The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 35

Author: Prowell, George Reeser, 1849-1928
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Richards
Number of Pages: 1220

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Raw L. Hochey

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voor Hees, who lived prior to 1600, in front of the village of Hees, near Ruinen, Drenthe, Holland. The derivation of the name may be understood when it is stated that the pre- fix " voor " is the Dutch equivalent of " be- fore," or " in front of." Steven Coerte, son of Coert Albert, emigrated from Holland in April, 1660, and settled at Flatlands, Long Island, on an estate the extent of which is indicated by the fact that he paid for it the large sum of three thousand guilders, in itself a fortune in those days. The great-grandson of Steven Coerte was Peter Gerritse Van Voorhees, who left Long Island in 1720 to escape from the payment of tithes to the Eng- lish Church, which was enforced by the colo- nial government, and established a new home on land which he bought at Blawenburgh. One of his descendants was Peter Van Voor- hees, who gave his land to his grandson Peter, and ordered his slaves to be emancipated. This Peter, whose father, Martin, dropped the prefix " Van " from the family name. He was born May 27, 1787, and married, March 2, 1809, Jane, daughter of Captain John Schenck, who, in December, 1778, with a few of his neighbors and a very scanty supply of ammunition, ambuscaded the British advance guard at Ringoes, and drove it back upon the main column.

Peter L. Voorhees was the second son. The years preceding his majority he spent upon the homestead, and in the acquirement of a common-school education, and in his twenty-first year he selected the law for his profession. First entering the office of Rich- ard S. Field, at Princeton, as a student, he also studied at the Law School formerly con- nected with the College of New Jersey, from which he received the degrees of LL.B. and A.M. In November, 1851, he was admitted to the bar, and in the next year he removed to Camden, with many of whose most im- portant interests he has since been identified.

The main characteristic of his professional eminence is his thorough knowledge of the

law. Profoundly versed in its principles and practice, his mind is a store-house of informa- tion upon its most complicated and abstruse questions. The diligence with which he masters every point in a litigated case is as- sisted to success by a wonderfully retentive memory and a remarkable power of applica- tion. He is an authority upon the difficult and doubtful intricacies of land titles, and some of his most creditable victories before the courts have been won in such cases. He is also considered an indisputable authority upon the finely discriminating questions of practice. He was opposed to the Pennsyl- vania Company in the memorable suit of Black vs. the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company, in which was involved the control of the New Jersey railways now operated by the former corporation, and was so successful in court that it was compelled to procure special legislation to effect its purpose. Since that time he has become counsel for the Pennsylvania interest, embracing the Cam- den and Amboy, the West Jersey and the Camden and Atlantic Railroads. The Mickle will case was another celebrated litigation which he carried for his clients to a successful issue.

Mr. Voorhees is president of the Camden Safe Deposit and Trust Company, director of the West Jersey Ferry Company and di- rector of the Camden Hospital. In politics he is a conservative Republican, but has al- ways refused to become a candidate for any office, except that for one year he filled the position of city solicitor of Camden, being elected by the Republicans and Democrats, as opposed to the " Native Americans."

In the matter of religious education and experience, our subject, it may not be im- proper to add, has not been lacking. He was brought up in the Dutch Reformed Church, but since 1853 has affiliated with the Presby- terians, and has been remarkably active in the First Church of Camden, for many years taking particular interest in the Sunday-

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school, in which he has been an untiring, in- teresting and useful teacher.

On October 16, 1855, Mr. Voorhees mar- ried Anna Finley, sister of Hon. William M. Dayton, United States Senator, minister to France, and nominee for Vice-President on the National Republican ticket in 1856. She died in 1880, leaving one child, Miss Jennie Dayton Voorhees.

GEORGE M. ROBESON was born at Ox- ford Furnace, Warren County, New Jersey, in 1827. He was graduated from the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, in 1847, and soon after became a student-at-law in the office of Chief-Justice Hornblower, in New- ark, New Jersey. Having been admitted to the bar in 1850, he practiced his profession in that city until he removed to Camden where, in 1859, he was appointed Prosecutor of the Pleas by Governor Newell. At the opening of the Civil War in 1861, Governor Olden appointed him brigadier-general, and he took an active part in the raising of troops and the organization of them. In 1867, Governor Marcus L. Ward tendered him the nomination of Attorney-General of the State of New Jersey, and the Senate confirming the nomination, he entered upon and dis- charged the duties of the office until 1869, when he was appointed Secretary of the Navy, under President Grant, a position which he held until 1877. He is at present engaged in the practice of his profession in the city of Washington.

RICHARD S. JENKINS was born at Wheat- land, Pa., and received his academic educa- tion at Burlington, N. J. He began the study of law with Honorable Richard S. Field, and continued under Honorable Thos. P. Carpenter, of Camden. He was admitted in 1860, began practice in Camden, was ap- pointed in 1864 prosecutor of the pleas for the county and held the office for twenty years.

LINDLEY H. MILLER, was a native of Morristown, and the son of United States

Senator Jacob W. Miller. He read law with Thomas H. Dudley, and was admitted to the bar in November, 1855. When the War for the Union opened he enlisted in the service and gave his life for the preservation of the Union.

MARMADUKE B. TAYLOR. was born in Philadelphia, August 17, 1835, but his life from the age of about four years lias been principally spent in Camden. He was. the second son of the late Dr. Othniel H. Taylor, and brother of Dr. H. G. Taylor. His early education was received in the schools of the two cities named, and he afterwards attended Rut- gers College, but owing to ill health was com- pelled to abandon a collegiate course, though the honorary degree of A.M. was subse- quently conferred upon him by Rutgers. He commenced the study of law in 1851 with the late Colonel Williamn N. Jeffers, of Camden. He attended a full course of instruction in law at the State and National Law School of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and graduated in 1855, and had the degree of LL.B. conferred upon him by that institu- tion. He was enrolled in the office of James B. Dayton, Esq., of Camden, about the same time. He also attended a course of law lectures at the University of Pennsyl- vania. He was admitted to the bar of New Jersey at the November Term, 1856, and has continued in practice from that time to the present in Camden. He has been conspic- nous with the various Masonic organizations, and has taken a great interest in everything pertaining to the order. In 1871 he was united in marriage with a daughter of Dr. Joseph Crain, of Cumberland County, Pa.

JAMES M. SCOVEL was born in Harrison, Ohio, January 16, 1833, his father being the Rev. Dr. Sylvester F. Scovel and his mother Hannal Matlack, of Woodbury, N. J., a daughter of James Matlack, a former mem- ber of Congress from the First District. James M. Scovel having lost his father when only thirteen years of age, proceeded with

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his college course at Hanover College, In- diaua, of which institution Rev. Dr. Scovel was president ; graduating at the early age of seventeen, he taught school near Memphis, Tenn., for two years, after which he removed to Camden, N. J., and became a student-at- law in the office of Abraham Browning, and was admitted to practice in 1856, Mr. Scovel has devoted much of his leisure hours to literature and has written many magazine articles and contributed much and many well-written sketches to the leading news- papers. He has tried many of the most im- portant homicide cases of West Jersey, and is a forcible, fluent and at times remarkably eloquent speaker.

Mr. Scovel was early thrown into politics by the storm and stress period of the Civil War, and having attracted Abraham Lin- coln's attention by a series of speeches in the Assembly of New Jersey, entitled "New Jersey for the War," was appointed commis- sioner of the draft for the First Congres- sional District. During the second Confed- erate invasion of Pennsylvania, Mr. Scovel, who afterwards was commissioned as a colo- nel, raised a company in one day and took his command to Harrisburg, Pa., where they were well received by Governor Curtin, and did good service for the cause in which they were enlisted, and after thirty days service his command was mustered out. The subse- quent year Colonel Scovel was elected to represent Camden County in the State Senate, being the first Republican elected in Camden County to that place. After the war ended he devoted himself to the duties of his profession, the law, with occasional ventures in the field of literature. When Horace Greeley ran for President he was chairman of the State Committee. President Arthur appointed him a special agent of the Treasury, which position he held till the close of Arthur's administration.

In 1856 Mr. Scovel married Mary Mul- ford, a daughter of Isaac S. Mulford, M.D., 29

of Camden. Mrs. Scovel is also a niece of John W. Mickle.

ALDEN CORTLAND SCOVEL was a native of Princeton, N. J., where he was born June 13, 1830. He was educated at the Borden- town High School, read law, after an inter- val spent in teaching, with Mahlon Hutchin- son, of Bordentown, and was admitted to the bar as an attorney in November, 1856, and as a counselor in November, 1865. He formed a copartnership in Camden with James S. Scovel, and subsequently with George M. Robeson, then the prosecutor of the pleas, and acted as assistant prosecutor. He was, in 1857, made clerk of the Board of Chosen Freeholders, and in 1868 city solicitor, being re-elected in 1870. Mr. Scovel served three years in the City Council, and was, in 1875, elected member of the Assembly. His death occurred June 13, 1881.

GILBERT HANNAH was the son of James Hannah, a prominent citizen of Salem County, N. J., where Gilbert Hannah was born in the year 1833. He was admitted to the bar in 1852, after studying law in the city of Newark, N. J., with Hon. A. Q. Keasby, late United States district attorney for New Jersey. Mr. Hannah had many social graces of character and possessed high literary ability. He was appointed, at the solicitation of Colonel James M. Scovel, by President Lincoln, as consul to Demarara, where he died of yellow fever during the war, after serving with great fidelity and ac- ceptability to the State Department and thoroughly mastering his consular duties.

PHILIP S. SCOVEL was born March 7, 1833, in Stockport, Columbia County, N. Y., and educated at the Bordentown High School, of whichi his brother, Rev. Alden Scovel, was then principal. In 1853 he entered the law-office of Garrett Cannon, of Burlington County, and was admitted to the bar in February, 1857, practicing in Bur- lington, having among his clients Commo- dore Charles Stewart and Mrs. Delia Parnell.

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Removing to Camden in 1874, he formed a law partnership with his brother, Alden C. Ścovel.

SAMUEL H. GREY is the son of the late Philip J. Grey and Sarah W. Grey, his wife, and was born in the city of Camden April 6, 1836. His early education was received in the schools of his native town. His choice tended strongly to the profession of the law, and at the age of seventeen years he was entered as a student in the office of Abraham. Browning, who, still living at an advanced age, was at that time easily the leading law- yer and advocate in the southern section of New Jersey. After the usual course of study Mr. Grey was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court as an attorney-at-law at the November Term, 1857, and as a counselor-at- Jaw at the February Term, 1861. His suc- cess in his profession was immediate and sat- isfactory. Such was his prominence that in April, 1866, he was appointed prosecutor of the pleas for the county of Cape May, and performed the duties of that office until April, 1873, serving, by successive appoint- ments of the court, two years under the ad- ministration of Governor Joel Parker, after the expiration of the regular term of the office.

As a leading lawyer, Mr. Grey, in 1873, was appointed by Governor Parker one of a commission of fourteen, selected pursuant to a joint resolution of the Legislature, to sug- gest and frame amendments to the Constitu- tion of the State, and was actively engaged in all the transactions of the commission. The amendments thus framed were after- wards, in due form of law, incorporated with, and now form a part of, the Constitution of New Jersey.

In the quarter of a century which has elapsed since his admission to the bar Mr. Grey has never permitted himself to be diverted from his chosen profession, but has devoted to its study and pursuit his entire time, and the energy and ability with which

he is endowed. These viginti annorum lucu- brationes (to use the vigorous words of Lord Bacon), these years of study, have brought with them their appropriate reward. The practice of Mr. Grey is large, lucrative and embraces a wide class of important. canses, beginning with the case of McKnight vs. Hay, tried in 1866, at the Atlantic Cir- cuit, in which Messrs. Peter L. Voorhees and George M. Robeson appeared for the plaintiff, and Messrs. Joseph P. Bradley (now of the Supreme Court of the United States), Abra- ham Browning and Mr. Grey appeared for the defendant, and of which Judge Elmer speaks in his reminiscences as the most romantic case he had ever known. Mr. Grey. has been engaged in very many of the lead- ing causes arising in the southern counties of the State. In April, 1886, Mr. Grey was selected by the managers appointed to conduct the impeachment of Patrick H. Laverty, keeper of the State Prison, as the leading counsel for the prosecution, and as such con- ducted the trial of a month, before the State Senate, to a successful conclusion, evincing skill, ability and eloquence of a high order.

The success of Mr. Grey has resulted, not from study and experience alone, but largely from his natural mental powers. His capacity for quick, intense and accurate thought is unusual and striking. His judg- ment reaches a conclusion, not by careful and laborious plodding, nor yet by intuition, but rather, per saltum, by a leap over a long pathway of thought. This faculty enables him very quickly to perceive and grasp the controlling points of a group of complicated facts, and to determine at once those upon which his cause turns. His vocabulary is fluent, generally accurate, often graceful aud happy, sometimes eloquent. He has a keen sense of humor, and nature has given him a powerful and musical voice, a pleasing pres- ence and a mental and physical constitution sufficiently robust to endure the shocks and fatigues of jury trials. These are all quali-

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ties which are necessary to the equipment of a leading and accomplished advocate, and snch Mr. Grey is beyond question. As was remarked of General Sheridan during the war, no situation was thrust upon him which he has not developed capacity to meet. Mr. Grey practices in all of the courts of this State and is constantly retained in important causes before the several superior courts sit- ting at Trenton, where his reputation is deservedly high.

In politics Mr. Grey has been an earnest and consistent Republican, practically from the organization of that party. From 1868 to 1871 he was an active member of the Re- publican State Executive Committee of New Jersey. In 1872 he was chosen as an elector upon the Grant ticket, and as such voted for General Grant in the only Republican Elec- toral College convened in this State. In the same year he declined to accept the Republi- can nomination for State Senator from the county of Camden. In 1874, though strongly importuned, he declined to permit his name to be presented for the nomination as a member of the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States. In 1880 he received a large vote in the Repub- lican State Convention as a delegate-at-large to the National Convention which met in that year at Chicago. At the request of many Republicans during the present year, he has permitted himself to be named for the office of Senator of the United States.

Mr. Grey was married September 25, 1862, in Christ Church, Philadelphia, to Julia Hubley, only daughter of Charles C. Potts, Esq., of Philadelphia. He has four daugh- ters,-Julia Ridgway, Mary Joy, Ethel and Alice Croasdale Grey. An only son, Charles Philip Grey, died in 1868 an infant.

CALEB D. SHREVE was born May 9, 1833, and educated at Princeton College, from which he was graduated in 1851. He began the study of law with Honorable J. L. N. Stratton, of Mt. Holly, and was ad-

mitted as an attorney at the November Term, 1861, and afterwards an a counselor.

BENJAMIN D. SHREVE, born August, 1835, at Medford, Burlington County, N. J., was graduated from Princeton College in 1856. He studied law with Peter L. Voor- hees, of Camden, was admitted in 1862 as an attorney and as counselor in 1865. He has since practiced in Camden.

GEORGE W. GILBERT was born September 21, 1834, in Philadelphia, and educated at the public schools of Camden, to which city he removed in 1843. He began the study of law with Honorable Thomas H. Dudley, .of Camden, and concluded with Honorable George S. Woodhull. He was admitted to the bar in February, 1863. Mr. Gilbert was made deputy county clerk in 1865, and held the office for ten years, after which he was elected register of deeds for the term ex- tending from 1875 to 1880. He has since practiced his profession in Camden.

SAMUEL C. COOPER was born in Camden in 1840, and is the son of Joseph W. Cooper. He received his primary education at the Grover School, in Camden, and entered Hav- erford College in 1855. In 1859, he entered the law office of Richard W. Howell, remained with him until his death, and then entered the office of the Honrable Thomas H. Dud- ley, and when Mr. Dudley was appointed consul to Liverpool he entered the office of Judge Woodhull. He was admitted at the February term of court, 1863.

J. EUGENE TROTH was born in Newcastle County, Delaware, January 14, 1845; re- ceived his education at the select and public schools and at the Delaware College, situated at Newark, Delaware. He began the study of law with James B. Dayton, of Camden ; was admitted as an attorney in 1866, and three years after as counselor. He was for seven years solicitor of the county of Camden and clerk of the Board of Chosen Free- holders.

MARTIN VOORHEES BERGEN and his

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brother Christopher A. (of whom a sketch follows) are descendants of an old and promi- nent family, after whom Bergen County, N. J., was named, and they are representa- tives of the eighth generation in this country. The common ancestor of the family of Long Island, New Jersey and adjacent re- gions was Hans Hansen Bergen, of Bergen, in Norway, who removed from there to Hol- land, and thenee, in 1633, to New Amsterdam (now New York). Some of his descendants settled in what is now Bergen County about fifty years later.

Samuel Disbrow Bergen, of the seventh generation in America, and his wife, Charity (daughter of Judge Peter Voorhees, of Blawenburgh, Somerset County), were resi- dents early in the present century of Mid- dlesex County, N. J., near Cranberry, and lived at what was known as the Bergen Farm or Homestead. Their son Martin V. was born there February 12, 1839. He prepared for college at. Edge Ilill School and entered the sophomore class at Princeton in September, 1860. Graduating from the col- lege in 1863, he commenced the study of law the same year in the office of Peter L. Voorhees, of Camden, where he continued until he graduated in November, 1866, as an attorney-at-law. He was licensed as a counselor-at-law in November, 1869. He opened an offier in the fall of 1866 at 119 Market Street, Camden, and continued to practice there until he formed a partnership with his brother and removed to 110 Market Street. Ife has been twice elected superin- dent of the Camden City schools and now holds that position. He was married, in February, 1880, to Mary Atkinson, of Mer- chantville, N. J.

CHRISTOPHER A. BERGEN, EsQ., whose ancestry and parentage are given in the sketch of his brother, was born at Bridge Point, Somerset County, N. J., August, 2, 18-11. He obtained his preparatory education at. Edge Hill Classical School, Princeton, and

entered Princeton College in the fall of 1860, graduating therefrom, with his broth- er, in the class of 1863. Afterwards he taught school, -- firsta country school at Hope- well, N. J., and later a private classical school of his own at Princeton,-pursuing at the same time law studies under the direction of Peter 1 .. Voorhees, Esq., of Camden. In November, 1866, he was licensed as un at- torney by the New Jersey Supreme Court, and in the fall of 1869 as counselor-at-law by the same court. Mr. Bergen's mental ar tivity, onerons as are his professional duties, is by no means confined to them. He is u student of general literature, keeps fully abreast of the times in political, philosophical and populur scientific information and con- finnes his classical studies, rending exten- sively in Latin and Greek.

Christopher A. Bergen has been twice married. Ile was united with his first wife, Harriet, daughter of Thomas D, and Au- gusta S. James, August. 5, 1869. Two sons were the offspring of this union. His see- ond wife, to whom he was nited January 26, 1886, was Fannie (., daughter of Wil- liam 12. and Adele C. Hirst, of Philadel . phia.

The firm of Bergen & Bergen (M. V. &. C. A.) has been quite uniformly and steadily successful, and probably has as large and as widespread a clientage and correspondence as any law firm in Camden. They have been frequently opposed by the best legal talent in the county and State, and have fully as often been victors as vanquished, and enjoy a high reputation. Two of the most notable cases in which they have won success were those of the Marshall estate, and the Jesse W. Starr Camden Iron-Works case in bank- ruptey. The former, which aroused much interest in the southern part of the county, was an action charging breach of trust on the part of the excentors, and involved the title to five farms and a large part of the village of Black wood. Bergen & Bergen

Martin V.Bergen

bl Reage

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appeared for the creditors against the execu- tors, who were represented by S. H. Grey, and Peter L. Voorhees, Esqs. In the bank- ruptcy suit against Jesse W. Starr, above alluded to, in which about three hundred thousand dollars were involved, Bergen Brothers were also successful in forcing the creditors of Mr. Starr, to terms. Chris- topher A. Bergen, as a rule, attends to the conrt business and Martin V. devotes his at- tention more particularly to that department of practice which is the function of the counsel, though he also appears frequently in court. Both are well-read lawyers and able advocates.

Both of the brothers are pronounced. Re- publicans, though neither is an active poli- tician. Christopher A. in 1884 was the choice of a large section of his party for the position of State Senator, but declined mak- ing any effort to secure the nomination. He was elected president of the Camden County Republican Club in 1886. Martin V. Ber- gen has also been named as a candidate for legislative honors, but has held no offices of consequence other than the school superin- tendency.

GEORGE F. FORT was born at Absecom, Atlantic County, N. J., November 20, 1843, and received an academic education, which was completed at the university in Heidel- berg, Germany. He began the study of law under Abraham Browning, of Camden ; was admitted as an attorney in 1866 and as a counselor in 1869. Mr. Fort is well known as an anthor, his more prominent books being " An Historical Treatise on Early Builders' Works," "Fort's Mediaval Builders," "Medical Economy during the Middle Ages " and " Early History and Antiquities of Ma- sonry."

ROBERT M. BROWNING, who was a native of Camden, born in 1844, read law with his father, Hon. Abraham Browning, and was admitted to practice in November, 1867. He followed his profession until his death, in 1875.

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The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 35

Author: Prowell, George Reeser, 1849-1928 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : Richards Number of Pages: 1220

Author: Prowell, George Reeser, 1849-1928
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Richards
Number of Pages: 1220