The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 5

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

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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

Albany, an act was passed not only forbidding in future imprisonment for debt, where a soldier of the Revolution was concerned, but making this law retroactive, and Colonel Ogden was accordingly discharged. A similar law was also enacted by New Jersey. In his declining years he was provided for by being appointed Collector of Cus- toms at Jersey City, an act of Congress being passed creat- ing that city a port of entry ; he held this position until his death, having received his commission from President Jackson, whom he had supported in preference to Adams, whom he regarded as a renegade from the old Federal party, with which he had for so long a period been con- nected. He was one of the original members of the So- ciety of the Cincinnati, of New Jersey, which was formed at Elizabethtown in June, 1783, and became President of this State society in 1824, being the immediate successor of General Bloomfield. In 1825 he was chosen Vice- President of the general society, and was elected President- General in 1829. He was elected a Trustee of Princeton College in 1803, and was ex officio President of the Board during his term as Governor of the State; in 1817 he was again clected a Trustee, holding the position during life. In 1816 his Alma Mater conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. He was married, October, 1787, to Elizabeth, daughter of John Chetwood ; she died in 1825. He survived her fourteen years, and died in Jersey City, April 19th, 1839, at the advanced age of eighty- three years.

ATERSON, HON. WILLIAM, Lawyer, Jurist and Statesman, was born, circe 1745, in the north of Ireland, and when but two years of age came to America. They first located at Trenton, next at Princeton, and finally settled at Raritan, now Somerville, where his father died in 1781. Wil- liam entered the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, and graduated in 1763. He then studied law with Richard Stockton, one of the signers of the Declaration, and was licensed as an attorney-at-law in 1769. He opened his office at Bromley, in Hunterdon county, but afterwards removed to Princeton, where he became associated with his father and brother in mercantile business. In 1775 he was a delegate in the Provincial Congress, and was Secretary of the same at both its sessions. He was also a member of the Congress which met at Burlington in 1776, of which he was likewise Secretary. When the State government was organized, during the same year, he was made Attorney- General, and his position was a difficult one, as he was obliged to attend courts in different counties, liable at any time to be captured hy the British army, which had then invaded the State; he was also at the same time a member of the Legislative Council. In 1780, while still occupied with his duties as Attorney-General, he was named a delegate to the Continental Congress ; but he declined the

appointment, inasmuch as he could not faithfully discharge the duties of both stations. When peace was declared, in 1783, he resumed his practice as an attorney, removing his office and residence to New Brunswick. He was named as one of the menibers of the Convention which met in Phila- delphia in 1787 to frame the Federal Constitution. There were two plans presented to that body, one hy Edmond Randolph, of Virginia, and the other by William Paterson, the former being favored by the larger and the latter by the smaller States. The result was a compromise by which a general government was formed, partly federal and partly national. After the Constitution of the United States was ratified, William Paterson and Jonathan Elmer were elected by the Legislature of New Jersey Senators of the United States. The former retained his seat but a single year, for in 1790, on the death of Governor Livingston, he was chosen as his successor by the Legislature, and his adminis- tration was so successful that at the end of his term he was re-elected without much opposition. In 1792 a law was enacted authorizing him to codify all the statutes of Great Britain which prior to the Revolution were in force in the colony of New Jersey; together with those passed by the Legislature of the Province both before and after the sepa- ration from the mother country, so that the work when completed should be presented to the Legislature for re- enactment, should they deem it proper so to do. This work was entered upon by him, and occupied his leisure time and attention for six years ; but it was deemed more convenient for the Legislature to act upon the statutes thus prepared as they emanated seriatim from his revision, than to review the whole during a single session. While he was thus engaged, he was nominated in 1793 by President Washington an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, an office which he held until his death. He was engaged in the revision of the laws for six years, as stated above, and received for his services the meagre sum of $2,500. The volume thus produced has been long acknowledged to be the most perfect system of statute law produced in any State of the Union. He also greatly im- proved the practice of the Court of Chancery. During his occupancy of the position of Judge of the Supreme Court many important cases were tried, among them the trials for treason of the persons implicated in the famous " whiskey insurrection " in western Pennsylvania; and also that of Lyon, tried for a violation of the sedition law. His last official act was to preside in the Circuit Court of the United States, at New York, in April, 1806, on the trials of Ogden and Smith for violation of the neutrality laws in ' aiding Miranda to revolutionize some of the South Ameri- can States. As he did not agree with the Associate Judge (Talmadge) he left the bench, and the latter proceedcd with the trial alone. From this time his health began visibly to decline, and he withdrew from all active official duties. He was an able statesman, an upright judge and a disin- terested friend of his country. His religious creed was

Pamted and Engraved by A. B. Durand.

AARON OGDEN

Bawn Leden

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.

that of the Presbyterian church ; and he was a Trustee of their college at Princeton from 1787 to 1802. He was twice married; he left two children, a son and daughter of his first wife, to whom he was united in 1779; his second wife, whom he married in New Brunswick, left no issue. He died at his daughter's residence, September 9th, 1806, in the sixty-second year of his age. His name is perpetuated by the thriving manufacturing city near the falls of the Passaic river.

OOK, GEORGE H., PH.D., LL.D., Vice Presi- dent of Rutgers College, Professor of Chemistry, Natural History and Agriculture in that institu- tion, and State Geologist of New Jersey, was born in Hanover, Morris county, New Jersey, January 5th, 1818. His parents were John and Sallie (Munn) Cook. Obtaining his early education at select schools near home, he subsequently became a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, at Troy, New York, en- tering in the year 1836 and leaving it in 1838. For a short time thereafter he followed actively the profession of civil engineering, being engaged first along the line of the Morris & Essex Railroad, and then with Ephraim Beach, who was the chief engineer of the Catskill & Canajoharie Railroad an enterprise that never reached completion. In the spring of 1840 he received the appointment of Assistant Professor of Engineering at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. ITis labors in this position met with appreciation in his appoint- ment, in 1842, to the Senior Professorship, and this position he filled with much acceptability. In 1848 he entered the Albany Academy as Professor of Mathematics and Mental Philosophy, occupying the chair until 1851, when his valu- able services as an educator led to his selection as Principal of the academy. For two years he retained this post, adding by his able administration to the high reputation enjoyed by the institution, and then accepted a call to Rutgers College as Professor of Chemistry and Natural History, a chair for which he was exceptionally qualified and which he has filled with great advantage to the college. In 1864 he was appointed Vice-President of the college, and this position he occupies at the present time. His attainments as a geolo- gist secured for him the charge of the southern division of New Jersey as Assistant State Geologist, which he held from 1854 until the survey was suspended, in 1856. Some years later, in 1868, he was called upon, by vote of the Legislature, to assume the duties of State Geologist, and he has continued to discharge them until now. In 1864 the Legislature established the State Agricultural College in Rutgers Scientifie School, and the science of agriculture was then added to the subjects taught from his chair. He has through life been very active in all educational move- ments, and enjoys a very high reputation not only in the State but beyond its borders, as an educator and scientist. IIe is an acknowledged authority in gcology, and his geo-

logical reports, presented to the Legislature, take rank among the ablest of the State papers. He was married, March 26th, 1846, to Mary H. Thomas, a native of New York State.

HERRERD, JOHN MAXWELL, Lawyer, late of Belvidere, was born at Mansfield, now in the county of Warren, but then a portion of old Sussex, New Jersey, September 6th, 1794. He was the son of Samuel Sherrerd and Ann Max- well, his wife, and grandson of John Sherrerd, who emigrated to this country from the city of London in the early part of the last century. He settled at the old homestead, about one and a half miles from Washington, on the line of the Morris & Essex Railroad, where he built a mill and carried on milling, store-keeping and farming, during his life. He was succeeded in his business by his son, who reared a large family, eight daughters and two sons, all but one of whom were, at his death, married and settled within thirty miles of his home. John was the eldest son, and his education was carefully looked after by his mother, who was a woman of strong mind and consider- able culture. He prepared for college at Baskingridge, under the care of Dr. Finley, and graduated at the College of New Jersey in 1812, and soon after commenced the study of law in the office of his uncle, Hon. George Maxwell, who, dying during his studentship, appointed him the guardian of his children. On the death of his uncle, he entered the office of Hon. Charles Ewing, afterwards the Chief-Justice of the State, at Trenton, where he was a fellow- student with Hon. Garret D. Wall. He was admitted to the bar as an attorney in November, 1816, and as a coun- sellor in February, 1831. Immediately on his admission as an attorney, he commenced the practice of law at Fleming- ton, New Jersey, in connection with another uncle, William Maxwell, Esq., and in 1818 he returned to his old home at Mansfield, and practised principally in the old county of Sussex. In 1825 the new county of Warren was erccted out of a portion of Sussex, and he, having been appointed the first Surrogate of the new county, removed to Belvidere, the county-scat, in 1826. After this time he constantly re- sided there, and was ever fully identified with the prosperity of the place. During not less than forty years he was the leader of the bar in the northern part of the State, and con- tinued in active practice until the time of his death. In his earlier days he was an earnest advocate, exceedingly sharp and somewhat testy in his manner of conducting causes, and especially in cross-examination of unwilling witnesses, but during the latter portion of his life he shunned as much as possible adverse litigation and the excitement of the court-room ; and as he possessed a remarkable fa- cility of reproducing in writing the exact words of a witness, he was much employed in the business of Master in Chancery, where this faculty came in play. Being descended from

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.

decidedly Presbyterian stock, he early in life connected | the practice of his profession at Scranton, Pennsylvania, in himself with that branch of the church, and while still a law 1852. He was cut off suddenly and was taken away from a sphere of great usefulness and distinction. He left two daughters, both of them now well married. student at Trenton, was sent to Philadelphia as one of a committee from the First Presbyterian Church to examine into the working of the Sunday-school system then just es- tablished there. The result of that visit was the organiza- tion of a school in connection with the church at Trenton, which is supposed to have been the first one organized in HERRERD, HON. SAMUEL, Lawyer and Judge, of Belvidere, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania, April 25th, 1819. His father was John M. Sherrerd, whose biographical sketch appears above, while his mother, Sarah Brown, came from an old Philadelphia family of Friends, after whom Brown street in that city is named. He prepared for a col- legiate course at Belvidere and at the Rensselaer Institute, of Troy, New York. He entered the Junior class at Prince- ton College in 1836, and graduated with the class of 1838. Among his classmates were Dr. Hornblower, the late Oliver S. Halstead, and General Branch, afterward of the Confed- erate army. Determining to adopt his father's profession, he began his legal studies with him at Belvidere in 1840. After remaining with his father some time, he passed to the law office of Judge H. D. Maxwell, of Easton, and was ad- mitted to the bar in that city in 1842. For a while he prac- tised law at Easton, and then removed South, where he en- gaged in the iron business. Associated with him in this en- terprise were Judge Maxwell and I. I. Albright. Their establishment was known as the Bath & Old Etna Iron Works, near the Natural Bridge, Virginia. The tariff of 1847, resulting so disastrously to the iron industry of the United States, compelled them to stop their works in 1850. Mr. Sherrerd then returned North, and settled at Scranton. The extensive iron and coal interests of that place were just about being developed, and he superintended the construc- tion of its first coal-breaker, and also its first shipment of coal. He occupied first the position of Paymaster and after that of Mining Engineer for the Delaware & Lackawanna Railroad Company, then known as the Leggett's Gap Rail- road Company. In 1857 he returned to the practice of law in Scranton, and for a while acted as the Secretary of the Dickson Manufacturing Company. His career in Scranton was eminently that of a man of enterprise and progressive ideas, and his intelligent labors for the development of the great natural resources of the surrounding region won for him the high respect and esteem of the community. During 1867 he returned to his early home, Belvidere, and for a time was connected with the Belvidere Manufacturing Company. After the closing up of that enterprise he was appointed Law-Judge of Warren County, in place of Hon. J. M. Robeson, resigned. This position he still holds. He is regarded as a man of unquestionable in- tegrity, and is highly respected by the bar and his fellow- citizens. He was married in 1847 to Miss Hamilton, a daughter of the late General Samuel R. Hamilton, of Trenton. the State of New Jersey. From that time until his death he was an earnest worker in the cause, and at his grave the children of the Sunday-school in Belvidere, of which he was then and had been for a long time the superintendent, paid a touching tribute to his memory by covering his coffin, when lowered to its last resting-place, with bouquets of white flowers. As he had early consecrated himself to a nobler service than that belonging to this world, he cared more for the honor of his Master's kingdom than for earthly honors or distinctions, and consequently never took an active part in party politics nor sought for office. He was, however, at all times decided in his political faith, and was not afraid, at suitable times, to make known his views. An original Jeffersonian Democrat, he became a supporter of John Quincy Adams, was an old-line Whig, and after- wards a Republican. He was ordained an elder in the old Oxford Church, which is one of the first of the organiza- tions of the Presbyterian order in the county, and in 1834 removed his church connection to a new church then first organized under the pastorate of Rev. I. N. Candee, D.D., in which he remained as the ruling spirit until his death. At the organization of this church a plan of systematic be- nevolence was adopted under the joint management of Dr. Candee and Mr. Sherrerd, which was probably the first scheme of the kind ever worked, although now so popular in the churches. He was an earnest and active Christian, ever ready for any good word or work, though entirely un- obtrusive in manner and action. He was married in 1818 to Sarah Brown, of Philadelphia, and though he survived her for more than a quarter of a century, he never formed another matrimonial connection. In his manner and all his social intercourse he was at all times remarkable for his geniality, sprightliness and good-humor. This was espe- cially shown in his treatment of children, of whom he was exceedingly fond, and who loved him in return with endur- ing affection. He was never happier than when surrounded by them and ministering to their happiness. He died on the 26th of May, 1871, after a short illness brought on by exposure in his garden, in which he insisted upon working more than his failing strength would allow. His funeral was largely attended by old and young, who well knew they had lost one of their best friends. Two of his children survive him, and are both residents of Belvidere. Samuel is now the Law-Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Warren County. Sarah D. is married to Dr. P. F. Brake- ley, long engaged in the practice of medicine at that place. Another son, John Brown, was also a physician, and died in

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

ALL, HON. GARRET DORSET, Lawyer, Sol- dier and Statesman, was born, 1783, in Middle- town township, Monmouth county, New Jersey, and was the fourth child of James and (Dorset) Wall. On his paternal side, he was of English lineage, his father being the fourth in de- scent from Walter Wall, who emigrated from Great Britain about the middle of the seventeenth century to Massachu- setts, where he resided for a short time, removing thence to Long Island, and eventually settling in Monmouth county, New Jersey, in 1657. His father, James Wall, had been an officer in the war for independence, and was a participant in the celebrated battle of Monmouth, where he personally captured an English officer, who tendered him his sword. Garret was barely nine years old when his father died, leav- ing a widow and six children, with but slender means of support. At this juncture, his father's brother, Dr. John G. Wall, of Woodbridge, received Garret into his own family, and he resided with his uncle until the latter's death, in 1798. He received a fair education, including instruction in the Greek and Latin languages, until he attained his fif- teenth year-the period of his uncle's death-when he re- moved to Trenton, and at that early age became a student- at-law in the office of General Jonathan Rhea, who, at that period, was clerk of the Supreme Court of the State. His pecuniary means were very limited, but his preceptor gave him employment in the office, which yielded him his princi- pal means of support. He was a careful student, acquaint- ing himself not only with the principles of the common law, but paying particular attention to those bearing upon real estate, the laws of inheritance and titles. In addition to these he familiarized himself with the practice of the court in whose office he was an employé ; so that, in after years, his opinions on all matters relating to that practice carried great weight by reason of his thorough knowledge of the subject in question. On arriving at the age of twenty-one years, he was duly examined and licensed as an attorney, and at once commenced the practice of his profession at Trenton, and by his urbane manners, as well as his exten- sive reading, gradually attained a remunerative line of prac- tice. At first, however, owing either to extreme diffidence, or a seeming want of confidence in himself, he experienced great difficulty in conducting his pleadings ; and even after overcoming, in a measure, this hesitating mode of speaking, he never entirely eradicated it. In 1857 he was advanced to the grade of counsellor-at-law, which largely increased his emoluments. He continued diligently engaged in his profession until 1812, when he was elected Clerk of the Supreme Court for the term of five years. This position was doubly important, as it served not only to largely increase his income, but also as a means of introducing him to a widely extended practice. Ile failed, however, to be re-elected, and returned to the practice of his profession. During his term of service as clerk of the court the war of 1812 with Great Britain transpired ; and he, being imbued with a large

share of military and patriotic feeling, and also inheriting the same from his father, volunteered his services in a com- pany of uniformed militia, of which he had been for some years a lieutenant. As Captain of the Phoenix Infantry Corps, he was detailed, in connection with other troops, to aid in the protection of the city of New York. He even contemplated resigning his office of Clerk of the Supreme Court to accept a position on Colonel Ogden's staff, had that officer accepted the position of Major-General. In 1820 he was again advanced to the rank of sergeant-at-law, which title enabled him to still further enlarge his growing prac- tice. In 1822 he was elected, on a " Union" ticket, a member of the lower branch of the State Legislature, to represent Hunterdon county in that body, where he distin- guished himself by his thorough knowledge of law, both common and statute, which enabled him to take a leading part in that body. He opposed, with great earnestness, the indiscriminate exercise, which the Legislature then pos- sessed, of granting divorces; and succeeded for a time in arresting this species of personal legislation. Up to this time he had been a zealous, earnest member of the Federalist party; but, at length, from conviction he became a pro- nounced Democrat, or " Republican," as they were some- times termed in those days, and was among the earliest supporters, in 1824, of General Jackson for the Presidency. In 1827 he succeeded in securing the nomination, on the Democratic ticket, for member of Assembly for Hunterdon county, the office he had held five years previously, notwith- standing the fact that the leaders of that party were strongly opposed to him : but he appealed to the masses, who placed him in nomination, and these elected him at the polls. Ile at once took the front rank among the Democracy, and two years later he was elected by the Legislature Governor of the State, which high position he, however, declined. In the same year, without any solicitation on his part, he was nominated, by President Jackson, United States District Attorney for New Jersey, which official station he held for several years, discharging its duties with energy and ability. In 1834 he was elected, by the State Legislature, a member of the United States Senate, where he served during the last two years of Jackson's second term, and the entire four years of Van Buren's administration ; and to whose policy and tenets he gave an unhesitating support. Ile was no- ticeable in his condemnation of the measures put forth in favor of rechartering the United States Bank, and one of the most effective speeches he ever delivered while a Senator was in opposition to the advocates for a continuance of that fiscal institution. After his term expired he returned to Burlington, which town had been his home since 1828, and recommenced his professional duties, which he pursued until stricken by disease. From this attack he partially re- covered, and engaged in some important cases. He ear- nestly advocated the measures which enlminated in the as- sembling of a Constitutional Convention, in 1844, and mani- fested a great interest in the adoption of the new Constitu-

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

tion which had been framed by them. Although not a [ a storehouse at Greenwich, removed the brig " Grey- member of the body which prepared it, yet he was able to aid the members by his counsel and advice while they were progressing in their work. In 1848 he was made a member of the Court of Errors and Appeals, and in that high tribunal his great learning and research enabled him to reach an im- partial conclusion on the various legal questions submitted to that body of learned jurists. He occupied this position until a second attack of his disease ended fatally. He was, as already remarked, a counsellor of the highest ability and learning; while, as a pleader, he entered into the case as if he were the client, not the attorney; and some of his argu- ments before the jury or court were of the highest eloquence. As a partisan he was remarkably free from party bitterness ; and never allowed his friendships to be sundered, though his political belief might condemn the measures advocated by his most intimate and valued associate. He was an earnest advocate for the cause of education, and took a lively interest in the establishment of Burlington College, and was an active member of the Board of Trustees of that institution. He was eminently distinguished for his hospi- tality and for his willingness to advise all those who sought his counsel, although reaping no pecuniary benefit from it. In fact, he was dcemed, by those who knew him hest, as entirely too liberal in this respect. He was proud of his native State, and of the leading part she took in the revolu- tionary war; moreover, as said ahove, he inherited a taste for military duties, as was evinced by his connection with a volunteer company which dated back to the days of '76. In personal appearance he looked the soldicr, and when, in after years, he acquired the title of General, from having held the position of Quartermaster-General of the State, his very step seemed to indicate that he was born to command. He was twice married ; his first wife, to whom he was united shortly after being admitted to the bar, was a daughter of his preceptor, General Jonathan Rhea. His second mar- riage took place in the autumn of 1828. He died in No- vember, 1850.

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The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 5

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