The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 59

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

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persistent consecration of the gifts and graces with which he was endowed to these large and beneficent ends, that he earned the title, secured the honors, and obtained the re- wards of a prince and a great man in Israel. Such, most imperfectly, and in the merest outline sketched, was Dr. Samuel Ware Fisher up to the day and hour when, at the flood-tide of his influence, and apparently in the meridian fulness of his intellectual and moral powers, he was, by the mysterious stroke of an unseen hand, suddenly struck down, leaving him with the bounding pulse of life faintly flutter- ing, the bright eye dimmed, the eloquent tongue mute or incoherent. ITIs half-executed plans, his high expectations, his large purposes arrested, nothing remained for him but with childlike trust and sweet patience to await the final summons, which, January 18th, 1874, at Cincinnati, Obio, came in kindness to call him home. The temporary torpor of his faculties was at once dispelled, the clouds and the shadows that gatbered about his setting sun have all been dissipated, the darkness bas passed, and light perennial and eternal beams on bim, for, in his own heautiful words, "Another Teacher, infinitely wise and good, is now leading him up the heights of knowledge, and in a moment he has learned more than men on earth can ever know."

EGHTE, HON. RYNIER H., ex-State Senator, near Somerville, was born on the farm where he now resides, April 22d, 1811. He is of Dutch descent, his ancestors having come to this country from Holland in the seventeenth century, and settled in Somerset county, New Jersey, where they purchased large tracts of land. The farm on which he was born and now lives has been in the family for two hun- dred years, and was the property of his grandfather, who passed his life as a farmer. In his boyhood Rynier H. Veghte received a substantial business education, studying diligently and improving to the utmost the opportunities af- forded him. When he had reached the age of fourteen he went to New York city, and there took a situation in a jobbing and importing crockery house. In the year 1834 he organized the firm of Veghte & Lippincott, and engaged in the jobbing and importing of crockery, earthenware, etc. In the disastrous fire of 1835 their store was destroyed and he lost nearly all his property. He then accepted a position in the cstablishment of John Wright, Jr., who was engaged in the crockery business, and remained there for two years. At the end of that time he became a partner in the firm of Wright, Skiller & Co. In 1842 the style of the firm was changed to Veghte, Bergh & Burtis. IIe was eminently successful in business, and continued actively engaged in it until 1857, when he retired from business and took up his residence on the old homestead ncar Somerville, which has since been his home. In the fall of 1860 he was nomi-

nated by the Democrats for the position of State Senator. He was elected by a handsome majority, and served a three years term. During his term of office be was one of the Committee on Corporations, of which his unquestioned in- tegrity and his large business experience made him a most valuable member. Although acting with the Democratic party, he is not and never has been a partisan or a politician in the ordinary acceptation of the term. When the war of the rebellion broke out, all his sympathy and influence were given to the administration in its defence of the government, and be was an earnest and practical friend of the Union sol- diers in the field. When the war closed his sympathies were still warm and active in behalf of the wounded and disabled defenders of the country. In 1876, at the urgent solicita- tion of many leading citizens, he accepted an independent nomination for Congress, in opposition to the regular Dem- ocratie nominee. He was defeated at the polls, but the vote he received was a large and very flattering one, and he carried his own county by a majority of several hun- dreds, the remainder of his ticket being greatly in the mi- nority there. He is a man of sterling integrity, and pos- sesses the confidence of his fellow-citizens in a high degree. He is a Trustee of the State Normal School; a member of the State Board of Education; President of the Home for Disabled Soldiers; a leading Director of the Somerset County Bank, and President of the Somerset County Agri- cultural . Society. He was married, in 1835, to Maria Theresa Fredericks, of New York.

EGHTE, JOHN O., Banker, of Somerville, son of Rynicr Veghte, originally educated for the bar, but by choice a farmer, and the descendant of a IIol- landish family resident in New Jersey from colo- nial times, was born near Somerville, October 13th, 1824. Having received an academical edu- cation at Plainfield, New Jersey, under the supervision of the well-known Ezra Fairchild, he entered the sophomore class of Rutgers College, whence he graduated in 1844. In the year of his graduation he was entered at the New Jersey bar, but after reading law for upwards of a twelvemonth, he became convinced that the legal profession was not to his taste. Abandoning his studies, he was engaged in mercan- tile pursuits for some four years, and was then appointed Teller in the Somerset County Bank. In banking he found a congenial pursuit, for which his exceptional financial ability well fitted him, and having served as Teller and as Cashier, was finally, in 1873, upon the resignation of Mr. Joshua Doughty, elected to the Presidency of the corpora- tion, a position that he still holds. Prominent in the East Jersey division of the Democratic party, he was urged in the State convention of 1872 as a Congressional candidate, but was defeated by filibustering on the part of his rivals.

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In the convention of 1876 he was again presented by his | in 1848. With this gentleman he remained for three or friends as a candidate and was again defeated. On both occasions a large majority of the delegates from Somerset were his supporters; and he was entitled, moreover, by party usage to the nomination. His success in 1876 would have been of essential service to the State, as his financial knowledge would have been well employed in the adjust- nient of the various monetary matters discussed in the en- suing session of the Legislature. In local politics he has been more successful, having been elected County Treasurer of Somerset in 1850, and since continuously re-elected to that office, which he ably fills. Among his fellow-towns- men he is highly esteemed for his integrity and business ability, a feeling testified to by his selection as trustee for a number of valuable estates. He married Sophia Veghte.

ITCH, CHARLES F., Lawyer, of Phillipsburg, was born in 1844 at Edmeston, Otsego county, New York, whither his father, Ransom Fitch, a merchant, had removed from Pittsfield, Massachu- setts. The Fitch family, it may be mentioned, were among the early settlers of this old New England town. He was educated at the Mansfield, Penn- sylvania, Normal School, and upon his graduation studied law and was admitted to practise. at Easton, Pennsylvania. He subsequently read in the office of Judge Depue-now of the New Jersey Supreme Court-at Belvidere, and in 1867 was admitted to the New Jersey bar. Establishing himself at Phillipsburg, he soon acquired an extensive practice, and has been, since 1873, Solicitor for the town. Since 1872 he has owned a controlling interest in the Warren Democrat, published at Phillipsburg.

EDLE, HON. JOSEPH DORSETT, Lawyer, ex- Associate-Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey and Governor of the State, was born at Matawan, Monmouth county, New Jersey, Janu- ary 5th, 1831. He comes of an old American family on both sides, his maternal ancestors having emigrated to this country from Bermuda upwards of 150 years ago. His father, Thomas J. Bedle, whose immediate ancestors were Jerseymen, was a merchant, a Justice of the Peace for upwards of twenty-five years, and a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the county of Monmouth. His mother, Hannah Dorsett, descended from a family that was among the early settlers of Monmouth county. Governor Bedle obtained his early educational training in the academy at Matawan, then known as Mid- dletown Point. He was attracted toward the legal profes- sion, and at an early age commenced his law studies under the very able direction of Hon. W. L. Dayton, in Trenton,

four years, during this period attending the regular course of lectures at the Law School, Ballston, New York. One winter lie passed at Poughkeepsie, New York, in the office of Thompson & Weeks, and was admitted to the bar of New York State, as attorney and counsellor, in the spring of 1852. Returning to New Jersey, he passed a short time in the office of Hon. Henry S. Little, at Matawan, and was admitted to the bar of that State in January, 1853. He began the practice of his profession in New Jersey, at Mat- awan, where he remained for two years. In the spring of 1855 he removed to Freehold. Here he soon made his value felt, and won a place among the leaders of the bar. A large and valuable practice fell to him, and he was on the high road to wealth, when, in 1865, he was offered hy Governor Parker a seat on the Supreme bench of the State. A high sense of the dignity of this position and of his duty to the community caused him to accept the appointment. His commission bore date March 23d, 1865. His term ex- piring in 1872, he was reappointed by Governor Parker, the reappointment doing honor to the governor as well as to the recipient, so worthily had he performed all the functions of his high office. On accepting the first appointment he moved his residence to Jersey City, that he might be at a convenient distance from all parts of his district, which com- prised the counties of Hudson, Passaic and Bergen. Just before the close of his first term-in 1871-he was promi- nently named as a candidate for Governor, but he himself took no steps whatever to secure the nomination, rather dis- countenancing the movement in his favor. Notwithstand- ing, his name was again brought forward in the canvass of 1874, and he received a unanimous nomination at the hands of the Democratic State Convention. He accepted the nomination only at the earnest and persistent appeal of the party, and then declared that as he had heen nominated without any effort on his part, so he must be elected, if at all. The party had assumed the responsibility of the nomi- nation, and it must also undertake the labor of the cam- paign. This course he was constrained to adopt, not from any lack of disposition to serve the political organization with which he had always been affiliated, or unwillingness to assume the dignity and responsibility of administering the government of his State, but simply from a high sense of the impropriety of any action having a political bearing by one holding judicial office. To this declaration he ad- hered most strictly throughout the campaign, and it would certainly seem as though his high-minded determination were fully appreciated hy the people at large, for he was elected hy one of the largest votes ever cast for governor in the State, although his opponent, Hon. George A. Halsey, was one of the most popular men in the State. Most un- mistakably was he called to his honorable post by the popular voice, and he has not disappointed the great ex- pectations formed of him. His administration from the first has been marked by ability, prudence, and a patriotism

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that knows nothing but the public welfare. He has proved | and employed about three years travelling through several himself a statesman of large views and noble aims, and stands to-day more firmly entrenched than ever in the respect and esteem of the community. In 1861 he was married to Althea, daughter of Hon. Bennington F. Ran- dolph, of Freehold. In the fall of 1875 the College of New Jersey conferred on him the degree of LL. D.

UCE, WILLIAM, Lawyer, of Belvidere, was born in Sussex county, New Jersey, October 19th, 1837, being the son of William Luce. Both his parents were natives of Warren county, in which their families were among the pioneer settlers. When William was about a year old, his father died. He attended the public schools and assisted on a farm until attaining liis twentieth year, when he married Hulda Reed, daughter of Isaac Reed. After his marriage he was for three or four years engaged in teaching and farming. But these avocations not being wholly to his taste, and his am- bition drawing him toward the legal profession, he became, in 1866, a student in the office of Judge J. M. Robeson, at Belvidere. Four years later he was licensed to practise as an attorney, and in 1874 he was called as a counsellor. By dint of good ability and careful attention he built up a very considerable practice, and acquired an honorable po- sition at the bar of his county. He was notably successful in criminal cases, and during 1876 defended several capital cases so ably as to secure the acquittal of the defendants. He was counsel for the Board of Chosen Freeholders of Warren county, and filled the position with much accepta- bility. Politically, he was a Democrat, and took an active part in the advancement of the interests of that party. He was wholly a self-made man, working into the profession, and to a good position therein, by his own unaided ability and persevering encrgy. He died in the early part of 1877.

INABERRY, JOHN S., M. D., Physician and Surgeon, of Mountainville, was born near Schooley's Mountain Springs, Morris county, New Jersey. He is son of John Linaberry, a farmer of that county; his mother was Eliza- beth (Rodenbaugh) Linaberry. He comes of good revolutionary stock, his grandfather on the maternal side having fought in the war for national independence. John S. Linaberry attended the public schools in Hunter- don county, to which his father had removed while John was yet a small boy. Having acquired the elements of a sound cducation, he engaged for a short time in tcaching. With a desire for seeing something of the country, and cs- pecially of the West, he started out in the fall of 1854,

States. For a considerable part of this time he was a stu- dent at Ann Arbor University, Michigan. In the spring of 1858 he returned to New Jersey, and began the study of medicine with Dr. William S. Crevling, entering, in the fall of the same year, the University of the City of New York, where he graduated with the class of 1861, in com- pany with Drs. Kline, Taylor and Henry, prominent physi- cians of the South, and Dr. B. A. Watson, of New Jersey. The faculty of the institution at that time consisted of Pro- fessors Valentine Mott, D. D., LL. D .; Martin Paine, D. D., LL. D .; J. W. Draper, D. D., LL. D .; G. S. Bedford, M. D .; A. C. Post, M. D .; W. H. Van Buren, M. D .; J. G. Metcalf, M. D. Soon after graduating Dr. Linaberry settled at Mountainville, New Jersey. His medical studies had been pursued with an especial view to service in the navy, and he had therefore given particular attention to surgery and epidemic diseases. This line of study peculiarly fitted him for the professional labors that devolved upon him on his settlement at Mountainville, for he was almost immedi- ately called upon to grapple with that most insidious dis- ease, diphtheria, which had assumed an epidemic form not only in that neighborhood, but over a considerable extent of country. His treatment proved so successful that he was called in consultation with physicians much beyond the limits of his usual practice. At the present time his prac- tice by steady growth has become one of the largest in the county. Repeatedly he has been asked to settle in some of the larger towns of the State, but he has so far preferred to remain amid the scenes of his early professional suc- cesses. While manifesting a strong partiality for surgery, his practice is a general one in all branches of the profes- sion. He is a gentleman of high culture and social worth. While his political opinions are those of the Democratic party, he takes no active part in politics, simply discharging his duties as a citizen in accordance with his sense of what is due from each member of the community. He was mar- ried, in 1862, to Ellen Robinson, of Hunterdon county, New Jersey.

ARTLES, CHARLES, Lawyer and Bank Presi- dent, of Flemington, was born at New German- town, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, March 18th, ISO1. The family were among the early settlers of the county, and have largely con- tributed toward its development. Ilis grand- father, while serving in the cavalry of Frederick the Great, was captured by the French, but succeeded in effecting his escape; procecding by way of Amsterdam, he reached Lon- don, whence he managed to get to this country, stopping first in Philadelphia, but finally settling at New German- town. Charles' father was Andrew Bartles, who married a Miss Plumb, of New Brunswick, New Jersey. His grand- father, on the maternal side, was a lieutenant in General

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Washington's army, and was with it in Morristown while | Railroad; of the latter he was President until it became a his home in New Brunswick was occupied by British offi- part of the Pennsylvania Railroad. In politics he was a Democrat up to the outbreak of the late war; since that time he has acted with the Republicans. He has been twice married. His first wife, to whom he was united in 1833, was Eliza Hart, daughter of Neil Hart; she died in 1844. His second wife, who still survives, was Miss Randle, daughter of Daniel W. Randle, of New Hartford, New York. cers. A table on which these British officers messed is still in the possession of Charles Bartles. Both his grandfathers were manufacturers of forged iron. At a later day Mr. Andrew Partles removed to the head-quarters of the Sus- quehanna, and built the first flour mill in that vicinity, shipping his products by rafts and boats to Baltimore. He projected a route by canal from that point, but the plan fell through owing to the discovery of the shorter one to the seaboard, now represented by the Erie Canal. Charles Bartles was educated at the common schools, and fitted for college at Lamington, New Jersey. He became a student OOK, GENERAL WILLIAM, Chief Engincer of the Camden & Amboy Railroad, a leading citizen of New Jersey, late of Hoboken, New Jersey, was a native of this State, and a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. Immediately after graduating he entered the Engineer Corps of the army, and served for several years, being employed principally upon government ex- plorations and surveys. In 1830 he left the army to accept the position of Engineer of the Camden & Amboy Railroad Company, in which position he remained until his death, which occurred April 21st, 1865. in Union College, and graduated with the class of 1821, among his classmates being Governor Seward, of New York, and Rev. Dr. Messler, of the Reformed Church, of New Jersey. In the spring of 1822 he entered the law office of Nathaniel Saxton, at Flemington, New Jersey, as a law student, and was admitted to practise three years subsequently. He was now fairly launched upon a career, having reached his vantage point by his own unaided ef- forts, for his friends were unable to assist him either to secure a college course or legal training. In this prepara- tion, however, he had incurred a certain pecuniary indebt- edness, and to its liquidation he immediately devoted him- self, cancelling the whole by the time his twenty-fifth year was attained. His practice was begun, and was continued until 1854, at Flemington, Hon. Alexander Wurts, P. J. ONDIT, SILAS, an eminent citizen of New Jersey, late of Newark, New Jersey, held, during the course of his long and useful life, numerous offices of importance. He was an active and valued member of the State Legislature; from 1831 to 1833 was a representative in Congress ; was a member of the convention which formed the present Constitution of New Jersey; and in 1856 was an Elector on the Fillmore ticket. He was a man of spotless private character; was at all times intimately identified with the development of his section and State; and at a critical moment was ever willing and prompt to place a helping shoulder to the wheel of state. He died in Newark, New Jersey, December 28th, 1861, aged eighty-four years. Clark, William Maxwell, Nathaniel Saxton and himself then constituting the Hunterdon county bar. In 1832, in connection with A. Van Syckel, he engaged largely in real estate operations, which were continued until 1860. Dur- ing this period they handled farming property amounting in value to over a quarter of a million of dollars, and all these sales were settled without the foreclosure of a mortgage, the return of a property, or the distress of a purchaser in any way. In 1853 he turned his attention to railroad matters, and finally succeeded in securing the construction of the Flemington Railroad, giving Flemington direct railroad communication with Philadelphia, and conferring most substantial advantages not only on the town itself, but on a large tract of intervening country. A year later, in com- pany with J. Reading and Mr. Fisher, he engaged in the lumber business, and purchased large tracts of pine timber in Pennsylvania, on Bennett's branch of the Annamahanoy, erecting mills both there and at Williamsport. They dis- posed of their lumber largely to wholesale dealers. The investment proved exceedingly profitable, for, in addition to the timber on the land, a large portion of the property was found to be underlaid with coal, and it is now accessible to railroads. Mr. Bartles is officially connected with several incorporated enterprises. In 1858 he was elected President of Hunterdon County National Bank, one of the soundest financial institutions in the State. He is a Director of the Belvidere & Delaware Railroad, and of the Flemington

OWE, COLONEL JOHN, late of New Bruns- wick, New Jersey, was born in that place, No- vember 15th, 1809. Upon the outbreak of the war with Mexico, having some military knowl- edge, and feeling that his country needed the services of every gallant and useful citizen, he accepted the command of the 4th Ohio Regiment and pro- cecded to the seat of war, where he served efficiently with his comrades in arms until the disbandment, in 1848. Upon the opening of the rebellion he once more tendered ⑈

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his sword in behalf of the Union, and, upon the organiza- | United Foreign Mission Society. In May, 1825, he was tion of the 12th Regiment, was unanimously chosen as its appointed as successor to Mr. Lewis, Secretary for Domestic Correspondence. In the same year he visited the Indians in the western part of New York and in Ohio, returning thence ultimately with his health seriously impaired. The society being now about to be merged in another, he was chosen Assistant Secretary of the American Bible Society. While stricken down by mortal sickness, his mind was still occupied incessantly in musing over the great work to which he had devoted his life and energies, and his thoughts were all for those yet unconverted. He died, January 12th, 1826, aged thirty two years. Colonel. His force, united with the Cox brigade, was then put in motion, and advanced up the Kanawha river. The only battle necessary to clear the Kanawha valley of the rebels was fought by the 12th Regiment, and under his command. He was killed at Carnifex Ferry, September Ioth, 1861, at a time when, recognizing the vital importance of the coming contest, he was zealously occupying himself in planning certain measures designed for the considera- tion of his superiors, and tending to illustrate his views concerning the southern outburst.

RNOLD, GEORGE ("McArone"), Editor and Poet, late of Strawberry Farms, New Jersey, was widely known as the author of the " McArone " papers and several biographical works, and by various contributions to Vanity Fair, The Leader, and other journals. He was also the author of several poems of remarkable sweetness, and in his literary essays exhibited much poetic feeling, keen insight into human nature, and a delight in genial, unobtrusive sar- casm. During the progress of the late war of the rehel- lion he did honorable service in the cause of the country, and for a long time performed military duty at one of the forts on Staten Island. The " McArone " papers attracted much attention and excited great comment at the time of their publication, and at once brought their author favorable recognition. He died at Strawbery Farms, November 3d, 1865.

RANE, REV. JAMES C., Missionary, late of ing a call to the church at Norristown, Pennsylvania, he Morristown, New Jersey, was horn in that place, January 11th, 1794. In 1805 he removed with his father to New York, and while there served an apprenticeship at a trade. Thrown amidst many temptations, he soon found himself beset by vicious companions and blamable tendencies ; but, in consequence of the remembered lessons of a deceased mother, experienced severe and constantly recurring re- hukes of conscience. In 1813, finally, he turned, in anguish of mind, to piety, and sought consolation in re- ligious fervor and devotion. Thenceforward he experi- enced the strongest desires for the conversion of the heathen; and, determined to hecome a missionary, he, while still an apprentice, attended the lectures of Dr. Mason, and was directed in his studies by Rev. J. M. Matthews. In April, 1817, he was ordained, and a few days after repaired as a missionary to the Indians in Tus- carora village, where he continued to labor until Septem- ber, 1823, when he was appointed General Agent of the decline the proffered honor. Ile was the author of many

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The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 59

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