The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 36

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

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resided in what was known as " Chestnut Ward," and in its affairs was always active and influential, identifying himself with the " Henry Clay Whig " party. His best efforts were ever exerted for the advancement of Philadelphia in growth and influence, every movement tending in that direction finding in him an earnest upholder and advocate. When the question of the city subscribing to the stock of the Pennsylvania Railroad arose, he was deeply interested, and well understood the importance of supporting the road. His political influence was employed in behalf only of . those pledged to its support, and by the aid of such men as lie, the road was brought into successful operation. Some twenty-five years ago he removed from " Chestnut Ward," and since that date has taken no part in politics except to vote for those whom he thought would best serve the in- terests of the community at large. November Ist, 1849, he was married to the daughter of Joseph Cowperthwait, for- merly cashier in the United States Bank.

ROWN, ABRAHAM, Lawyer, of Mount Holly, New Jersey, was born at Recklesstown, Burling- ton county. His education was acquired at a classical school kept many years ago at Borden- town by Burgess Allison. After completing his education he commenced the study of law, and on receiving his license to practise he removed to Mount Ilolly, where he resided until his death. Soon after his removal there he was appointed Surrogate of the county, which office he held by reappointment for a continuous pe- riod of seventeen years. He was a profound lawyer, and a wise counsellor, a man of great integrity of character, and exercised a widespread influence in his native county. He was one of the original Directors of the Camden & Amboy Railroad Company, and held the same when he died.

OWENHOVEN, HON. CHARLES T., Lawyer, and ex-Judge, of New Brunswick, was born in that city, December Ist, 1844. The family origi- nally came from Holland in the latter part of the sixteenth century, and were people of large pos- sessions. IIis father, Nicholas R. Cowenhoven, was born on Long Island, while his mother, Annie Rapple- yea, was a native of New Jersey. The advantages of a good education were afforded him. At first he attended the select schools of New Brunswick ; subsequently he entered Rutgers College, matriculating in 1858, and being graduated in 1862. He then began the study of law, having deter- mined upon adopting the legal profession. His studies were conducted in the office and under the supervision of A. V. Schenck, Esq., in New Brunswick. In due course he was licensed as an attorney in 1865, and as counsellor in

June, 1869. During the last-named year the office of Law Judge for the County of Middlesex was created by act of the Legislature, and he was appointed to fill the position. For a period of five years thereafter he sat upon the bench, and discharged the various functions of his office with marked ability. Indeed, during that time not a single de- cision of the many given was ever appealed. Further tes- timony to his quality as a judge is superfluous. This record is the more remarkable inasmuch as he was in all probability the youngest judge who ever sat on the bench in the State. In this position he was the Presiding Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Orphans' Court, and Court of Quarter Ses- sions. At the expiration of his term he returned to private practice, in which he has been very successful. In Decem- ber, 1870, he was married to Ella A., daughter of Henry Towle, of New Brunswick.

OTT, REV. GEORGE SCUDDER, D. D., of Flemington, was born, November 25th, 1829, in the city of New York, where the family had re- sided for several generations. Ifis father was Lawrence S. Mott, and his mother's maiden name was Vail. One of his ancestors had to flee from the city of New York on its occupation by the British ; another was killed at the Indian battle of Mini- sink. George prepared for college at a private school in his native city, entered the sophomore class of the Uni- versity of New York in 1847, and graduated in 1850, taking fourth honor. Among his classmates were Vaughn Abbott, Esq., of New York city, Prof. H. H. Baird, and the Rev. D. Zabriskie, of the Congregational Church. Entering Princeton Theological Seminary in the autumn of 1850, he graduated in 1853. During the same year he ac- cepted a call to the Second Presbyterian Church of Rahway, New Jersey, and remained five years. He was then called to the Presbyterian Church, at Newton, New Jersey, where he continued for nine years. In 1869 Dr. Mott removed to Flemington, New Jersey, having con- sented to take charge of the Presbyterian Church of that place, and there he still resides. In 1873 he was elected Professor of Sacred Rhetoric in Lincoln University, Penn- sylvania, but declined the proffered position. In 1874 Princeton College conferred on him the degree of D. D. He has written several valuable books, among which-pub- lished by the American Tract Society-may be named the " Perfect Law," which has been translated into Spanish and Portuguese ; also a tract, " Holding on to Christ "-of this over two hundred thousand copies have been printed. The Presbyterian Board of Publication has published of his works, " The Prodigal Son," and several tracts, viz. : " Gaming and Gambling," "There is no Passing," " Eat- ing and Drinking Unworthily," " Nurse Them at Home." A book entitled " Resurrection of the Dead " has been pub-

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lished for him by Randolph. These efforts evince much thought and depth of reasoning, and are of a high order of literary merit. In 1854 he was married to Isabella, daugh- ter of John Acken, Esq., of New Brunswick, New Jersey. He is a fervent and zealous pastor, as well as one of the ablest workers in the field of didactic Christian literature, as may readily be inferred from the practical character of the titles of his productions above mentioned.

HARO, HON. JOSEPH W., Merchant and State Senator, late of Tuckerton, was born, March 14th, 1813, in that town, and was a son of the late Timothy Pharo, whose biographical sketch will be found elsewhere in this volume. He re- eeived an excellent education, partly at the cele- brated Friends' school at Westtown, Chester county, Penn- sylvania, and partly at the equally excellent academy of John Gummere, in Burlington, New Jersey. When he was nineteen years of age, his father placed him in his store, devolving the principal care and management of the busi- ness upon him. He remained there until 1840, when he went to New York city, and entered into the wholesale dry- goods jobbing business with George Barnes, the firm being known for several years as Barnes & Pharo. This business soon became a very large one, the sales extensive; and during the first ten years of this partnership, the junior mem- ber of the house travelled extensively through the Western States, chiefly on business connected with the firm. After the death of his father, he dissolved his connection with the firm in New York, and returning, in the spring of 1857, to his native town, he erected there a commodious and tasteful residenee, and adorned its surroundings with useful and or- namental gardens and shrubbery. He now entered into business with his brother, A. R. Pharo, constituting the firm of J. & A. R. Pharo, carrying on an extensive general trade in stores, mills, lumber, wood, coal, ship-building, agricul- ture, ete., etc. They were also largely interested in the eoasting trade, and probably represented a larger interest in eoasting vessels than any other family in the State. His ANNON, REV. JAMES SPENCER, D. D., S. T. P., was horn in the eity of New York, and was placed, when a small boy, by his father, in the family of Colonel Elias Brevoort, at Hackensack, New Jersey, to be educated. Shortly after this his father was lost at sea in his own vessel, and by his death his son was left an orphan. Colonel Brevoort, who was an officer of the Revolution, adopted the child as his own, and had him thoroughly cducated at the elassical academy of Dr. Peter Wilson, at Hackensack. At the age of sixteen he united himself to the Reformed Duteh Church, at the latter place, and shortly after commeneed his theo- logical studies under Dr. Jacob Freligh. At the age of talents for business were of the highest order. Few men possessed the comprehensive grasp of mind to survey so readily all the advantages and difficulties bearing upon any subject to which his powers were directed, and none per- haps arrived more quickly at a judicious and correct con- clusion. For this reason his judgment and advice were uni- versally sought by the community for several milcs around his residence, and to all who eame to him for this purpose, he was the safe, judicious and valuable counsellor, the im- partial, just and reliable arbiter. His sucecss in business was but the natural consequence of his industry, his appli- cation to, and his superior capacity for, it. He seemed to find his greatest pleasure in the executive management and twenty-one he was ordained as a minister of said ehureb,

direction of a large business; and the accumulation of wealth was with him but the result of commendable employ- ment, and not a sordid pursuit. In the fall of 1861 he was elected State Senator from Burlington county by a very popular vote. His legislative career, though of short dura- tion, was promising and satisfactory. He occupied a prom- inent position on several important committees, and was one of the special committee of the Senate to meet the govern- ors of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, with a joint committee from the Legislature of each of these States, to consult relative to the coast defences. His illness prevented him from being present at the meeting of this committee, much to his regret. He was, in religious opinion and belief, a member of the Society of Friends ; having a birthright in that society, and thoroughly educated in their principles, he always properly conformed to their discipline and worship. He was strictly moral in deed and word, regular, exact and systematic in his habits, scrupu- lously neat and particular in his personal appearance, and guarded in his language and expression. IIe embodied in a high degree the character of a pure, high-minded gentle- man. His education was liberal, his principles sound, his judgment vigorous, prompt and discriminating, his mind was well stored with valuable and diversified information, and combined with a calculating, comprehensive business tact were high integrity of purpose and honesty of principle. His popularity in his neighborhood was universal. To the poor, the needy and the destitute, his hand was ever open, and his heart ready to respond to the voice of distress. IIe was their charitable donor and their sympathizing benefac- tor. To his relatives and intimate acquaintances he was the warm-hearted, genial and cheerful companion and faith- ful friend ; and to all around he was the dignificd gentle- man, the generous neighbor, and the honest man. He was married in December, 1839, to Beulah H., a daughter of Benjamin Oliphant, of Mannahawkin. He died at his resi- dence in Tuckerton, April 16th 1862.

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and shortly after, having married one of the daughters of Colonel Brevoort, was called to the Dutch Reformed Church at Six Mile Run, in Somerset county, near New Brunswick, and continued there as the pastor of that large congregation, ministering to them with great fidelity and acceptance for twenty-five years, until he was elected by the General Synod of that church to the Professorship of Pastoral Theology in their seminary at New Brunswick ; here he discharged for thirty years, and until his death, which occurred in 1852, not only his duties in this station, but also the duties of Professor of Metaphysics and Phil- osophy in Rutgers College, in the same city, to which he had been elected by the Trustees of that institution. He died, lamented and beloved by all who ever knew him. As a teacher he was eminent and successful ; as a preacher he was attractive and eloquent; as a Christian and a man he was a model in all respects. After his death his "Lectures on Pastoral Theology" were published by Scribner & Co., of New York, in a large volume, which is regarded every- where as a standard work in this department of theology.

ARD, IION. MARCUS L., ex-Governor of New Jersey, was born, November 9th, 1812, in the city of Newark, where his paternal ancestors have resided since 1666. The Wards are of English stock, and Joyce Ward, widow of Stephen Ward, with four children, originally settled in Connecticut. Her son, John Ward, was among the thirty families who originally settled the shore of the Passaic, and laid, in the present city of Newark, the foundations of a prosperous community. His son, of the same name, who accompanied his father to the new settlement, was shortly after married to Abigail Kitchell, the granddaughter of the Rev. Abraham Pierson, the pious and eloquent pastor and teacher of the emigrants, in honor of whose birthplace the name of Newark was given to the settlement. From this stock Governor Ward is descended, and it is not too much to say that during seven generations this family have been distinguished by the highest qualities of integrity and per- sonal honor. In early life Governor Ward entered into trade, and soon became connected with the financial insti- tutions and public enterprises of the city. Their success and wise management have been measurably due to the prudence and judgment which such men have uni- formly exhibited, and Newark is especially noted for the strength of its financial institutions. Slow in growth, until a recent period, it has ever maintained some of the charac- teristics of its Puritan settlers, and this has been manifested in its banks, its insurance companies, its schools, and even in its conservative government. During his business life Governor Ward gained, and has ever since maintained, that reputation for honesty, integrity and prudence which lies at the base of his character. This confidence he has retained | and influence with the general government that a hospital

through the passage of years, the virulence of party warfare, and through the strongest test, that of public position and administrative responsibility. Governor Ward's political associations were with the Whig party, but he was among the earliest to recognize the necessity of a stronger organi -. zation to curb the growing domination of the South. He supported Fremont and Dayton in the Presidential cam- paign of 1856, but his attention was not seriously drawn to political subjects until the summer of 1858. In that year the exciting contest between slavery and freedom called him to Kansas, and while there he fully saw and appreci- ated the importance of the struggle going on in that terri- tory. He gave while there his prudent counsel and his liberal contributions to the Free State party, and on his return to New Jersey he engaged warmly in the work of rousing public attention to the pending issue. At a time when party spirit was at its height, his representations were received with the confidence which his character always inspired. He was deeply interested in the political contest of the ensuing autumn, and none rejoiced more sincerely over the result in New Jersey which secured a United States Senator and an unbroken delegation in the House of Representatives against the Lecompton fraud. In 1860 the growing political influence of Governor Ward began to be felt and acknowledged, and he was unanimously chosen a delegate to the National Republican Convention, the proceedings of which culminated in the nomination of Abraham Lincoln. In the contest which ensued he bore his full part, and when the result was reached he felt amply repaid for all his exertions. He neither challenged nor sought to avoid the consequences of that success. When the signal was given for that revolt which had long been preparing in the Southern States, it found him ready for any services or sacrifices which were necessary to defend the right. He was neither discouraged by defeats nor un- duly elated with transient successes, but his efforts were directed to one end, the preservation of the Union. At the outbreak of hostilities he led in the call for a public meeting to sustain the government. As the struggle increased in importance, and drew into the ranks of the patriot army regiment after regiment of New Jersey troops, Governor Ward saw the absolute necessity of sustaining the families of the volunteers during their absence. Alone and unaided he devised and carried out that system of relief the advan- tages of which were felt in every county of the State. The pay of the volunteer was collected at the camp and passed over to the wife and children at home; if killed or wounded, the pension was secured; and this continued until after the close of the war, without a charge of any nature upon these sacred funds. Hundreds and thousands of families were preserved from want and suffering by this wise and con- siderate scheine, and of all the means devised to sustain the State none was more potent than this. But his active exertions did not terminate here. It was through his efforts

Marcho « ward

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for sick and wounded soldiers was established in Newark, | him stronger than ever in the confidence of the people of and in view of his loyal action his name was bestowed upon it. " Ward's Hospital " became known as one of the best controlled institutions of the kind in the country. His sani- tary arrangements were fully appreciated. These constant and unwearied services brought Governor Ward into im- mediate contact with Mr. Lincoln and his cabinet, by whom he was ever regarded as entitled to the highest consider- ation. In 1862, so strongly did his services impress the Republicans of the State, he was unanimously nominated for Governor ; but in the absence of so large a portion of the loyal voters, and in the deep depression of that memorable year, he was defeated. This did not change his unswerving loyalty or affect in any manner his constant and unwearied labors for the right. In 1864 he was a delegate at large to the National Republican Convention, at Baltimore, which renominated Mr. Lincoln, and in the ensuing election he was placed on the Republican ticket as a Senatorial elector. The close of the war and the defeat of the rebellion was to him a source of unmixed gratification, and it brought to him a strong personal popularity, evinced upon every occasion. As regiment after regiment of the soldiers returned to their native State they manifested their appreciation of his loyal conduct and services, and even political opponents admitted his sincerity and patriotism. This was fo him the happiest period of his life. In 1865 he again received the Republi- can nomination for Governor, and after an unusually excit- ing contest he was elected by a large majority. His admin- istration was one of the best New Jersey has ever known. His executive ability was fully demonstrated, and his hon- esty and fidelity were unquestioned. Every department of the public service, so far as his influence could reach it, was economically and faithfully administered. The laws passed by the Legislature were carefully scanned, and pardons for criminal offences were granted only when mercy could be safely united with justice. To his administration New Jersey was deeply indebted for many important measures affecting the interests of the State. The present Public School act was passed upon his strong and urgent repre- sentations, and its advantages have been felt in the increased educational facilities of the State, and the more thorough character and development of its schools. The riparian rights of the State were called by him to the attention of the Legislature, and a commission secured through which its large and valuable interests have been protected. His con- stant and persistent representations to the Legislature, in his various messages, of the mismanagement of the State prison under all political parties, contributed largely to the passage of an act removing it, as far as possible, from par- tisan government, and the result has been large savings to the State. Various other public acts and measures, having an important bearing upon the growth and well-being of the State, were urged and sustaincd by him, and whenever adopted they were found to have increased its prosperity and development. The close of his administration found

the State he had so worthily served. In 1864 Governor Ward was placed upon the National Republican Commit- tee, and in 1866 he was chosen Chairman. In this capacity he made the preliminary arrangements for the convention, in 1868, which nominated General Grant. He took a de- cided part in the campaign which followed, and his services and efforts were fully acknowledged. During the few suc- ceeding years Governor Ward lived in comparative retire- ment, but was frequently called to duties of a public char- acter. He was the first President of the Newark Industrial . Exposition, and by his efforts contributed largely to its success. The " Soldiers' Home," at Newark, was origin- ally established through his exertions, and as one of its managers he has given it to the present hour his constant and unwearied service. It was the first, as it is now the only, State institution of the kind. It seemed natural and proper that the man who during the war had protected the interests and families of the loyal soldier, who had provided him with the care and attendance of a hospital when sick and wounded, should, when the war was over, still secure him, crippled and maimed, the comforts of a " soldiers' home." During the Presidential campaign of 1872 Gover- nor Ward was nominated for Congress from the Sixth Dis- trict of New Jersey, and was elected by over 5,000 majority. Upon taking his seat in the House of Representatives he was recognized as one of its most valuable members. He was placed on the Committee on Foreign Relations, and on the few occasions on which he addressed the house he commanded attention by the clearness of his reasoning and the thorough honesty of his convictions. In 1874 Governor Ward was unanimously renominated for Congress by the Republicans of his district, but the condition of the country was unfavorable for success. Financial disaster disturbed all the marts of trade, and the large manufacturing district he represented was most severely affected. Thousands of laborers were unemployed, and the hope that a political change would return prosperity governed their action. The tidal wave which swept over the strongest Republican States submerged his district also, although, as usual, he stood the highest on the Republican ticket. The confidence and attachment of the people were never shown more clearly than in the regret and disappointment which this defeat occasioned. After the expiration of his Congres- sional term he was tendered by the President the important post of Commissioner of Indian Affairs, but it was declined, while fully appreciating the compliment thereby conveyed. Here this brief record of his life might be closed, but the sketch would be imperfect if reference were not made to some of the peculiar traits which distinguish him. He is not a politician, in the common view, but he is an earnest Republican and a man of the most positive convictions. He is justly popular among all classes, because respect and at- tachment to him are based on his sterling qualities and generous nature. His deeds of considerate charity have

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been as numerous as they have been blessed. Many a | of gold-plating was greatly simplified. He next turned his struggling artist has received from him the generous order which did not degrade, and many a home has been brightened by blessings secured through him. Few men have brought to their public duties the conscientiousness which characterizes Governor Ward. Every act is governed by that law of justice and of right which will bear the closest scrutiny. Popular in the highest and purest sense of that term, he will not sacrifice his judgment or his con- victions to the caprices of the multitude. He knows how to recognize the difference between generosity and a be trayal of financial trusts. His manners are engaging, but they are the result of the native kindness of heart which characterizes him. His charities have frequently been pur. sued for years, unknown to the world, but he chooses his own ways of doing good. When our statesmen shall reach preferment because of the qualities which should command it ; when high principle, personal integrity and unquestioned ability are made the basis of public life; when the true shall be preferred to the false, and the substantial to the preten tious, such men will constitute the real strength of the State.

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The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 36

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