The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 89

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

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MITII, LYNDON A., Physician, late of Newark, New Jersey, was born at Haverhill, New Hamp- shire, November 11th, 1795, and was the son of Rev. Ethan Smith. He graduated at Dartmouth College in August, 1817, and in that institution took also his medical degree in 1822. In July, IS27, he removed to Newark, New Jersey, from Williams- town, Massachusetts, and there resided till the time of his decease. He was a valued and prominent member of the Essex District Medical Society, and his name is, from April 28th, 1829, down to 1865, to be seen on almost every page of its " Transactions." While in the enjoyment of his usual health, there was suddenly developed disease of the prostate gland ; and, although he rallied at times, it caused his death in about eight weeks. The sentiment of the pro- fession and the public was admirably expressed in the reso- lution passed at the special meeting of the Essex Society, whose members attended his funeral in a body : " Resolved : That in the death of Dr. Smith, this society suffers no com- mon bereavement. Eminently social and genial in his feel- ings, cordial in his friendships, kind to his equals in age, fatherly toward his juniors, and ingennous and open in all his intercourse, he had won a warm place in our fraternal regard. Educated at one of New England's oldest seats of learning, and trained for his profession in one of our best medical schools, he united, with a generous, general culture, a thorough knowledge of the principles of the liberal science to which he purposed to devote his life ; and, under the guidance of a discriminating judgment and a conscien- tious sense of responsibility, he applicd this knowledge with distinguished skill and success to the relief of suffering hu- manity through a period of more than forty years. Holding in just appreciation the noble mission of his profession and its cxalted rank among secular pursuits, he was warmly in- tercsted in every effort to add to its stores of knowledge, to extend the limits of its resources and elevate the standard of literary and scientific preparation to be required of those who would scek admission to its mysteries. Hence, the various associations, local and national, instituted with

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reference to those objects, found in him an ardent friend, a constant, ever present helper. . ... Humane in all his impulses, every work of philanthropy had a place in his sympathies ; a sincere and consistent Christian, the church and all her enterprises of benevolence and charity received his earnest co-operation and advocacy; a patriotic and loyal citizen, he gave his whole hcart to his country's cause, and in the day of her calamity laid the son of his old age a sac- rifice upon her altar." Dr. Abraham Coles, President of the Medical Society of New Jersey, at the Centenary Anni- versary, held January, 1866, also paid an eloquent tribute to him as a physician and a Christian gentleman. IIe died in Newark, New Jersey, December 15th, 1865.

LMER, JOHN C., Physician, late of Springfield, New Jersey, was born in Goshen, Orange county, New York, April 7th, 1817, and graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, in the class of 1840. In the course of the same year he settled in Mendham, New Jersey, and in 1852 removed to Springfield, where he remained until the time of his decease. He had studied medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. John B. Johnes, of Morristown, New Jersey, in his day one of the most eminent men in the State. He was a student and practitioner of ripe experience, and was regarded as especially skilled in diagnosis. " He was very faithful to his patients, and had a strong hold upon their affections. His mind was powerful and discrimi- nating, and he was patient in research. He was a very tall, stout man; his face bore ample evidence of kindness of heart and quiet thinking, common to many men of sympa- thetic temperaments. He was a man, however, of strong will and very decided opinions." He died, October 17th, 1863.

USCHENBERGER WILLIAM S. W , Surgeon, Naturalist, Traveller, Author, was born in Cum- berland county, New Jersey, September 4th, 1807, in which year his father died, though his mother is still living at the age of ninety-two, enabling him in his seventieth year to enjoy the rare privilege of a mother's care, or the care of a mother, which is perhaps the keener enjoyment of the two. After pursuing his academical course in Philadelphia and New York, he began the study of medicine in August, 1824, under the direction of Dr. J. P. Hopkinson and Dr. Nathaniel Chapman, of Philadelphia, subsequently enter- ing the medical department of the University of Pennsyl- vania, from which he graduated in March, IS30. He had been appointed, August 10th, 1826, Surgeon's Mate in the United States navy, in the service of which he spent the

whole of his active professional life, visiting nearly all the strange lands and seas of this planet, seeing the sights thereof, and, what is more, telling of them in racy and graphic books. In the course of the eight years that im- mediately followed his entrance into the navy, he made two voyages to the Pacific and about it, giving the result of his observations to the world in a work entitled " Three Years in the Pacific," published in Philadelphia in 1834, and the next year in London. Thus early did he find his true bent, and thus successfully, at the opening, did he work it. From March, 1835, to November, 1837, he was Fleet Surgeon of the East India Squadron, in which he circumnavigated the globe, recording his experiences in another volume, entitled "A Voyage Round the World," published in Philadelphia in 1838, and the same year in London, with the omission of certain strictures on the British government, which were probably too true to be palatable to the British public. This work received flatter- ing notices from the Edinburgh Review, the London Athenaum, the Southern Literary Messenger and the North American Review, which last pronounced it " the most readable account of foreign travel" that had lately appeared. He was in charge of the United States Naval Asylum at Brooklyn, New York, from 1843 to 1847, during which period he organized the Naval Laboratory, for sup- plying the service with unadulterated drugs. In this im- portant matter he displayed conspicuously the practical side of his character and talents, proving that he could devise and execute measures for the good of the mariners as well as provide amusement for the marines. In 1848 he again visited the East Indies, giving an account of his visit in " Notes and Commentaries during a Voyage to Brazil and China, in 1848," published in Richmond in 1854; and in 1849 he was appointed, in further recognition of his prac- tical abilities, a member of the Board to draw up plans and regulations for the United States Naval Academy. His services on this Board, it is unnecessary to say, were ju- dicious and valuable. In October, 1854, he sailed as Surgeon of the Pacific Squadron, making his third voyage to the Pacific, of which, however, he published no account, not caring, possibly, to indulge in " thrice-told tales." IIe was afterwards appointed Medical Director in the navy, and finally, September 4th, 1869, retired, thus closing his long, eventful and brilliant career in the service. His whole life, indeed, has been one of diversified and honor- able activity. He has done many great things, and done them well, insomuch that out of his achievements, it is no exaggeration to say, a good title to fame might be carved for half a dozen men. As an author he has not by any means confined himself to books of travel, but has handled, and handled with masterly force and clearness, some of the largest and most interesting branches of science. He pub- lished in Philadelphia, in 1850, a work entitled " Elements of Natural History," in two volumes; also published in separate parts under the following titles : I. Anatomy and

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Physiology; II. Botany; III. Conchology; IV. Entomology; V. Geology; VI. HIerpetology and Ichthyology; VII. Mam- malogy ; VIII. Ornithology. In the same year he published a " Lexicon of Terms Used in Natural History ; " and in 1852 "A Notice of the Origin, Progress and Present Con- dition of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia." Ile has published, besides, several pamphlets on the rank of medical officers in the navy ; edited with notes the work of Dr. Henry Marshall, of the British army, on " Enlisting, Discharging and Pensioning Soldiers; " and contributed numerous papers and reviews to the Medical Examiner, the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, the Journal of Pharmacy, and other medical and scientific periodicals. His distinguished and varied services to science and litera- ture have been acknowledged by his election to the mem- bership of many of the principal learned societies in this country, including the American Medical Association; the College of Physicians, of Philadelphia, of which he has been Secretary and Vice-President ; the Academy of Natu- ral Sciences, of Philadelphia, of which he has been Vice- President and President ; the American Philosophical So- ciety, and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. His rounded life of activity and honor is one of the treasures of his native State, and as such will ever be cherished. IIe was married in October, 1839.

HOMPSON, COLONEL RICHARD S., Lawyer, was born at Cape May Court House, Cape May county, New Jersey, December 27th, 1837. His father, Richard Thompson, was a prominent citi- zen of southern New Jersey, an extensive land- owner, and largely interested in vessels engaged in the coast trade. When fourteen years old he entered the Norristown Seminary, at Norristown, Pennsylvania, where he remained three years, and then was placed under the private tuition of Rev. A. Scovel, a Presbyterian clergyman of Bordentown, New Jersey, continuing under his charge for four years, and receiving in this time a comprehensive and thorough education. Upon the expiration of this pu- pilage he commenced to read law, at the time continuing his literary studies under the direction of Asa I. Fish, LL. D., of the Philadelphia bar, widely and popularly known as the editor of the "American Law Register," "Selwyn's Nisi Prius," " Todd's Practice," " Williams on Executors," and of the newest and best publication of " Troubat and ITaley's Practice," the only complete digest of English exchequer reports. These are all works of es- tablished and well-deserved reputation. Under the super- vision of this scholarly and profoundly learned barrister he remained for two years preparation for practice, and then passed to the Dane Law School of Harvard College, from which he graduated with distinction in 1861. Returning time, he resigned his commission. The character of the

to Philadelphia, he spent another year in the office of his preceptor, Mr. Fish, and in 1862 was admitted to the bar, having passed a very creditable examination by the Board of Examiners, then presided over by Hon. Eli K. Price. After his admission he made an extensive tour of the country, and, inspired with martial ardor by the opening of the civil war, returned to his native State and raised a company of soldiers, who were attached to the 12th New Jersey Volunteers, becoming Captain of Company K, which he had recruited. While at Ellicott's Mills he was ap- pointed Assistant Provost Marshal, under General Wool, with head-quarters at the mills until his regiment was ordered to the front. It was subsequently first attached to the Second Brigade, Third Division, Second Army Corps, then to the Third Brigade and Second Division of the same corps, and at the close of the war formed part of a provis- ional corps. During these changes, however, it served with the Army of the Potomac. Colonel Thompson participated in all of the hard-fought battles save for a short time when absent on detached duty. At Chancellorsville, when the Union line was hard pressed, several regiments having given way, and his own commander, Colonel Willetts, having been wounded, he took command of the companies which remained, and succeeded in stemming the onslaught until the broken line had fallen back and reformed. For this gallant service, which saved the line at a moment of greatest peril, he was highly complimented. . At Gettysburg his regiment was on the right centre, and successfully op- posed Pettigrew's North Carolina brigade, which formed the left of Longstreet's charging column. He participated in the hot engagements at Falling Waters, Auburn Mills, Bristow's Station, Blackburn's Ford, Robeson's Farm, and at Mine Run, where the fighting lasted three days. In that series of terrible engagements, which marked the progress of Grant's army towards Richmond, Colonel Thompson's regiment was conspicuous for its gallantry. At Deep Bottom he acted as corps officer of the day, and it became his duty to hold the lines until the main body of troops under Gen- eral Hancock, who was making a demonstration on the north side of the James river, had recrossed. This was an important and dangerous position, as this line was more than four miles in length and in some places scarcely fifty feet from the enemy's pickets. IIe, however, succeeded with slight loss, and received from Hancock himself a per- sonal compliment for this service. In a successful charge by his regiment and others, in the autumn of 1864, to dis- lodge the enemy from a strong position at Ream's Station he was severely wounded by the explosion of a shell. Soon after he was taken to Philadelphia, where he remained until December, and while still on crutches was assigned to duty as President of a General Court Martial sitting in that city. In this capacity he continued to act until Febru- ary, 1865, when, ascertaining from his physician that his wounds would incapacitate him for active service for a long

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service he saw may be estimated when it is known that his | and in due time was honorably discharged. He soon regiment was mustered in with 992 men, and was mustered after presented himself for examination, and was appointed Assistant-Surgeon in the United States navy. January 24th, 1862, he was assigned to the frigate " St. Lawrence.' While on board this vessel, in the memorable contest with the rebel ram " Merrimac," he narrowly escaped injury from a shell which entered his room and struck within a few feet of his head. He afterward accompanied her to Key West, and there was attacked by yellow fever, from which he escaped with life, but in so precarious a condition that it was deemed advisable for him to return to his home for the purpose of recuperation. After a short stay he was detached to the " Penobscot," which was at that time en- gaged in the blockading service off Wilmington, North Carolina. On the morning of the 22d of May, 1862, a rebel steamer was discovered trying to run the blockade, upon which the "Penobscot " at once started in pursuit. At this juncture a shell from Fort Fisher crashed through the woodwork of his room, and he was struck by a large splinter of wood that fractured the occipital bone. He became immediately unconscious, and before the expiration of the second hour from the time of the occurrence had breathed his last. IIe had but a few minutes before laid out his instruments and prepared his medicaments and ban- dages, and was fully prepared to meet the wants of liis expected patients. " He was a young man of rare personal beauty, of vivacious manners, of remarkable memory, of great good nature, and a consistent Christian. IIe was the life of the social medical circles of Essex District, and will be long remembered." He was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, New Jersey, and his funeral was attended in a body by the members of the Essex District Medical Society, which passed a suitable resolution expressive of its regret at a loss so mournful, and of its high esteem for him as a prac- titioner, and an upright friend and intrepid patriot. out with only ninety-three, and all of these bearing honor- able wounds. Colonel, afterward Brigadier General, Thomas A. Smith, commanding the brigade, wrote Governor Parker, under date of March 2d, 1864, as follows : " The majority of the 12th New Jersey is now vacant. I take pleasure to recommend to your notice Captain Richard S. Thompson. He is a gallant officer and a good disciplinarian. As an executive officer he has few equals. His assiduous atten- tion to his duties has upon several occasions won the highest encomiums of his superior officers." On January 14th, 1865, General Hancock asked to have him commis- sioned as Colonel in a veteran reserve eorps, for his valor at Deep Bottom and Ream's Station, and President Lincoln indorsed the recommendation. Colonel Thompson re- moved to Chicago, October 24th, 1865, and entered upon the practice of law. In 1867 he became a member of the firm of Leaming & Thompson, which still exists. In IS69 he was chosen a member of the Board of Trustees of Hyde Park, and soon after was elected its attorney. In IS72 he was nominated on the Republican ticket as candidate for State Senator from the Second Illinois District, and was re- turned by a handsome majority. His ability as a legislator, his keen knowledge of parliamentary law, his constant ad- vocacy of all measures for the public weal, his official in- tegrity, have achieved for him a reputation second only to that which he won upon the battle-field. He is the leading member of the Senate, a position which he has secured by a fearless performance of all the duties rightly devolving upon him as a representative of the people. He distin- guished himself in the session of 1875, during the agitation over the repeal of the Liquor Law, by holding at bay tem- porary majorities until a full house was present to decide the issue, and again in the debate upon the contested elec- tion of Senator Marshal. He was married, June 7th, 1865, to Catharine S. Scovel, daughter of Rev. A. Scovel, at that time a resident of Bloomington, Illinois.

IERSON, EDWARD A., Physician, late of New- ark, New Jersey, was born in that city, March 22d, 1836, and was a lineal descendant from Rev. Abraham Pierson, the first pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Newark. He studied medicine with Dr. John F. Ward, and graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York, in the class of 1858. At the commencement of the sectional conflict he at once entered the service as Assistant-Surgeon of the Ist Regiment New Jersey Volun- teers, and continued to serve in this capacity till the ex- piration of the three months term for which he had enlisted. He performed the duties of his office with zeal and fidelity,

KERS, OSCAR J., M. D., Physician, late of New- ark, was born in Bloomfield, New Jersey, in 1823, and was a graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York. " He will be long remembered on account of his ad. mirable social qualities and sincerity. He was an honest, reliable man. IIe was the soul of honor, and his integrity none ever ealled in question." "Adelphos," in the Daily Advertiser, writes of him : " Sleep well, be- loved brother, whose life was laid down on the altar of duty. Earth can have no greener spot than the turf that covers thy true heart; " while, at a meeting of the Essex District Medical Society, the following resolutions are the first two of the five adopted on the occasion of his decease : " Resolved, That the many excellent qualities of the deceased, his geniality and kindness of heart, his sound

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judgment and ample information, especially upon topics connected with his profession, give us great and unusual reason to mourn his loss. Resolved, That this painful event adds another to the many instances often too little ap- preciated, in which physicians have sacrificed themselves on the altar of professional duty, and that this consideration may legitimately assuage the grief of his sorrowing friends." Ile was married in December, 1860, to Mrs. Mary Cole ; and died at his residence in New street, Newark, April 9th, 1861, in the thirty-ninth year of his age.

HOMAS, LUTHER G., Physician, late of Newark, New Jersey, was born in this city, January 27th, 1830, and was the son of Frederic S. Thomas, and grandson of the late Luther Goble, one of the earliest and most prosperous merchants of his native town. He graduated at Princeton College in 1849, was secretary at the first class-meeting, and made a valuable statistical report. His later studies in medicine were prosecuted under the supervision of the late Dr. L. A. Sinith, who wrote an obituary notice of his former pupil, published in the " Transactions of the State Medical Society for 1865." As a student he was industrious and quick of apprehension ; as a physician attentive, skilful, and cour- teously affable. His name also has honorable place in the army record, as may be seen in the adjutant-general's " Official Report " of 1863-64. After receiving his medi- cal diploma, in 1852, from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York, he was constantly engaged in pro- fessional labors until 1863, when he set out for the scene of war as Surgeon of the 26th Regiment, New Jersey Volun- teers. He died suddenly and unexpectedly, it is said, of congestion of the brain, in May, 1864. He was a valued member of the South Park Presbyterian Church, and also of the Essex District Medical Society, whose members ac- companied his remains to their last resting-place.

HITE, REV. WILLIAM C., Pastor of First Pres- byterian Church, Orange, late of Orange, New Jersey, was born in Sandisfield, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, January 16th, 1803. He was of Puritan stock and a lineal descendant of I'eregrine White, the first child of pilgrim exiles, who was born on the " Mayflower," after her arrival at Plymouth harbor in 1620. His parents, of whom he was the second son, were Rev. Levi White and Mary Sergeant White, the latter being the oldest daughter of the Rev. John Sergeant, for many years an eminent and zealous missionary among the Stockbridge Indians. IIe entered Williams College soon after Dr. Griffiths became president of that institution, graduating in 1826, when twenty-four years of age, with

| one of the highest honors of his class. At the expiration of three years from that time he entered upon a course of theological studies at Princeton ; in the autumn of 1832 was licensed to preach by the Berkshire Association, but wisely continued the prosecution of his studies at the seminary through another year, and found his first field of labor at East Machias, Maine, where he was absorbed in pastoral work with special blessing for four months. The ensuing six months found him engaged in Tyringham, Massachu- setts, where he remained until the summer of 1832. In October of the same year he accepted an invitation to visit the parish of the First Presbyterian Church, of Orange, New Jersey, shortly after Hatfield's temporary labors had closed, and while the church was still filled with gladness and rejoicing over the fruits of a sweeping and precious re- vival. The result of the meeting between him and the people of that place was the presentation of a call, which he decided to accept over two or three others that had been tendered him from other fields. On the 13th of the follow- ing February, the day after Dr. Hillyer's dismission, he was ordained and installed by the Presbytery of Newark, New Jersey. On this occasion Dr. Weeks preached, Dr. IIillyer gave the charge to the pastor, and Dr. Fisher that to the people; the text of the day was I Timothy iv. 16: "Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine ; continue in them ; for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee." It was worthy to have been the motto of a ministerial life characteristically studious and single-aimed. He was, at his ordination, thirty years of age, and had been married about eighteen months. Since the settlement of his predecessor the circumstances of the parish had greatly changed, the population become less homogeneous, and many divided in feeling and sentiment by new denomina- tional rivalries. Two new Presbyterian churches had sprung up, which had taken from the First Presbyterian Church alone one hundred and fifty members, and from the congregation a much larger number. The circumstances environing his advent at Orange were far from being of the most favorable kind; he came in the wake of a great re- ligious excitement, which is generally followed in churches by a long calm; the church had just reaped a harvest; a long husbandry was necessary to prepare the field for a similar awakening. The funds of the church were not then in a very prosperous condition, and he was settled with a salary of six hundred dollars; the old parsonage still brought in a small rent to the society as a tenement, but was of no service to the pastor. After boarding three months, he hired a small new cottage on Main street ; and afterward lived two years in Scotland street, near the present bend of the railroad-his rent for the second year being paid by the parish. In 1836 a new parsonage was built by sub- scription and contract for eighteen hundred and seventy five dollars. It was entered in the following year, and was the pastor's home until his removal to the " house not made with hands." In 1842 the church received another boun-

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The biographical encyclopaedia of New Jersey of the nineteenth century, Part 89

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