USA > New Jersey > The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century > Part 46
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nary of the Reformed Dutch Church, at New Brunswick, New Jersey. Here he remained for three years, passing through the regular course and receiving his degree and license to preach in 1864. He was in the same year called to the pastoral charge of the South Bushwick Reformed Church, in the eastern district of Brooklyn, where, until October, 1866, he labored to excellent purpose. On the date last named he removed to New Brunswick, New Jersey, to as- sume the pastorate of the Second Reformed Dutch Church, a position which he still holds and very acceptably fills. On the 10th of July, 1864, he was married to Annie F., daughter of the Rev. Dr. Bergh, of Philadelphia.
CALLISTER, ROBERT, Major-General, was, in many respects, a representative officer in the late war. Residing at Oxford, New Jersey, he was, in 1861, engaged in a business of magnitude, and was, moreover, considerably beyond middle age. His interest, as well as the inclinations natural to his time of life, prompted him to refrain from entering actively into the conflict following upon the shot thrown across Charleston bay by the rebel batteries into Fort Sum- ter; but his patriotism was stronger than his love of wealth or of ease, and immediately upon the call for troops to serve for three years or the war, when it became evident that the government was dealing not with a mere local revolt but with a general rebellion, he raised a company and reported for duty at the State capital. Upon being mustered into the service, he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the Ist Regiment New Jersey Volunteers, but during the ensuing year was for the greater portion of the time the command- ing officer, and as such led the regiment in the numerous battles in which it was engaged. In July, 1862, he was promoted to Colonel, and appointed to the command of the I Ith Regiment New Jersey Volunteers, a position he held for more than two years, until appointed Brevet Brigadier- General " for gallant and distinguished services at Boydton Plank Road." He had, however, been acting Brigadier- General for a considerable period previous to his promotion. In October, 1862, as senior officer, he took command of the Ist Brigade of the 2d Division, 3d Corps, to which the 11th New Jersey was attached ; he was temporarily in charge of the 2d Brigade of the 3d Division of the 2d Corps, com- manding it in numerous engagements ; and on the 24th of June, 1864, he was placed in command of the 3d Brigade, 3(1 Division, 2d Corps. He remained in this command until the end of the war, being raised to the brevet rank of Major-General in March, 1865, and mustered out of the ser- vice on the 6th of Junc of the same year. General McAllister's battle record would be a record of almost all the important engagements of the war. From the first Bull Run-through the fights of Gaines' Mill, Charles City Cross Roads, White Oak Swamp, Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, Chancellors-
ville, Gettysburg, Jacob's Ford, Kelley's Ford, Locust Grove, Mine Run, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, the North Anna, Coal Harbor, Petersburg, Deep Bottom, Strawberry Plains, Weldon Railroad, Reams' Station, Boydton Plank Road, Hatcher's Run-General McAllister led his men with that coolness and steadiness of purpose that marked him as one of the most reliable officers in the whole army. and in the final battles before Richmond he manifested the same admirable qualities. His quiet nerve was the prime secret of his success ; his remarkable self-possession under the most trying circumstances invariably enabling him to bring out his command if not victorious at least with credit. Another cause of his efficiency as an officer was the per- sonal attention that he gave to details. He not only issued orders, but he assured himself that his orders were carricd into execution, and this habit of exactness was constantly productive of the most beneficial results ; his subordinate officers were prompt in obedience and his men placed in him a firm reliance. Nor did he confine himself to raising only the standard of discipline in his commands ; a thorough Christian himself, he constantly sought to inculcate morality and a love of religion among the men whom he led so in- trepidly into battle, and the influence that he thus exerted was productive in the most marked manner of good results. As said at the outset, he was a representative American sol- dier ; a private citizen who went out to battle from a high sense of duty ; who fought with the utmost gallantry where- ever fighting was to be done, and who carried the Christian faith of the household into the stormy atmosphere of the camp.
TRYKER, NELSON D. W. T., M. D., late of Monmouth Junction, was born September 11th, 1802. He was the son of John Stryker, Jr., and grandson of John Stryker, Sr., of revolutionary memory, who brought him up, as both his parents died when he was quite young; and before he was fully grown up both his grandparents died. Left thus to himself, he entered a printing office, where he spent some time. This business, however, was not to his taste, and he forsook it for merchandising, being for some years associated in partnership with his only brother, John, in the conduct of a store at Six Mile Run. But as he advanced in man- hood he was attracted toward the medical profession ; com- menced the study of medicine with Dr. Ferdinand S. Schenck, of Six Mile Run; attended lectures in Rutgers Medical College, in New York, and was graduated there- from. Forthwith beginning practice, he settled at what was then known as Long Bridge, now Monmouth Junction, and there continued actively engaged until a short period before his death, which occurred October 20th, 1875. He built up an extensive practice, and won the respect and esteem of all with whom he came in contact as a conscientious and careful practitioner, while his qualities as a man gained him
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a very large circle of devoted friends. A member of the Reformed Church, he was a devoted Christian. He was married three times : first, to Miss Williamson, daughter of George Williamson, of Three Mile Run ; after her death, to Miss Pumyea, her cousin, and daughter of John Pumyea, of the same place; and after her death, to Miss Stout, daughter of John Stout, also of the same neighborhood. Of these marriages only one child, a son, named after his father, born of the third wife, survives.
ECKMAN, CIIARLES A., Brevet Major-General, was born at Easton, Pennsylvania, December 3d, 1822. When war was declared against Mexico he entered the army as First Lieutenant of Com- pany H, Ist Voltigeurs, and was engaged in several of the most important battles fought dur- ing that conflict-National Bridge, Contreras, Cherubusco, Molino del Rey and Chapultepec-and was present at the capture of the City of Mexico. When mustered out of the service at the end of the war, he entered the employment of the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey as con- ductor, and remained in this position until the breaking out of the rebellion. Under the call for troops for three months' service, he raised a company in Easton ; was commissioned Captain, and was assigned with his command to the Ist Pennsylvania Regiment. Under the call for troops to serve for three years or the war, he again volunteered, but this time at Philipsburg, New Jersey. Governor Olden, appre- ciating his military qualities, appointed him Major of the 9th Regiment New Jersey Volunteers, and his subsequent conduct in the field amply justified such selection. His conspicuous gallantry in action gained him rapid promotion, and in but little more than a year he was raised to the rank of Brigadier-General. His bravery amounted almost to rashness; but he held that an officer's duty is not to follow but to lead, and that he was not justified in ordering his men into danger that he himself was not willing to be ex- posed to. Notwithstanding his constant defiance of death, he was never wounded, his only mischance being his cap- ture and imprisonment in 1864. His detention at Rich- mond was not of long duration, and upon his return in May he was placed in command of the 2d Division, 18th Corps, and was engaged at the capture of Fort Harrison, one of the fiercest fights of the war. Having with his own division captured two regiments and four pieces of artillery, he was suddenly, General Ord, his senior officer, having been wounded, placed in command of the entire attacking col- umn, and his able management of the forces at his disposal won for him the warm commendation of General Grant. On the consolidation of the Ioth and 18th Corps, he was placed in command of the Ist Division of the 25th (colored) Corps, and very soon after, General Weitzel being tempo- rarily relieved, became commander of the entire corps.
Perhaps General Heckman's greatest military achievement was the moulding of this corps, greatly disorganized when it reverted to him, into effective form. When General Weitzel returned he appointed General Heckman Chief of Staff, a position held by the latter until the 25th of May, when, the war being virtually at an end, he resigned his commission. In acknowledgment of his gallant conduct and efficient ser- vices, he received, after his retirement to private life, the brevet of Major-General, dating from the capture of Fort Harrison.
AGE, THOMAS, M. D., late of Tuckerton, was born at Cross Roads, Burlington county, New Jersey, June 8th, 1798. He received a liberal education, and inclining toward the medical pro- fession entered upon his studies under the direc- tion of Dr. Joseph Parrish, of Philadelphia. In due course, he matriculated at the -University of Pennsyl- . vania, medical department, from which he was graduated in the spring of 1821. Soon after graduating he became associated in partnership with his father, and together they labored in the performance of the duties appertaining to a large practice extending over a wide and populous district of country, and taxing their powers of endurance to the utmost. This connection existed for about twelve years, when the failing health of the son necessitated its dissolu- tion. He then removed to Tuckerton, in the same county, and engaged in mercantile pursuits in connection with the limited practice of his profession. The latter he continued for several years, but finally confined himself to a consulting practice. A few years before the outbreak of the rebellion he had successfully engaged in the milling and lumber busi- ness in Virginia. When the war began he encountered many vicissitudes and dangers, but finally succeeded in dis- posing of his movable property at an immense sacrifice, and entirely abandoning his real estate, he started for his home in New Jersey, thus losing the results of years of toil. On his way he was unexpectedly detained several weeks at Norfolk, as parole prisoner, during which time his family heard nothing from him; at last, through the influence of some Southern gentlemen, who had formed for him a warm friendship by reason of his upright business habits and gentlemanly, genial manners, he was granted a permit to pass the lines, and reached home safely. He afterward engaged in the drug business at Tuckerton, and continued it until his death, which occurred February 18th, 1876. IIe was a successful physician, and very progressive in. his ten- dencies, adopting in his treatment many years ago methods that only very recently have become general. As a busi- ness man he always bore a character for the highest intcg- rity, and proved a safe counsellor and adviser to his neigh- bors. His ability and personal qualities won the entire confidence of the community, by which he was chosen to represent its interests in the State Legislature for one term.
Galaxy Pub & Placa !"
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lIe was twice married, and left two sons by his first and Precisely this need has long been felt in Trenton, and in two daughters by his second marriage.
OLTON, WILLIAM, Wholesale Grocer, was born in Trenton, New Jersey, April 6th, 1831, his parents being Edward and Mary (McVey) Dol - ton. Educated at one of the leading select schools of his native town, he began his business career, at the age of sixteen years, in a general store owned by his father, conducting the affairs of the estab- lishment with marked success until he attained his majority. In 1858 he established the first wholesale grocery house in Trenton. The building in which he began operations was specially erected for him, and adjoined his present location, upon Warren street. It had a frontage of thirty three feet, and extended to a depth of one hundred and five feet, being at that time the finest edifice of its kind in the city. Here, notwithstanding his situation betwixt the two largest cities of the country, and the consequent rivalry into which he was brought with the great wholesale grocery houses of both, he rapidly built up a profitable and far-extending trade; his close application to business, supplemented by untiring energy and thorough business tact, enabling him to succeed in a venture that, undertaken by a man of less resolute pur- pose, or by one having a less comprehensive grasp of com- mercial theories, would assuredly have failed. With each passing year his business rapidly increased, and during the past decade his annual sales have averaged more than a million of dollars. In 1855 he admitted into his partner- ship his brother-in-law, Jonathan HI. Blackwell, and since that date the style of the firm has been William Dolton & Co. Finding it necessary in 1872 to increase his facilities for business, he erected a new building that is, without ex- ception, the finest ever put up in Trenton for business pur- poses, and it stands to-day as a monument to its founder, who has in all probability done more to advance the com- mercial and other interests of the city than has any one other individual. The building is thirty-nine feet front by one hundred and thirty deep, and has four floors, besides an attic and basement. The portion used by the firm is valued at fifty thousand dollars, and is in every respect admirably adapted to the numerous requirements of the several branches of the business carried on within its walls, a business that extends from the coal regions to the Atlantic ocean. The block adjoining the wholesale department, and containing the post-office, Adams' express office and several mercantile establishments, is valued at one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Always alive to the advancement of the interest of the community for which he has already done so much, he has made a wise provision in the erection of his block by arranging the upper floors in suites for dwellings, thus en- abling families of refined tastes to enjoy comfortable homes, with all modern conveniences, at a small rental.
satisfying it he has not only advanced his own interests but has greatly ministered to the welfare of his fellow-townsmen, 1Ie is the undoubted and acknowledged leader of commer- cial affairs in Trenton, and during his business career, ex. tending over a period of more than twenty-five years, hc has embraced every opportunity to promote the prosperity of the city. Appreciating the advantages to be gained by increased railroad facilities, he was among the first to counsel the building of a new line between Philadelphia and New York by way of Trenton, thus gaining for residents of Trenton greater independence and increased despatch in the receipt and shipment of freights ; and although his proposition was strongly opposed, he, with others, persisted in forcing it upon the public until at last a substantial victory was won in the completion of the Bound Brook line. To him belongs the honor of being one of the original incorporators, as well as that of being one of the first to advise the building of the road. In 1864 he advocated the increase of banking facilities for the city, and to this end was one of the founders of the First National Bank of Trenton, an institution in which he served as Director for several years. This bank has a capital of half a million, and has the entire confidence of the business com- munity. In various ways beside this banking enterprise his judgment and business insight have been utilized in the furtherance of commercial and monetary projects. In 1872 he was elected and still is President of the Standard Fire Insurance Company, of Trenton, an organization having a capital of three hundred and twenty thousand dollars ; he is a Director of the Merchants' Transportation Company, an asso- ciation running a line of steam-propellers between New York, Trenton and Philadelphia; and to his energy was mainly due the organization of the Trenton Board of Trade, of which body he is President. His remarkable success as a merchant and financier must be attributed to his clear un- derstanding of commercial affairs ; to his power of working out details as well as determining general principles, and, above all, to his life-long habits of industry; having tliese qualities, he has been enabled to carry his business safely through the several financial panics that have swept over the country since his business career began; and it is due to them that he is now, in the prime of his life, a representa- tive successful American merchant. He was marricd, June 19th, 1860, to Elizabeth W. Blackwell, of Hopewell, New Jersey.
HORNTON, SAMUEL CARY, M. D., late of Moorestown, was born at Buckingham, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1791, being the son of Joseph and Mary Thornton, respected resi- dents of that place. After a preliminary training he became a pupil in the Doylestown Academy, where he studied assiduously and took a good position. Medicine presenting itself to his mind as the profession
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most consonant with his tastes and sympathies, he began to read the text-books under the direction of Dr. Wilson, of Buckingham. He entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, and at the conclusion of a full course was graduated from that time-honored institution in the spring of 1816. Directly after graduation he settled in Moorestown, Burlington county, New Jersey, and opened an office for the practice of his profession. In this place he remained until his death, a period of forty-two years, en- gagcd uninterruptedly in professional duties. By his skill and attention as a physician, and his estimable qualities as a man and a citizen, he endeared himself to a very wide circle. His death occurred March 19th, 1858.
ILTS, ISAIAH N., Lawyer, of Somerville, was born at Schooley's Mountain, Morris county, New Jersey, August 3d, 1824, and is the son of Daniel Dilts, a highly respected farmer of that neighbor- hood. After attending the public schools of his native place, where he manifested an aptness for acquiring knowledge, he fitted for college at Morristown, and then entered the sophomore class in Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1841. From this institution he was graduated in 1844, taking the highest honors of his class. Shortly after graduation, having chosen the profes- sion of the law for his life career, lie began reading tliere- for with the late Senator Jacob W. Miller and ex-Chief Justice Whelpley, then law partners at Morristown. With these eminent lawyers he continued a student until his ad- mission to the bar in 1847. During the same year he com- menced the practice of law in Morristown. Three years later, in 1850, he received his counsellor's license, and hav- ing pursued his profession in the town for six years, he, in 1853, removed to Somerville, where he has since resided. He holds several professional appointments, being Supreme Court Commissioner, United States Commissioner, and Special Master in Chancery. His practice is a general one, and takes him into all the State and Federal courts. A lawyer of sound and extensive learning, he is held in high estimation by his professional brethren and much consulted by them. He is also a gentleman of fine literary taste and culture, not only retaining but cultivating the knowledge of the classical and foreign languages acquired in college days, and keeping thoroughly abreast of the literature and thought of the age. Of a quiet, scholarly disposition and bearing, the first impression conveyed to a stranger by his appearance would be that he was a college professor. His literary writings have been numerous, consisting largely of contri- butions to various periodicals and magazines. He is also an eloquent and impressive speaker. Previous to the organization of the Liberal party he affiliated with the Republicans, but when that event occurred, and Horace Greeley was nominated as its standard- bearer in the Presi-
dential campaign of 1872, he entered warmly into the move- ment, as did so many of the truest and most consistent Re- publicans, who regarded that candidate as the ideal of political integrity and worth. To the canvass he lent his best energies, and while success did not crown the move- ment, he, with his associates, feels proud of the course he then pursued. He was a delegate to the Republican Na- tional Convention at Cincinnati in 1876, and supported Hayes and Wheeler for President and Vice-President. Al- though he is deeply interested in political affairs, enters into a campaign with great earnestness, and by his eloquent and effective speaking wields a powerful influence, he has in- variably declined office or nomination for office. He was married, April 23d, 1856, to Ellen, youngest daughter of the late Judge Vandeveer, and sister of Mrs. W. L. Dayton. She died in 1875.
ERRENCE, HERREN A., M. D., of New Hamp- ton Junction, was born in Cork, Ireland, August 28th, 1848. He is descended from a brother of Brian Boru, the most celebrated of the native Irish kings. Several of his ancestors were officers in the revolutionary wars of Ireland, always on the side of Irish liberty. Both his great-grandfathers were executed for having taken up arms against the British in 1798. A great-uncle of his, a clergyman, studied at the famous University of Louvain, where, on the occasion of a visit by the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, he so won the regard of that functionary by the fluency with which he conversed in the different languages that his excellency, on taking leave, not only complimented the youth in warm terms, but promised him his services, if needed, in the future. A sad occasion for them arose not many years after, when the father of the gifted young man, then in orders, was condemned to death for disloyalty to the British crown. Repairing to the Lord-Lieutenant, who, to do him justice, proved as good as his word, the son flew with a reprieve to the castle in which his father was confined, but, alas, too late! the authorities, hearing of his success with the Lord-Lieutenant, and thirsting for blood, having had the unhappy victim led forth to execution before the coming reprieve could reach them. The father of the subject of this sketch was an Irish gentleman and landholder. His mother was a sister of the vicar-general of the diocese of Cloyne. He received a classical education, and prepared for the church, under the tutorship of D. Reardon, LL.D., in Cork. He, however, relinquished the church in favor of the medical profession, but before he finished his studies became involved in the Irish revolutionary move- ment of 1864 and 1865; was arrested, with a number of others, imprisoned, tried and condemned to exile for a period of five years. Choosing this country as his land of exile, he came to the city of New York, travelled extensively through the country, and finished his medical studies, so
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that by the expiration of his term of exile in 1873, he was able to return to Ireland, as he did, with hardly a chasm in his professional course, which he at once renewed in its higher branches at Paris, London and Dublin, graduating finally at the Royal College of Surgeons in the latter city. Receiving a license to practise in the three kingdoms, he became in 1874 clinical assistant to Sir William Wilds, in St. Mark's Hospital, Dublin, from whom he bears testi- monials, as well as from Drs. Kid, Ruyland, Churchill, and the other leading medical professors in the various institu- tions wherein he was student or assistant. During his stay in his native land at this time, his political friends, mindful of his devotion to the Green Isle, nominated him for the office of coroner for the district including the city of Cork, one of the most important and lucrative elective offices in the county, but such was his antipathy to British rule that he declined to recognize it by holding office or standing for office under it. He was offered a surgeon's commission in the army of Don Carlos, but was prevented, by the opposi- tion of friends, from accepting it. In 1875 he returned to the United States and established himself in his profession at New Hampton Junetion, New Jersey, where he has al- ready built up a large and remunerative practice, extending from Somerville to Easton. He has performed a number of operations that have attracted much public attention, notably one recorded in the Catholic Citizen of September 4th, 1875, performed on the arm of a lady of New York city, which resulted in bringing about a cure after medical skill had long been baffled. For so young a man his career has been noteworthy, and promises, if he lives, to lead up to one of great usefulness and distinction. IIe indeed is still but a youngster, having measured scarcely half of the sunny side of his prime.
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