The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 70

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

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that they once fought with Kearney and the grand old Army of the Potomac, for the flag which to him and to them was dearer than all things else." Of his regiment the same historian says : " In all the qualities of courage, endurance, and devotion to duty, this was among the foremost of New Jersey regiments ; to have fought in its ranks on the ghastly fields where it won celebrity may well be counted an honor at once lustrous and imperishable." And, finally, this historian says of the man himself : " Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Campbell had come out of the battle of Mcclellan's Maryland eampaign with honor, and joined the 15th Regiment on the march to Bakersville. Here, upon the sickness of Colonel Fowler, he took eommand, which he held during most of the time the regiment was in the service, leading it in nearly every great battle in which it participated. One who served with the regiment says, ' If the 15th ever performed any efficient service for the country, or by its conduct reflected any honor upon New Jersey, it was due more to Edward L. Campbell than any other man. His bravery, integrity, capacity, and diligence, stamped the regiment with a character whose value was known in many critical junctures and hard-fought battles.'" The records show that his eommand suffered more than any other New Jersey regiment in the field. At the close of the war he returned to Belvidere, and renewed his practice, but was compelled to leave it off in the course of two or three months, in consequence of his impaired health. About this time Governor Ward sent for him to take charge of the State Military Agency at Trenton, a trust which he at first declined, but, on the Governor's insisting, ccepted, believing that the business could be soon closed up. It, however, engaged him for two years; at the end of which time, his health meanwhile having gradually re- covered, he returned to his profession, and was presently fully engaged in successful practice. He is now the City Solicitor of Trenton.

EADING, JAMES NEWELL, Judge, was born in Flemington, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, August 8th, 1808, his father being Joseph Read- ing, a farmer. His first studies were pursued in a common school and then a grammar school, after which he entered Princeton College, in the junior class, in 1827, and graduated in IS29. Ile then studied law with Governor S. L. Southard, in Trenton, and was admitted to the bar of New Jersey in 1832. IIe prac- tised law in his native town from that time until 1850. He was married February Toth, 1835, to Sarah C. A. Southard, niece of the Governor. For fifteen years he was Prosccut- ing Attorney for Hunterdon county. In 1850 he went to Jefferson county, Missouri, and was there as President of a lead mining company for two years. He then returned to New Jersey, settled up his private business and moved to

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Morris, Illinois, where he now resides. He was led to the place by the opportunities it presented for engaging in land business, which he had observed on his way to Missouri. Ilis voice had nearly failed him, and he followed his pro- fession only partially, saving his voice thereby and ulti- mately recovering it fully, when he again resumed his practice in full. He engaged at once in a land business, and continues in it to this day. In 1865 he was elected County Judge of Grundy county, which position he has held for ten years. He was also a member of the Legislature from the same county for one term, and for a period Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county. During his residence in New Jersey he was at one time Colonel of a regiment of militia. From 1869 to 1871 he resided in Chicago and practised law with Judge Wallace, after which he returned to Morris. The Judge is a gentleman very generally re- spected in his county, and highly esteemed for his worth of character.

ILLYER, REV. ASA, D. D., Prominent Presby- terian Clergyman, late of Orange, New Jersey, was born in Sheffield, Massachusetts, April 6th, 1763, and graduated at Yale College in 1786. September 29th, 1789, he was ordained at Bottle HIill, New Jersey, and in 1837 sided with the New School, whose views concerning various religious tenets and observances met with his approval. His degree of D. D. was conferred on him by the Allegheny College in 1818. He died in New York, August 28th, 1840,

CLEAN, REV. DANIEL VERCH, D. D., Presby- terian Clergyman and Author, late of Red Bank, New Jersey, was born in 1801. For several years he performed the duties of the pastorate of the Old Tennent Church, Freehold, New Jersey, and from 1854 to 1864 was President of Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania. Up to the ime of his de- cease, after his withdrawal from Easton, he presided as pastor over a church at Red Bank, New Jersey, where he died, November 23d, 1869.

ACLEAN, JOHN, M. D., Chemist, Physician, Scientist, Author, late of Princeton, New Jersey, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in March, 1771, and was the son of an eminent Scotch scholar and surgeon. After studying in various cities, he com- menced the practice of surgery at his native city in 1791. In 1795 he came to the United States, and was appointed Professor of Chemistry and Natural History in the

College of New Jersey, and subsequently of Natural Philoso- phy and Mathematics, which position he resigned, however, in 1812, having been appointed Professor of Natural Philoso- phy and Chemistry in William and Mary College. His principal publication was " Lectures on Combustion; " while his various papers bearing upon the controversy with Dr. Priestley, and published in the " New York Medical Repository," attracted much attention, and elicited favorable criticism from those interested in the discussion. He died at Princeton, New Jersey, in February, 1814.

IERSON, HON. ISAAC, M. D., Prominent Physi- cian, late of Orange, New Jersey, was born in New Jersey, August 15th, 1770, and was edu- cated at Princeton College, where he graduated in 1789. Subsequently he became a Fellow of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York. During a period extending over forty years he was actively engaged in professional labors as a medical practitioner, and won honorable distinction through the many successes at- tending his conduct of cases of a very critical and perplex- ing nature. Besides attending to his duties as a physician, he always evinced a warm interest in the current political questions and movements, and was earnest in his advocacy of those measures which seemed to him best fitted to ad- vance the welfare of his State and the leading interests of his fellow-citizens. From 1827 to 1831 he was a Repre- sentative in Congress from his native State. He died in New Jersey, September 22d, 1833.

LEXANDER, REV. JOSEPH ADDISON, D. D., Learned Divine and Author, son of Dr. Archibald Alexander, and brother of Dr. James Waddell Alexander, late of Princeton, New Jersey, was born in Philadelphia, April 24th, 1809, and grad- uated from the New Jersey College in 1826. From 1830 to 1833 he served as Adjunct Professor of An- cient Languages and Literature in his Alma Mater ; and from 1838 to 1852 was Professor of Biblical Criticism and Ecclesiastical History at Princeton Theological Seminary. He was subsequently transferred to the Chair of Biblical and Ecclesiastical History, which he held until the time of his decease, performing its responsible duties with vigor and rare ability. The degree of D. D. was conferred on him by the Marshall College, Pennsylvania. Ile published : " A Translation of and Commentary on the Psalms," three vols .; "A Critical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah," and an abridgment of the same; a volume on . primitive church government, and numerous excellent essays in the " Biblical Repertory " and " Princeton Re.

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view." He also aided Dr. Ilodge in the preparation of a |1835; " Essays on Religious Experience," published in Commentary on the New Testament. He was a linguist of unusual powers, and the possessor of a large and valua- ble store of philological learning. In the " Memoir," pub- lished by H. C. Alexander in 1869, is presented an interest ing account of him and his labors in various fields, as educator, writer and professor. He died at Princeton, New Jersey, where he was universally respected and ad- mired for his many gifts and acquirements, January 28th, 1860.

LEMING, CHARLES E., Lieutenant .Commander United States Navy, was born in New Jersey, and in January, 1835, was appointed from New York. In 1862 he received his commission as Lieutenant- Commandler. His total sea-service extended over a period of about nineteen years. He com- manded the gun-boat "Sagamore," in the Gulf Squadron, during the late war, and subsequently the " Penobscot." At the time of his death, at Mount Holly, New Jersey, in the fifty-second year of his age, he was unemployed.

LEXANDER, REV. ARCHIBALD, D. D. (con- ferred by the New Jersey College, 1810), Presby- terian Divine, Itinerant Missionary, Professor of Theology, Author, late of Princeton, New Jersey, was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, April 17th, 1772. His grandfather, Archibald Alexan- der, came from Ireland to Pennsylvania in 1736, and about 1738 settled in Virginia. At the age of ten years he was sent to the academy of Rev. William Graham, at Timber Ridge meeting-house. At the expiration of six or seven years from this time he assumed the duties of tutor in the family of General John Posey. Subsequently he entered upon a course of theological studies, was licensed to preach October Ist, 1791, and during the ensuing seven years la- bored zealously as an itinerant missionary in his native State. Succeeding Dr. Smith in the Presidency of Hamp den-Sidney College in 1796, he finally resigned that office and also his pastoral charge in 1801. In the following year he resumed his position at Hampden-Sidney College, but owing to the insubordination and refractory spirit of the students under his charge, accepted a call from the Pine Street Church, Philadelphia, where he was installed pastor, May 20th, 1807. From 1811 until the period of his de- cease, he presided as Professor of the Theological Seminary at Princeton, New Jersey. Ile was the author of "Out- lines of the Evidences of Christianity," published in 1823; " Treatise on the Canon of the Old and New Testaments," published in 1826; " Counsels of the Aged to the Young," published in 1833; " Lives of the Patriarchs," published in to the church in New Brunswick. In 1815 he was elected,

1840, " History of the Log College," published in 1846; " History of the Israelitish Nation," published in 1852, and " Moral Science," in the course of the same year. He pub- lished also a memoir of his old instructor, Rev. William Graham , " History of the Presbyterian Church in Vir- gina; " and many biographical sketches of eminent Ameri- can clergymen and alumni of the College of New Jersey, and contributed to the " Biblical Repertory," and other periodi- cals of a literary and religious character. At his demise he left a number of manuscript works, which will probably be published at no distant date. His son, Rev. James Wad- dell Alexander, D. D., a distinguished Preshyterian clergy- man and author, published his "Life" in New York in 1854. He died at Princeton, New Jersey, October 22d, 1851, after a career of eminent usefulness, and pious and scholarly labors.

KOES, JOIIN, D. D., Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in New Jersey, late of New Brunswick, was born in Elizabethtown, New Jer. sey, of parents who had emigrated from Ger many, June Ist, 1762. His father intended to instruct him in some mechanical employment, but noting his early and precocious fondness for study and read- ing, gave him finally the option of learning a trade or pro- curing an education by means of his own excrtions, Hle unhesitatingly chose the latter alternative, but his endeavors in this respect were, for a considerable time, retarded by the war of the revolution. Three or four years subsequently he was called upon to take up arms in the cause of his country, and he continued engaged in martial pursuits, with occasional intervals of rest, until the peace in 1782. He then resumed his studies with increased intcrest, and with that diligence and energy which marked his course through life continued his efforts towards the spcedy acquisition of a thorough and liberal education. By tireless perseverance he rapidly acquired a good knowledge of the Latin and Greek languages, at the same time laying the foundation of an unusually accurate knowledge of the English tongue and its higher literature. Having made these acquisitions, he undertook the business of instruction, thereby riveting more firmly the knowledge he had gained, and procuring the means of supporting himself while studying divinity. In 1790 he was ordained Deacon, and in 1792 Priest, by Bishop White. The first years of his ministry he spent in Swedesborough in connection with the church of that place, but in 1801 he received an invitation from Christ Church, New Brunswick, and St. Peter's Church, Spotswood, to become their pastor, and at the same time was elected Prin- cipal of the academy in New Brunswick. In 1808 hc re- signed the charge of the academy, having previously resigned that of the church at Spotswood, and devoted himself solcly

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by the convention of the church in Connecticut, Bishop of shows no signs of decline, a strong testimony to the ability and character of its experienced head.

that diocese, but this appointment he declined. In the same year he was chosen Bishop in his own State, and was consecrated to that office in November. In this responsible station his industry, ability, and zeal were abundantly mani- fested. Almost every year he visited all the churches in the diocese, and by his judicious management of the mis- sionary fund, assisted importantly in resuscitating several old and decayed congregations, and in establishing several new ones. He was a self-made man, humanly speaking, and to himself alone was he indebted for his solid and brilliant attainments, and a reputation lustrous and free from stain or blemish. Industry, energy, a mind never darkened by despondency, and an unswerving uprightness, were his distinguishing characteristics. His sermons, charges and addresses always bore the stamp of earnest piety, sincere meditation, and a rare and genial reliance on the beneficent rulings of an inscrutable Providence ; while, as a writer, his style was pointed, logical and direct. He died at his resi- dence in New Brunswick, July 30th, 1832.

REVLING, ADAM W., Merchant, was born near Washington, Warren county, New Jersey, De- cember 4th, 1826. His father, Samuel Crevling, was a farmer in Warren county. The family were among the early German settlers of New Jersey. Adam was educated in the public schools, and at the age of fourteen began his mercantile career as clerk in a store at Asbury, New Jersey, after which he engaged in the same capacity at Washington, and then at Oxford, subse- quently returning to Washington, where he continued as clerk only one year longer, when, in 1848, he set up busi- ness on his own account, and has prosecuted it ever since with steadily increasing success, until it is now probably one of the largest retail businesses of the kind in New Jersey, his yearly sales amounting to from $150,000 to $200,000. In the work of building up and conducting this vast busi- ness he has had successively a number of partners. The health and vigor of the main stem may be seen in its flour- ishing offshoots. Mr. Crevling devotes his entire time to his special business, with such ramifications as it has made into real-estate and building operations, which of late years have in fact diverted a considerable portion of his energy and capital, though in these, as in the principal channel of his business, prosperity has waited on his ventures. He is a Republican in politics, but, whilst keenly alive to his duties as a citizen, takes little interest in the ordinary strife of parties. Ile is a member of the Presbyterian church, in which he is conspicuous for his activity and zeal. He was married in 1848 to L. A. Bodine, of Warren county. His eldest son is at present associated with him in his business, which, ex- tensive as it is, and unpropitious as the times have long been,

BBETT, HON. LEON, of Jersey City, Lawyer and Statesman, was born in Philadelphia, October 8tlı, 1836, ins birthplace being within a hundred yards of the old tree under which William Penn made his treaty with the Indians, known in history and tradition as the "Treaty Tree." His great- grandfather, born in 1730, a Quaker and a farmer, emigrated when a young man to Pennsylvania, and settled in the vicinity of Philadelphia, where he and his descendants lived as farmers until 1830, when the latter began to dis- perse, the father of the subject of this sketch removing to Philadelphia. Although a man in moderate circumstances, he gave a liberal education to his son, Leon, who, after a term at one of the common schools, graduated in 1853, as Bachelor of Arts, at the High School of Philadelphia, and in 1858 received the degree of Master of Arts. Immedi- ately following his graduation he entered the law office of the Hon. John W. Ashmead, then United States District Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where he remained until of age, when he opened a law office of his own. IIaving practised a year in Philadelphia, he removed to New York, where, though he had powerful competi- tors around and before him, and no friends at his back, he advanced so rapidly in his practice that it soon grew too great for his management single-handed, and he formed a partnership with the distinguished patent and admiralty law- yer, Wm. J. A. Fuller, the firm of Abbett & Fuller at once taking rank among the first law establishments of the metro- politan city. Their practice has become immense, and is steadily increasing from year to year. On the 8th of Octo- ber, 1862, the anniversary of his birth, he was married to a young lady of Philadelphia, signalizing the event by trans- ferring his residence from New York to Hoboken, thereby becoming a citizen of New Jersey, and involuntarily draw- ing down on himself the necessity of a political career. Being a Democrat, strict and staunch, and a popular speaker of great spirit and effectiveness, the Hoboken De- mocracy, rejoicing in his steadfastness and his eloquence, pressed him early into their service, and in 1864 elected him to the Assembly, in which he represented Hoboken for two consecutive terms, making, during the first term, a singularly able and judicious speech on the Thirteenth Amendment, which attracted wide attention, extorting the admiration even of his political opponents. During both terms his Demo cratic colleagues showcd their high appreciation of his ahility by recognizing him as their leader. Besides repre- senting Hohoken in the Assembly, he served it as Corpora- tion Counsel for three years, resigning in 1868, the Common Council of the city adopting on the occasion resolutions warmly acknowledging his services and regretting their

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termination. He was also Corporation Attorney for the | with an ability and fervor that endeared him anew to the town of Union over two years, when his increasing business Democracy of the State. His services as a legislator have been important as well as conspicuous, and can hardly be said to have ended with his membership, seeing that his abilities and influence, since the expiration of his member- ship, have been exerted with marked effect in promoting good legislation and opposing bad. The general corpora- tion act of 1875, the most liberal in the United States, was drawn by him, and passcd under the pressure of his in- fluence, as was the act of 1876 to increase railroad taxation ; while Jersey City, his present home, owes it chiefly to him that she has not suffered still greater evils from the partisan charter, which probably would never have become a law if his energetic and unsleeping opposition could have been made within the Legislature instead of without. He is a popular orator of uncommon force and fire, a debater of large resources and practised skill, and a political leader of consummate sagacity and unquailing spirit. From the opening of the Mcclellan campaign in 1864 to the present time he has done distinguished and brilliant service on the stump in every national and local field that has been fought. In person he is below the medium height, but of a solid, well-knit frame, surmounted by a head and neck of classical proportions. The physique proclaims the man. He was elected to the Senate from Hudson county in 1874 by a majority of 5,000. The Democracy being in a majority in 1877, he was chosen President of the Senate, which office he now holds, and fills with marked ability and discretion. constrained him to resign, though he is still retained by the township in all its more important cases, as he is by Hobo- ken. He is now the Corporation Counsel for Bayonne, having held the office since Bayonne became a city. In April, 1876, he was appointed Corporation Counsel by the Board of Finance and Taxation of Jersey City, whither he had re- moved on the expiration of his second term as Representa- tive of Hoboken in the Assembly. He was Chairman of the Democratic State Convention which met at Trenton in 1868 to nominate presidential electors and a governor, and acquitted himself as a presiding officer with signal distinc- tion, insomuch that the dispersing delegates bore his name and praise to all quarters of the State, preparing the Demo- crats of the Assembly, when he next appeared in that body, which he did in 1869, as the Representative of the First District of Iludson, to nominate him for the office of Speaker by acclamation, as they did, renewing the honor in 1870 with additional emphasis, in attestation of the com- pleteness with which he had met their expectations, a tribute crowned, it should be added, by the consenting eulogies of the press without respect to party. On taking his seat at this election he delivered a speech memorable for its bold and sagacious views on taxation, contending that the pros- perity of New Jersey depends principally on the attraction of capital, and not hesitating to suggest that the State, like England and France, should impose no tax on personal property invested in manufactures and shipping, or on money at interest. New Jersey has not yet come up to this advanced position, but there are statesmen of rank who hold with Mr. Abbett that it is the true position, and that the legislation of the State should move in the direction of it. At all events the suggestion of the policy illustrates the strength and independence of his character. The same traits find an illustration equally apt in his views on the sub- ject of naturalization, which pass beyond, not merely the general opinion, but the opinion of his own party, liberal as that is, going to the length of abolishing the present system altogether, and requiring a simple oath of allegiance as the condition of naturalization. It is unnecessary to say that the existing rights and privileges of the adopted citizen have in him a fearless and thorough-going defender. In 1869 he was unanimously elected the successor of Judge Ran- dolph as President of the Board of Education, holding the place until the reorganization of the board. He was in 1872 a Delegate at large to the Democratic National Con- vention at Baltimore, and one of the Secretaries of the body, in which he voted for Senator Bayard, and against Mr. Greeley, whose nomination he believed would be vivifying to the Republicans, but suicidal for the Democracy. He again, in 1876, was Delegate at large to the Democratic National Convention at St. Louis, and Chairman of the New Jersey delegation, which he led for Parker, whose claims he had previously advocated in the State convention

TONE, HON. J. HENRY, Lawyer and ex-State Senator, of Rahway, New Jersey, was born in that place, November 19th, 1835. Hc was educated at Rutgers College. Selecting the legal profession, he began his studies therefor under the direction of Hon. Cortlandt Parker, of Newark, and was admitted to practise in November, 1859. He formed a copartnership with Mr. John P. Jackson, under the style of Stone & Jackson. The office of the firm is in Newark, and he still continues the senior partner therein. A public- spirited man, he has been called upon to occupy many posi- tions of trust and responsibility. He is a Director in the Rahway Gas Company and the Rahway Savings Institution. In the administration of public affairs he has borne a promi- nent part. IIe has been a member of the Rahway Com- mon Council, and served the community ably and faithfully for two years as Mayor of the city. For several years he has been attorney for Rahway. Ile was clected to the State Scnate from Union county in the fall of 1872 on the Republican ticket, reversing the result of the previous Senatorial clection, in which the county had gone Demo- cratic, and polling a large vote. In the session of 1874 he was Chairman of the Committees on Judiciary, Banks and Insurance, Fisheries, and Soldiers' Home, and a member

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The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 70

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