The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 77

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

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ARKER, IION. JAMES, of Perth Amboy, in Mid- dlesex county, sccond of the name, was the son of James Parker, of the same place, a citizen of high distinction before and after the Revolution of 1776, and was sprung from a family prominent in New Jersey from its earliest settlement. Wood- bridge was settled in 1666 by Puritans, who came there from New England-some from Massachusetts, others from Connecticut. Among those from Massachusetts was Elisha Parker, whose wife was the sister of Governor Hinckley. of Massachusetts. He married her at Barnstable in 1657, and

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had several children there before his removal to New Jer- | in the State. A Federalist, he was nevertheless not a parti- sey. One of his sons was also named Elisha. He was san. And his independence, integrity, and remarkable capacity, made him exceedingly influential. He was a statesman as well as a speaker. Many of the best-known statutes of the State were prepared by him. He was among the originators, if not himself the author, of the Fund for Free Schools. It is written of him, " When the history of the great movement on behalf of popular education in our State comes to be written, the first and the highest place in it will be assigned to James Parker."-(Historical address by Hon. R. S. Field.) He was a leader in measures for the prohibition of the domestic slave trade, which the gradual abolition of slavery actually encouraged, by leading owners to anticipate the period and export their slaves to other States. Both as a member of the Legislature, through which he caused the passage of efficient laws, and as Fore- man of the Middlesex Grand Jury, in punishing offenders, he did much to protect the negro and to protect the State from disgrace. He was one of the originators of the Dela- ware & Raritan Canal. He entered the Legislature in 1827 in order to carry through that enterprise, and suc- ceeded. He was a Director of that company until his death. Mr. Parker was thrice appointed a Commissioner to settle the boundary between New Jersey and New York; once as early as 1806, when but thirty years old; again in 1827, his colleagues being John Rutherford, Richard Stockton, Theodore Frelinghuysen and L. Q. C. Elmer; and finally in 1829, with Messrs. Frelinghuysen and Elmer. And in all these commissions Mr. Parker was a leading actor. The return of Federalists to influence, which distin- possessed of much property and was a prominent citizen. Governor Hunter, in 1717, made him a member of his Privy Council. His action in so doing was attacked by a clergyman of the English Church resident in Pennsylvania, upon the ground that Mr. Parker was a Puritan; and de- fended by the assertion of his high standing and because the governor designed, by new appointments, including this, to establish the Court of Chancery, after some delay the government at home indorsed his plan, and thus that court was established. Perhaps this position led Mr. Parker to the adoption of religious connections more common in the case of public officers. Whatever the cause, this gentle- man's children became Episcopalians, and their descend- ants since have always been earnest and influential in that denomination. John Parker, son of the last named, was born November 11th, 1693. He married a daughter of Dr. John Johnstone, a person of note, and was a member of the Governor's Privy Council from 1719 till his death in 1732. He was a man of education and influence. James Parker, his son, born January 29th, 1723, was also a leading citizen. He entered the provincial military service and embarked for the northern frontier in the French and Indian war, as Captain of a company raised in Middlesex county. Afterwards he became a merchant in New York, but resided in New Jersey. He was an active member of Governor Franklin's Privy Council, and was elected to the Provincial Congress, but did not take his seat. For a long period, likewise, he filled the position of Mayor of Amboy. After the Revolution, in 1789, he was a candidate for Con- guished the nomination of General Jackson, brought Mr. Parker again into national politics. He was an Elector in 1824 and gave his vote for Jackson, but J. Q. Adams was elected by the House of Representatives. In 1829 General Jackson appointed him Collector of Perth Amboy. In 1832, and again in 1834, he was elected, by general ticket, a member of the House of Representatives. He served with distinction, winning the cognomen of Honest James Parker, distinguishing himself as a champion of the right of peti- tion and as a guardian of the finances of the Union. Mr. Parker was a Trustee of Princeton College from 1825 to 1829, and of Rutgers during a much longer period. He was Mayor of Perth Amboy for many years, and till the very end of his long life was useful and public-spirited. His views were ahead of his day. He was younger in sentiment and opinion than most of his junior contemporaries. After leaving Congress and until his death, he was first a Whig, and then a Republican, a staunch supporter of the Union and of emancipation. He died April Ist, 1868. This gen- tleman had three sons, all worthy of mention among Jersey- men. James Parker, his eldest, died in Cincinnati in 1861, where he was distinguished as a lawyer and a Judge. He had early settled in Ohio, and occupied various useful stations there during his life. William Parker, his second son, died gress, nominated by what was known as the Conservative party of that day. He was a man of large landed property and of vigorous intellect. IIe was one of the founders of the American Episcopal Church in New Jersey, a leading member of the Board of Proprietors, then a most important body, from whom all land titles came, and in every walk of life an active and conspicuous citizen. He died in 1797, leaving several children ; among them James Parker, who was born March Ist, 1776, and who died April Ist, 1868. This gentleman was a man of great ability and public note. He was graduated in Columbia College, New York, in 1793, second in his class. Destined for mercan- tile life, he entered the counting-room of John Murray. The death of his father called him, at twenty-one years old, to take his place as the virtual head of his family. The large landed interests he had to manage compelled him to acquire an intimate practical knowledge of law, for which his sagacious mind largely fitted him, and this caused him to be regarded generally as a lawyer of eminence, though in fact he never practised the profession. He entered pub- lic life in 1806, when thirty years old, by becoming a mem- ber of Assembly. He was re-elected eight successive years ; then, after one year's interval, four years more, and again in 1827-28. He was a leader in the Legislature and |in 1868, not long after his father, at Aspinwall, Central

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America, where he had lived for several years as Superin- | questions involved in the strife. Since the termination of tendent of the Panama Railroad. He was a civil engineer of distinction. He had a leading part in the construction of the Boston & Worcester Railroad, of which he was long the Superintendent. lle likewise aided in the building of the Morris Canal, the Juniata Canal, the Georgia Railroad, and others ; and was President of the Boston & Lowell, and at one time Superintendent of the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- road. He was beloved and valued, in and out of his pro- fession.

ARKER, IION. CORTLANDT, Lawyer, of Newark, third son of Hon. James Parker, whose sketch precedes, was born at Perth Amboy, in June, 1818. At the age of five he lost his mother, but her place was filled by a sister of the cele- brated lawyer, David B. Ogden, of New York, whom his father married, and whose gentle influences were very influential in the formation of his character. After pass- ing through such schools as existed at that day in Perth Am- boy, and acquiring the elements of Latin and Greek under the tuition of Mr. Patterson, he entered, in 1832, the freshman class of Rutgers College, at New Brunswick, whence he was graduated, after a four years' course, with the first honor, and was selected to deliver the valedictory. The graduating class of this year-1836-was among the most distinguished that ever left Rutgers College, numbering such men as Justice Bradley, of the United States Supreme Court, Senator Freling- huysen, Governor Newell, and others of their stamp of intel- lect. On leaving college Mr. Parker entered upon the study of law in the office of Theodore Frelinghuysen, in Newark, and prosecuted his studies under that direction until his pre- ceptor's appointment as Chancellor of the University of New York, when he became a student with and completed his course under the auspices of Amzi Armstrong, whose early death deprived New Jersey of one of her brightest lights. In September, 1839, Mr. Parker was admitted to the bar, and es- tablished himself in Newark, where he still resides, engaged in the practice of his profession in connection with his son. About the same time, two of his classmates, Justice Bradley and Senator Frelinghuysen, opened law offices in that city, and all three rapidly rose in reputation as able lawyers and advocates. Mr. Parker has held only one public office, that of Prosecutor of Pleas of Essex county from 1857 to 1867, but for many years he has occupied a position among the foremost at the bar of his native State. ITis distinction is almost exclusively professional, except that he has always been a leader in the Whig and Republican parties. To the latter he attached himself at its formation in 1856. During the civil war he was active and intense in his support of the government and the nation, laboring industriously with voice and pen for the maintenance of the Union and the settlement upon a sure and lasting foundation of all the

the war he has been an earnest and consistent Republican, and the favorite of a very large section of his party for the highest political honors. A most decided repugnance to the use in any form of the means by which office is often se- cured, and an unwavering belief in the essential soundness of the principle that office should seek the man, rather than man the office, have so far kept him in private life and de- prived the country of his valuable services. He was nomi- nated by Governor Newell as Chancellor of the State, and it is understood that at another time he was tendered a seat on the Supreme Court bench, but he declined. On several occasions his eminent professional services have been se- cured by the State. The duty of revision of the laws was devolved upon him by sundry acts of the Legislature, and was performed to the satisfaction of that body and also of the community at large. Ile also acted as Commissioner to settle the disputed boundary between New Jersey and Delaware. He was tendercd the post of Commissioner under the Alabama treaty, but declined it. There have been very few important litigations in New Jersey of late years in which he has not borne a part, and always conspicuously. Both as a man and as an advocate his popularity is very wide. Among other distinguished services rendered by him to the State in the line of his profession, and nearly related thereto, must be mentioned the part he took in the move- ment which culminated in the passage of the general rail- road law, which has done much to purify the source of legis. lation by removing from the law-making power the oppor. tunities of corruption. In this movement he was, from the first to the last, the leader, and to his able guidance its suc- cess is in very great degree attributable. Progressive in his views upon all subjects, he is frequently in advance of public sentiment, but when occasion has demanded the effort the community has seldom failed to respond to his leadership, A member of the Episcopal Church, he has occupied a prominent position therein, representing it in two General Conventions, and being a delegate and active debater in every Diocesan Convention since attaining his majority. His own college and also that of New Jersey have conferred on him the degree of LL. D. In educational matters he has ever manifested an unflagging interest, and is now a Trustee of Rutgers College. As a public speaker he is pc. culiarly successful, always commanding the closest attention and wielding a potent influence. Many of his addresses have been published in pamphlet form, and their publica- tion has contributed to his reputation as a sound, logical and cogent speaker. Among them may be mentioned : an ad. dress at Rutgers College, on " True Professional Success ; " the centennial address of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, on " The Open Bible, the Source and Stay of American Free. dom; " several Fourth of July addresses, delivered during the civil war, each ably discussing the question of the day : an historical address on Philip Kearny, and another on Abraham Lincoln. Though absorbed in the labor of a very

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extensive practice, Mr. Parker has always found time for literary employment, and for discussions, more or less care- ful, of public affairs.

LARK, GEORGE A., Manufacturer, of Newark, New Jersey, and Paisley, Scotland, was born in Paisley about 1823. He was the second son of John Clark, of the great firm of James & John Clark, cotton thread manufacturers, and the grandson of the John Clark who, in 1812, founded the business. About 1840 he entered, as a lad, into the employment of the firm of Kerr & Co., at Hamil- ton, Ontario, and after remaining with this house for some four years, returned to Paisley and began the manufacture of shawls. In 1850 he relinquished this business and was then admitted as a partner with his brother-in-law, Mr Peter Kerr (who was drowned at Long Branch in 1869) in the manufacture of cotton thread. Subsequently his firm was merged into that of the Clarks, and in the latter he re- tained a partnership until his death, and it was mainly owing to his energy and business ability that the resources and oper- ations of the establishment were so vastly developed. At the commencement of the business, abont 1812, the Paisley works were so inconsiderable, that one man, turning a crank, furnished all necessary motive power, and the sale of manu- factured goods was limited to but a small portion of the United Kingdom ; at his death the Paisley works gave em- ployment to upwards of 2,000 operatives, 1,000 more were employed in the works at Newark, New Jersey, and the business of the firm extended over almost the entire globe. The American branch of the business is wholly due to him. In 1856 he came to this country to take charge of the gen- eral agency of the firm for the United States and Canada, his head-quarters being fixed in New York. The consump- tion of cotton thread being greatly stimulated by the increased nse of sewing machines, and the firm being placed at a dis- advantage, by reason of the high protective tariff, in com- peting with American manufacturers, he determined upon the establishment of a branch of the Paisley works in the United States. To this end he founded a factory at Newark, New Jersey, in 1864, and in the fall of that year began operations, on a small scale, in a hired building at the corner of Front and Fulton streets. At the same time he put under contract the extensive works on Clark street, personally superintending their erection, and in many ways improving upon the Paisley model. At the end of eighteen months the buildings were completed, and in the spring of 1866 Clark's O. N. T. spool-cotton became an established manufacture in America. At the head of this great in. dustry, giving employment to so large a number of people and affecting so beneficially the prosperity of the city, he naturally became one of the most prominent men in Newark, and his advice and assistance were sought in fur-

thering various commercial enterprises and undertakings for the public good. In religious matters he was equally conspicuous. An earnest Christian-one who made practi. cal Christianity a part of his daily life, and who constantly sought, by precept and example, to uphold and chiffuse its doctrincs-he was one of the most active adherents of the North Reformed Church of Newark, and of his large for- lune he at all times gave freely for the promotion of religious and benevolent projects. IIIs gemal, kindly nature made him not less esteemed socially than in commercial and re- ligious circles. Never ostentatious in his hospitality, he was always liberal and gracious, and his friendships were warm and unwavering. In a word, in the various relations of life, he was a man, acquaintance with whom conferred an honor. His death, from heart disease, occurred sud- denly, on the 13th of February, 1873, and was the cause of widespread and very sincere sorrow. Appropriate action was taken by the Newark Board of Trade, of which he was a prominent member ; by the Directors of the People's In- surance Company, of which he was a Director, and by the Burns Society, of Newark, of which he was President at the time of his death. Funeral services were held in the North Reformed Church, attended by representatives of the above- named organizations, and by the leading citizens of Newark ; and in all ways possible respect was shown to his memory. Ilis remains, sent back to Scotland, rest in the cemetery of his native town of Paisley.

WING, HON. JAMES, late of Trenton, Merchant, at one time Mayor of the city, one of the founders of the Trenton Library and Academy, was the father of Chief-Justice Ewing, and the tenth child of Thomas and Mary Ewing. IIe first moved to Tienton, as a Representative of Cumberland county in the Legislature in 1774, and re- moved his residence there in 1779. He was subsequently, under Congress, Auditor of Public Accounts, Commis- sioner of the Continental Loan Office for New Jersey, and Agent for Pensions. From 1797 to 1803 he officiated as Mayor of Trenton, and was importantly instrumental in securing the establishment of the city's library and academy. During sev- eral years he sustained a partnership relation with Isaac Col- lins, and engaged extensively in general mercantile pursuits. He was also a corporator, commissioner and secretary of the society, incorporated March 15th, 1796, to make the Assan- pink navigable from the Trenton Mills to the place where it intersects the stage-road from Burlington to Amboy ; and probably was in the company which, February 3d, 1797, descended the stream in the boat " Hope," from Davids- town, where the upper lock was situated, to Trenton, in three hours, and so opened one half of the proposed line of navigation. " It may have been a revival of this scheme

geo a clark

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that was contemplated in November, 1814, when a public of his having embraced doctrines too much at variance meeting was called to form an association to supply the town with those of our communion for his comfortable continu- ance." He was a man of strong convictions, slow in con- ception, but earnest in execution ; while, even by those with whose opinions his own were far from harmonizing, he was respected and esteemed. He died in the early part of the present century. with firewood by water." September 5th, 1808, he was elected a Trustee of the Trenton Presbyterian Church, and ordained an Elder, September 21st, 1817. He continued in both offices until his decease, which took place October 23d, 1823. In accordance with his known objections to the practice, no stone was placed to indicate the spot of his in- terment, which is in the churchyard of the city with whose history and interests his name is so intimately and honorably identified.

OSWELL, REV. WILLIAM, Clergyman, late of Trenton, was born in New Jersey, and had been for sixteen years pastor of the Baptist Congrega- tion of Trenton and Lamberton, when, in 1823, he issued an address to its members, on account of his adoption of some new tenets, which in several points favored the doctrine of Swedenborgianism. Ilis address was answered by an elaborate letter from Rev. John Burtt, first editor of The Presbyterian, in Philadelphia, who was then engaged in spiritual labors in Trenton and the vicinity. The First Baptist Church of Lamberton was opened November 26th, 1803, on which occasion the initial sermon was delivered by Dr. Staughton. His church, or chapel, was known as the " Reformed General Baptist Meeting House," was built, of bricks, in eleven weeks, and opened October 19th, 1823 ; the dimensions were fifty-four feet by forty. He died June 10th, 1833, at the age of fifty- seven. His grave is in the rear of the building where he last preached, afterward the Second Presbyterian Church. Near to it is that of another prominent Baptist minister, Rev. Burgess Allison, D. D., who died while on a visit to Trenton, February 20th, 1827.

ALLAS, HON. ALEXANDER JAMES, States- man, Financier, late of Trenton, New Jersey, was born in the island of Jamaica, June 2Ist, 1759. He was the son of a Scotch physician, and obtained" his earlier training and education at Edinburgh and Westminster. His mother be- coming a widow, and again marrying, he was preventcd from obtaining any share of his father's property, and in April, 1783, quitted his native place, and settled in Phila- delphia. In the following June he took the oath of alle- giance to the State of Pennsylvania, and in July, 1785, was admitted to practise as an advocate in the Supreme Court, and subscquently became a practitioner in the United States courts. He engaged also in literary undertakings, wrote for the public journals, and at one time edited The Colum- bian Magazine. In January, 1791, he was appointed, by Governor Mifflin, Secretary of Pennsylvania, and in Decem- ber, 1793, his commission was renewed. He was after- wards constituted Paymaster-General of a force which he accompanied in an expedition to Pittsburgh. In December, 1796, he again became Secretary of State of Pennsylvania, and on the election of Jefferson to the Presidency, in 1801, was appointed United States Attorney for the Eastern Dis- trict of Pennsylvania, and occupied that post until his re- moval to Washington. October 6th, 1814, he was made Secretary of the United States Treasury, then in an involved and embarrassed condition, and in that highly responsible and important position exhibited remarkable ability and well-directed energy. In March, 1815, he undertook the additional duties of the War Office, and successfully per- formed the delicate and difficult task of reducing the army. In 1816 peace and tranquillity being restored, and the finan- cial condition of the country being improved under the in- fluence of the National Bank, which he had so long and zealously endeavored to establish, hc resigned his post and resumed the practice of the law. He published : " Features of Jay's Treaty," 1795 ; " Speeches on the Trial of Blount ; " " Laws of Pennsylvania," with notes ; " Reports," four vols., 1806-7 ; " Treasury Reports; " " Exposition of the Causes and Character of the war of 1812-15," etc. His son, Cap- tain James Alexander Dallas, United States navy, was born in 1791, and died in Callao bay, June 3d, 1844, command- ing the Pacific Squadron ; he entered the navy in 1805, in 1812 served under Rodgers in "The President," later, under Chauncey, on Lake Ontario, and accompanied Porter

RITTAIN, JOSEPH, late of Trenton, New Jersey, was a prosperous Shoe Manufacturer, and one of the leading men of property of this city. He was the principal owner of the lot on which the State House is built. In January, 1792, he con- veyed two and a quarter acres to the commis- sioners of the State for the nominal price of five shillings ; and in February of the same year three-quarters of an acre for sixty-seven pounds and ten shillings. On the same day William Reeder, whose name is also among the signatures of the instrument then drawn up, conveyed one-quarter of an acre for the same purpose, at the price of sixty-two pounds and ten shillings; and George Ely half an acre for one hundred and twenty pounds. He was a prominent and valued member of the Presbyterian Church in Trenton, from 1809 to 1813, " when his connection ceased in consequence | in his cruise for the extermination of the West India pirates.

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George Mifflin Dallas, LL. D., another son, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 10th, 1792, and died there December 3Ist, 1864; he attained high distinction as a criminal lawyer, and as an able statesman and diplomatist ; was Mayor of Philadelphia, United States Senator, Attorney- General of Pennsylvania, Ambassador to Russia, Minister to England, and, 1845-49, Vice-President of the United States. Throughout the eastern and middle sections of the United States Secretary Dallas was admired and esteemed for his abilities, which were of a most varied and thorough nature, as jurist, statesman, and financier ; but particularly in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, with whose interests and history he is more especially identified, was his repu- tation widespread and enviable. He died in Trenton, New Jersey, January 16th, 1817. A grandson, George M. Dallas, son of the Vice-President, is a resident of Philadel- phia, and a lawyer of high standing at the bar of that city. He was a member of the convention assembled toward the close of 1872 for the revision of the constitution of the State of Pennsylvania.

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The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 77

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