The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 74

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

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is a man of large public spirit, and has always manifested an active and intelligent interest in all projects which in his judgment would tend to the advancement of his town. Additional banking facilities being a plain necessity of the locality, he initiated a movement which resulted in the or- ganization, in 1875, of the Second National Bank of Red Bank. His executive ability and financial standing marked him out as eminently fitted for the successful conduct of the new enterprise, and he was accordingly elected the first President of the institution. This post he has since contin- ned to fill, and under his management the bank has secured an assured financial position and the high favor of the com- munity. In politics he is and has always been an earnest Republican, devoting himself at all times to the promotion of his party's success in the simple faith that the country's welfare is inseparably bound up in the supremacy of Repub- i editor of the Washington Capitol, is descended. In New

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Jersey, New York and Ohio numerous representatives of | again offered his services, and in May, 1812, was appointed the family are now living.

OOPER, JAMES B., Commander in the United States navy, late of Haddonfield, New Jersey, was the son of Benjamin and Elizabeth Cooper, of Gloucester county, New Jersey, both of whom belonged to the Society of Friends. His mother's maiden name was HIopenrie. His father was fourth in descent from William Cooper, who in the early part of the seventeenth century settled at Old Newton, Gloucester county, which has continued to be the seat of his descendants down to the fifth generation. The descend- ant who forms the subject of this sketch has a double claim to the remembrance and reverence of his countrymen, hav- ing won laurels as a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and as a sailor in the war of 1812. He entered " Lee's Legion" in his seventeenth year, and continued in it until the peace of 1783, serving with credit and distinction under both Lee and Marion. And distinction in such a service meant what it would require a volume to express. He took part in the storming of Stony Point; in the surprise and capture of the British garrison at Paulus Hook; in the bat- tle of Guilford Court-House, North Carolina; in the suc- cessful operations against Forts Watson, Motte and Granby, South Carolina ; in the surprise and capture of Fort Gal- phin, Georgia; in the triumphant attack on Augusta, Geor- gia; in the siege of Fort Ninety-Six, South Carolina ; and in the battle of Eutaw Springs, South Carolina. His cour- age and urbanity made him a favorite in the army, and won the full confidence of his illustrious commander, who se- lected him as the bearer of despatches to Congress, and likewise to the Commander-in-Chief, the immortal Wash- ington, who had selected the " Legion " for his body-guard at the battle of Germantown, and with whom it was always in high favor. He was also chosen by Lee to carry a flag of truce to the British commander. The seal to his mili- tary distinction was thus set by the hand of "Legion Harry " himself, him of whom General Greene declared that " few officers in Europe or America " were "held in so high a point of estimation," and that "no man in the progress of the southern campaign had equal merit with him." To have served under such a commander, and re- ceived his commendation, was in itself a splendid distinc- tion. After the peace he turned his attention to mercantile pursuits, and, entering the mercantile marine, he made the voyage to China in 1784, soon becoming a ship-master and ship-owner, proving that he could prosecute the arts of pcace as vigorously and skilfully as those of war. But though he had beaten his sword into a tiller, he showed in due time that he was as ready to wield the tiller as he had been the sword, against the enemies of his country; for, on the breaking out of the second war with Great Britain, he

Sailing-Master in the United States navy, in which capacity he served during the war, being honored by President Mad- ison, after its close, with a Lieutenant's commission, dated April 22d, 1822, an especial mark of favor, no other pronto- tions having occurred at the time, or for many years there- after. In 1841, September Sth, he was appointed Master Commander in the navy, and continued actively in service for many years afterwards, until in his seventy-third year he was ordered on duty at the Navy Asylum in Philadelphia, in the performance of which light and not uncongenial service he passed smoothly down the long decline of his life. I.e died at his residence in Haddonfield, New Jersey, February 5th, 1854, in the ninety-third year of his age, the last survivor of " Lee's Legion," as he had been among its first members in all soldierly achievements and all manly qualities. He was twice married : first to Rebecca Morgan, daughter of Grif- fith Morgan, who died in 1812, and by whom he had eleven children ; and November 26th, 1818, to Elizabeth Clement, daughter of John Clement, of Haddonfield, a descendant in the fourth degree from Gregory Clement, of London, the regicide. By his last wife he had one child.

OOPER, BENJAMIN, Commodore in the United States navy, was the son of Commander James B. Cooper, the subject of the foregoing sketch. Entering the navy as Sailing-Master in 1809, he served with honor under Captain Lawrence on board the " Hornet " in her action with the " Pea- cock," February 22d, 1813, and December 9th, 1814, was appointed Lieutenant. In 1828, April 24th, he was made Master Commander, and February 28tl1, 1838, Captain. He died at his residence in Brooklyn, June Ist, 1851. His remains were interred in Greenwood cemetery, with mili- tary honors, Captains Stringham, Sands, Bell, Engle, and other naval officers acting as pall-bearers. Ile was a distin- guished officer, an eminent citizen, and a pure and high- minded man, a worthy son, in all respects, of the gallant and honored legionary to whom it was given to fight for his country with equal effectiveness in two wars and on two elements.

ORNELL, REV. WILLIAM, D. D., was born in 1834 in Seneca county, New York. He was the son of a farmer in moderate circumstances, and achieved his education under difficultics, which, however, disappeared one after another, and sometimes in troops, before his strong love of knowledge and resolute will. Ile was prepared for college by the Rev. Dr. Brown, subsequently a missionary in Japan, and entered Rutgers in 1855, with the ministry in view as

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his vocation. By selling books, and turning to such one converted a poor woman to God; don't destroy this ; other avocations as offered themselves, he worked his way here is one which I know saved a young man's soul, for he told me so; keep that," and so on through them all. Those which he knew had converted somebody he wished pre- served; but all the rest he ordered to be burned. Rarely has a soul ascended to its Maker so completely purged from the taint of earth. He died, September 11th, 1876, lamented keenly by all who knew him, and most by those who knew him best. Previously to accepting his first charge at Montague he was married to Julia Smith, of Middlebush, who survives him. through the college and the seminary, and graduated with honors, winning the esteem alike of his teachers and of his associates. His first charge was at Montague, Sussex county, New Jersey, from which, after remaining one year, he went to Freehold, where he also remained a year, teaching in the institute, his health not permitting him to preach. From Freehold he went to Woodstown, Salem county, remaining five years, and faithfully preach- ing during the whole period; after which, his health again failing, he removed to Somerville, in 1868, and founded liis " Classical Institute for both Sexes," which he con- ducted until his death. The seat of the institute for the first year was at the northern end of Somerville, but he subsequently purchased a lot on South street, where he erected a handsome building, which included his home as well as his school-room, and where he died. His school speedily gained a widespread reputation, and drew to it pupils from far and near. He was especially successful in training young men for college, liis pupils, as was often remarked by Dr. Campbell, President of Rutgers, knowing their classics so well that it was almost idle to examine them. Throughout the eight years of arduous labor which he spent in teaching at Somerville, he occupied the pulpit on the Sabbath whenever possible, feeling that his higher mission was to preach the gospel, and finding in the fulfil- ment of this mission his chief delight. Nothing but sick- ness which utterly precluded his attendance ever prevented his preaching when called upon. And his services were not unfruitful. At Lebanon, where he long ministered to a flock without a shepherd; at Raritan, where he filled a vacancy in the pulpit of the Third Reformed Church, and every- where indeed that he preached, he gained hearts not only for himself, but for his Master. His characteristics as a clergyman were marked and admirable. "As a minister," to quote the apt words of one who knew him well, " he was faithful ; as a preacher he was full of power. His ser- mons were first carefully prepared, and then rewritten, so as not to present an erasure or a blot. His language was simple, like the language of the gospel, but direct, incisive, and full of hope to the believer. Whether he preached the terrors of hell or the allurements of heaven, he faithfully portrayed the whole word. Earnestness, a profound belief in all he uttered, and simplicity of diction were his strong points in preaching, and they are the points which will make any preacher strong and powerful." His zeal and sincerity were of the purest type. The vice of worldliness had no place in his character. He never preached for effect, except the effect of saving human souls, esteeming all else as vanity and foolishness. A proof of this at once striking and touching was afforded by an incident of his closing days. Requesting that his sermons should be brought to him, that he might direct what should be done with them, he deliberately looked at each, saying : " This

ARRARD, HON. LEVI D., Merchant and Legis- lator, of New Brunswick, was born in Warren county, New Jersey, August 3d, 1824. Both his parents were natives of the same State, his father, Jonas Jarrard, being in his time an extensive manufacturer of wagons, plows, etc .; his mother's maiden name was Ereminah Dalrimple. The district schools of Warren county gave him educational training up to his fourteenth year, when he entered a mercantile estab- lishment in the same county. After clerking in this con- nection for about four years he removed to Morris county, where he was similarly engaged for the ensuing three years. Then he commenced business on his own account, locating at Mount Freedom. By this time he had attained his twenty-first year. He successfully conducted this under- taking for two years, and then, encouraged by his success, he sought a more extensive field of operations. This he found at Parryville, Pennsylvania, in the neighborhood of Mauch Chunk. Here he pursued a prosperous career until 1850, when he again determined upon a further extension of business. For this purpose he removed to New Bruns- wick, New Jersey, and opened upon the river front one of the most extensive ship-chandleries in the State: This en- terprise he continues to carry on, embracing all branches of ship-supplying, and it to-day occupies a front rank among concerns of its class. Since locating in New Brunswick he has become interested in and owner of a number of vessels doing business along the Delaware & Raritan Canal. But he has not permitted his own personal interests to absorb all his energies. A man of large public spirit and decided convictions, he has taken an earnest interest in politics, local, State and national. In hearty sympathy with the principles of the Republican party, he has ever been found among its most active members, and his high intelligence, delicate tact and superior executive ability, combined with great personal magnetism, won for him, years since, the position of a leader in his section. Numerous illustrations are afforded of- liis popularity and influence. In 1857 and 1858 he was chosen one of the Aldermen of the city. In 1864 he was chosen to represent Middlesex county in the popular branch of the Legislature, and by successive 'elec-

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tions served through the sessions of 1864, 1865 and 1866. Again, in 1868, he was returned to the same body, and served during the sessions of 1868 and 1869. His course in the Assembly marked him out as eminently fitted for a higher trust, and accordingly, in 1870, he was chosen as Senator for Middlesex county, and this position he held, to the marked satisfaction of his constituents and with honor to himself and the party he represents, for two terms, being re-elected in 1873. During his long term of service in both branches of the Legislature he introduced many meas- ures of great importance, among which may be cited "A Bill for the Education and Maintenance of the Deaf and Dumb, Blind, and Feeble-Minded of the State." This was presented during the session of 1876. It provided for the establishment of three institutions : one at New Brunswick for the deaf and dumb; another at Trenton for the blind, and a third at Bordentown for the feeble-minded. Passed by both chambers, it encountered a veto at the hands of Governor Bedle, but nevertheless came very near enact- ment, only two votes being lacking to pass it over the veto. The measure was then divided into three separate bills, all of which passed the Legislature, but failed to become law, the governor withholding his signature. During his career in the Senate he served upon the Committees on Municipal Corporations, Railroads and Canals, and Reform School, being Chairman of each; he also acted on many other im- portant committees in both branches of the Legislature after his first entrance into the legislative halls. As a legislator he was always a hard and efficient worker, guarding carefully and untiringly promoting the immediate interests of his constituents, and protecting those of his party generally from aggression by representatives of a dif- ferent faith from other counties. He has always been a devoted advocate of the maintenance of the Union, and during the rebellion he was among the staunchest sup- porters of the administration, labored to his utmost for the successful prosecution of the war, and contributed largely of his means in caring for the widows and orphans of the soldiers. He was a district Delegate to the Republican National Convention at Chicago, in 1868, and also a Dele- gate at large to the Philadelphia Convention, in 1872. As a citizen of New Brunswick he has always been distin- guished for his ready and generous aid to all movements for the improvement and development of the city. He is one of the Directors and largest stockholders in the Ma- sonic Hall, one of the finest and most extensive structures in the city, containing an elegant opera house, handsome assembly rooms, and lodge rooms of the order, and a large number of lawyers' offices, etc. The erection of the huild- ing was commenced in 1870, and completed in 1874, at a cost of $285,000. Ile has been a Director and stockholder in most of the loan associations of New Brunswick, and holds the same relations to the New Brunswick & Cran- berry Turnpike Company. It will thus be seen that his life has been an exceptionally busy one, and not only so,

| but one whose activity has redounded very largely to the advantage of the city in which his lot has been immedi- ately cast, and to the welfare of the community at large, the influence of a well-spent life widening and widening continually, and comprehending a sphere far more extended than is directly recognized. He was married on August 31st, 1844, to Jane Trowbridge, daughter of David Trow- bridge, of Mount Freedom, Morris county, who for many years served as a justice of the peace in that county, and was much respected.

ALL, REV. BAYNARD RUST, D. D., Educator, Author, late of Brooklyn, New York, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1798. In 1820 he was graduated from the Union College, and subsequently studied, and also graduated, at the

Princeton Theological Seminary. He was for several years pastor of a church, and President of a college in Bloomington, Indiana ; and afterward pastor of a con- gregation, and principal of a flourishing academy in Bed- ford, Pennsylvania. At various times he was connected with educational institutions in Bordentown and Trenton, New Jersey, and Poughkeepsie and Newburgh, New York. In 1852, or thereabout, hc removed to Brooklyn, New York; officiated for some time as Principal of the Park In- stitute; and during the last few years of his life found pleasure and occupation in preaching to the destitute and the lower classes, and in administering, to the extent of his ability, to their spiritual comforts and material needs. He published a " Latin Grammar " in 1828; " The New Pur- chase," in 1843; " Something for Everybody; " " Teaching a Science; " and " Frank Freeman's Barber Shop," 1852. He possessed an extensive circle of friends and admirers in the States of New Jersey and New York, and wherever he was known was loved and respected for his unostentatious good deeds and charities, and his many abilities, natural and acquired. His "Latin Grammar" has been frequently and warmly culogized as a scholarly production; and his story of " Frank Frceman " had at one time quite an ex- tended popularity. He died at Brooklyn, New York, Janu- ary 23d, 1863.

URAND, ASHIER BROWN, Painter and En- graver, of New Jersey, was born in Jefferson, New Jersey, August 21st, 1796. Ilis paternal ancestors were IIuguenots. He learned the art of engraving in the shop of his father, a skilful watchmaker. In 1812 he was apprenticed to Peter Maverick, engraver, with whom, in 1817, hc became a partner. Ilis engraving of " Trumbull's Declaration of Independence," his first large work, cost him three years of labor, but at once brought him into favorable notice. The

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national portrait gallery contains many of his heads; and his | of his brilliant military record. On his admission to the bar " Musidora " and "Ariadne" are excellent specimens of he settled at Belvidere, where he has already acquired a large practice which is steadily increasing. Since 1873 he has been associated in the practice with Mr. Harris, under the firm-name of Givens & Harris. In politics he is a Democrat, devotedly attached to his party, and, as may be readily believed, cherished by his party in return. By many of his political friends of Warren he was pressed as a can- didate for Congress at the late election, and no doubt would have received the nomination, had not another quarter of the district claimed it, on the ground of geographical rotation, not a very intelligible ground perhaps in the light of reason, but potent enough in the somewhat mixed light that " beats upon " the average voter. But he is still young, and can well afford to bide his time. He undoubtedly has a political future. art. After ten years' practice as a painter, he relinquished engraving in 1835, and devoted himself chiefly to landscape. painting. His pictures are pleasing in color and tone, and evince a high degree of poetic feeling and appreciation. The principal of his figure-pieces are, "An Old Man's Reminiscences," " The Wrath of Peter Stuyvesant," " God's Judgment on Gog," "The Dance on the Battery," and " The Capture of André." Among the more notable of his landscapes are, " The Morning and Evening of Life," a pair, " Lake Scene-Sunset," "The Rainbow; " wood-scene, " Primeval Forest," "In The Woods," " The Symbol," from Goldsmith's " Deserted Village," " Franconia Mountains," and " Reminiscences of Catskill Cloves." In 1854 he painted a portrait of the poet, William Cullen Bryant. He has filled with marked ability the office of President of the National Academy of Design. His son, John Durand a scholarly gentleman, and one well-versed in art and artistic matters, has for several years past conducted The Crayon, a monthly publication specially devoted to the fine arts.

G GIVENS, JOHN U., of Belvidere, Lawyer, was born in the village of Vernon, Sussex county, New Jersey, May 25th, 1834. His father was John Givens, the name also of his grandfather, who was a soldier in the war of 1812. After the usual attendance at the common schools, he entered the academy of William Rankin, at Deckertown, New Jersey, becoming afterwards a teacher, teaching in the public schools of Warren county for about nine years, towards the close of which period he began the reading of law, under the instruc- tions of the Hon. A. J. Rogers. In 1862, stimulated by patriotism, and not unmindful of his descent from a soldier, he enlisted in the 31st New Jersey Infantry, and was subse- quently promoted to a Lieutenancy. On the expiration of the term of service of the 3Ist, and the mustering out of the regiment, he assisted in organizing the 2d New Jersey Cavalry, of which he was commissioned First Lieutenant. His regiment was sent to the Southwest, where it was engaged in the several battles with General Price, and also in the capture of Mobile. In all those engagements, as in all subsequent ones, he showed himself a worthy descendant of the soldier of 1812. At Egypt Station, in acknowledg- ment of his bravery on the field, he was assigned to the Captaincy of Company H, made vacant by the death of Captain Gallagher, killed while assaulting a stockade at that place. His entire record in the war is one of gallantry and soldierly conduct. At the close of the war he resumed his legal studies, under Thomas Rays, of Newton, and was admitted to the bar in 1870, having previously, however, served two terms in the New Jersey Assembly, so impatient were the people to express their sense of his abilities and

OTTER, WILLIAM S., was born February 26th, 1833, at Pottersville, New Jersey. He is the son of Samuel Potter, a farmer of that place, whose father, Colonel Jonathan Potter, was long con- nected with the New Jersey militia, and whose grandfather and great-grandfather both served through the revolutionary war, the latter as Colonel, the former as Captain. The family, one of the oldest in the State, is of English extraction. As early as 1696 it had struck its roots deep and spread them wide in the soil of New Jersey, if we may judge from the ancient records of Newark, the grant for the site of the public buildings of the town in that year describing the property granted as being bounded on the west and south by lands of Samuel Potter. The family is thus not only one of the oldest in the State, but identified with the origin and growth of its chief city. Young William attended the public schools until he was fourteen years of age, when he entered as clerk a mercantile establishment at Morristown, where he remained one year, after which he served six years in the same capacity at Pottersville. He then undertook farming near Freehold, following it until 1855, at which time he embarked in the manufacture of mowing machines and agricultural imple- ments in general, prosecuting the business for two years. Having quit it, he resided for a short time in Freehold, from which he removed to the city of New York, and engaged in business there. At the outbreak of the civil war, he, having meanwhile become a member of the celebrated 7th Regiment, went with his comrades to the defence of the national capital, and remained with the regiment until the. term of enlistment expired. On his return he removed to Pluckemin, New Jersey, of revolutionary fame, and, in company with his brother, carried on merchandising. ' While residing in Pluckemin he was elected a niember of the Town Committee, of which he was made Chairman, a position in which he rendered valuable aid in filling the quotas of the town. In 1867 he was elected by the Democrats Surrogate

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of Somerset county, and filled the office for five years, to the satisfaction of all parties, his trained business capacity and varied experience of life admirably fitting him for the complex and responsible duties of the place. He was re- nominated by his party in 1872, but, with the rest of the local Democratic ticket, shared the general disaster attending upon the Greeley campaign. IIe has been for four years a mem- ber of the Somerville Street Commission, and Secretary of the Somerset County Agricultural Society, since its organiza- tion in 1870. He is also a Director of the Somerville Building Loan Association. He is now engaged as a con- tractor and, in the insurance business. He is, besides, at present Secretary of the Speaker of the New Jersey Assembly. He was married in 1863 to Miss Van Derbeck, of Laming- ton, New Jersey.

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The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 74

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