The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 42

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

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were finally met. His prompt fulfilment of every personal duty and obligation made it natural that his fellow-citizens should turn to him for aetive co-operation in publie affairs, where his high integrity would be so strongly felt. In 1860 he was sent to the State Legislature from the distriet in which he resided. Notwithstanding the fact that he was largely interested in Southern trade, and had intimate busi- ness associations with Southern men, he was an active and earnest Republican from the time of the organization of the party in New Jersey. He was one of the minority in the Assembly of the State, but his integrity, judgment and high business qualities gave him a large influence in that body, and during the scenes that marked the opening of the re- Lellion, he was one of Governor Olden's strongest aids. In 1861 he was re-elected to the Assembly. In 1862, upon the organization of the Internal Revenue Bureau, he was appointed Assessor for the Fifth District of New Jersey, his sphere of duties comprising one of the largest manufac- turing districts in the Union. Through his influence many of the harsher provisions of the revenue law were amelio. rated. At the elose of the war he was selected by the Revenue Commissioner to visit the Southern States for the purpose of instructing in their duties the newly-appointed revenue officers, but the requirements of his own distriet compelled him to decline the appointment, Through all the years of the war he cordially sustained the administra- tion of President Lincoln. In 1866 President Johnson sought to remove him from office, but the Senate refused to confirm his successor, and he retained the assessorship. This attempt to remove him, added to the high reputation he had gained, directed the attention of the Republicans of his district to him as their best choice for Congress. He was nominated unanimously, and elected by a large major- ity, although the distriet had been previously largely Dem- ocratie. In Congress he maintained the high character he had previously acquired, and was freely consulted upon questions affecting the manufacturing and financial interests of the country. His services to his district were constant and invaluable, and were rendered alike to Democrats and Republicans. He served on the Committee on the District of Columbia ; was appointed one of the Joint Seleet Com- mittee on Retrenehment, and served with Senators Ed- munds and Buekalew on the sub-committee of that body, "to examine the method of printing and issuing bonds, notes and other securities," the results of which seenred important reforms in the Treasury Department. In 1868 he was unanimously renominated for Congress, but was de- feated, although his popularity was so great that his vote in his district largely exceeded that of General Grant. When Mr. Boutwell assumed the position of Secretary of the Treas- try under President Grant's administration, he tendered the important office of Register to Mr. Halsey, but the po. sition was deehned by him, as, on retiring from Congress, he had actively resumed his business as manufacturer of

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patent leather. He was not permitted to remain perma- where he continued until his death. In 1837 he was made nently in retirement, however, and in 1870 he was again nominated for Congress, and was elected by a majority of over three thousand. This brilliant triumph brought him more prominently than ever before the country, and on taking his seat in the House he was assigned to the Chair- manship of one of the most important committees, the du- ties of which he performed with the fidelity and ability char- acteristic of him. It was due mainly to his watchfulness of the interests of his district and State, that the new court house and post-office at Trenton, and the post-office at Jersey City, were secured, and that the improvements in the Passaic and other rivers of the State were authorized. At the close of this Congress he received from the people of Hudson county, wholly irrespective of party, a valuable tes- timonial of their appreciation of the high official services he had rendered. In 1872 he was urged to again accept a nomination for Congress, but declincd. He was not per- mitted to retire to private life, however. Upon the retire- ment of Governor Ward he was chosen President of the Newark Industrial Exposition, and was the real as well as the nominal head of that enterprise. In connection with Governor Randolph and others he has been prominent in preserving to the future Washington's head-quarters at Morristown, and is at present one of the Commissioners of the new Lunatic Asylum at Morris Plains. Previous to the last gubernatorial convention, he was prominently named as a fitting nomince for the position of Governor. His friends believed that he possessed in a pre-eminent degree the qualities necessary to success, and in that belief the delegates who assembled at Trenton on the 27th of August, 1874, concurred most cordially, and nominated him by acclimation for the high position named. The nomination was made without the faintest solicitation on his part, and was in every way most honorable to him, showing unmistakably the high esteem in which he is held as a citizen, and the admiration accorded to his public career. In this year, however, occurred the tidal wave which proved so disastrous to the Republican party, and the Democrats succeeded in electing his opponent. Since that time he has been chiefly engaged in the management of his extensive business, but he has not lost his interest in public affairs. At the New Jersey State Republican Convention in May, 1876, he was appointed a Senatorial Delegate to the National Republican Convention held at Cincinnati.

REDENBURGH, HON. PETER, LL.D., Lawyer, was born, 1805, at Readington, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, and was the son of Dr. Peter Vreden- burgh, of Somerville. He graduated at Rutgers College, in 1826; studied law; was licensed as an attorney in 1829; and began practice at Eaton- town, Monmouth county, and in a year removed to Freehold,

Prosecutor of the Pleas for Monmouth county, and held that position for fifteen years. This office brought him in conflict with the best legal talent, and it was soon discov- ered that he possessed a high order of intellect, stored with a thorough knowledge of the great principles of jurispru- dence. From that time his professional success was as- sured. Ile at once took rank with the foremost practitioners of the county, and the Supreme Court reports of that period prove that from the year 1840 to his appointment as Judge, he was concerned in all cases of magnitude in Monmouth and Ocean counties. In the discharge of his duties as Prosecutor of the Pleas, he displayed signal ability. He was peculiarly fitted for the position. If he had doubts of the guilt of a prisoner, he frankly said so, and consented to an acquittal. But he was a terror to evil-doers. His clcar- ness of perception enabled him to detect falsehood in evi- dence and sophistry in reasoning; and he would weave around the guilty such a web of circumstances that the most eloquent defender of the accused could not destroy, nor deliver the culprits from the penalty of their crimes. Prior to the adoption of the new Constitution of New Jersey, he served as a member of the Legislative Council, being the representative from Monmouth county. In 1855 he was appointed one of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court by Governor Price, although of opposite politics; and in 1862 he was reappointed to the office by Governor Olden, thus holding the position for fourteen years, dis- charging the duties of the office ably and acceptably, and sustaining a reputation as second to no one on the bench. Many of his decisions are regarded as among the ablest reported, and all bear evidence of having been most care- fully prepared. To the discharge of the duties of this office he brought a mind in the maturity of its powers, improved by long study and experience. When a young man he took an active part in politics, and was an ardent member of the Whig party; in later years, although a Judge, he sympathized with the Republicans. At the commencement of the civil war, the passions of the people of Monmouth county were aroused to a state of frenzy, and insults and outrages were inflicted on many citizens under the impres- sion that the party sympathies of Judge Vredenburgh would sustain them; while the aggrieved were on the point of taking the law into their own hands, and meet violence with violence. At this critical time the Judge, rising above the passions and prejudices of the hour, divesting himself of all personal and partisan feelings, proved himself a wise and fearless magistrate. His famous charge to the grand jury, and their action, taught the violent that there still was law; and the aggrieved that the law could protect. For this he was denounced by some, harsh names were given, and still harsher threats were made; but time has fully vin- dicated his action. At the close of his second term of office he resumed the practice of the law, but his health soon began to fail. This was increased by the death of a favor-

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ite son, Major Peter Vredenburgh, Jr., who was killed ] of the Third Corps, to which Major Vredenburgh belonged, in the battle of Winchester, Virginia, the sacrifice he laid upon the altar of his country, to maintain the right, and to preserve the Union : consequently, he was compelled to abandon his practice. For a time he found partial solace and comfort in reading ; but soon his sight failed, and that source of pleasure to a cultivated mind was denied him. At length, in the hope of prolonging life, he was induced to seek a more genial clime, but all was unavailing. He held during his active life various minor public positions of trust and honor, and at the time of his death he was one of the Commissioners on Riparian Rights. He died in the city of St. Augustine, Florida, March 24th, 1873.

REDENBURGH, MAJOR PETER, Lawyer and Soldier, son of Judge Vredenburgh, whose bio- graphical sketch appears above, was born at Free- hold, New Jersey. IIe received a liberal edu- cation, studied law, and was admitted to the bar, where he soon achieved a good position. In Au- gust, 1862, being then in his twenty-seventh year, he deter- mined to offer his life in the cause of country, being impelled to. this course hy the early disasters of the war and the obvious necessity for patriotic action on the part of the best blood in the land. Descended, on both sides, from men found among the gallant defenders of Harlem and Leyden, he could not resist the call on behalf of liberty and the na- tion. At this time the 14th Regiment New Jersey Vol- unteers was being largely recruited in his own county, and on August 25th, 1862, he received a commission as Major in that regiment. It was with some hesitation, however, that he accepted so high a rank, being wholly ig- norant of military science. But his natural ability mani- fested itself in a singularly early mastery of his duties, and he at once established for himself a character unrivalled in the regiment as a capable and efficient officer. His com- mand passed the greater portion of the first year at Frederick City, Maryland, and for six months of this period Major Vredenburgh acted as Provost-Marshal of the city, exhibit- ing in that capacity marked executive ability. September 5th, 1863, he was appointed Inspector-General of the Third Division of the Third Corps by General French, and was so attached to the staff of General Elliot until October 4th, 1863, and then on that of his successor, General Carr, until December 4th following. A week later General French appointed him Inspector-General of the Third Corps, then consisting of about twenty-seven thousand men. Ile proved himself exceptionally valuable as a staff officer. Consider- ing his lack of previous training, military or engineering, his topographical eye was exceptionally accurate, while liis disregard of danger, his self-confidence and enterprising performance of duty, gave his services conspicuous impor- tance. When towards the spring of 1864 the Third Division

was transferred to the Sixth Corps, he remained at the head- quarters of his division on the staff of General Ricketts. In General Grant's advance across the Rapidan on May 4th, 1864, he bore himself gallantly. A member of his regi- ment thus describes his conduct : "Our Major had done gloriously ; all day he had been in the saddle ; all day he rode backward and forward through the storm of leaden hail. Was there an order to carry to that part of the divi- sion that wavered under a galling fire of the enemy, who to carry it but young Vredenburgh ? Who could take it as well? His eagle eye took in the field at a glance. How our boys would shout as they saw him dashing with the speed of an arrow from one end of the line to the other- for he rode swiftly; he was a splendid horseman." On the following day, and during the whole of that terrible cam- paign of the Wilderness, at Crump's Creek and Spottsylvania, he displayed most daring courage, high address and active energy. Again, at the battle of Cold IIarbor, his conduct com- manded the highest praise from his superior officers, and won from his soldiers the significant title of " Commander of the Sixth Corps." Early in July the 14th regiment, withdrawn from Petersburg, returned to Frederick City, and crossing the Monocacy river on the 8th of that month, fought nearly alone the hard-fought engagement known by that stream's name. The Major was at that time attached to the staff of General Ricketts, and many spectators of the fight assert that he displayed more bravery than any man in the field. On this day Lieutenant-Colonel Hall, commanding, and every captain in the regiment who successively took com- mand, were either killed or wounded. Thereupon the Major asked to be returned to his regiment, and under his command, on September 18th, 1864, after much marching and counter-marching, it proceeded from its works at Berry- ville, in the direction of Winchester, and near Opequan again engaged the enemy. The charge was made at eight in the morning, through a galling fire of ball and shell. Major Vredenburgh led his men, having previously declarcd his intention to lead them to the enemy's intrenchments. While gallantly pushing forward he was struck by a frag- ment of shell and killed instantly. His last words were : " Forward, men ! Forward, and guide on me !" Thus nobly died one who had nobly lived.

LDEN, HON. CHIARLES S., ex-Governor of New Jersey, was born, February, 1797, at the old homestead at Stony Brook, near Prince- ton, which has been in the possession of the family since 1696. After receiving a fair En- glish edueation, he entered his father's store as a elerk, but subsequently removed to Philadelphia before attaining his majority, and entered the mercantile house of Matthew Newkirk, on Second street near Arch. After

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some years' service as a clerk, he was taken into the house | bridge, where he has built up an extensive and lucrative as a partner, and was finally intrusted with the management practice. He has for several years held the position of Township Physician ; has been one of the Coroners of Mid- dlesex county, and is a prominent member of the Middlesex County Medical Society. On the 12th of October, 1859, he was married to Rebecca S., daughter of James Blood- good ; she dying in 1869, he was again married, December Ioth, 1874, to Fannie S. Bloodgood, a sister of his first wife. of the branch house of Newkirk & Co., in New Orleans, where he remained from 1825 to 1834. Having acquired a large fortune, he returned to New Jersey, and purchased a farm near Princeton, where he settled down, and gave his attention to agricultural pursuits. He was subsequently elected to the State Senate in 1844, and re-elected in 1847, serving altogether six years in that body. In 1856 he took an active part in the Presidential campaign in support of the election of Millard Fillmore, but subsequently allied himself to the Republican party, and in 1859 became the nominee of that organization for Governor; he was elected by a ma- jority of 1,651 votes over his Democratic opponent, General E. R. V. Wright. Although possessed of liberal conserva- tive principles, and being in favor of a conciliatory course towards the South, he gave an enthusiastic and unfaltering support to the national government on the outbreak of hos- tilities. His record during this trying period was of the purest, noblest and most patriotic character. His honesty was never doubted, and his administration of the affairs of his native State during a three years' term gave full satisfac- tion to all classes. Beside those of Governor and State Senator, he held many other positions of honor and trust during his career. At one time he was a member of the Court of Errors and Appeals, and the Court of Pardons, and he was also a Commissioner of the State Sinking Fund. An old-fashioned legislator, he was always careful, thought- ful and discreet while serving the State in any capacity. He died April 7th, 1876.

ARNED, SAMUEL P., M. D., of Woodbridge, was born in New York city, June 9th, 1836, his parents being William and Mary (Phillips) Har- ned. He received his education at the New York public schools, and at the age of sixteen entered the dry goods trade. In 1856 he removed to Woodbridge, New Jersey, and there became associated with his father in the management of a general store. This connection continued for eighteen months, when the father withdrew, and Mr. S. E. Ensign entered the firm as junior partner. The firm of Harned & Ensign existed for six years, but during this time Dr. Harned was preparing him- self for the duties of his intended profession. Procuring the requisite text-books, he studied medicine in such leisure time as he could take from his business, and having attended the necessary courses of lectures at the University of New York, he received his degree in 1868. During the two years previous to his graduation, he was an office student with Professor Benjamin Howard, who held the chair of Surgery in the University, and in the year subsequent to his graduation he attended a special course of lectures by Prof. Alfred L. Loomis upon " Physical Diagnosis." Upon the receipt of his degree he established himself at Wood- I promoted to the position of Medical Director of the Right

OUGHERTY, ALEXANDER N., A. M., M. D., Physician, of Newark, was born, January Ist, 1822, in the city of his present residence. His parents are Alexander N. Dougherty, a leather merchant and a native of New York, and Sarah (Congar) Dougherty, of Newark. Dr. Dougherty's education was commenced in the private schools of Newark, and the instruction here received was supplemented by a regular four years' course at Oberlin College, Ohio, from which institution he graduated in the fall of 1841, with the degree of A. B., followed in three years by that of A. M., which degree was also conferred upon him by Princeton College, in 1865-66. In the choice of a profession he was decided by a strong natural bias, and the inclination which the possession of such bias brings, to determine upon that of physician and surgeon, and with characteristic zeal and energy he entered upon the task of fitting himself for the career he had chosen. After thorough and effective preliminary study he entered the Albany Medical College, where he attended a course of lectures. After this he went through the regular course at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York, of the alumni of which he is now Vice-President. Graduating here in the spring of 1845, he entered at once upon the practice of his profession in Newark, the city of his birth. He remained in Newark, actively engaged in professional duties, until the breaking out of the war of the rebellion in 1861, when he entered the army of the United States, and commenced a new career of more than ordinary brilliancy. He went into the government service as Surgeon of the 4th New Jersey Volunteers, receiving his commission from Gov- ernor Olden. Soon afterwards he passed examination at Washington, was made Brigade Surgeon of Volunteers, and was assigned for duty under General Kearny, with whom he served until the spring of 1862. At that time he became Surgeon of General N. J. T. Davis' brigade, and with that organization served through the Peninsular campaign, and also at the battle of Antietam. In this engagement he acted as Medical Director of the Second Army Corps of the Army of the Potomac, under command of General Sumner. After the bat- tle of Antietam he was duly commissioned as Medical Direc- tor of the Second Corps, and did duty in that capacity until shortly before the battle of Fredericksburg, when he was

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Grand Division of the Army of the Potomac, comprising the | Second and Ninth Corps. This was the highest and most re- sponsible position attained by any officer of the volunteer medi- cal staff. Upon the dissolution of the Grand Division, he was retransferred to the Second Corps, as its Medical Director, and served in this capacity until October, 1864, when his services were solicited and obtained by General Hancock, and he became Medical Director of the Veteran Corps, and when that officer was placed in command of the Army of the Shenandoah, Dr. Dougherty accompanied him as his chief medical officer. He served here until he was trans- ferred to the Department of West Virginia, of which depart- ment he was Medical Director until he was mustered out of service in October, 1865. In the campaign before Peters- burg he was made Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel, and at the close of the war he received the brevet rank of Coloncl. Ile did not go unscathed through the duties of his varied and responsible duties in the war ; he was wounded at the battle of Spottsylvania. After the close of the war he served for a period of six months as surgeon on the Pacific mail steamers, and at the end of that time returned to Newark, where he resumed his private practice. His preference is for surgery, and his services in that department of the pro- fession are much in demand. He has been one of the attending Surgeons of St. Barnabas Hospital, in Newark, since the opening of the institution. He is connected with various medical societies, county and State, and has several times been a delegate to the American Medical Association. Ile was married in 1850 to IIenrictta Arrowsmith, of Morris county, New Jersey.

UNT, HENRY FRANCIS, M. D., of Camden, was horn in Cranston, Providence county, Rhode Island, March 28th, 1838. IIe is the eldest son of Joshua Hunt, who for many years was a well-known cotton manufacturer. His ancestors were among the earliest scttlers of that State; having come over from England and settled in Newport in 1654. His ancestors on his mother's side were among the leading men of the State . during the revolutionary war, and have always been promi- nent in public affairs. He received his preliminary educa- tion in the public schools of Providence and at Smithville Seminary. In 1854 he entered Providence Conference Seminary, where he commenced a collegiate course of study. Here he remained three years, when his father's business suffering from the financial crisis of that period, he abandoned the idea of college. Entering his father's busi- ness house, he assisted in conducting affairs with the inten- tion of preparing for a commercial life. During the two years he remained hcre he pursued his studies privately, endeavoring to supply whatever was lacking in his cduca- tion. Finding commercial lifc not suited to his tastes, he decided to enter upon the study of medicine. This he commenced in the office of a distinguished allopathic physi-

cian, where he continued for two years, attending a partial course of lectures in Bellevue Hospital College, New York. At this time his attention was called to the system of homce- opathy, which he had seen practised with the most successful results, during an epidemic of diphtheria. Giving the principles a thorough examination, he became convinced of the superiority of the new school over the old, and entered at once upon the study, in the office of Dr. Okie, of Provi- dence. He attended two full courses of lectures at the Homoeopathic Medical College of Pennsylvania, where he graduated with the class of 1864. The decease of J. R. Andrews, M. D., of Camden, leaving a vacancy in the field there, Dr. Ilunt immediately assumed charge of the exten- sive practice already established. Dr. Andrews was the pioneer of homœopathy in Camden, where he had labored faithfully and successfully for over twenty years. Here Dr. Hunt found his duties very arduous. From the first day he assumed them, they demanded his closest attention, and most faithfully and earnestly has he discharged his duty. He has always appreciated the responsibility of his position, and has allowed himself but little time for recreation since the commencement of his professional life, and has kept himself well posted in the literature of both systems of medical practice. He has been punctual in his attendance at the meetings of the several medical societies of which he is a member, and has aided in making these meetings interest- ing by the contribution of valuable papers. He was one of the founders of New Jersey State Homoeopathic Medical Society, of which he was afterward President, and aidcd in securing a liberal charter for the same, conferring all the privileges upon the homoeopathic physician that are en- joyed by the allopathic. He also assisted in organizing the West Jersey Homoeopathic Medical Society, of which he was afterward President. These societies have aided materially in the spread of homoeopathy in the State. He has been a delegate from these societies to the American Institute of Homoeopathy every year since he joined that body. In 1866 he was married to Theresa Hugg, of Camden, daugh- ter of the late William Hugg, Esq. He has filled satisfac- torily to his numerous patients the position left vacant by the death of one whose ministry had secured him the most enviable reputation. His practice has increased until it has become one of the most lucrative in the city. Ile has suc- ceeded in winning the confidence and esteem of the entire community, by his Christian character and professional ability.

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The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 42

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