The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 37

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 37

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).

ALDWIN, MATTHIAS W., Locomotive Engine- builder and founder of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, of Philadelphia, was born in Elizabeth- town, New Jersey, December 10th, 1795. His father, William Baldwin, was a carriage-maker by trade, and at his death left his family a com-

fortable property, which by the mismanagement of the executors was nearly all lost. His widow was thus left to her own exertions for the maintenance of herself and family. To the necessity for economy and self-reliance thus imposed, young Baldwin probably owed the first de- velopment of his inventive genius. From early childhood he exhibited a remarkable fondness for mechanical con- trivances. His toys were taken apart and examined, while he would produce others far superior in mechanism and finish. When sixteen years old he was apprenticed to Woolworth Brothers, jewelry manufacturers, of Frankford, Pennsylvania, and while serving his time he commanded the respect and esteem of both his associates and employers. Having mastered all the details of the business, thus be- coming a finished workman, and having attained his majority, he found employment in the establishment of Fletcher & Gardiner, Philadelphia, who were extensive manufacturers of jewelry. He soon became the most useful man in the shop, his work being delicate in finish and his designs characterized by great originality and beauty. In 1819 he commenced business on his own account; but in consequence of financial difficulties, and the trade becoming depressed, he soon abandoned it. His attention was then drawn to the invention of machinery; and one of his first efforts in this direction was a machine whereby the process

attention to the manufacture of book-binders' tools, to su- persede those which had been, up to that time, of foreign production. He associated himself for this purpose with David Mason, a competent machinist, and the enterprise was a success. Indeed, so admirable were the quality and finish of the tools, especially as they were of an improved make, that the book trade was soon rendered independent of foreign manufacturers. He next invented the cylinder for printing of calicoes, whichi had always been previously done by hand-presses; and he revolutionized the entire business. The manufacture of these printing rollers in- creased so greatly that additional accommodations were necessary. Here again he effected an improvement, first using horse-power as a substitute for the hand-machinery and foot-lathes, which in its turn gave way to steam- power. The engine purchased for this purpose not meet- ing his wishes, he built one himself, from original drawings of his own. This little engine of six-horse power, and oc- cupying a space of six square feet, is still in use, driving the whole machinery of the boiler shop in the locomotive works on Broad street, Philadelphia. It is over forty years old. His genius in this respect being soon recognized, he received many orders for the manufacture of stationary engines, and they became his most important article of manufacture. When the first locomotive engine in America, imported by the Camden & Amboy Railroad Company, in 1830, arrived, he examined it carefully and resolved to construct one after his own ideas; and after urgent requests from Franklin Peale, the proprietor of the Philadelphia Museum, built a miniature engine for exhibition. His only guide in this work consisted of a few imperfect sketches of the one he had examined, aided by descriptions of those in use on the Liverpool & Manchester Railway. He success- fully accomplished the task, and on the 25th of April, 1831, the miniature locomotive was running over a track in the museum rooms, a portion of this track being laid on the floors of the transepts, and the balance passing over trestle work in the naves of the building. Two small cars, hold- ing four persons, were attached to it, and the novelty at- tracted immense crowds. The experiment resulting well, he received an order to construct a road locomotive for the Germantown Railroad. He had great difficulty in procur- ing the necessary tools and help. The inventor and the mechanic worked himself on the greater part of the entire engine. It was accomplished, finally, and on its trial trip, Novemher 23d, 1832, proved a success. Some imperfec- tions existed, but these being remedied, it was accepted by the company, and was in use for twenty years thereafter. The smoke-stack was originally constructed of the same diameter from its junction with the fire-box to the top, where it was bent at a right angle and carried back, with its opening to the rear of the train. This engine weighed five tons, and was sold for $3,500. Two years elapsed before he ventured upon building another, as he had seem-

167

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.

ingly insurmountable difficulties to encounter; there were so many improvements to be made, and the lack of skilled labor, and above all of the necessary tools and machinery, was so great, that he almost ahandoned the work. In 1834 he constructed an engine for the South Carolina Railroad, and also one for the Pennsylvania State Line, running from Philadelphia to Columbia. The latter weighed 17,000 pounds, and drew at one time nineteen loaded cars. This was such an unprecedented performance that the State Legislature at once ordered several additional ones, and two more were completed and delivered during the same year; and he also constructed one for the Philadelphia & Trenton Railroad. In 1835 he built fourteen; in 1836, forty. Then came the terrible financial panic of 1837, which ruined so many houses throughout the land; he also became embarrassed, but calling his creditors together, he asked and obtained an extension, and subsequently paid every dollar, principal and interest. His success was now assured, and his works became the largest in the United States, perhaps in the world. Engines were shipped to every quarter of the globe, even to England, where they had been invented-and the name of Baldwin grew as familiar as a household word. He was one of the founders of the Franklin Institute. He was an exemplary Christian, and of a charitable and benevolent disposition. Ile died, September 7th, 1866.

RICK, SAMUEL REEVE, Architect and Civil Engineer, was born, November Ist, 1809, in Woodstown, Salem county, New Jersey. He is of Quaker parentage; the son of Joseph ( Jr.) and Elizabeth (Smith) Brick, and the fifth in the line of descent from John Brick, who as early as 1690 settled at Cohansey, where he purchased extensive tracts of land. For it appears when Joseph Miller resurveyed Samuel Demming's large tract of land on Gravelly run or the southern branch of Stoe creek (it being the boundary line between Salem and Cumberland counties at this time), Miller said he was assisted by John Brick and his two sons; and that the difficulty they had to contend with proved more chargeable than he expected it would be to the proprietor. John Brick soon afterwards purchased the whole tract. Ilis son, John Brick, Jr., who was the first President Judge of Common Pleas of Cumberland county, New Jersey, mar- ried, in 1729, Ann Nicholson, of Elsinboro' (who was born November 15th, 1707). They commenced life together at Cohansey, and had eight children. Previous to his death he purchased a large quantity of land lying on the south side of Alloway's creek ; part of a neck of land, called " Beesley neck," he devised to his second son, Joseph. John Brick, Jr., died, January 23d, 1758, and his widow some twenty years thereafter. Joseph Brick married, first, Rebecca Abbott, of Elsinboro', about 1758, and they re. I had eight children, six of whom are now living. He is

sided together for a short time on his property on Alloway's creek, when they removed to a farm in Elsinboro', which had been left to his wife by her father, Samuel Abbott. Their family consisted of two daughters, Anne and Han- nah, and one son, Samuel. His first wife died, November 16th, 1780, and he afterwards married Martha Reeve, and removed to Cohansey creek, where he resided until his death. By Martha Reeve he had two sons, named Joseph and John Brick; the eldest son of Joseph married Ann Smart, of Elsinboro'. Joseph married Elizabeth, daughter of David Smith, a resident of Mannington. He was a native of Egg Harbor, and removed from there to Salem county when he was at middle age. He was greatly re- spected for his uprightness and quiet deportment among the people of the neighborhood in which he dwelt. Joseph and his wife had five sons, among whom was Samuel Reeve. He received his primary education in Salem, and subsequently at the school in Mannington. In accordance with the custom of those days, he was at the age of fourteen years regularly indentured as an apprentice, which was done at Philadelphia, to one Robert Evans, a member of the Society of Friends, to learn the business of bricklaying, and, as customary then, he became an inmate of Friend Evans' household. He remained with his preceptor and master until he attained his majority, and became a thor- ough master of the trade and calling which he had acquired. He then carried on the business as master for ten years, after which he commenced to study in the city of Phila- delphia the principles of architecture, and also of civil engineering. Having given his whole attention to these new and important subjects, and become thoroughly pro- ficient in their various details, he commenced the practice of his new profession, which he still continues. He has paid particular attention to the construction of gas-works, and has superintended the erection of many of these im- portant improvements in various and distant parts of the country, in British America as well as in the United States. His labors in this direction may be understood and appre- ciated when it is stated that their fruits dot the streets of larger and smaller localities of the several States of the Union, from Maine to Florida. Ile holds at present the position of President of the Richmond County Gas Light Company, at Stapleton, New York. He also served for three years as a Trustee of the Philadelphia Gas Works. His political life commenced as a faithful adherent to the doctrines of the Whig party as expounded by the statesman, Henry Clay, and he was nominated by that party and elected as one of the Commissioners of the (old) District of the Northern Libertics, Philadelphia county. Since the dissolution of that party he has given his adherence to Re- publican principles. IIc is a life-member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Ile was married, March 23d, 1831, to Esther, daughter of James Gardiner, who was a prominent soldier of the war of the Revolution, and has

168

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

also Consulting Engineer of several works in the United States. His son, Joseph, is in the fifth generation of that name.

OLLES, ENOCH, Real Estate Operator, late of Newark, was born in Connecticut, in the year 1779. In his early life he followed the sea for his livelihood. The vessel in which he sailed was detained in Charleston harbor during the embargo, early in this century. Thereupon he returned North, and engaged in the shoe business in New- ark. Subsequently he was for over forty years principally engaged in real estate operations on a gradually increasing scale. Through the rapid growth of the city, which he had been shrewd enough to foresee, he amassed by these opera- tions a large fortune. A very public-spirited man, he took a deep interest in municipal affairs, and was active in all movements calculated to advance the city's interests. He was for a long period on the Town Committee, and was a member of the first Common Council of the city, elected in 1836. He also served in a similar capacity in the years 1837 and 1840. By his enterprise and active efforts on behalf of the community, and his many estimable qualities, he won the esteem and regard of a large circle. He lived to a good old age, dying in his adopted city on June 29th, 1865.

ARISON, REV. GEORGE HOLCOMBE, M. D., Clergyman and Physician, of Lambertville, was born, January 4th, 1831, in Delaware township, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, and is a son of Benjamin Larison, a farmer of that vicinity. He passed his boyhood on his father's farm, at- tending the district school, where he received his rudi- mentary education, and subsequently became a teacher of the same. In 1853 he entered the University of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, from which he subsequently received the honorary degree of Master of Arts. Having resolved to embrace the profession of medicine, he commenced his studies with Hon. Samuel Lilly, M. D., as preceptor, and attended the lectures delivered at the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, from which latter institu- tion he graduated in 1858 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He immediately entered upon the practice of his profession at Dolington, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and the following year he removed to Lambertville, New Jersey, where he has since resided, and has now the con- trol of an extensive and lucrative practice. He is a member of the Hunterdon County Medical Society, and was for seven years its Secretary. He is also a member of the State Medical Society, and was elected its Third Vice-President in 1872; and presided over the one hundred and ninth an- ! freshman class in the University at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania,

nual meeting, held at Atlantic City, May 25th, IS75, when he delivered the annual address. This was a remarkably able effort, wherein he reviewed the healing art and the ad- vancement of the profession in a manner that proves not only his acquaintance with the classics, but also with the sciences. Previous to his being elected President of this body he had held the positions of First, Second and Third Vice-President before he was chosen President of that body. While he was its Third Vice-President he wrote an essay entitled " Diseases Prevalent in the Valley of the Delaware," which was well received by the medical fraternity, and was published by the State Medical Society among its trans- actions. During the prevalence of the small-pox in Lam- bertville, in 1863-64, he attended ninety-nine cases, and only lost four. One of these he buried at midnight, and with his own hands. He subsequently prepared a paper on "Small-pox and its Treatment," for the medical society, in 1864, which was well received by the profession, and filed with the important papers of the society. ITis practice is a general one, but he makes a specialty with obstetrics, and has so far attended over 1000 cases successfully; he has also achieved great success in surgical cases. He has, on two occasions, been a delegate to the Pennsylvania State · Medical Society, and at one of its sessions delivered an ad- dress before that organization in the city of Carlisle. In 1862 he was elected Town Superintendent of Schools, and has filled that position both under the town and the city organization to the present time, being continuously re- elected, on the Democratic ticket, although parties have had a variety of changes during those years; the schools are in a prosperous condition, and now number over 1400 pupils. He was for seven years a member of the City Council, and has held all the grades of office in the New Jersey State Militia, from Second Lieutenant to Brigadier- General, excepting that of Lieutenant-Colonel. He is now Surgeon on the staff of Colonel Angel's well-known regi- ment-the 7th Regiment New Jersey National Guard. During his attendance at the University of Lewisburg he became a member of the Baptist Church, and he is now a regularly ordained clergyman of that denomination. He has a congregation at Solebury, Pennsylvania, over the Delaware river, to whom he has ministered every Sunday morning and evening for the past seven years. The church is mainly of his own ingathering; it had a membership of about twenty when he commenced his labors, and has now increased to over 120. He has been connected with the Reading Association of the Baptist Churches. At the organization of this body, at Reading, Pennsylvania, he preached the opening sermon, and was chosen Moderator of the meeting. His leisure hours at times have been taken up in teaching both preparatory to college and in the medical profession. Rev. J. H. Chambers, A. M., now pastor of the Olivet. Baptist Church, in Philadelphia, was prepared for college under his instruction, and entered the

169

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

where he graduated as the valedictorian of the class of 1872. expiration of his second Congressional term he resumed the As a medieal preceptor he has given instruction to the fol- lowing persons : William D. Wolverton, M. D., who grad- uated in 1861, and after a satisfactory examination before the Army Board was admitted as an assistant surgeon into the regular army, where he still holds an honored position ; Professor C. W. Larison, M. D., of natural sciences in the University at Lewisburg; A. B. Larison, M. D., assistant surgeon of volunteers ; F. Fisher, M. D., of Somerset county, and E. E. James, M. D., of Montandon, Pennsyl- vania, a son of Professor C. S. James, of the University at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Taking all things into consider- ation, he probably accomplishes as much real good to the community as any other man in Hunterdon county. As previously stated his medieal practice is large and lucrative, and has placed him in a comparatively independent posi- tion ; and he is the owner of some of the most valuable real-estate in and around Lambertville, the results of his professional labor. He still has time to eultivate literature, and at the same time to be a very agreeable and well-in- formed conversationalist ; and he never parts with any one without fully understanding the motive for which he has sought an interview. Ile was married in 1859 to Sarali Q., daughter of Caleb F. Fisher, of Ringoes, New Jersey.

practice of his profession in Flemington. Mr. Bird is an earnest, working Democrat, and renders his party great ser- vice on the stump. During the late rebellion he was known as a war Democrat, doing his utmost to assist the govern- ment in raising troops, besides taking an active part in every measure tending to destroy the rebellion. The bill for in- creasing the pay of members of Congress, which was passed while he was a member, met with his determined opposi- tion, and after it became a law he turned his portion of the back-pay into the United States treasury. IIe is eminently in favor of judicial reform, having written several works on the subject which have attracted much public attention. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church and an earnest worker in behalf of Sabbath schools ; he was also for some time President of the Hunterdon County Bible Society. " There is no member of the Democratic party in that part of the State held in higher regard by his party, or more gen- erally respeeted by his political opponents ; he is also greatly esteemed by his brother practitioners. Mr. Bird is attorney for the Hunterdon County National Bank, and is engaged in most of the leading eases coming before the Hunterdon eounty eourts. He was married in 1854 to Annie, daugh- ter of Thomas Hilton, of Hunterdon eounty.

IRD, HON. JOHN T., of Flemington, Lawyer IDCOCK, HON. JAMES NELSON, State Senator, of White House, Hunterdon county, was born at Mechanicsville, New Jersey, February 8th, 1836. He is of English extraction, and the founders of the family in this country settled in New Jersey in an early period of its history. His father was John G. Pidcock, and his mother, before her marriage, was a Ram- sey. When about five years of age he removed with his parents to Lebanon, New Jersey, and during the early years of his boyhood he attended the public schools in that place and vicinity. When he had reached the age of thirteen he left school and went to work with an engineering corps on the Belvidere Delaware Railroad. IIe was engaged in the location and construction of this road until 1851. In that year he went South, and he had turned his experience with the engineer corps to so good account that he took charge of the construction of a division, twenty-five miles long, of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad. The portion of the work under his control was in the State of Mississippi, and the resident chief-engineer was Mr. Foote. Ile remained in the South until the year 1857, when ill health, together with the financial troubles of the Mobile & Olno Railroad, caused him to resign his position and return home. Shortly afterwards he became a member of the firm of William E. Henry & Co., and contracted for the building of several miles of the Allentown & Auhurn Railroad. After work- and ex-Member of Congress, was born in Beth- lehem township, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, August 16th, 1829. His father was James Bird, a farmer of the same county. He attended the public schools of his neighborhood, and spent three years at a elassical academy at Hackettstown, New Jersey, then under the direction of John S. Labar. After leaving school he began preparing for the bar with the IIon. A. G. Richey, then residing at Asbury, New Jersey. Mr. Bird was admitted to the bar during the November term of 1855, and for three years practised at Bloomsburg, in his own State. In 1863 he was appointed, by Governor Parker, Prosecutor of the Pleas for Hunterdon eounty; he then removed to Clinton, New Jersey, remaining there until 1865, when he changed his residence to Flemington. In the meantime his praetice had grown to be one of the largest in the county. As Prosecutor of the Pleas he served for five years. In 1868 he was elected by the Democratie party to the Forty-first Congress, and re-elected in 1872. While in Congress he took an active part in all the leading questions of that body, was an earnest and eloquent speaker, and a ready, effective debater. His speeches were printed, and give evidence of a thorough understanding of the va- rious subjects under eonsideration ; in particular may be mentioned his speech on eivil service, delivered in 1872, this effort being considered hy the opposition the ablest that ing about eight months in fulfilment of this eontraet, the had been delivered upon the question in Congress. On the financial disaster of that memorable year involved the corpo-

170

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.

ration in such trouble that the work was stopped. Ile and | chaser has been distressed or any of the property taken back. He was married in 1862 to Fanny A. Faulks, of Elizabeth, New Jersey.

his partners lost heavily, but paid off all their indebtedness. During the remainder of that disastrous year, instead of re- mining idle and complaining of hard times, he planned new enterprises, and in company with J. E. Voorhees and J. F. Wykoff, engaged largely in the purchase of clothing at forced sales in New York, and disposing of the purchases by wholesale and at auction through the country. These operations resulted in handsome profits. He next engaged in business as drover and stock dealer, and his business and profits steadily increased until 1861. Then came the war, and the financial depression that accompanied its early stages caused the failure of so many of his customers that he lost all that he had saved in more prosperous years, and he had literally to commence business anew, with no other capital than the energy and perseverance that are so strongly characteristic of him. He chose to continue in the stock business and did so with fair success until 1865. Then, in company with J. N. Ramsey and Richard Bellis, he commenced business in New York and Jersey City, as live-stock commission merchant. He continued in this way until 1868, losing in the meantime $18,000 through the defalcation of a bookkeeper in the employ of the firm, and then became sole proprietor of the business, which, under his judicious management and through his great en- terprise, became one of the largest of its kind in New York and its vicinity, averaging 300,000 head of live-stock, sheep and lambs, a year, and comprising, beside the large " cal trade, heavy consignments from the South and West. In 1875 he entered into association with Mr. Philip S. Kase, under the firm-name of Kase & Pidcock. The present head quarters of the business are at the Central Stock Yards of Jersey City. Politically James N. Pidcock is a Democrat, but previous to the year 1873 he had taken no more active part in politics than that of a citizen desirous . of serving the public by helping to put good men 'n office. In that year he was urged by his friends to allow the use of his name as Democratic candidate for State Senator. He consented and received the caucus nomination ; but owing to the unusually light vote cast at the election, and the fact that one of his caucus rivals u-el his influence for the Re- publican candidate, Mr. T. A. Potts, together with the Central Railroad directing its employés to support Potts, he was de- feated. In 1876 he was again a candidate, and this time was elected Senator by a majority of 1,675 over one of the most popular Republicans in the county. He is largely interested in real estate, owning over 1,800 acres of valuable land in his native township, within a radius of five miles of White House, besides holding a half interest in about 800 acres more. He has been largely instrumental in the improvement of the village of White House, selling property for building purposes on ten years' time, and then advancing to the purchaser a large part of the money necessary to erect buildings thereon. Property now valued at over $100,000 has been disposed of on this plan, and not a pur-

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 37

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