The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 45

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

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respect, never wished to hate him. The honesty of the man's faith and the sincerity of his manner gave him a power which is never attained through any of the arts of the demagogue. From the days of Horace Greeley in Congress, the discussion of the franking abuse had been carried on in a ponderous way. When the question arose during the term of Phelps' service, he immediately attacked it with the argument reductio ad absurdum. By a stroke of policy which no one had theretofore conceived, he laughed the measure down. In Congress a measure is usually doomed if it is one that can be laughed at. Ridicule, notwithstand- ing Mr. Carlyle, is a power in oratory, and nothing suffers more severely than when it suffers from contempt. Phelps understood this, and with skill he used his talent for mock- ery with success. A man is known and respected in Con- gress for the committees to which he is consigned. There are a few committecs that command the power of the House; and there are some tag-end committees that are of utter in- significance. Even in these latter a man like Blue-Jean- Williams may be useful. But Phelps-though he was a new and almost untried man, whose youthful face was in great contrast with those of men much older than he-was assigned to the Committee on Banking and Commerce, one of the foremost in the House. This was an honor which his district appreciated ; and he used his advantages well. His skill as a financial lawyer was displayed in the work of the committee room by the clearness of his reports. This was at a time when the impending panic was threat- ening to demand all sorts of wild and dangerous exploits in financial legislation; and among those who stood forward as champions of a sensible and valuable currency none carried greater power or commanded higher respect than Phelps. He argued his questions with surprising skill ; sometimes cleaving his obstacle with the sword of Richard -sometimes cutting the floating veil with the dexterous scimetar of Saladin. Above all, he was clear. His speech in which he defined " value " was one of the clearest and ablest expositions in political economy that have ever been produced. The present writer, at the time of its utterance, suggested in a public journal that it be used as a text-book in colleges. It had great influence everywhere ; and Phelps received not only praise from hurried, practical politicians who saw his effect, but commendation from scholarly re- cluses who were studying the problem within college walls. So far as the speech was intended to go, that is, concerning the subject of " value " and its distinction from " price," it stands, for clearness of exposition and for originality of illus- tration, in advance of the chapters devoted to the subject by either Cairns or Mill. It may be said without exaggeration that, during the two years of Phelps' service in Congress, he did as much as any statesman, not excepting even Schurz or Sherman, to prepare the way for honest money. He be. longed to that small, powerful, well-organized band who by their energy and genius legislated so that hard times should not be prolonged beyond their natural period. In 1874

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the Democratic tidal wave swept everything before it; and | judgment of its statesmen, his name was mentioned as one the Fifth District was not excepted from its effects. No of that number. His financial position, which at one time made him a proposed candidate for Secretary of the Treas- ury, and his conservative views in regard to Southern poli- tics, were thought to be valuable. Ilis name was mentioned as that of one who should succeed Mr. Frelinghuysen in the Senate; and men in both parties were anxious to have him as a candidate. But he said, at least .to the present writer : " I should be glad to serve New Jersey, if my service were at any time valuable ; but I am not going to sacrifice my self-respect of the respect of others, by resort- ing to any tricks for promotion. Honor earned in that way is a flimsy thing, and no popular applause can satisfy a man who is not true to himself." These were the words of a Jerseyman who is truly great. Canute could have kept it back. William Walter Phelps was defeated by only five votes. Hundreds of Republicans, standing pulseless and pale in the agony of a panic which was credited to the administration, did not go near the polls. There were jealous men who saw that Phelps' genius made their talents appear ignoble, and they said that " this boy " had shot up like a rocket and must come down like a stick. There were still others who thought that he did not bow low enough to the demands of demagoguery. He could not truckle to low arts. There were enough of those who wished him to do so, to defeat him. There were five. It is a matter of surprise that in the tidal sweep over a district filled with a working population which is sensitive to hard times and which always lays them at the door of the party in power, he was almost elected. Ilis popularity almost made him an exception. During his last term in Congress he worked with unabated vigor. His voice was frequently welcomed by men who were glad to hear his clear exposi tions. Ilis fame grew. It was during that session that he was one of the committee, of which Mr. Wheeler, the Re- publican candidate for Vice-President, was another, that investigated the political affairs of Louisiana. He found that there was great fraud in that State, and he had the manhood to denounce it, and the ability to make his words have effect. Republicans began to call him " independent," because he was essentially not partisan; and because he naturally had a reverence for what rights the States had re- tained for themselves, and because he disliked Federal interference in local elections, he was sometimes called a Democrat. There were negroes who believed he was not their champion, because in the consideration of measures relating to civil rights he thought that white men, too, had some rights of choice. IIe has always been in favor of the utmost freedom that can be given to individual men in con- sistency with civil order. But for his " too independence,". as some one called it, he would have been re-elected. After Congress adjourned Mr. Phelps was so ill from the effects of overwork that he was compelled to seek health in ' Europe. While he was there, his name was again men- tioned for the Republican nomination for Congress in his old district ; but he made no efforts to obtain it. Even some of the Democrats wished to second the nomination, hccause they admired his independence, and wished that his bril- liancy should honor the district. But he made no efforts to se- cure either, and as many men wished the office, there was no one to fight for him in his absence. Ile is far from being a politician in the sense of being a schemer. Ile carried his county by his open, personal appeal to men's judgment and honesty. Ile refused to come home to win the nomination, as he could have done. " I will not stand in any one's way," said he. When he returned, restored in health, and strong in his wish to see the country restored to harmony and prosperity by the wisdom and magnanimity and higher

ULLOCK, EDWARD R., Lawyer, of Flemington, was born October 17th, ISIS, in Falls township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. His parents, Isaac Bullock and Sarah (Burton) Bullock, were de- scended from English Quakers. When he was ten years old, his father died, occasioning him to withdraw from the schools, which he had previously attended, and engage as a farm hand, in which capacity he remained until he was sixteen, when he became an appren - tice to a marble-cutter in Trenton, New Jersey, with whom he stayed as such apprentice five years, though he continued in the marble-cutting business, while working at all, until the summer of 1842, attending meanwhile, during the winter as occasion permitted, a school kept by his uncle at Wilmington, Delaware. At this latter date he went to Easton, Pennsylvania, the seat of Lafayette College, pre- pared himself for matriculation, and was duly matriculated in that institution, remaining, however, only one year. In the spring of 1844 he removed to New York, where he worked at his trade till 1846, when he returned to Easton, working there one year, and then going to Flemington, New Jersey, at which place he set up the marble-cutting business on his own account. In 1853, at the age of thirty-five, he began to read law with A. O. Van Flect, now Vice-Chan- cellor, and was admitted to the bar in 1857. He settled at Flemington, and soon commanded a fair practice. In 1868 he was appointed, by Governor Ward, Prosecutor of the Pleas for Hunterdon county, holding the office about four years, and then resigning it. Ile was admitted to practise in the United States District Court in 1867, and in 1870 was appointed United States Commissioner. Ilis advance- ment in the profession, like his preparation for it, has been gradual, but thorough and sure. The qualitics indeed that shaped his earlier career, so checkered and eventful as to have been almost romantic, could hardly fail to inspire the admiration and trust of his fellow-citizens, and in the long run to assure his solid triumph. It is pleasant to contem-

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plate the hero of such trials and struggles safe at last in the perance questions, his grave, quiet manner, and plainness haven of success. Mr. Bullock was married in 1844, when ; of dress, he was somewhat unpopular for the greater part his battle of life waxed hottest, to Janet, daughter of James Pollock, of Easton, Pennsylvania, who thus became his helpmeet in his days of care not less than in his palmy of his life. But all, whether in or out of the profession, recognized his ability as a practitioner. He performed many important surgical operations, and in both surgery days. His eldest son, Captain James I. Bullock, of the and obstetrics was for a long time considered authority in his section of the State. Always a man of honor, truth, and the strictest morality, he was ever respected, and as life advanced he conquered the high esteem and love of a very large circle.

15th New Jersey Volunteers, was lost with the steamer General Lyon, while serving on detached duty, escorting troops from Hart Island to Wilmington, North Carolina. His second and only surviving son, John A. Bullock, is a member of the New Jersey bar. Mr. Bullock is in politics a Republican, and, although no politician, his convictions are not on that account the shallower, but possibly all the deeper. At any rate he is a very earnest supporter of the principles of his party.

GRIMES, JOHN, M. D., late of Boonton, was born at Parsippany, Morris county, New Jersey, in 1802. After a course of medical study he re- ceived a certificate to practise from the State Medical Society in 1827. He first settled in New- foundland, New Jersey ; but in 1833 removed to Boonton, where he continued to practise until his death, on September 12th, 1875. He was remarkable for his strong convictions, and the boldness and pertinacity with which he followed them. At an early period he became a fearless and outspoken advocate of the anti-slavery doctrine, and played an important part in the agitation of that question. IIe frequently aided slaves to escape, and his house was what was termed a station on the " Underground Railroad." This conspicuous advocacy of a then unpopular cause sub- jected him to much annoyance ; he was frequently ill treated and mobbed, and once arrested by the sheriff of Essex county, for aiding in the escape of fugitive slaves. He gave bonds, but for some reason was never tried. So devoted a laborer was he in the cause of human freedom that he was chosen President of the first Anti-Slavery Society in the State. In 1844 he published the New York Freeman, which was maintained until 1850, when other journals took up and advocated abolition. He was also an early and strong advocate of the temperance cause, and strongly con- demned the use of stimulants as practised in the profession twenty years ago. It was a satisfaction to him that he lived to see his views on this subject adopted in great measure by his medical brethren, and his abolitionist doctrines indorsed by the country at large. Through nearly the whole of his adult life he abstained from animal food, and in himself he presented a very strong argument in favor of his theory, bcing exceptionally vigorous in both mind and body, per- forming with comparative ease the duties of a large and laborious practice, and when an old man doing more pro- fessional work than most young men are able to endure. Owing to his pronounced opinions on the slavery and tem-

AMILTON, GENERAL SAMUEL RANDOLPH, Lawyer, late of Trenton, was born at Princeton, then in the county of Middlesex, New Jersey, June 7th, 1790. IIe was the son of John Ross and Phebe Hamilton, who were old residents of that place and neighborhood. He graduated at the College of New Jersey in 1808. Studied law with Governor Williamson at Elizabeth. Was admitted to the bar as an attorney-at-law of the Supreme Court of New Jersey in 1812. In 1823 he was admitted as Counsellor, and was called as a serjeant-at-law in 1837. May 20th, 1818, he was married to Eliza, daughter of Morris Robeson, of Oxford Furnace, now in Warren county. He commenced the practice of law at Princeton, but soon removed to Trenton, where he continued to reside until his death. In his profession he enjoyed a large practice which extended to almost every county in the State, and engaged his attention during the whole of his business career. He stood high in his pro- fession, and was remarkable among his brethren and friends for great geniality and an extended hospitality. During his whole life, his house was the gathering point of the members of the profession from different parts of the State, when on business at the capital. He was a life-long Demo- crat in politics, and in 1836 was nominated by his party as a candidate for Congress, but in that year the Whigs triumphed for the first time in several years, and he was, with the, remainder of the ticket, defeated by about six hundred votes. For many years he was Quartermaster- General of the Militia of the State, an office which lie filled with great acceptance to those with whom he came in con- tact, and care for the interests of the State, until a few years before his death, when he resigned, and was succeeded by General Lewis Perrine. He was appointed Prosecutor of the Pleas of Mercer county by Governor Fort, and held the office at the time of his death. He was also elected by his fellow-citizens as Mayor of the city of Trenton. For many years he was a Trustee of the First Presbyterian Church of Trenton, and always took an active part in the promotion of its interests and of the cause of religion in general, and during the latter years of his life was a member in full communion of that church. He at all times took a deep interest in education, and on his death-bed the interests of

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the schools of the city seemed to bear more heavily upon him [ medicine, he studied for that profession, and in due course than any other care. He died on the 13th of August, 1856 at the age of sixty six, leaving a widow and four children. Ifis eldest son, Colonel Morris R. Hamilton, though admitted to the bar, has never practised law, but for the most of his life has been connected with the press. Two other sons devoted their attention to agricultural pursuits, and his daughter married Samuel Sherrerd, of Belvidere, New Jersey. Ile was buried with military honors in consideration of his connection with public affairs, the military and city gov- ernment.

EAN, JOIIN W., Merchant, of Philipsburg, was born at Stewartsville, Warren county, New Jersey, March 7th, 1839. He was educated at the public schools of his native county, and at the age of seventeen years' entered the store of his father in Stewartsville, where he remained for

six years. In 1862 he removed to Philipsburg and pur- chased an interest in the manufacturing business, conducted under the firm-name of Reece, Lake, Melick & Co. In the shine year the concern was made a stock company, and Mr. Dean was elected Secretary and Treasurer. In 1862 he was also elected Mayor of Philipsburg, a position to which he was re-elected for three subsequent terms. In 1870 he resigned his offices of Secretary and Treasurer in the com- pany, although still retaining his interest in the enterprise, and engaged in mercantile pursuits in Philipsburg. He continued in business upon his own account until the death of the gen tleman elected as his successor in the secretaryship and treas- uryship of the company, when, at the urgent solicitation of his fellow-stockholders, he again accepted, and has since continued to hold, the double office. He has held various local offices in Philipsburg besides the mayoralty, and is now freeholder from the first ward of the borough. His affiliations have constantly been with the Democratic party. Ile has been for many years a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church, and is the leader of a fine choir in the church at Philipsburg. IIis musical ability is, indeed, somewhat exceptional, and beside being choir leader he is leader of a musical association of some local celebrity known as the "Old Folks." He was largely instrumental in the building of the Philipsburg street railway, and is one of the most publie-spirited citizens of the town. In 1861 he was married to Kate Melick, of Philipsburg.

OODHULL, ADDISON W., late of Newark, was born in Monmouth county, New Jersey, in the year 1831. He was a son of Dr Jolin Woodhull ; Judge Woodhull of the Supreme Court is his brother. After a sound preliminary training he entered Princeton College, from which he was graduated in 1854. His taste lying in the direction of

received his degree. He acted as Penitentiary Physician on Blackwell's Island in 1856, and during the following year moved to Newark, where he settled down to practice. A physician of high ability, and a gentleman whose charac- ter commanded confidence, he had by 1861 built up a fine practice, but he abandoned it and left a young wife in re- sponse to the call of his country, becoming Assistant Sur- geon of the 9th New Jersey Regiment. Subsequently he was detailed as Surgeon and Chief of Hospital at Beau- fort, North Carolina, during Burnside's campaign, and afterwards served with Rosecrans and Sherman during the latter part of his grand march to the sea. After his return home he held various positions of honor and trust, being physician of the county jail for several years, President of the Newark Medical Association, of the Essex County Medical Society, one of the first physicians of St. Michael's Hospital, a member of the Board of Examiners for Pensions, and, at the time of his death, a medical examiner for the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company. He was a relig- ious man and belonged to the Presbyterian communion. Of the South Park Presbyterian Church he was a prominent member and ruling elder, and a teacher in the Sunday- school, which appointed a committee to prepare a suitable memorial on his decease. The teachers of the two schools attended the funeral in a body. In social as well as pro- fessional life he had the confidence and estcem of every one. Of high literary attainments, he was a lover of the arts, and was very skilful in his profession. Faithful to every trust, and a man of most attractive character, his loss was sincerely mourned in a large circle. He died May 14th, 1876, leaving a wife and four children.

ORBERT, A. T. A., Major-General United States army, and now United States Consul-General at Paris, entcred the military academy at West Point in 1851, and after passing through the regular course of instruction, graduated in 1855 as Second Lieutenant of infantry. Ile was attached to the 5th Regiment, then stationed in Texas, and served during the succeeding six years on the frontier of that State, in Florida, in Utah and in New Mexico. In April, 1861-his appointment to a first lieutenancy having reached him two months earlier-he was ordered by the Secretary of War to report for mustering duty to Governor Olden, of New Jer- sey. In the following August he was made Captain and Assistant Quartermaster, and until September he discharged the functions of mustering officer. The quota of troops from New Jersey demanded by the general government being then filled, Captain Torbert received permission from the War Department to accept the colonelcy of one of the regi- ments which he had assisted to muster in, and was accord- ingly appointed by Governor Olden to the command of the

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Ist regiment. On the 17th of September he assumed com- | Ile commanded at the battles of Liberty Hills, December mand at Camp Seminary, Virginia, and during the winter 22d, and Gordonsville, December 23d. In April, 1865, his many gallant services were recognized by his appointment to the command of the Army of the Shenandoah, a position for which he had been rendered eligible the previous Sep- ten.ber by promotion to the rank of Brevet Major-General. He was in command of this army until July, when it was disbanded, and he was then ordered to the command of the military district of Southeastern Virginia, with head-quar- ters at Norfolk. In December, 1865, he was mustered out of the volunteer service, falling back to his rank in the reg- ular army, with the added brevet rank of Major-General. After his brilliant career in active service, General Torbert had small liking for military life in times of peace, and he therefore, November Ist, 1866, resigned his commission. His record is one of the brightest upon the New Jersey page of the history of the war, and it is all the brighter because by birth and association he had every temptation to array himself upon the side of treason. His loyalty was, indeed, more than once assailed, but he permitted his actions to confute the words of his opponents, and regardless of evil tongues and envious hearts did his duty as became a true soldier and a gallant gentleman. When the New Jersey contingent was called out, as mustering officer he rapidly worked the raw material into manageable shape, and having placed the troops in the field, he commanded his regiment, brigade, division and army with constant courage, almost constant success and always constant honor. On the con- clusion of the war he retired to private life for a while. He is now (January, 1877) and for some time has been United States Consul-General to France. following he devoted himself to drilling and disciplining his men. When Mcclellan opened the campaign, in March, 1862, with the advance upon Manassas, the Ist New Jersey was one of the most efficient commands in the entire army. The regiment participated in that advance, and also in the subsequent operations upon the Peninsula, being engaged at West Point, Mechanicsville and Gaines' Mill, and also in the series of fights and skirmishes attendant upon Mc- Clellan's change of base. So well did Colonel Torbert handle his command during this trying and disastrous pe- riod that in the following August he was promoted to be Brigadier-General and assigned to the command of the Ist Brigade of the Ist Division, 6th Corps, then stationed at Alexandria, Virginia. Under McClellan, and subsequently under Pope, the brigade took part in the Maryland cam- paign, being engaged in the fight at Crampton's Pass (where General Torbert was slightly wounded), in the battle of Antietam, and in the battle of Fredericksburg, December 13th, 1862, bearing in the latter a prominent part. In Jan- uary, 1863, General Torbert was ordered home on sick- leave, and so, to his infinite regret, missed the second Frederickshurg fight. He rejoined his brigade in June, and served (under the sequent commands of Ilooker and Meade) through the Maryland and Pennsylvania campaigns, bearing a distinguished part in the battles of Fairfield and Gettysburg. In April, 1864, he was promoted to the com- mand of the Ist Cavalry Division of the Army of the Poto- mac, and in the following month the command of all the cavalry in that army was transferred to him. This force numbered about 3,000, the main body being with Sheridan on the Richmond road. As a cavalry officer he took part in the following battles : Milford Station, May 21st; North Anna, 24th ; Hanovertown, 27th ; Hawes's Shop, 28th ; ARTRANFT, REV. CHESTER D., A. B., A. M., Clergyman, was born in Frederick township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, October 15th, 1839, his father, Samuel Hartranft, being an ex- tensive flour merchant of Philadelphia, and a member of the family to which General J. F. Hartranft, Governor of Pennsylvania, belongs. His mother was Sarah, daughter of Adam Stetler. The Stetlers were among the earliest settlers of Frederick township, and the family is one of considerable antiquity, its founder in America, Christian Stetler, having immigrated to this coun- try in 1720. Educated in early youth at the Philadelphia public schools, he graduated with credit from the High School in 1856, and in 1857 entered the University of Penn- sylvania, and there for a year applied himself to the higher branches of study. His education was completed at a select school in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, whence he grad- uated in 1861. Naturally of a serious temperament, he had determined upon the ministry as his profession, and in pur- suance of this determination he entered, immediately upon the completion of his secular studies, the Theological Semi- Old Church, 30th ; Cold Harbor, 31st and June Ist ; Tre- villian Station, 11th ; Malloway's Ford Cross Road, 12th ; White House and Tanstall's Station, 21st, and Darbytown, 28th. After this rapid series of engagements, his force was comparatively inactive for a month, and on the 30th of July was ordered to proceed, via City Point and Washington, to Harper's Ferry and there effect a juncture with Sheridan. On reporting to Sheridan, that officer made him Chief of Cavalry of the Middle Military Division, a staff appoint- ment, his immediate command consisting of the Ist and 3.1 Cavalry Divisions of the Army of the Potomac-com- manded, respectively, by Generals Merrit and Wilson-and the 2d Cavalry Division of the Army of the Shenandoah, commanded by General Averill. At Winchester, Torbert was in command until Sheridan's arrival, and he was also in command at the battles of Kearneysville, August 25th ; Opequan, September 19th; Mount Crawford, October 2d ; Toms River, October 9th; took part with his division in the general engagement of Cedar Creek, October 19th, and was present at the fight near Middletown, November 12th.

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The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 45

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