled to triumph over the temporary obstruction, honor- ably meeting every obligation that he had assumed, and to turn what had seemed to be the wreck of his hopes and efforts into the sure foundation of a fortune well won and rarely well-applied. In 1836 he married Jane G. Stites, descended from a family resident for over a century and a beach was rapidly transformed into a charming park, well

half in Cape May county, New Jersey. The three sons born to him in this marriage have for several years past been his business partners, and their assistance in the conduct of the house has given him leisure for a long-contemplated tour in Europe and the Holy Land, and for closer attention to the interests of the many philanthropic and religious schemes in which he is prominently engaged. For forty years a devoted Christian, and for a great portion of that time a Ruling Elder in the Presbyterian Church, a very large part of his time has been given to furthering the various charitable and benevolent institutions founded by the Presbyterian and other evangelical denominations, and besides subscribing freely to their support he has given, as a Director, the benefit of his counsel in the guidance of the Presbyterian Board of Publication, Ilospital, and Home for Widows, and also in that of the American Tract Society, American Sunday-School Union, Union Temporary Home for Children, Seamen's Friend Society, and other scarcely less well-known organizations. But the work which will cause his name to live longest in grateful remembrance was the founding of Sea Grove, in New Jersey, adjoining the city of Cape May. The site of Sea Grove was purchased of " The West New Jersey Society," in England, by Jona- than I'yne, the elder, through Jeremiah Basse; was in- herited by Jonathan and Abigail Pyne; was deeded by them and Robert Courtney, Abigail Pyne's husband, to IIenry Stites in 1712, and was eventually inherited hy Jane G. Stites, wife to Alexander Whilldin. The property possessed more than ordinary natural advantages as a seaside resort, having, beside a fine beach and surf, a fresh-water lake and numerous shade-trees ; while rapid communication with Philadelphia was assured by established railway and steam- boat lines. In 1875 Mr. Whilldin, having the hearty co- operation of his wife, determined upon founding upon this site " a moral and religious seaside home for the glory of God and the welfare of man, where he may be refreshed and invigorated, body and soul, and better fitted for the highest and noblest duties of life." On the 18th of Febru- ary, 1875, under the corporate title of "The Sea Grove Association," an organization was effected, and shortly thereafter a liberal charter was obtained from the New Jersey Legislature. Under this charter the company was empowered to insert in every lcase or conveyance a clause absolutely forbidding the sale of intoxicating liquor upon the premises so leased or purchased, and also to forbid any act, either in the character of business or amusement, op- posed to morality or religion. Saving these especial clauses, the charter was of the same general character as those ordinarily held by the proprietors of park towns, compelling conformity on the part of tenants or freeholders with the general scheme of improvement adopted at the outset, with liability to such additional, reasonable regulations as might from time to time be adopted by the Board of Direction. Under this ' charter work was at once begun, and the waste

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graded, well watered, well shaded, and laid out in conven ient lots intersected by well made roads. The first building erected was a pavilion, capable of holding twelve hundred persons, intended for religious or other meetings; after this a commodious hotel ; and when the seaside season opened Sea Grove was dedicated to its excellent purpose by a series of religious meetings participated in by many of the most cminent divines and laymen of the Christian church. Fol lowing the erection of the hotel handsome cottages were erected by the several proprietors and by the various pur chasers of lots, and when the season of 1876 opened a village of delightful rural homes had been created, and a population had been secured calculated in every way to carry out the Christian and rational views of its founder. In order to insure conformity with the original plan the lots were sold at an almost nominal price, and arrangements were entered into with the West Jersey Railroad Company, by which residents should have, in proportion to the extent of their improvement of the property purchased, frec passes over the line for one, two, or three years. In short, it was an enterprise undertaken for the general good of his fellows by an earnest Christian who was at the same time a good man of business, and who, in carrying out his scheme for the common welfare, gave to those whom he benefited not only comfortable homes for pleasure and recreation, but also the help of his judgment, large experience, and administrative talent. Above all other of his many good deeds this, the creation of Sea Grove, stands eminent, for by it he has most largely, most directly, and most diffusely benefited his fellow men. It is a signal act, fitly marking the final period of his useful, honorable life-a life so well spent in every way that its record may rightly stand as a lasting exemplar.

ODD, JOHN R., M. D., late of Lebanonville, received his professional education in the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons, whence he was graduated M. D., in March, 1864. On the 15th of the following April he was commis- sioned an Acting Assistant Surgeon in the United States Volunteer Army, and was attached to the 2d New Jersey Cavalry. Although entering the army at the begin- ning of the last year of the war he saw quite as much ser- vice in the field as many surgcons appointed in 1861, for the 2d Cavalry, under the gallant Yorke, was one of the hardest fighting regiments in the whole army. He joined the regiment in time to take part in the disastrous foray (under Sturgis) against the rebel General Forrest, and, later, in Grierson's brilliant raid through Mississippi ; both affairs giving him ample professional employment. On the Ist of November, 1865, he was honorably discharged from the service ; and in January, 1866, having been examined and licensed, he established himself at Lebanonville, Hunter- don county. Here, in a short time, he acquired a very fair

practice ; was made a member of the Hunterdon County Medical Society, and was in excellent standing both in the profession and as a citizen. Here, too, he married a dauglı- ter of W. Johnson, Esq. In April, 1871, he removed to Omaha City, but in a few years failing health compelled him to abandon practice, and he returned to Lebanonville, where he died in 1876.

ORRIGAN, M. A., RIGIIT REV., Bishop of Newark, and President of Seton Ifall College, South Orange, New Jersey, was born in Newark, New Jersey, August 13th, 1839. His parents were well-to-do Irish-Americans, who sent their son, when quite young, to St. Mary's College, near Emmetsburg, Maryland, to be educated. His ability and beauty of character speedily won the esteem and affec- tion of his teachers and associates, and in 1859 he was graduated from the college with the highest honors. Im- mediately afterwards, having determined to enter the priest- hood, he went to Rome to study theology, and entered the American College there, where he remained four years. In 1863 he was ordained a Priest by Cardinal Patrizi. The next year he was invested with the degree of Doctor of Divinity. In 1865 he returned to this country, and on the retirement of Rev. Dr. Braun was appointed Vice-President of Seton Hall College under Father McQuaide, the first President of that institution. When the latter was appointed Bishop of Rochester, Dr. Corrigan was made President of the college, and his brother, James A., likewise in the priesthood, was made Vice-President. Under his able management the college grew rapidly in prosperity and in- fluence. In 1873 Dr. Corrigan was appointed to succeed Bishop Bayley, who founded Seton Hall College, as Bishop of Newark ; and on May 3d, of that year, he was consecrated in St. Patrick's Cathedral, in that city, with grand and im- posing ceremony. Previous to this, and from the time of Bishop Bayley's elevation to the Archbishopric of Baltimore, Father Corrigan was made Administrator of the Diocese and Vicar.General. At the time of his elevation to the prelacy Bishop Corrigan was but thirty-four years old, and the youngest bishop in the country. In person he is small of stature and slender. He is a good, earnest preacher; a fine student, and a man of much learning.

'ARLL, REV. BUCKLEY, Pastor of the Presby- terian Church, of Rahway, late of Deerfield, was born in New Jersey, in 1770. In 1799 he became the pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Pitts- grove, New Jersey. In the summer of 1802 a call was extended to him by the church at Rah- way, and met with acceptance. He was received by the

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Presbytery of New York, October 6th, 1802; and at its | the late Rev. John Ford, D. D., an eminent classical teacher meeting, at Connecticut Farms, November 16th, 1802, of the time, at Bloomfield. His elder brother, Thomas T. " Mr. David Hetfield, a commissioner from the congregation of Rahway, appeared in Presbytery, requesting the instal- ment of Mr. Buckley Carll as their pastor as soon as con- venient. Whereupon the Presbytery agreed to install him pastor of the congregation of Rahway, on the fourth Tues- day of December, at II o'clock A. M. Mr. Griffin to preach the sermon; Dr. Roe to preside ; and Mr. Hillyer Kinney, being a prominent member of the bar, and Surro- gate of Essex county, William B. entered his office as a law- student, and afterwards continued his course with Mr. Hornblower, who was his cousin by marriage, and after- wards Chief Justice of the State. His tastes, however, ran more in the direction of literature and metaphysics, and he demonstrated unusual brilliance as a writer and speaker.

to give an exhortation to the people." He was dismissed |This brought him into direct intercourse with the press, and in 1825, " broken down by disease," and returned to the he became editor of the New Jersey Eagle, a weekly paper at Newark, about the year 1820; from which he retired after neighborhood of his former charge, where, four miles from Deerfield, he purchased a farm, on which he resided until the election of President Adams in 1825, and went to New within a short period of his decease. He died at Deerfield,

York to pursue his favorite studies. There he took an ac- May 22d, 1849, in his eightieth year, and was buried at tive part in the establishment of the Mercantile Library,

Pittsgrove. His first wife, Naomi, died in Rahway, August 28th, 1804, in the thirty fifth year of her age. His second wife, Abigail, survived him, and after his decease resided in Bridgeton, New Jersey.

INNEY, IION. WILLIAM BURNET, was born at Speedwell, Morris county, New Jersey, in Sep- tember, 1799, his ancestors being among the early settlers of the country. His father was a son of Sir Thomas Kinney, Baronet, who came from England to explore the mineral resources of the State, and settled in Morris county, which then included Sussex. He was appointed by the crown High Sheriff, and held that office till the Revolution changed the government. Ilis mother was a daughter of Dr. William Burnet, a dis- tinguished physician, who was descended from Bishop Burnet, the historian of his own time. He was a member of the Continental Congress and organized the medical department of the ariny, taking the Eastern Division under his own supervision. One of his sons was an aide to General Greene, of revolutionary fame, and attended Major Andre at his execution. Another, Jacob, was a pioneer in the West, wrote its history, and represented the State of Ohio in the national Senate for several terms. A third, David G., was an early settler in Texas, and the first presi dent of that republic before its admission into the United States. Abraham Kinney, the father of William B., was an officer in the war of 1812, and destined his son, who was then a boy, for the army. He was used to carry despatches during the hostilities, and was afterwards admitted to West Point as a cadet, but his father died about this time, and his mother, who had other views, withdrew him, under the impression that the gifts of oratory, of which he gave early promise, would open for him a larger field of future useful. ness. To this end he was placed under the care of Mr. Whelpley, author of " The Triangle," and father of the late Chief Justice Whelpley; afterwards he became a pupil of by President Taylor, and on the eve of his departure was

and became intimate with the IIarper Brothers, who had just begun their publishing business and sought his advice. Ilis judgment in the selection of books became extremely valuable to them, and their intercourse ripened into a mutual and life-long friendship. His excessive application im- paired his health, and about the year 1830 he returned to Newark, where political excitements soon drew him into public action again as an earnest advocate of the principles of the Whig party, and in promotion of his friend, Henry Clay. About this period he became the editor of the Newark Daily Advertiser, the first daily paper issued in the State, and united it with the Sentinel of Freedom, one of the oldest weekly papers in the country, both of which he conducted with distinguished ability and increasing suc- cess. He became especially famous for his eloquence as a lecturer, and was called by literary societies in all parts of the Union to deliver addresses, which he did so far as possible, but he always declined compensation for such ser- vices. He also became an earnest advocate of popular edu- cation, and was foremost in promoting the establishment of the present free school system of the State. In 1836 the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, conferred upon him the honorary degree of Master of Arts, and in 1840 he was elected a Trustee of that institution, which he resigned in 1850, previous to his departure from the country. In 1843 he was nominated for Congress by the Whig Convention of the Fifth District, against his will, but was constrained to accept the position ; and after one of the most excited con- tests ever known in the State he was defeated by a coalition of Independents and Democrats, with the late IIon. William Wright as their candidate. This coalition caused a political revolution in the State. In 1844 he, with the late Chan- cellor Green, was a Delegate-at-large to the National Whig Convention at Baltimore, and was chiefly instrumental in securing the renomination of a Jerseyman-the late Theodore Frelinghuysen-for Vice-President, on the ticket with Mr. Clay. Both, however, were defeated at the elec- tion by the Democratic nominees, Polk and Dallas. In 1851 he was appointed United States Minister to Sardinia

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complimented by a banquet at the Park House by the leading members of both parties. At the court of Turin he became a great favorite of the ministry of that government, and was in constant consultation with them on the practical operation of the republican system in this country, which probably influenced the establishment of the present liberal institutions of Italy. He was also in active sympathy and intimate relations with the British minister, Sir Ralph Abercrombie, in the promotion of religious and political freedom in that country, and received a flattering acknowl- edgment from their prime minister, Lord Palmerston, on behalf of her Majesty's government. It was about the same period that Kossuth was brought to America from Constan- tinople in a national ship detached from the Mediterranean squadron, which was under Mr. Kinney's jurisdiction, and his position enabled him to give early information and advice to our government as to the character and objects of the distinguished exile, and thwarted his efforts to enlist it in a complication with foreign powers. Upon the expira- tion of his term of office at Turin he went to Florence, where he remained for several years among congenial friends, devoted to the cultivation of literature and art, in- cluding the Brownings, Hiram Powers, and others. He returned home in 1864, and delivered the oration at the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the settlement of Newark, on May 17th, 1866, in the old First Church. This was his last appearance in public, and he is now enjoying the evening of his days near the place of his birth.

ANNATTA, HON. JACOB, Lawyer, and late Attorney-General of New Jersey, was born in Morris county, New Jersey, about 1825. He was admitted to the bar in the October term, 1849, and made counsellor in the February term, 1853. On commencing the practice of law at Morris- town, New Jersey, his energy and great natural ability soon placed him in the front rank of his profession. He has been and is attorney for some of the leading New Jersey railroads, and has an extensive practice in all the courts of the State and United States courts. In 1875 he was ap- pointed, by Governor Bedle, Attorney-General of the State of New Jersey, a position he resigned in 1877 in conse- quence of its duties interfering with his extensive law prac- tice. The announcement that he had concluded to take this step was received with very general regret, as the office had been admirably administered by him. He is politically a Democrat, taking an active part in the advancement of his party's interest and the general welfare of the county. Al- though he has been repeatedly urged for the highest offices of the State, he has, with the single exception of his two years' service as Attorney-General, steadily declined office or nomination for political position of any character whatever.

OODHULL, REV. JOHN, D. D., late Pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Freeliold, Trustee of the College of New Jersey, was born in Suffolk county, Long Island, January 26th, 1744, and was the son of John Woodhull, a man of wealth, probity and distinction, connected in marriage with Elizabeth Smith, daughter of William Smith, Esq., of St. George's Manor, Long Island. The Woodhull family emigrated from Great Britain to Long Island at an early period in the settlement of this country, and are de- scended from illustrious ancestors through a long line, which has been preserved entire from the Norman conquest, A. D. 1066. He received his classical instruction, preparatory to entering college, in a grammar-school under the care of Rev. Caleb Smith, his maternal uncle, who resided at Newark Mountains, now Orange, New Jersey. In the commencement of his education, when about sixteen years of age, he was seriously inclined " and importunate with God for his blessing." While in the College of New Jer- sey, soon after, under the presidency of the learned and pious Dr. Finley, " it pleased the great Head of the church to pour out his spirit in a remarkable manner upon the youth assembled there," and he, with others, obtained sud- den and delightful relief, and saw his future open out more clearly before him. He soon gave evidence of warm and established piety, so that when he called on Dr. Finley to converse on the subject of the approaching communion, a business committed to the president of the college at that time, he scarcely waited for the young convert to express his desire, before he lifted both hands, and exclaimed, " Oh, go, go, and the Lord go with you !" In 1766 he re- ceived the first degree in the arts and at once proceeded to Fags' Manor for the purpose of pursuing theological studies with Rev. John Blair. While thus engaged he was strongly solicited by some pious young men, who had been his class- mates in college, from New England, to come over and study with them, alleging that they enjoyed there superior light. They pressed the invitation so urgently that he re- solved on this change of situation, and went hope to obtain his father's approbation. This was given, the arrangements made, and time set for his departure from Long Island. " The morning came, and he awoke, he thought, as well as usual, and sprang with alacrity out of bed ; but in attempting to dress he found himself unable to stand, and eventually was compelled to lie down again, when he was seized with an alarming fever that confined him there many weeks. His sickness was severe ; his recovery very slow. This dis- pensation of Providence he considered of great importance, as influencing materially the whole course of his after life." He then returned to Mr. Blair, finished his preliminary studies, and, August 10th, 1768, was licensed by the Pres- bytery of New Castle to preach the gospel. Of the several calls which he subsequently had under consideration at the same time, a sense of duty inclined him to prefer that of Laycock Congregation, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where,

John Jhaven

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August Ist, 1770, he was ordained to the holy ministry. In 1779 he was translated from this charge to the large and respectable congregation at Freehold, New Jersey, which was regularly organized June 3d, 1730; before this date it had nominally existed a short time and enjoyed the pastoral labors of Rev. Joseph Morgan. In 1780 he was elected a Trustee of the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, and to this institution he unceasingly devoted his most faithful at- tention. In 1798 he received from Yale College the degree of Doctor of Divinity, a tribute of respect, of which it was universally admitted he was eminently worthy. His fame as a preacher of the gospel was already extensive, and his influence in ecclesiastical judicatories well known. " His eminence and usefulness were both increased by his un- common diligence and fidelity in conducting for many years, near his residence, a grammar-school, which sent forth a succession of accomplished scholars, a good proportion of whom have shone with distinction in the learned profes- sions, and some have occupied offices of dignity and trust in the nation." His character also as a theological teacher was widely diffused, and during a period of thirty years a great number of candidates for the sacred office from dif- ferent and distant parts of the church availed themselves of the advantages of his pleasant situation, his hospitable man- sion, his kind parental attentions, his well-selected library, and his richly furnished mind. But labors of this sort he declined after the establishment of the Theological Semi- nary at Princeton, in whose prosperity he always manifested a deep interest, and in whose affairs and their direction he bore an important part for many years. " His intellectual endowments were by nature unquestionably of the first order. By native soundness of judgment, deepness of pene- tration and extent of view, comprehensiveness of mind and tenaciousness of memory, mildness of disposition, dignity of aspect and suavity of manners, fertility of mental re- source and masculine powers of eloquence, prudence in difficulty, patience, perseverance in enterprise and benevo- lence to the wretched, he was placed by the Hand that formed him in the first grade of his species. And his ac- quired furniture for the sacred office was rich and appro- priate."-Sermon, by Rev. Isaac V. Brown, eminent clergy- man of Princeton, New Jersey. Mathematical science absorbed his . mind, classical reading was his amusement, and history his delight through the college course; while his engagements in New Jersey, as teacher of languages and of candidates for the sacred desk, made him familiar with the whole circle of classics and led him to explore thor- oughly the treasures of sacred literature. When the church in this State was young and destitute, in many parts almost shepherdless, he performed an incredible amount of labor, besides the care of his own flock, in organizing churches, establishing the principles of orthodox religion and Presby- tcrian church government, reconciling differences and re- pairing desolations in the congregations, and raising up and sending forth laborers into the vast field then unoccupied. as a curiosity, some gutta-percha-a substance not then

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The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 120

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