The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 43

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

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IDGWAY, HON. CALEB G., of Burlington, Mer- chant, and State Senator, was born in Springfield township, Burlington county, New Jersey, April 4th, 1836. Ilis ancestors were amongst the early settlers of the State, and of that class of English Friends, the cultivated and industrious yeomanry, to whom the citizens arc indebted for its promi-

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nence in advanced agriculture, horticulture and social accom- plishments. He was educated in the schools of Burlington city, whose fame for thorough, practical mental training has been so long established. At the age of fourteen, when his father died, he was apprenticed in a dry goods and gro- cery store, where he faithfully discharged every duty for three years. Then he was taken into the employ of a Ger- man importing house in Philadelphia, where, after a few years of diligent application to business, he was promoted to the full agency of one of the largest dry goods firms in Europe. Ilis business qualifications, and agreeable, social manners, are fully appreciated by his employers, and are rewarded by special marks of consideration. At the age of thirty he commenced his political career by his election to the Common Council of the city of Burlington, and although from local causes and interests the political complexion is variable, his positive conservative character has secured his re-election, until he has served in that office for ten consecu- tive years; during the last two he has been successively chosen to preside over the deliberations of that body. In 1872 he was elected to represent Burlington township in the board of chosen freeholders of Burlington county; his ability was recognized by his constituents, and he was rewarded by a re-election in 1873; his services and business qualifications increased his popularity throughout the county, and made for him the prominence that merit deserves. On the 18th of September, 1876, he received the unanimous vote of the Democratic Convention of Burlington county for State Senator, and after one of the most exciting and closely con- tested elections ever held in the county, against one of the most popular candidates of the opposite party, he secured his election to fill the seat that only twice before has been occupied by a Democrat, the Republican majority in this county ranging from eight hundred to twelve hundred.

AINES, HON. DANIEL, Lawyer, Jurist, Governor and Chancellor of New Jersey, was born, 1801, in the city of New York, and was the son of the late Elias Haines, for many years a highly respected and successful merchant of that city, who married a daughter of Robert Ogden, of Sussex county, New Jersey, and a sister of Governor Ogden. His grandfather, Stephen Haines, was distinguished during the revolutionary era for his earnest patriotism and sufferings for the cause ; and accordingly incurred the hatred of the Tories. The latter, aided by an armed band, surrounded his dwelling, and captured him with his sons, all of whom they took to New York, and imprisoned them in the celebrated " Sugar House," where they remained for a long time, enduring untold sufferings. Daniel was educated partly in New York, and at the academy in Elizabethtown : he matriculated at Princeton College, and graduated from that institution in 1820. After leaving college he entered the law office of

Thomas C. Ryerson, at Newton; and was licensed as an at- torney in 1823, as a counsellor in 1826, and finally reached the highest rank-that of serjeant-at-law-in 1837. He made choice of Hamburg, Sussex county, as his residence, and there he commenced the practice of his profession in 1824. The same year witnessed the nomination of Andrew Jackson for the Presidency, in which he took an active part in forward- ing the interests of the organization which placed him as the leader of the same. Both Federalists and Democrats pro- nounced in favor of the hero of New Orleans, so that Sussex county became the stronghold of the Democracy, and ever gave the heaviest majorities, for that party, over any county in the State. In 1839, a matter of local interest to Sussex county having arisen, he was tendered a nomination to the Legisla- tive Council of the State, which he accepted, and was accord- ingly elected. At this time the " broad seal " contest was waging, in which he also became engaged. The refusal of the Speaker of the House of Representatives-R. M. T. Hunter, of Virginia-to receive the resolutions passed by the New Jersey Legislature the previous year, incited the Whigs to renew the contest the following year; and a series of resolutions were prepared and introduced into that body denouncing the action of the National House of Representa- tives as virtually reading New Jersey out of the Union. To Daniel Haines was assigned the part to oppose these resolutions, and he ardently contested the right as well as the propriety of the Legislature to pass them. But the Whigs having a large majority, the resolutions were carried. The debate, in which he bore so prominent a part, served to bring him forward as a leader of the Democracy; he was re-elected a member of the Council, but declined another nomination. In 1843 he was elected, by the two houses of the Legislature, Governor and Chancellor of the State; and he was the last Governor elected by the joint action of the two houses. He was earnest in advocating a change in the Constitution of the State, and labored earnestly for the pass- age of a law which should authorize the calling of a Con- vention for that purpose. He was also the warm friend of the free school system, and recommended the same to the Legislature and the people of the State. After the new Constitution was framed and passed by a vote of the people, he was continued in the office of Governor, etc., until his successor, Governor Stratton, was inaugurated in January, 1845, having declined the nomination as candidate in the first election under the new Constitution, whereby the people voted directly for the Governor. In 1847, however, he ac- cepted the nomination of his party and was elected. At the expiration of his term of office he resumed the practice of the law until November, 1852, when he took his seat on the bench of the Supreme Court of the State, having been previously nominated to that office and confirmed by thie Senate : at the close of his term, he was reappointed, so that he retained that position for fourteen years. For several years he was President Judge of the Newark circuit, the most important in the State; and when his term of office was

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about to expire, he received an elegant testimonial of respect from the members of its bar. As already stated, Governor Haines was an ardent supporter of the measures of General Jackson and his successors in the Democratic school of politics. He had been, previous to 1824, a believer in the doctrines of the Federal party as promulgated years previous, and he regarded General Jackson as being the true successor of the Federalistic school. He retained his Democratic sentiments down to the period of the great rebellion, voting, in 1860, against the Republican party, and in favor of the " Union Democratic Ticket." After the election of Abraham Lincoln, he earnestly advocated every measure which might be adopted to prevent the war ; hut when the Southern States seceded, and the flag was fired upon at Fort Sumter, he wheeled into the line in support of the Union, and used all his influence to raise men and means to carry on the war for the restoration of the Union. His two sons, and a son-in-law, with his entire approbation, volunteered for the cause, and one of the former gave his life to his country. Notwithstanding this, he was a warm supporter of General Mcclellan and Horatio Seymour when nominated in opposition to Lincoln and Grant; and he has steadily opposed the reconstruction acts of the Republican party, as being, in his estimation, a clear violation of the Constitution. He has ever been a warm friend of education for the masses, and for every measure which will advance the establishment of public schools. He was named, in 1845, one of the Com- missioners to select a site for the State Lunatic Asylum, and was a member of the first Board of Managers of the same. In 1865 lie was appointed a Trustee of the " Reform School for Juvenile Delinquents," at Jamestown, when he was elected and still continues President of the Board : he was also appointed, during the same year, a Commissioner to select a site for the "Home , for Disabled Soldiers," and afterwards was named as one of its managers. In 1868 he was selected as one of the Commissioners on the State Prison system of New Jersey and of other States, " and to report an improved plan for the government and discipline of the prison." Governor Randolph appointed him, in 1870, as one of the Commissioners to the National Prison Reform Congress, which eonvened at Cincinnati; and by that body he was named one of a committee having for its object the organization of a National Prison Reform Association, and an International Congress on Prison Discipline and Reform. In the former, he was made one of the corporators, and also onc of the Vice-Presidents. In religious belief he is a Presbyterian, and for many years a communicant member and a ruling elder. IIe has been on various occasions a Commissioner to the General Assembly, and has ever been an earnest advocate for the union of the two great divisions into which that church became divided. He is also promi- nently identified with those societies auxiliary to the church · of his choice, especially in Sunday-school work, and the Bible Society. For many years past he has been one of the Board of Trustces of Princeton College. [Died, Jan. 26th, 1877.]

TRATTON, BENJAMIN HARRIS, M. D., late of Mount Holly, New Jersey, was born in that place, February 6th, 1804. He was the son of Dr. John L. and Anna H. Stratton, the latter being a daughter of Dr. James Stratton, of Swedesboro, Gloucester county, in the same State. Dr. John L. Stratton was a Jerseyman, having been born in Fairfield, Cumberland county, February 23d, 1778. He enjoyed good educational advantages and improved them ; his medi- cal studies he pursued under the direction of Dr. James Stratton; he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in the year 1800, shortly after located in Mt. Holly, and there successfully pursued his profession, with an interruption of only six months, until a few years before his death, which occurred on August 17th, 1845. The son, Benjamin Harris, was prepared for college at Baskenridge, which then enjoyed a high reputation as a preparatory school, and graduated at Princeton College in September, 1823. Very soon thereafter he commenced the study of medicine with the father, and graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in the spring of 1827. Soon after graduating he entered into partnership with his father as a medical practitioner. They continued together until a few years before the father's death, when the infirmities of age, made premature by his onerous life- work, caused the father to retire from active practice; and the son, in addition to the labor, hardships and responsibili- ties of an already large and increasing practice, assumed the duties laid aside by the father ; and how well, conscien- tiously and successfully they were performed, the love, ven- eration and respect of the community he served so long most eloquently declare. He continued his professional labors through all the changes and vicissitudes of a half century up to the commencement of his last illness, and then un- willingly laid them aside only at the commands of his attend- ing physicians. After several months of confinement and suf- fering with a complication of diseases, borne with the resignation of a Christian gentleman, he died December 29th, 1875, aged seventy-two years. Ile was a high-toned, honora- ble gentleman, just and upright in all his dealings, possess. ing a high sense of integrity, from which he never swerved. HIe was a cheerful, genial companion, warm and true in his friendships, and compassionate and considerate of the feelings of others. In his professional life the same characteristics that distinguished him as a man-honor, honesty and integ. rity-were prominent, with an enthusiastic love for his calling that was shown in his practice, in his daily intercourse with physicians, in the meetings of the medical societies, and in his observance of the laws of medical etiquette. As a physician, through all the years of his practice, he held a prominent position among those of the State. Ile was one of the founders of the Burlington County Medical Society in 1829, was elected President several times, and served as Treasurer for many years. Ile was almost always present at its stated meetings, and actively participated in the pro- ceedings, and when young physicians were elceted as mem-

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bers, he would extend to them a cordial greeting, and in | the Philadelphia & Columbia; the Delaware & Atlan- all their after professional intercourse with him, be to them friend, guide and counsellor. He was a member and regular attendant of the meetings of the New Jersey State Medical Society, and was elected President in the year 1838. As a practitioner, he was successful in the treatment .of diseases, and not only won the confidence of his patients by his skill, but their hearts by his kindness and sympathy. He was noted for his ready resource in the use and adapta- tion of " domestic remedies " as adjuncts in the cure of disease, and as a prescriber of officinal standard remedies in their combinations and adaptability to the ailment under treatment he had few or no superiors. He acquired a high reputation as an accoucheur, and was very skilful in the use of the forceps. And amid all his labors he was a close student of the current medical literature of the day, and thus kept pace with the material advancement of medical science. He was married May 11th, 1829, and left a widow and two daughters. At a special meeting of the County Medical Society a preamble and series of resolutions were adopted setting forth the honor and esteem with which his labors and character inspired his professional brethren.

TEARNS, JOHN O., for many years Superintend- ent and Engineer of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, was born in Billerica, near Boston, Mas- sachusetts, August 3d, 1805. He was the son of John Stearns, and one of a family of four sons and two daughters. For educational advantages he was indebted only to the district schools, which were only permitted to claim part of his time, the remainder being passed on his father's farn. This property had been in the family for several generations, descending to his father from his earlier ancestors through John O.'s grandfather, Hon. Isaac Stearns. From his sixteenth to his twentieth year the subject of this sketch was engaged in mechanical pur- suits ; thereafter he was employed in a subordinate capacity in the construction of the Blackstone Canal, in Rhode Is- land, and of Fort Trumbull, Connecticut. A few years subsequently he made a contract for the building of locks on the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, and followed with ano- ther for constructing the macadamized turnpike road from Ilarper's Ferry up the valley of the Shenandoah to Smith- field. In 1832 he began his career as railroad contractor by taking several sections on the Philadelphia & Colum- bia Railroad. From that time he was continuously engaged in building roads in different parts of the country until the formation of his permanent connection with the Central Railroad of New Jersey. He huilt as many as twenty dif- ferent roads; among the more important may be mentioned the Camden & Amboy Railroad, in New Jersey; the Philadelphia & Trenton, in Pennsylvania; the Philadel- phia, Wilmington & Baltimore; the Baltimore & Ohio;

tic; the Tioga, in Pennsylvania; the Blossburg & Corn- ing, in New York; the Elizabethtown & Somerville, now the Central Railroad of New Jersey. His most extensive operations were conducted in connection with the last men- tioned railway, his services being almost exclusively devoted to it after the year 1842 until his death. The original line extending from Elizabethport to Somerville was built by him and his partner, Coffin Colkett. They afterwards leased the road and operated it; when it was sold under foreclosure of the mortgage, they bought it in and organized for its operation a new company of which John O. Stearns was elected Superintendent, and also a member of the Board of Directors. After a while a scheme was projected for the extension of the line to the Delaware, and a company was formed for the purpose under the title of the Somer- . ville & Easton Railroad Company. Mr. Stearns took a very active share in floating this enterprise, and upon the organization became a member of the Board of Directors. In this capacity he rendered very efficient assistance in urging forward the construction of the line. When in 1849 the two companies were consolidated under the style of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, his valuable services wcre secured to superintend the whole road, and he retained his seat at the newly-organized Board. Subsequently to the title of Superintendent that of Engineer was added, and the duties of this arduous and responsible position he continued to discharge with marked ability and fidelity during life. At the time of his death the company was about to raise him to the Vice-Presidency. For twenty years previous to this event he had been engaged somewhat extensively in the iron, lumber and mining business in New York and Pennsylvania. These operations he opened by the pur- chase, in 1842, of the property of the Lycoming Coal and Iron Company of Pennsylvania, consisting of coal and iron mines, a large rolling mill, iron foundry, lumber mills, tim- ber lands, with improvements, etc., which had cost a company of capitalists from Boston nearly half a million of dollars. Mr. Stearns, however, acquired it at a greatly reduced price. After operating the whole for several years, he disposed of all but the timber lands and lumber mills, which he contin- ued to work upon a much larger scale than formerly up to the period of his death. He also devoted much time and thought to, and was at considerable expense in projecting, plans for the development of the iron resources of New Jer- sey. Indeed, he was pre-eminently a man of affairs; his activity and sagacity in business were remarkahle, and no less so was his administrative ability, as is illustrated by the circumstance that at one time he was engaged in, and brought to successful completion, the construction of as many as seven different roads. In character he was singu- larly upright and unselfish. It is very rare to find a man declining an increase of compensation for services, yet when the Central Railroad Company, in just appreciation of his untiring devotion to their interests, proposed to raise his

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salary, he objected on the ground that he was already paid as much as he thought was merited. The company, how- ever, insisted, disregarding his protest, and carried their point. He was very generous in disposition, and out of the abundance of his means was always ready to help not only public enterprises but private charities. By his fellow-citi- zens he was naturally held in very high esteem, those ad- miring him the most who knew him best. He died at his residence in Elizabeth, in November, 1862, leaving behind a record of unimpeachable integrity in all his dealings.

TEARNS, JOSIAH O., late Superintendent of the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey, was born in New Hampshire in the year 1831. He commenced railroad life as a conductor on the Pennsylvania Railroad, from which he subse- quently transferred his services to the New Jer- sey Central, in which company he was the Assistant Su- perintendent until 1862, when he succeeded his relative, John O. Stearns, as Superintendent. He was indefatigable in the discharge of his duties to the company, and was uni- versally esteemed for his liberality to the poor, and also for his many social virtues. He died at Elizabeth, August 29th, 1867.

retary and Treasurer. He was one of the organizers, and the first President of the Raritan Savings Bank; is President of the Raritan Building Loan Association No. 1, and a Director in Association No. 2. He is largely inter- ested in real estate, both at Raritan and Philipsburg. Far- randtown, north of Raritan, takes its name from him, he having there purchased a tract of land and caused it to he laid out in building lots of convenient size, assisting with his own means intending settlers to erect dwellings. By his wise liberality many deserving workmen have here been pro- vided with comfortable homes. Upon removing to Raritan he was elected a member of the town council, and in this position-as also when holding similar office at Philips- burg-he evidenced a remarkable knowledge of the needs and methods of civic government. In IS75 he was named in the Democratic State Convention as candidate for State Senator, but his nomination was lost by a single adverse vote-a result that would certainly not have been reached had he made the slightest effort to gain the honor. He was warmly urged by his friends for the nomination for member of Congress from the Fourth New Jersey District, his ster- ling integrity and extensive business knowledge, and know- ledge of the requirements of the country, peculiarly fitting him for such a position. As an inventor, he has considera- bly added to the effectiveness of the screw mower and reaper, many of the most important attachments to that ma- chine being his own patents; indeed, as now manufactured, it is claimed by the company that for simplicity of construc- tion, convenience in handling and lightness of draft, the reaper is probably unsurpassed. In substantiation of this assertion, it is affirmed that the reaper took the first prize in a competitive trial with eight machines of other celebrated makers held at the Chester county agricultural fair. In ad- dition to his other enterprises, Mr. Farrand has two boot and shoe stores; one at Raritan, in which his eldest son is the active partner, and one at Philipsburg, in which Mr. Godfrey is partner. He also owns a considerable amount of real estate in both towns. He was married in 1850 to Miss Duckworth, of Hunterdon county.

ARRAND, ANDREW JACKSON, of Raritan, was born in Warren county, New Jersey, March 25th, 1826. His father, John Farrand, a native of Connecticut, died while Andrew was still an infant, and at a very early age the lad was thrown entirely upon his own resources. He worked upon a farm until his sixteenth year, studying in the winters at the neighboring public schools, and thus acquiring- aided too by persevering home study-a fair English edu- cation. At the age of sixteen he applied himself to shoe- making, but when nineteen years old relinquished this to take up the business of tailoring. Establishing himself at Philipsburg, his business constantly increased, growing eventually into a large manufactory employing from twenty- five to thirty hands. In 1858, after thirteen years of close ARCY, JOHN S., M. D., Physician, late of New- ark, was born, February 24th, 1788, in Hanover township, Morris county, New Jersey. Ilis father was for many years an cminent and suc- cessful practitioner of medicine in that county, and he entered upon the study of the same science with him and succceded to his extensive practice, in which he likewise met with great success. In 1832, when the Asiatic cholcra first made its appearance in this country, he removed to Newark, and by his skill and promptness in the treatment of that terrible disease, and by his unselfish devo- tion to his patients, and sympathy for their sufferings, he application to trade, failing health compelled him to enter upon some business calculated to less severely tax his bodily and mental powers, and he accordingly sold out his clothing manufactory and purchased an interest in the Philipsburg Agricultural Works, becoming a member of the firm of Reece, Lake, Melick & Co. Of this concern the present Screw Mower and Reaper Company is the outgrowth- a manufacturing company having establishments at Philips- burg and Raritan, New Jersey, from which over one thousand machines have been turned out in the course of a single season, beside extensive works at Lewistown, Pennsylvania. Of this company Mr. Farrand is the Sec- , soon attained a more extensive practice than any other in

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the State, and which finally impaired his own vigorous con- stitution. In 1849 he made an overland journey to Cali- fornia, merely for the improvement of his health; but al- though the expedition was in other respects successful, his health was rather impaired than benefited by the trip. On the incorporation of the New Jersey Railroad and Trans- portation Company, he was elected its President, and held the office until death, a period of over thirty years. His political creed was that of the Jackson school of the Democ- racy, and very early in life he was elected a member of the State Legislature, in which he served several years; and at a subsequent date, while yet a resident of Morris county, was United States Marshal for the District of New Jersey, having been appointed to that office by President Jackson, and continued to hold that position during the subsequent administration of Martin Van Buren. He exerted great in- fluence in his party throughout the State, although he was averse to holding office. He was for many years a promi- nent member of the Masonic order, and for some years held the office of Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the State. He died in Newark, of paralysis, October 22d, 1863.

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The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 43

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