The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 49

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

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late of Bellevue, New York, who filled the chair of surgery, and Professor Webster, the well-known anatomist. Settling himself at Sidney Plains, Delaware county, New York, he was actively and successfully engaged in his profession there for five years, when he removed to Norwich, the county-seat of Chenango, where he acquired an extensive practice, which he was pursuing at the outbreak of the rebellion, in 1861. In this emergency he promptly ten- dered his services to the government, and was assigned to duty as Assistant Surgeon of the 89th Regiment New York Volunteers, raised under the auspices of the IIon. Daniel S. Dickerson, though he was soon promoted to a full Sur- geoncy and put in charge of the 103d New York Regiment, with which he did active and efficient service. On May 31, 1863, while on duty with the regiment, then stationed it Suffolk, Virginia, he was very severely and almost fatally wounded, the ball entering just below the heart and coming out at the spinal column, between the hips. In the follow- ing autumn, believing himself totally unfitted for further service, he resigned his commission and returned home ; but in January, 1864, having sufficiently recovered, he again took the field, and was appointed Surgeon of the 47th New York Regiment, then stationed at Hilton Head. Here he remained only a short time, when he was ordered to Jack- sonville, Florida, to assume charge of the hospital there, which he soon reorganized and put in effective order. This was just previous to the battle of Olustee, in which the Union troops were fearfully slaughtered, and 1,500 of the wounded came under his immediate care at Jacksonville. He continued on duty at this place until July, 1864, when he came up to the Savannah river, and was ordered to superintend, on behalf of the government, the exchange of prisoners held in that vicinity. In this line of duty he was engaged at various places, having meanwhile charge of the General Prison Hospital at Newport News until his ap- pointment as Health Officer for Norfolk, Virginia, in which capacity he rendered valuable service till September, 1865, when, the war being over, he was ordered to his regiment, . to be mustered out of service with his comrades. Returning with a shattered constitution from the field in which he had served his country so faithfully and heroically, he took up his residence in Newark, New Jersey, intending, on account of his health, to engage in an office practice only; but, in spite of himself, he was soon called into active professional duty, on the full tide of which he is now fairly launched, ranking, by common consent, among the leading practi- tioners of that city. He is a member of the New Jersey Academy of Medicine, as also of the Essex County Medical Union, and during his term of practice in his native county in New York he was honored with the Presidency of the medical society of the county. He is a staunch Republican in politics, with the practical side of which he has not been wholly unconnected, having been chosen in 1868 to repre-

MITH, WILLIAM A., M. D., of Newark, was born, March 30th, 1820, in Guilford, Chenango county, New York. His parents were natives of Connecticut, and removed to Chenango county in 1804, when it was a wilderness. His father, Samuel A. Smith, was a farmer, although at various times he filled positions of honor and trust, having been for several terms Sheriff of Chenango county, and having also represented the county in the Legislature. He died at Guilford, in the eighty fourth year of his age. The mother was Wealthy Phelps, of Colebrook, Connecticut. After a thorough preparatory course in the academy of his native town, the son entered Geneva College, where he finished his literary education, and in the spring of 1847 graduated from the medical department of the same institu- tion, at that period one of the best medical schools in the | sent the Eighth Ward in the City Council, revolutionizing

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at the same time the politics of the ward, which previously had always chosen a Democratic councilman. In 1875 he was again chosen to fill the same position, which he now holds. He was married, August 30th, 1847, to Elizabeth Wade, of Guilford, New York, who is still living. Two children are the fruits of the union.

RUBB, GENERAL E. BURD, Soldier and Iron- Master, of Beverly, was born, Novemher 13th, 1841, in the city of Burlington, and is the son of the late Edward Burd and Euphemia B. (Parker) Grubh. His father was a native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, an extensive miner of iron ores and manufacturer of pig-iron, who died, August 27th, 1867, at Burlington, where he had passed many years of his life; and his mother was also a Pennsyl- vanian by birth, the daughter of Isaac B. Parker, of Carlisle. General Gruhb received his preliminary education in the grammar school of his native city, which he entered in 1851, where he remained several years, and then matricu- lated in the college, from which he graduated with the first honor in 1860. In April, 1861, the great rebellion broke out, and after the three months' men had been mustered into service, President Lincoln, on May 3d, 1861, called for three years' men, or during the war, of which New Jersey was to furnish three regiments. During the same month General Grubb entered the service as Second Licutenant of Company C, 3d Regiment, and went into camp at Camp Olden, near Trenton. On June 28th, 1861, the three regi- ments left Trenton, and reported to General Scott, at Washington, the next day. In the following month of July the 3d Regiment formed one of the reserve regiments which moved forward with the army to participate in the battle of (first) Bull Run; and on July 17th its colonel, George W. Taylor, was ordered to march to a point on the Orange & Alexandria Railroad, which was being repaired. On the 2Ist of the same month, in conjunction with other regi- ments, the 3d was forwarded to Centreville, in obedience to orders from General McDowell. By this time, however, the battle of Bull Run had been fought and lost, and no further advance of the 3d was necessary than to Fairfax, which they had reached. Shortly after, the 4th New Jersey Regiment was added to the other three regiments, and the whole force, constituting the First Brigade, was placed under the command of Brigadier-General Philip Kearny, who lost no time in thoroughly drilling and moulding his command, bringing it forward as few others in the army at that time had done, and made it renowned for its most perfect discipline and suited to all the requirements of the service. On August 29th the 3d Regiment, while recon- noitring near Cloud's Mills, fell into an ambuscade of the encmy's pickets, and lost two men. During the fall and winter months the brigade was mainly occupied in drill and |Slocum's head-quarters for orders. The road which he was

ordinary camp duties, General McClellan, the Commander- in-Chief, being ever preparing to move, but ever halting. He had succeeded in inducing President Lincoln to sus- pend the order for an advance on or before February 22d, 1862, and to change all his plans for taking Richmond. Meanwhile General Kearny, who had heen ordered, March 7th, to advance to Burke's Station, on the Orange & Alex- andria Railroad, for the purpose of guarding the laborers, discovered that the enemy were about to evacuate Manasses; and without orders he took the initiative, and on the 9th, after a skirmish with the enemy, entered the abandoned works of the enemy at Manasses, the 3d Regiment being the first to take possession and hoist the regimental flag, and an immense amount of stores was captured, besides a num- ber of rebel cavalry. About this time Licutenant Grubb had been promoted to a First Licutenancy and assigned to Company D, of the same regiment. Early in April the brigade was attached to the First Division of the First Army Corps, and moved to a point on the Orange & Alexandria Railroad, to engage the attention of the enemy while Mc- Clellan transferred the main body of his army, hy transports, to the peninsula. It subsequently returned to Alexandria, and embarked, April 17th, for the mouth of York river, the new place of rendezvous. At this time, General Kearny having been assigned to the command of a division, Colonel Taylor, of the 3d Regiment, was placed in command of the brigade. Lieutenant Grubb was assigned to duty on Colonel Taylor's staff, where he remained until the death of th-t officer. On May 4th the rebels evacuated Yorktown, and the next day the New Jersey brigade were advanced to meet the rebels, and successfully held them in check, and on the 15th joined Mcclellan's army, near the White House, and thence advanced to the Chickahominy. During the battles of Hanover Court House, Fair Oaks and Gaines' Mills they were engaged in picket duty, hut on Junc 27th, the day the battle of Gaines' Mills was fought, they arrived in time to take part and greatly relieve the Union forces, which had been sorely pressed by the enemy; succeeding in successfully repulsing three repeated charges of the rebels. Nevertheless, the day was lost, and the New Jersey brigade, which numhered 2,800 men when they went into the fight, had left but 965 to answer the roll-call. The remnant of the brigade was withdrawn to the woods, where, after a brief rest, it was marched towards Savage Station and Harrison's Landing, pausing to share in the battle of Malvern Hill. After passing through White Oak swamp and across White Oak creek the command had halted for dinner, when the rebels advanced from out the woods, and with six pieces of artillery commenced a galling fire. The position of the Jersey troops was at this time a perilous one, being directly between the fire of the rebels and the main body of our forces. The Jerseymen were quickly formed into line of battle, and General Taylor im- mediately sent Lieutenant Grubb up the road to General

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compelled to take was directly in the range of the rebel | manœuvres gained an important position, but being unsup- batteries, and the ride was consequently a most perilous ported was compelled to withdraw. After the termination of the conflict the brigade covered the falling back of the Union forces, being the last to leave the field on the left of the lines. Colonel Torbert, in his official report, states that " Major Grubb of the 23d deserves great credit for the manner in which he fought a part of his regiment." Another authority says that " it was due to him that the right of the regiment, when thrown into confusion by the terrible fire to which it was subjected, was rallied and led into the thickest of the combat at Fredericksburg." After remaining in winter quarters for four months, partially re- cruiting their strength, the command was engaged in the battle of Chancellorsville. And here the same writer, speak- ing of Colonel Grubb, states that " always at the head of his regiment, mounted until his horse was shot from under him, then on foot, still animating the men and leading them on-himself the farthest in the front and the last to leave the field-seeming to bear a charmed life, he moved from point to point, calm and cool, the men nerved to daring by his example, until further exertion no longer availed." The 23d Regiment was one of the last to leave the field after the main forces had withdrawn. Afterwards the regiment went into camp at White Oak Church, and as the time for which they had enlisted was about drawing to a close, and they were in hourly expectation of receiving orders to march to Washington, they received orders to again cross the Rappa- hannock. A mutiny had almost broken out in the regiment, when Colonel Grubb addressed them, at evening parade, so forcibly that they reconsidered their action, and said they would go. The following day, June 4th, 1863, they marclied and reached the river, which, having crossed, in the course of a single night they threw up a breastwork in front of the city and heights of Fredericksburg, upon which the enemy opened fire, but without inflicting any loss. Each day the works were strengthened, and finally orders were received to march for home. Having reached Beverly, New Jersey, a short delay ensued before the men could finally be mus- tered out. Late in June, however, Lee advanced into Pennsylvania, and Harrisburg was threatened. When Gov- ernor Parker's proclamation was issued, less than half of the 23d Regiment was in camp. Colonel Grubb, after assembling the men, asked all who would follow him to the assistance of a sister State to step forward, when the entire force volunteered. The regiment was received with hearty cheers in Philadelphia, but after reaching Harrisburg, whither they had been carried by rail, they found no ex- citement there; moreover, were very coolly received-and they the first regimental organization to reach the city. They were at once set to throw up rifle pits on the banks of the Susquehanna, and from the Colonel down they worked with a will; but before the labor was completed they were recalled to Beverly, and on June 27th wcre dis- banded. Colonel Grubb was the most popular officer of the regiment; while being a strict disciplinarian, he still man- one; but he dashed on, reaching his destination safely. Not finding General Slocum, he was compelled to return ; but orders being imperatively necessary, he was again obliged to repeat his ride through that rain of shot and shell. With death staring him in the face at every bound of his horse, the gallant aide again went back, and this time suc- ceeded in getting orders. The battle was an artillery one, the fire passing over the Jersey troops, who lay flat on their faces. After reaching Harrison's Landing, July Ist, Gcn- eral McClellan was ordered, on July 3d, to withdraw his forces to Acquia creek, but he did not obey the order for a week ; and General Lee, of the rebels, taking advantage of the delay, pressed the Union forces heavily. The Jersey brigade did not embark from the peninsula until July 20th, and landed at Alexandria on the 24th, marching to Cloud's Mills, where it remained until the 26th. The next day it went by rail to Bull Run bridge and encountercd the cncmy; and General Taylor, without either cavalry or artillery to support him, had to bear the brunt of the battle, and that, too, under a scorching, torrid sun. He was, however, only obeying orders transmitted to him, and he was as far as possible nobly sustained by his men ; but the day was again lost by the Union forces, and here General Taylor was wounded and eventually died. Speaking of the valor dis- played by the Jersey troops, Stonewall Jackson said he had rarely seen a body of men who stood up so gallantly in the face of overwhelming odds as General Taylor's command. After the battle in which General Kearny was killed and Jackson repulsed, General Pope withdrew the army to their entrenchments on the south bank of the Potomac, the First Brigade resuming its old position at Camp Seminary. Here Colonel Torbert succeeded General Taylor, and Lieutenant Grubb, who had escaped all dangers, though continually exposed, was assigned to a position on his staff, having pre- viously refused a promotion as Captain of Company B. Sub- sequently, in the operations against the enemy, Torbert's Jersey brigade covered themselves with glory in the great charge at Crampton's Pass of the South Mountain, Mary- land, where they annihilated Cobb's Legion and drove the rebels from their defences, capturing the position, Septcm- ber 14th, 1862. The enemy lost 15,000 men, and Lee re- crossed the Potomac, leaving his dead on the field. The First Brigade remained in Maryland until October 2d, and then returned into Virginia, where it was inactive until ordered to take part in the movement against Fredericks- burg. The 15th and 23d Regiments were now added to the other regiments composing the First Brigade, and on November 24th, 1862, Lieutenant Grubb was promoted to Major of the latter regiment, to fill a vacancy, and on the 26th of the following month was again promoted to the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the same. Meanwhile, on the 12th of December, the brigade crossed the river to take part in the battle of Fredericksburg, and after various

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aged to so ingratiate himself in the affections of his com- mand that duty soon became with all a work of love, and he never asked his men to face any dangers which he was unwilling to share. In July, 1863, he was commissioned by the Governor to take command of the camp at Beverly, where he recruited and sent to the front the 34th Regiment. By Governor Parker's request he raised, and once more re- turned to active service with, the 37th Regiment ; this was to be for one hundred days, but they were in the field for a longer period. They left Trenton, June 28th, 1864, and after reaching City Point, where they reported to General Grant, were ordered by him to report to General Butler, at Ber- muda Hundred. Landing at the Point of Rocks, July Ist, they were assigned to various duties, including picket and garrison duties. On August 28th they marched to the extreme front of Petersburg, where they did duty in the trenches until their term of service had nearly expired, and on September 25th they were highly complimented in gen- eral orders, by Major-General Birney, as being unexcep- tionably a superior regiment of " hundred days men." On March 5th, 1865, Colonel Grubb was made Brevet Brigadier- General of Volunteers, for meritorious service before Peters- burg. On his return to civil life he settled down in his native city of Burlington, where he resided until about 1873. He became a member of the Common Council, and was President of that body for two years. He also was chosen a Trustee of St. Mary's Hall, and also of Burlington College. By his prudent management, aided by R. S. Con- over, of Princeton, the last-named institution is in a flourish- ing condition. On the death of his father, in 1867, General Grubb was called upon to assume the charge of immense iron interests in Pennsylvania, which his father had for- merly controlled. Among these are some of the most im- portant pig-iron furnaces in Dauphin, Lancaster and Leba. non counties. Among his numerous interests are the famous Cornwall ore banks of Lancaster county, which at one time were owned by the family exclusively ; a portion of these, however, they disposed of: their title to these lands was received direct from William Penn. He has travelled ex- tensively through the old world, and his wife was the first white woman who passed through the entire length of the Suez canal, the trip being made in company with her hus- band on Baron Lesseps' steam yacht, he having letters of introduction to that celebrated engineer. On his return to the United States, General Grubb wrote an account of his voyage, which was published in Lippincott's Magazine, and extensively copied. Socially, he holds a high position, and is a member of the Philadelphia Club, the Reform Club, the New York Yacht Club, and has taken two of the Ben- nett prize cups. He has ever been an active member of the Republican party, and takes great interest in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the community among whom his lot is cast. Some three years since he removed to Beverly, where he resides in a most delightfully situated country-seat, with a park of twelve acres, handsomely laid

out and fronting the river. He was married, in 1868, to Elizabeth Wadsworth, daughter of Rev. Courtlandt Van Rensselaer, an eminent Presbyterian clergyman, of Albany, New York.

MLEY, HON. OLIVER HAZARD PERRY, President of the Mount Holly National Bank, was born, May 23d, 1814, in New Hanover township, Burlington county, New Jersey, and is a son of the late Hon. John and Beulah (Warren) Emley, both of whom were also natives of the same State. His father was a member of the lower house of the Legislature from 1831 to 1840, and during his last two years of service in that body was elected Speaker of the same. Ile died in 1855, on the old home- stead, which has now been in the possession of the family for two hundred years; and during that entire time has never been conveyed in any other way than by the last will and testament of the then owner. Oliver received his edu- cation at the district school of his native township, attending the same until fifteen years old, and subsequently assisted his father on the farm; indeed, he has been constantly de- voted all his life to agricultural pursuits. His political creed was first that of the Whig school; and after the dis- integration of that organization he affiliated with the na- tional Republicans. He has always taken an active part in political matters, but never sought office. I11 1848, how- ever, he was appointed, by the Legislature, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Burlington County, which position he held for five years. He was also selected by Chancellor William Pennington a Master in Chancery, and has also had the settlement of many estates. Ile had filled the post of Director of the Mount Holly Bank for some ten years prior to his election as President, in March, 1875, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Thomas D. Armstrong. He is also a Director of the Mercer County Insurance Company. He was married, in 1851, to Achsah Swaim, of New Jersey.

OFFMAN, JAMES P., Merchant, of Clinton, was born, December 11th, 1811, in Lebanon, Hunter- don county, New Jersey. After attending the common schools for the usual time he began the business of life at the age of fifteen, as a clerk for Oscar Pillette, in Allamuchy, Warren county, from which he removed with his employer to Basking Ridge, Somerset county, where he served him in the same capacity. In 1830 he went to Clinton, entering the establishment of Bray & Taylor, extensively engaged in the grain and gen- eral mercantile trade at that place. Having graduated, so to speak, in his chosen line of business, he organized, in 1839, the firm of J. P. Hoffman & Co., at the head of which

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he embarked at Clinton in the general country-store busi- ness, which he has conducted ever since, remaining chief through all the numerous changes of the junior partners, and making the firm one of the most prosperous and substantial of the kind, as it is the oldest, in Hunterdon county. Hc is a sagacious, energetic, thorough-going business man, noted for his honesty not less than his enterprise, and is held, it scarcely need be added, in high esteem by the community. He has been twice married; the first time to Miss Syler, daughter of the late Peter Syler, who died several years ago; and subsequently to Miss King, daughter of the late William King, of Pittstown, New Jersey. His eldest son is at[present associated with him in business.

BOORIIEES, NATHANIEL W., was born at Mine Brook, Somerset county, New Jersey, June 29th, 1829. He entered Rutgers College in 1844, graduating with credit in 1847. Having read law in the office of the Hon. Richard S. Field, of Princeton, he was admitted to the bar in 1852. Instead, however, of entering upon the practice of his pro- fession, he accepted a position in the Princeton Bank, of which Mr. Field was at that time president. In 1856 a banking company was organized at Clinton, New Jersey, and in this he was offered the position of cashier. Accept- ing the office he identified his own with the fortunes of the institution, and under his efficient management its financial success was of the most satisfactory character. In 1875, when the First National Bank of Clinton was founded, he was elected to the cashiership, a position that he still re- tains. Mr. Voorhees, belonging to a family that for many years has been prominent in the public affairs of New Jer- sey, early gave a considerable portion of his attention to politics, and had he bcen so minded he could on several occasions have received high offices in the State govern- ment. In 1860 he was a delegate to the National Repub- lican Convention at Chicago, and in the convention-as well as during the subsequent civil war-was an earnest sup- porter of Mr. Lincoln. In 1862 he was elected a member of the State Republican Executive Committee, a position that he held for several successive years. In 1873, a va- cancy occurring on the bench of the Court of Common Pleas of Hunterdon county, he was appointed Judge for the unex- pired portion of the term, filling the position so satisfactorily that he was offered the appointment for the succeeding full term ; this, however, he declined. In 1874 he was urged by his personal and political friends to permit his name to be pre- sented as a candidate for the State Treasurership, a position for which he was especially fitted by the natural bent of his mind and by his extended training as a financier; but the nomination was lost to him by a single vote, and was gained by the then incumbent, the Hon. Josephus Sooy. In 1875 Mr. Voorhces was, without his knowledge, named as a can-

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The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 49

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