The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 16

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

USA > New Jersey > The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century > Part 16

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

not destined to continue in the high position which he was so well qualified to fill. He was desirous of resigning, but was urged to remain while there appeared any hope of re- covery. But a disease, which baffled the skill of the most skilful physicians, soon after his resignation was accepted, terminated his life in 1865.

LACKWELL, LEWIS S., M. D., of Perth Amboy, was born at Pennington, New Jersey, January 23d, 1833. His parents, Henry and Rebecca (Titus) Blackwell, were both natives of the State, and gave their son a good education. He fust at- tended the academy in Pennington, and afterward the New Jersey Conference Seminary at the same place, the latter being an old-established and popular institution of learning. Being drawn by taste toward the medical profes- sion, he began to read medicine shortly after leaving the seminary, having for his preceptor his brother, Dr. E. T. Blackwell. In 1854 he attended a course of lectures at Vermont Medical College, at Woodstock, Vermont. During the three subsequent years he attended the University of Pennsylvania, and graduated therefrom in the spring of 1857. After graduation he located at Wertsville, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, where, however, he remained only a short time. In 1858 he returned to Pennington, where he practised suc- cessfully until 1872, having in the mean time attended a course of lectures in Bellevue Hospital Medical College. During that year he transferred his labors to Bound Brook, New Jersey, and continued in that field for two years, when he located in Perth Amboy, where he is now residing in the enjoyment of a large and growing practice. In 1867 he was elected a member of the Board of Chosen Freeholders of Mercer County, which office he held for two years. His wife, Charlotte Ogden Waters, to whom he was married April 28th, 1859, is a native of Millville, New Jersey.

BIOGRAPHIICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.

Justices of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, where he re- mained until his admission to the bar, in 1866. In the early part of the following year he opened an office and commenced practice in Somerville, where he still resides. His ability and integrity have won for him not only the con- fidence and esteem of his fellow-townsmen, but also a large and lucrative business. He is a Democrat in political faith, and ardently attached to the principles of that party, al- though he has never sought any official position at the hands. of that organization. He has in the past rendered excellent service for the party in eloquently defending its principles and candidates. He is regarded in his profession as a safe counsellor, and judicious in the management of his clients' interests. He was married, in 1869, to Wilhelmina Schomp, of Hunterdon county, New Jersey.

TOCKTON, CHIARLES S., DD. S., of Newark, was born in Springfield township, Burlington county, New Jersey, on December 17th, 1836. His parents were Staccy and Eliza (Roselle) Stockton, both natives of the same State. On his paternal side he is descended from the old Stockton family, so long and thoroughly identified with the State of New Jersey. His education was principally ob- tained at the New Jersey Conference Seminary of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at Pennington, from which institution he graduated with the first honors of his class on July 28th, 1855, being chosen to deliver the valedictory oration on that occasion. Having been attracted to the dental profession, he commenced, in the fall of 1855, the study of dentistry in the office of Dr. George C. Brown, of Mount Holly, New Jersey, with whom he remained for about one year, when he entered the office of Dr. C. A. Kingsbury, a long-established dentist, also of Mount Holly at that time, but more widely known of late years as one of the founders of the celebrated Dental College of Penn- sylvania. Having fitted himself for the practice of dentistry, Dr. Stockton, in March, 1857, purchased the property and practice of Dr. Kingsbury, and soon met with flattering success, and was engaged in an extensive and lucrative practice here up to the summer of 1872, when he removed to Newark, purchasing the property there on Cedar street which for many years was occupied by the Messrs. Colburn, the leading dentists of Newark in their day. Here Dr. Stockton again acquired a lucrative and constantly-increas- ing patronage, which he continues to enjoy, and is in all probability the leading dental practitioner in Newark. Fully appreciating, however, the great importance of being thoroughly learned in the real science and practice of his profession, he availed himself of the benefit of a full course of lectures at the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, where he was graduated with the highest honors, February 29th, 1868. An enthusiast in his profession, Dr. Stockton

has taken great pride in elevating the standard of its mem- bers, etc. He was actively instrumental in aiding the organization of the New Jersey State Dental Association, in 1870, and has always taken a lively interest in its deliber- ations. Upon its formation he was chosen Vice-President and elected to deliver the public address at the first annual meeting, which was held at Newark, in July, 1871. His discourse on this occasion embodied a concise history of dentistry from the early ages to the present period, accom- panied by a number of excellent practical suggestions touchi- ing the elements of professional success. The address received many encomiums from its hearers, and its publica- tion was ordered by the society. At the annual meeting of the society, held at Long Branch in the summer of 1872, he contributed an interesting paper entitled " On What we Live." He has been called upon to act in various official capacities in the State society, viz., Chairman of the Execu- tive Committee of the society and also of the State Board of Examiners. In July, 1875, he was honored with the Presidency of the society, which office he now holds. In February, 1874, he was elected President of the Alumni Association of the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery for the ensuing year. Notwithstanding his devotion to his profession, he has also found time to aid and promote in various ways the welfare of the communities in which he has resided. During his sojourn at Mount Holly he repre- sented his church in the Episcopal Diocesan Convention of New Jersey. While not caring for political honors, he has at the same time recognized the duty each citizen owes in this direction, and has, a number of times, been a dele- gate in the county, State and district conventions of his party. He was married in 1857 to Martha Smith, of Perth Amboy.

RAIG, DAVID STEWART, M. D., Physician, of Rahway, was a native of that place, having been born there, September 22d, 1776. IIis parents were David Craig and Catherine Terrill, and his grandparents on the father's side were Timothy Craig and Jane Stewart. Through his grandmother he was of Scotch descent, her father, David Stewart, having come to this country from Edinburgh, Scotland, and settled in Woodbridge. David Stewart Craig, in his boyhood, attended a select school in his native place, and his natural aptness and his early habits of hard work rendered his acquisition of knowledge rapid and ef- fectual. It was early decided that he was to enter the medical profession. Indeed that was the hereditary pro- fession of his family. His father, David Craig, was a physician, and his great-grandfather, David Stewart, was the first physician who practised in Woodbridge, where he settled after his arrival from Edinburgh. After his term of attendance at the select school had expired the young David entered at once upon the study of medicine. He was placed

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.

in the office of Dr. Samuel Bard, of New York, and con- tinued under the instruction of that practitioner until the completion of his course of study. He received his diploma in the year 1797, when he had just attained his majority. He returned to Rahway and at once commenced the prac- tice of his profession there. He speedily rose in favor, and while still a young man found himself possessed of a large and increasing patronage. IIis energy in the performance of his chosen work was great; he was an indefatigable student, and kept well up with the progress of medical science, and his skill and success were remarkable. He advanced rapidly to acknowledged eminence, and during fifty years of unremitting practice in Rahway he maintained a leading position in his profession. As a man and a citi- zen, no less than as a physician, did he win and retain the esteem of those about him. He was public-spirited in a high degree, and all movements for the welfare of the com- munity received his hearty and active co-operation. He was especially active in the removal of the mill-dams, a work which, at the time, awakened the interest and com- manded much of the attention of the community in which he lived. He died, November 9th, 1866, widely and sin- cerely mourned, and his memory is still cherished with high esteem.

ILLY, HON. SAMUEL, M. D., Physician, States- man and Jurist, of Lambertville, was born, Octo- ber 28th, 1815, in Geneva, Ontario county, New York, and is a son of William Lilly. He is of English descent, his grandfather, Samuel Lilly, being the emigrant ancestor of the American branch of the family. He was a barrister by profession in England; and, being a fine classical and belles-lettres scholar, on his arrival in America he adopted the profes- sion of a teacher, and established himself at first in New York city, and afterwards went to Albany. At the instance of warm personal friends, he took orders in and became a clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church. In the course of time he became Rector of St. John's Church, Elizabethtown, New Jersey ; and while there he officiated at the marriage ceremony of Lord Bolingbroke, then a resi- dent of that ancient borough. His son, William Lilly, the father of Dr. Samuel Lilly, was placed at an early age in the extensive house of E. K. Kane & Co., who were en- gaged in the East India trade, and where he acquired all the information necessary to form the attainments of a suc- cessful merchant. Ile afterwards removed to Geneva, thence to Penn Yan, subsequently to New York city, and finally settled at Lambertville, New Jersey. In 1829 liis son Samuel, who at that time was about fourteen years of age, commenced the study of the classics with his uncle, Dr. John Lilly, a prominent physician, who had been a resident practitioner of medicine in Lambertville since sioners. In 1873 he was appointed by Governor Parker 1809; he also received instruction from Rev. P. O. Studi- one of the Judges of the Court of Errors and Appeals,

ford, D. D., an eminent Presbyterian clergyman. Having decided to embrace the medical profession, he entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, and graduated therefrom with the degree of M. D. in 1837. He immediately entered upon the practice of his profession at Lambertville, and soon acquired the control of an exten- sive and lucrative business and reputation. He is a leading member of the Hunterdon Medical Society and of the New Jersey State Medical Society, in both of which he has held all the leading offices, and is now Vice-President of the American Medical Association. In 1852 he was elected by the Democratic party to the Thirty-third Congress; and during the term for which he was elected served as Chair- man of the Committee on Expenditures of the Post-office Department, and was also a member of the Committee on Agriculture. The Thirty-third Congress has become his- torical on account of the " Kansas-Nebraska " struggle, and the passage of legislative acts virtually repealing the " Missouri Compromise." His Congressional career was marked by his earnest efforts to check the turbulent pas- sions, promote a better and more fraternal feeling between the sections and allay the stormy passions, which finally culminated in the civil war. He was renominated in 1854, but the Know-Nothing movement prevented his re-election. He was, however, chosen to fill several important local offices both in the city and county where he resided. He was elected, in 1849, the first Mayor of Lambertville, and re-elected for three succeeding years. For eight years he was Director of the Board of Freeholders for Hunterdon county. In January, 1861, he was appointed, by President . Buchanan, Consul-General to British India, to reside at Calcutta. 'During his connection with the consulate the civil war, and our relations with England growing out of the Mason and Slidell affair, rendered the administration of the occupant of the position one of great responsibility. Some American merchant vessels, partly loaded with salt- petre, were detained at Calcutta during the Mason and Slidell excitement. Dr. Lilly contended vigorously for the rights of the American traders, who were then allowed to depart. Previous to his leaving Calcutta for the United States, the American merchants resident in that city pre- sented him with a handsome service of plate, in token of the estcem in which he was held by them ; and on his ar- rival at his home, in Lambertville, he was welcomed by an ovation at the hands of his fellow-townsmen. In 1868 he was appointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the County of Hunterdon, and served for the term of five years in that capacity. In 1871 he was appointed one of the Commissioners to locate and build the new State Lunatic Asylum. The site selected was at Morristown, and it is now completed and occupied. It is one of the largest and best designed institutions of the kind on the continent, and reflects credit on the State and the Board of Commis-

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.

which position he still retains. He is also a director of the | located in Morristown, and achieved success from the start; Flemington Railroad Company; President of the Centre Bridge Company, and President of the Lambertville Savings Bank. He is a prominent member of the Masonic order and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in each of which organizations he has held the most important posi- tions. As a man of irreproachable character he is univer- sally respected ; and however men may differ with him on political questions, or on public affairs, his most bitter po- litical opponents have never called in question his probity, or his earnest desire for the public good.

IRKPATRICK, HON. ANDREW, Lawyer and Jurist, late of New Brunswick, was born, Feb- ruary 17th, 1756, in Somerset county, New Jer- sey, and was the third son of David and Mary (McEwan) Kirkpatrick, and a grandson of Alex- ander Kirkpatrick, the emigrant ancestor of the family. The latter was a native of Scotland, who had re- moved first to Belfast, Ireland, where he lived a few years, and subsequently, in 1736, sailed with his family to America. He settled in Somerset county, New Jersey, near Basking Ridge, where he died in 1758. His second son, David, was, like his father, a rigid Preshyterian, and of plain and unassuming habits, highly respected for his unswerving in- tegrity and great perseverance; he attained the great age of over fourscore years and ten, and died in 1814. Andrew received the best education attainable in the vicinity of his birthplace, and graduated at Princeton College in 1775. His father had educated him especially to enter the min- istry of the Presbyterian Church; and after he left college he commenced the study of divinity with the Rev. Mr. Kennedy, a distinguished theologian, at Basking Ridge; but after a short time he abandoned the idea of entering the ministry and expressed his determination to become a stu- dent at law. His father appears to have been much chagrined at the change in his son's views, and declined to assist him in obtaining the instruction needed to attain the desired end; so he was compelled to rely upon his own exertions, and he left home, with his mother's blessing and her parting gift of some golden pieces-the savings of years. He went to Virginia, and became a tutor in the family of Colonel Taliaferro, at Hagley, near Fredericksburg, King George's county, the same household where Hon. Samuel L. Southard subsequently taught; and after remaining there a brief period went to Esopus (now Kingston), in Ulster county, New York; and he afterwards returned to New Jersey, where he obtained a position as teacher of the clas- sics at Rutgers College Grammar School, at New Bruns- wick. During this whole period he occupied his leisure hours in the study of the law, and subsequently entered the office of William Paterson-afterwards governor-as a regu- lar student, and was licensed as an attorney in 1785. He

but met with an unfortunate accident two years later-the destruction of his effects, including his library, by fire- and accordingly returned to New Brunswick, which for the future became his residence, and where he acquired an ex- cellent and constantly increasing practice. In 1797 he was elected a member of the Assembly from Middlesex county, and, after serving a short time in that body, was appointed, by the joint meeting of the two houses, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Judge Chetwood. In 1803, after the death of Chief-Justice Kinsey, he was elected Chief-Justice, and was twice afterwards re-elected, thus passing a period of twenty-seven years on the bench of that court, a longer ser- vice than any other judge, except Isaac Smith, who only exceeded him by one year. While Chief-Justice he was elected, in 1820, a member of the Legislative Council, the old constitution of the State allowing such a practice; but the session was a brief one, lasting but four weeks, and eventually adjourning without day. His term expired in 1824, and he passed the remainder of his days in compara- tive retirement, rarely appearing in court, though he oc- casionally was called upon to give professional advice to some of his old clients. He was noted for his deep knowl- edge of the old English common law, especially of all that relating to the law of real estate ; and his opinions in various cases, where the latter were called in question, are regarded as models of deep learning, sound reasoning and polished language. He became a Trustee of Princeton College in 1809, and seldom failed in his attendance upon the meet- ings of the Board. He was married, in 1792, to Jane, daughter of Colonel John Bayard, formerly of Pennsyl- vania, and a distinguished officer in the continental army. Judge Kirkpatrick died in 1831.

ORNBLOWER, HON. JOSEPH C., LL. D., Lawyer and Chief-Justice of New Jersey, was born, May 6th, 1777, at Belleville, Essex county, in that State, and was the youngest son of the Hon. Josiah Hornblower. His father was an Englishman, and a civil engineer by profession, who came to America in 1753. He was a member of the Legislature and a delegate to the Continental Congress; he died in 1809, aged eighty years. Joseph, although unable to obtain a collegiate education, nevertheless received some very valuable instruction in the classical academy at Orange, and he applied himself closely; his father also freely im- parted his mathematical learning. His health from child- hood was feeble, and when only sixteen years of age he had a paralytic attack, from which he was a considerable time re- covering. He subsequently went to New York city, where he entered the employ of one of his brothers-in-law, who . was engaged in mercantile business, and remained with him

Galaxy Pub. Co. Philoda

I mones

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

some time. ' But having resolved to lead a professional life he returned to New Jersey, and entered the office of David B. Ogden, of Newark, who at that time was becoming a prominent advocate, and was subscquently one of the orna- ments of the profession in New York city. He studied with him for the prescribed term of five years, and was licensed as an attorney in February, 1803, becoming a coun- sellor in 1806, and ten years later receiving the highest dignity, that of serjeant-at-law. Before his admission to practice he was associated with his preceptor as a partner; his business soon became a large and valuable one, and he early took rank with the first lawyers of the State. In No- vember, 1832, he was appointed, by the joint meeting of Council and Assembly, Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, to take the place vacated by the death of Chief-Justice Ewing, and was re-elected in 1839, thus serv- ing in that capacity for fourteen years, retiring in 1846. His decisions during this period were marked by learning, legal acumen and high moral principle; they occupy several volumes of the " New Jersey Law Reports." His well- known decision, in 1856, that Congress had no right to pass a fugitive slave law, was one which, though reversed, at- tracted much attention. In 1844 he was one of the most prominent members of the convention called to frame a new constitution for the State; and he strenuously en- deavored to obtain the insertion of a clause putting an end to slavery in the State, in which, however, he was unsuc- cessful. After his retirement from the bench he resumed the practice of his profession, but not to any very appreci- able extent. During his incumbency as Chief-Justice the College of New Jersey conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws; and in 1847 he was, by the trustees of that institution, appointed the Professor of Law, with the hope that he would remove to Princeton and assist in building up a permanent school of law; but as no pro- vision had been made for an adequate salary, and as he was unwilling to leave a residence where he had passed so many years, although he accepted the appointment and delivered a course of lectures, there was not sufficient en- couragement given him to remain, and he soon after resigned the chair. Politically he was a Federalist, and afterwards became a Whig, and more recently a Republican ; he was a strong anti-slavery man, as evinced by his attempt, as already stated, to insert in the State constitution a clause abolishing that institution. In 1856 he was Chairman of the New Jersey delegation and Vice-President of the Phila- delphia Convention, which nominated General Fremont for the Presidency on the Republican ticket. In 1820 he was one of the Electors, and cast his vote for James Monroe, and in 1860 was President of the Electoral College of New Jersey, who cast the vote of that State for Lincoln and Hamlin. Religiously, he was for many years a member of the Presbyterian Church, and a ruling elder of the same; he was one of the original members of the American Bible Society; President of the New Jersey Colonization Society;

President of the Society for Promoting Collegiate and Theo- logical Education in the West; and also President of the New Jersey Historical Society from its inception, besides being connected with many of the religious organizations of the day, contributing largely of his means to their fur- therance and support. In private life he was a gentleman of urbane manners, a good conversationalist and an inter- esting companion. He was a thoroughly honest and truth- ful man, and all with whom he was brought in contact were charmed with his society and his happily expressed sentiments. When a young man, and just admitted to the bar, he married a granddaughter of Dr. William Burnet, who brought him a large family of children, most of whom survived him. She died many years ago. After he had been a widower for some time he married a daughter of Colonel John Kinney, of Morris county, with whom he lived most happily, and who soothed his declining years with the most tender attention. He died at his residence, in the city of Newark, June 11th, 1864, in the eighty-eighth year of his age.

ORRIS, THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN, M. D., Physician, of Jersey City, was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, December 30th, 1831. He is descended from revolutionary stock, his great-grandfather, Jonathan T. Morris, having been a commissioned officer in the revolutionary army, who was wounded in the battle of Trenton and died at the head-quarters of General Lafayette, at Morristown, New Jersey. Theodore's father, William Cullen Morris, was a native of New Jersey, and a lawyer. For thirty years he served as Prosecutor of the Pleas for Warren County, in his native State, having his residence at Belvidere. It was at the classical academy at this place that Theodore F. Mor- ris received his education. The habits of hard work and patient study which characterized him later in life were early formed, and enabled him to obtain from his academic course of study such abundant results as do not often follow more ample opportunities. It was almost a foregone con- clusion that he should enter the medical profession. His grandfathers, both on the father's and the mother's side, had been physicians, and had both held the position of President of the New Jersey State Medical Society. It seemed the natural thing for him to do, therefore, to study medicine; and accordingly, when he had reached the age of eighteen, he commenced a course of preparatory reading. In the winter of 1854 and 1855 he matriculated at the University of New York. There he took the fullest advantage of the opportunities afforded him, studied hard and made excellent progress. In the spring of 1855, after passing cxamination before the Board of Censors, he was licensed by the New Jersey State Medical Socicty to prac- tisc as a physician. He at once settled in Jersey City, and there entered upon a professional career which has been

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

The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 16

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