USA > New Jersey > The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century > Part 122
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CARBOROUGH, RT. REV. JOHN, D. D., Prot- estant Episcopal Bishop of New Jersey, was born in New York in 1827. He received his early education in that State, and afterwards entered Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut; after graduating at this institution he entered the Gen- eral Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church in New York city, and was graduated in the class of 1857. At the seminary he was esteemed for his many bril- liant and scholarly qualities, and for his zeal in missionary and Sunday-school work among the poor of the parish of Trinity Church. His first office was with the venerable Rev. Dr. Thomas W. Coit, of Christ Church, Troy, New York, to whom he was assistant for several years. His next care was to Poughkeepsie, New York, where he had charge of a large and flourishing parish. From here he removed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to become the successor of the Rev. Dr. Swope at Trinity Church, the most prominent Protestant Episcopal Church in that city. Dr. Scarborough's ministrations in his new parish were very successful and ac- ceptable to his congregation, who during his incumbency erected the present elegant and costly church cdifice. In November, 1874, he was elected, after a protracted struggle, to the Bishopic of the Diocese of New Jersey, which State had been divided into a Northern and Southern dioccse, and Bishop Odenheimer, formerly the Bishop of both, having selected the Northern diocese as his own. The Southern diocese includes the counties of Cape May, Cumberland, Salem, Gloucester, Camden, Burlington, Mercer, Ilunterdon, Atlantie, Ocean, Monmouth, Union, Middlesex and Somer- set. The Burlington College for Boys, and the Female Col-
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residence of Riverside are included in this diocese. On | five years it is safe to say that this line of railway has more February 2d, 1875, Bishop Scarborough was consecrated in St. Mary's Church, Burlington. Like his predecessors before the division of the seat, he has since made Burling- ton his residence. Bishop Scarborough is a man of great zeal and unusual ability, and his rare executive ability has been shown in his administration of the Episcopal office in New Jersey.
ORKE, HON. THOMAS JONES, Merchant, of Salem-a descendant of Thomas Yorke, some time a High Sheriff in England during the reign of Henry VIII. ; more recently of Simon Yorke, a native of and landed proprietor in Wiltshire, and afterwards a resident of Dover, in Kent; and fifth in descent from Thomas Yorke (brother of Joseph Yorke, some time Mayor of Dover, and Minister to the Hague under George II.), who immigrated to America from Yorkshire in 1728-was born in Salem, New Jersey, March 25th, 1801. 1laving received a substantial English educa- tion at the Salem Academy, he entered the store of his grandfather, Thomas Jones, a merchant of Salem, and thence in 1817 entered the counting-house of James Patton, at that time a leading shipping merchant of Philadelphia. Four years later he returned to Salem, and established in partnership with his uncle, Thomas Jones, Jr., a general business under the firm-name of Jones & Yorke. This business he continued until 1847, when the pressure of other affairs, public and private, compelled him to relin- quish its conduct. Early in life he associated himself with the Whig party, and with that political organization and with its successor, the Republican party, he has since been prominently identified. Having held various local offices in his native county, his broader public career was begun in 1835 by his election to the State Assembly. The ensuing year he was elected a member of the National House of Representatives, and until 1843 continued to be a mem- ber of that body. During his term of office occurred the famous " Broad seal war," and it was also while he was a member of the House that Morse made his application to Congress for aid in building the first line of telegraph. He was one of the members who voted in favor of the appro- priation of $40,000 for the construction of the Baltimore and Washington line. His fine business ability naturally brought him into connection with numerous corporate organizations, and his money and judgment were given with equal freedom in stimulating and developing the resources of his native State. In 1853 he was elected a Director and was made Secretary and Treasurer of the West Jersey Railroad Company ; held these offices until 1866, when he was elected President of the road, and since 1875-when he resigned the position of President-has continued to be a member of the Board of Directors. Within the past twenty-
than doubled the productiveness, and has more than quadru- pled the value of the section of country that it drains. For very much of this appreciation in usefulness and value Mr. Yorke is directly responsible; his management of the road having been based on a policy of enlightened liberality calculated to induce the mutual prosperity of the owners and patrons of the line. In his management of the Cape May & Millville Railroad Company, and of the West Jersey Express Company-of both of which he is President-a similar policy has been uniformly maintained; and a like policy has been urged by him in the conduct of the West Jersey Mail and Transportation Company; in that of the Salem Railroad Company, in that of the Swedesboro Rail- road Company, and in that of the Camden & Philadelphia Ferry Company, in all of which corporations he is a Director. Besides holding the various positions already named, he has been for the past twelve years President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Salem County. For this latter office he was especially fitted by a course of legal study, undertaken not with a view of practising law as a profession, but for the purpose of gaining additional knowledge to be used in the management of his own affairs, and of the affairs of the various trusts the discharge of which have been laid upon him, and so beneficial has this knowledge proved to him that he caused both of his sons to pursue a similar course of study, although neither intended to enter upon a legal career. During the late war he was earnest and outspoken in his maintenance of the Federal Union, but his only active military service was during the war of 1812, when-a mere lad-he was for a considerable period employed as a scout to note the movements of the British forces at the time of the blockade of the Delaware. The duty to which he was then detailed was intelligently and effectively discharged, and was of material service to the American forces. He was twice married-first to Mary Ann, daughter of Jonathan Smith, Esq., of Bucks county, Pennsylvania ; and, second, to Margaret Johnson, daughter of Thomas Sinnickson, Esq., of Chester county, Pennsylva- nia. His eldest son, Louis Eugene, was educated as a civil engineer at Rensselaer Institute, New York; was sub- sequently employed on the Pennsylvania Railroad, Mem- phis & Charleston Railroad, and in 1860 was engineer in charge of the Bergen tunnel. Resigning this position he entered the United States volunteer army as a member of the 7th New York Regiment ; served with that organization during its term of enlistment ; entered the regular army and was commissioned a Captain in the 14th United States Regi- ment ; was with Sherman in his march to the sea; was wounded in the Arkansas campaign, and at the end of the war-at which time he held the brevet rank of Colonel- resigned his commission and resumed the practice of his profession. IIc died in Cincinnati in 1873. Mr. Yorke's second son, Thomas, is a member of the firm of Sinnickson & Co., of Philadelphia.
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ILL, HON. JOHN, Merchant, of Boonton, was born at Catskill, New York, June 10th, 1821, and received a substantial business education in the schools of his native place. On leaving school he devoted himself to mercantile pursuits. In 1844 he removed to New Jersey, locating at Boonton, an iron manufacturing town of Morris county, and engaging in merchandising. ITis unquestionable integrity and large public spirit rapidly won for him the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens. He identified himself thoroughly with the town, and manifested at all times a deep interest in the welfare and progress of its institutions. It followed very naturally that he should be asked to serve the commu- nity in official relations. Repeatedly he was elected to local offices, and in 1860 he was elected as a Representative to the New Jersey Assembly, and was re-elected in the fol- lowing year. During the succeeding period of war he earnestly and ably sustained the general government in all measures necessary to suppress the rebellion, freely devoting his time and means in the raising of troops, and in extend- ing aid and comfort to the soldiers in the field, often visiting the camps and rendering the men every assistance in his power. This patriotic course he pursued so long as an army remained in the field, so long as sick and wounded had to be cared for. In 1865 he was again elected to the New Jersey Assembly, and was chosen Speaker of the House, in which position he proved exceptionally efficient and reliable. During that session of the Legislature he introduced and carried through the House and passed the Senate the joint resolutions of thanks to the soldiers and sailors of New Jersey who enlisted to put down the late rebellion, and which have been issued in the form of a certificate and sent to all soldiers and sailors whose place of residence could be found. At the general election in the fall of 1866 he was returned to the Fortieth Congress, and was re-elected two years later to the Forty-first, and again in 1870 to the Forty-second. During his career in Congress he served on the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads, and his well- directed efforts to secure reforms in the postal service secured him a national reputation. It is not too much to say that the country is probably more indebted to him than to any other member of Congress for those two almost in- estimable reforms-the present postal card system, and the abolition of the franking privilege. In the Fortieth and Forty-first Congresses he was also member of the Commit- tee on Coinage, Weights and Measures, and in the Forty- second, Chairman of the Committee on Expenditures of the Department of the Interior. While working for national in- terests he was by no means unmindful of those more imme- diately appertaining to his constituency, the mining, manu- facturing and agricultural affairs in which his district is so iargery concerned receiving careful and constant atten- tion at his hands during his congressional career. Belicving in the principle of " protection to American industry," he was fully awake to the importance of protecting labor, and
was ever on the alert to defend the interests of the working- man. Among other congressional labors mention must be made of his active efforts in procuring an appropriation, on April 13th, 1861, for the " life-saving service on the New Jersey coast," or, " for the purpose of more effectually securing life and property on the coast of New Jersey," whereby additional stations, with crews at each, and im- proved surf-boats, have been secured, which have proved the means of saving great loss of life and of property since they went into operation. On his return home from Congress his constituents marked their high sense of "his important services in behalf of protection to American industry, postal reform and the general interests of his country, State and district, during three terms in Congress," by the public presentation of a very handsome testimonial consist- ing of a service of silver; while the members of the Manu- facturers' Silk Association of Paterson presented him with an elegantly engrossed expression of thanks for his labors on behalf of the silk interest of the United States. Leading men from all parts of the State participated on the occasion, which was in the nature of a very enthusiastic ovation. In 1874 he was elected to the State Senate from Morris county, and has proved one of the ablest members of that body. While the Republicans were in a majority he served on several of the most important committees, and was Chairman of those on Education and Soldiers' Children's IIome. During the recent session (1877) the Democrats controlled the Senate, and ability and fitness on the Repub- lican side had no opportunity. But he put forth then, as previously, earnest efforts on behalf of retrenchment and reform in the expenditures of the State, such as have attracted universal attention throughout the State, and have marked him out as a man eminently fitted to lead his party in the State. His friends are therefore warmly advocating his nomination as Republican candidate for Governor at the ensuing election. It may very certainly be said that he would prove a popular candidate, for probably no man could be nominated who possesses in so great a degree the confi- dence and estecm of the people of the State.
REEN, HON. ASHBEL, Lawyer, born November 17th, 1825, in Princeton, New Jersey, is a de- scendant of a family intimately connected with the culture and advancement of that State. His grandfather, the Rev. Ashbel Green, for many years President of Princeton College, was dis- tingnished for his learning and eloquence, and was at one time chaplain to Congress. His father, James S. Green, Esq., was a prominent lawyer of New Jersey, and educated his son for that profession. The lad was educated at Princeton, and graduated from Princeton College with dis- tinction in 1846. After studying law for three years he was admitted to the bar in 1849. His father's position as a
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director and counsel of the Camden & Amboy Railroad, and Delaware & Raritan Canal. Company, of which corpo- rations he was one of the original promoters, directed Ashbel Green's attention to the study of corporation law, in which specialty he has a great reputation. He early took an interest in politics, allying himself with the Demo- cratic party, speaking throughout the State and contributing to that party's advancement by every means in his power. In 1867 he was elected Judge of the County Court of Ber- gen, New Jersey. In 1876 he was chosen one of the Tilden Electors, and took an active part in the events connected with the contest. In 1877 he was defeated by John R. McPherson in the caucus nomination for United States Senator. In the argument before the Electoral Commission he was associated, by the Democratic National Committee, with Lyman Trumbull, of Illinois, Matthew II. Carpenter, of Wisconsin, and Jeremiah Black, of Pennsylvania, to manage the great case. Judge Green is known as a man of fine literary culture and taste, and of refined feeling; in his profession he is not only a learned lawyer, but an eloquent and effective orator.
OXE, HON. DANIEL, Associate-Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, late of Trenton, was a son of Dr. Daniel Coxe, of London-well known in colonial days as the greatest proprietor of West Jersey-and was horn in 1664, probably at Burlington. Having studied law, he was ad- mitted to the New Jersey bar, and rapidly acquired a lead- ing position. In 1710 he was appointed by Governor Robert Hunter, who succeeded Lord Lovelace, a member of the Provincial Council, and in 1734 he was made an Associate- Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey. He died April 25th, 1739. As a public-spirited citizen, as a barris- ter and judge of no ordinary ability, and as a zealous mem- ber of the Church of England, Mr. Justice Coxe did much in his day and generation towards laying the firm founda- tion of law and morality upon which the great State of New Jersey has since been builded. Had his labors ceased here, he would have deserved only the grateful remembrance of those who, living in New Jersey, are now reaping the bene- fit of liis good works. But it may be said that he has laid the whole American nation under obligations of gratitude to him; for lie it was who first formulated the scheme of confederation which, a full half century later, was, in but a slightly modified form, used to bind together the Thirteen United States. In 1722 he published in London a volume hearing the ponderous title : "A Description of the English Province of Carolana, by the Spaniards call'd Florida, and by the French La Louisiane, with a large and curious Preface, demonstrating the Right of the English to that Country, and the unjust Manner of the French usurping it ;
their prodigious Increase there, &c., and the inevitable Danger our other Colonies on the Continent will be ex- posed to, if not timely prevented; interspersed with many useful Hints in Regard to our Plantations in General." It is in the " curious Preface " that the scheme alluded to is presented. After dilating at some length upon the danger to be feared from the encroachments of the French, he pre- sents the following : "The only expedient I can at present think of, or shall presume to mention (with the utmost deference to His Majesty and His Ministers), to help and obviate these absurdities and inconveniences, and apply a remedy to them, is, that all the colonies appertaining to the crown of Great Britain on the northern continent of America be united, under a legal, regular and firm estab- lishment; over which it is proposed a Lieutenant, or Su- preme Governor, may be constituted, and appointed to preside on the spot, to whom the governors of each colony shall be subordinate. It is further humbly proposed, that two deputies shall be annually elected by the council and assembly of each province, who are to be in the nature of a great council, or general convention of the estates of the colonies; and by the order, consent or approbation of the Lieutenant, or Governor-General, shall meet together, con- sult and advise for the good of the whole; settle and ap- point particular quotas or proportions of money, men, pro- visions, etc., that each respective government is to raise for their mutual defence and safety, as well as, if necessary, for offence and invasion of their enemies; in all which cases the Governor-General or Lieutenant is to have a negative; but not to enact anything without their concurrence, or that of the majority of them. The quota or proportion, as above allotted and charged on each colony, may, nevertheless, be levied and raised by its own assembly, in such manner as they shall judge most easy and convenient, and the circum- stances of their affairs will permit. Other jurisdictions, powers and authorities, respecting the honor of His Majesty, the interest of the plantations and the liberty and property of the proprietors, traders, planters and inhabitants in them, may be vested in and cognizable by the aforesaid Governor- General or Lieutenant, and grand convention of estates, according to the laws of England, but are not thought fit to be touched on or inserted here, this proposal being general, and with all humility submitted to the consideration of our supervisors, who may improve, model, or reject it, as they in their wisdom may judge proper. A coalition, or union, of this nature, tempered with and grounded on prudence, moderation and justice, and a generous encouragement given to the labor, industry and good management of all sorts and conditions of persons inhabiting or, any ways, concerned or interested in the several colonies above men- tioned, will in all probability lay a sure and lasting foun- dation of dominion, strength and trade, sufficient not only to secure and promote the prosperity of the plantations, but to revive and greatly increase the late flourishing state and condition of Great Britain, and thereby render it once more
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the envy and admiration of its neighbors. Let us consider the fall of our ancestors, and grow wise by their misfor- tunes. If the ancient Britons had been united amongst themselves, the Romans, in all probability, had never be- come their masters ; for, as Cæsar observed of them, Dum Singuli pugnabant, Universi vincebantur-whilst they fought in separate bodies the whole island was subdued. So, if the English colonies in America were consolidated as one body, and joined in one common interest, as they are under one Gracious Sovereign, and with united forces were ready and willing to act in concert and assist each other, they would be better enabled to provide for and de- fend themselves against any troublesome ambitious neigh- bor, or bold invader. For union and concord increase and establish strength and power, whilst division and discord have the contrary cffects." In his " Colonial History " (vol. ii. p. 199), Grahame writes : " In this plan we behold the germ of that more celebrated, though less original, project, which was again ineffectually recommended by an American statesman in 1754; and which, not many years after, was actually embraced by his countrymen." Chief- Justice Field, in his " Provincial Courts of New Jersey," is even more plainly outspoken, and his words fitly sum up the case and direct the verdict. He writes: "It was in fact the very plan which was recommended by Dr. Franklin to the convention at Albany, in 1754, for the purpose of forming a league with the Six Nations, and concerting measures for united operations against the encroachments of the French. This plan of Dr. Franklin's has been much talked of as ' the Albany Plan of Union'; figures largely in all our histories, and is thought to have been one of those grand and original conceptions for which he was so famous. And yet it was little more than a transcript of the design sketched by Daniel Coxe, many years before, and which would seem to have originated with him. To him, there- fore, a citizen of New Jersey, belongs the credit of it, and the truth of history requires that from him it should no longer be withheld."
AN VORST, HON. CORNELIUS, Officer in the Revolutionary Army, late of Hudson county, New Jersey, was born there, November 25th, 1728. " He was popularly known as ' Faddy; ' was one of the wealthiest men in the county, and full of fun and practical jokes; was fond of fast horses, and drove the best team in the vicinity." He established the race-course on Paulus Hoeck, in 1753, and was the lion of that " Derby." But, while loving the genial side of life, he did not neglect its weiglitier duties. In 1764 he estab- lished the Jersey City ferry; and at the outbreak of the Revolution took decided ground on the side of his country. At a meeting of the inhabitants of Bergen county, held at IIackensack, June 25th, 1774, he was appointed one of a
" committee for corresponding with the committees of the other counties in this province, and particularly to meet with the other county committees at New Brunswick, .... in order to elect delegates to attend a General Congress of Delegates of the American Colonies." June 29th, 1776, the Provincial Congress appointed him Lieutenant-Colonel of a battalion of foot militia in the county of Bergen. It is doubtful, however, if he ever was in actual service. Shortly after the capture of New York by the British, and the fall of Paulus Hoeck, his house at Harsimus was occupied by the officers of a detachment of cavalry, while he and his family were crowded into the kitchen. The fact that he continued to reside on his place while it lay in the hands of the enemy aroused suspicion that he had be- gun to harbor tory inclinations; and, November 10th, 1776, he was charged before the court with having joined the British ; after a thorough investigation he was, however, honorably acquitted. " During this occupancy of his house by the enemy, the officers, for their own amusement, were in the practice of discharging muskets up the chimney. One day, his mother being sick, he requested them to de- sist. This they haughtily refused to do. Being a powerful man, he proceeded to vindicate his rights by administering a drubbing to the insolent soldiers." Incarceration in the old sugar-house was the consequence of attempting to ad- minister justice inter arma. Sir Henry Clinton, then in command at New York, was one of his old school compan- ions, and at once released him, with the admonition " not to let such a thing occur again." But, being impetuous as well as muscular, he was soon entangled in a fresh diffi- culty by espousing the cause of an injured cobbler: an officer refused to pay for the repair of his boots, whereupon he satisfied the shoemaker by thrashing the trooper. For this he was again locked up in New York, and again dis- charged with a severe admonition. The presence of the enemy, always offensive to the sturdy patriot, finally became unendurable. They not only lived in his house, hut seized his horses and confiscated his cattle. Determined to sepa- rate from their company, " which he loathed," he took his family to Pompton, and there resided with Philip Schuyler. On his return he went to Paulus Hoeck, and there lived in the ferry-house until the close of the war. Like his opulent neighbors, " he was a practical believer in the patriarchal institution, and always kept his spacious kitchen well stocked with slaves. Among the number was a character known as Half- Indian Jack, who died at Harsimus Ferry, February 2d, 1831, at the age of 102 years, and was buried on what is now the rear of lot No. 153 Wayne street. Jack ran away from Van Vorst during the revolutionary war, and became a spy for the British. He was generally in the company of a white spy named Meyers. Both did their work for pay-Jack for whiskey, Meyers for gold. Meyers deposited his money in a box, which he kept buried. Whenever he was in a condition to add to the deposit, he and Jack would unearth the treasure, When uncovered,
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