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JOHN CLEMENT JUSTIN, M.D., of Guttenberg, N. J., son of
Rev. John Justin and Catharine Westerfeld, was born in the Town of
Union, Hudson County, September 26, 1868. He began his education in the
public schools of his native town, spent a year and a half in the employ
of the Equitable Life Assurance Society, and was graduated from
Hasbrouck Institute, Jersey City, in 1885, and from New York University
in the arts and sciences with the degree of B.A. in 1889. In 1891 he
began the study of medicine at the Medical Department of the University
of the City of New York, from which he was graduated with the degree of
M.D. in 1893. He immediately entered Heidelberg Hospital in Germany,
where he remained one year, and then took special courses in the
Würzburg hospitals. After ward he traveled through the principal cities
of Germany, visiting hospitals, and thence went to Switzerland, Italy,
France, and England. Returning to America, Dr. Justin substituted for Dr. Exton, of Arlington, for a period of two months, and in the fall of 1894 began the practice of his profession in Guttenberg, and afterward built his present residence in West New York, Hudson County, where he continues to reside. Dr. Justin has already achieved success as a physician and surgeon, and throughout the section in which he has acquired an extensive practice is highly esteemed and respected. His ability, integrity, and genial good nature have won for him the confidence of the community. He is a member of the Royal Arcanum, of the Knights of Honor, of the Order of American Mechanics, and of the Foresters of America. November 26, 1895, Dr. Justin married Ottilie Katherine Kothe, daughter of William and Ottilie Katherine (Fuchs) Kothe, of the Town of Union, N. J. They have one son living, viz.: John Clement Justin, Jr., born October 10, 1897. Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, pages 200-201. |
JOHN J. KENNEDY, glove manufacturer of West Hoboken, is
an example of what one man can accomplish by his own indomitable efforts
united with untiring industry, constant application, and original
methods. Born and reared in the town, and educated in the local schools,
he has paved his way to success and reputation through those channels
which would appal a less courageous man, but which, nevertheless, are
the only true means of laudable endeavor. His present position, as
proprietor of the only glove manufactory of the kind in the country, is
all the mroe noteworthy because it is the result of his personal labors,
after years of difficulties and perseverance. He is the oldest son of Andrew and Mary (Kelly) Kennedy, both natives of Ireland, and a grandson of James and Bridget Kennedy, who came from Ireland to this country when Andrew was about nine years old. They settled in Weehawken, N. J. Andrew Kennedy followed the trade of mason and bricklayer during his active life, and is now retired. His wife died May 6, 1897. Their children are John J., Thomas A., and Mary (Mrs. John Curran), all of West Hoboken, N. J. John J. Kennedy was born March 21, 1858, attended th public and parochial schools of his native town, and at the age of fifteen entered the office of the old Highland Sentinel. In West Hoboken, with a view of learning the printer's trade. After an experience of two years in this capacity and another year as a fisherman he turned his attention to fine glove cutting, associating himself with a Dane named Gustav Elgeti, who claimed to be the first man to learn the French glove cutting system in Copenhagen, Denmark. Mr. Kennedy was the first native of this country to learn French glove cutting, and, so far as can be ascertained, is the only man in the trade who has mastered and follows that excellent but little known system in its entirety. In 1880 he engaged in the manufacture of fine gloves in West Hoboken, on Hill Street, near Palisade Avenue. He started on a very small scale, in one or two rooms, and with only two or three assistants, whom he was obliged to teach the system, as he has, in fact, all those who have ever entered his employ. Numerous difficulties, principally the introduction of his goods, were met, fought, and overcome, but not without indomitable perseeverence and constant endeavor on his part. Competition being keen and general, it was some time before he got his product into the chief centers of the glove trade, but when once it was there no scheming nor maneuvering by rival manufacturers could prevent its instant success. In 1883 he invented and patented a re-inforcement for the opening slit which proved at once valuable, practical, and economical, and in 1890 he obtained another patent which has become famous as the Kennedy patent cut glove. Mr. Kennedy steadily overcame all obstacles, numerous though they were, and successfully introduced his gloves into every State and territory in the Union, where they now have a very high reputation, selling side by side with the most celebrated makes in the world. He employs about eighty people and manufactures about $60,000 worth of fine street and driving gloves annually. The product is all sold through Wilson Brothers, of New York, Chicago, and Paris, the largest dealers in men's furnishings in the world. Mr. Kennedy has revolutionized the glove business, both in manufaturing and in selling. His success is due entirely to the genuine merit of his goods, together with his peraon lefforts and tact in placing them before the public. One point of superiority which distinguishes his gloves is the fingers, which are straight and of equal length. In 1883 he originated a picture of two elephants pulling a glove, typifying strength, which has been widely copied by clothing manufacturers and others, though often in different designs. The idea was his. One can regard Mr. Kennedy's success only with feelings of respect and wonder, for his is one of those very few instances where a man, imbued with a single idea, steadily and persistently hews to the line and eventually achieves the goal of his ambitions. His whole life has been spent in the town of his birth. His labors have been directed toward one object - the manufacture of the best gloves in the market. And the wonderful result of his efforts is seen in his present factory, a large and finely equipped brick building on or near the spot where he made his first start, nearly twenty years ago, and very near the home in which he was born and reared. No man is worthy of more respect than he who carves out his own fortune, unaided save by his hands and brain, and this Mr. Kennedy has done. He stands among the leading glove manufacturers in this country. He has devoted himself strictly to business, to the exclusion of all political or public preferment, and belongs only to St. Michael's Catholic Church, the Holy Name Society, and Palisade Council, No. 387, Knights of Columbus. The object of the Holy Name Society is to suppress swearing. He takes a deep interest, however, in the affairs of his town and county, and never fails to bear the responsibilities of a progressive, patriotic citizen. Mr. Kennedy was married June 24, 1885, to Nellie, daughter of John and Julin Lucey, of Jersey City Heights, N. J. Of their nine children two died in infacny; the others are John, Mary, Ellen, Julin, Alice, Andrew, and Salome. Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, page 176-178. |
EDMUND W. KINGSLAND, President of the Provident
Institution for Savings of Jersey City and one of the ablest and best
known financiers in Easter New Jersey, was born in Jersey City on the
15th of December, 1839, his parents being Edmund W. and Sarah A.
Kingsland. He is a direct descendant in the sixth generation from Isaac
Kingsland, an Englishman from the Parish of Christ Church, on the Island
of Barbadoes, W. I., and a nephew of Major Nathaniel Kingsland, of the
same place. On July 4, 1668, one Captain William Sandford, also of
Barbadoes, W. I., purchased of the Hackensack Indians a tract of land
between the Hackensack and Passaic Rivers, extending "northward about
seven miles." This purchase was made in the interest of Major Kingsland.
On June 1, 1671, the Major conveyed the south half of this to Sandford
and kept the north half after extinguishing the Indian title. By the
Major's will, dated March 14, 1683, he gave one-third of his New Jersey
lands-about 3,402 acres-to his nephew Isaac. Isaac's residence was at
Kingsland Manor near Rutherford in Bergen County. His descendants are
still numerous in both Bergen and Hudson Counties. The name of his wife
does not appear. Edmund W. Kingsland received his early educational training under the tutorship of the late William Leverett Dickenson, and subsequently attended the New York Polytechnical School, from which he was graduated with honor in the class of 1856. After completing his studies, which were designed to fit him for the practical affairs of life, he accepted a clerkship in the wholesale notion house of Lyman Cook & Co., of New York City, and remained with them until 1863, gaining a broad and accurate knowledge of business matters as well as the entire confidence and respect of his employers. In 1863 Mr. Kingsland resigned his position as clerk for Lyman Cook & Co. and was made general clerk of the Provident Institution for Savings in Jersey City. There he soon gained recognition for those abilities which have ever since characterized his business life and which have long made him a powerful factor in local financial circles. He gradually rose by promotion and in 1888 was elected Secretary and Treasurer, which positions he filled with great energy and satisfaction until July 20, 1896, when he was elected President. In this capacity he has maintained and in a large measure increased the prestige and substantial character of the Provident Institution for Savings, making it one of the soundest and best known fiduciary concerns in Eastern New Jersey. Mr. Kingsland is one of the leading citizens of Jersey City, where he has spent his entire life. He is public spirited, progressive, and enterprising, thoroughly identified with every project which promises advancement to the community, and generously encourages those movements that have the welfare of the place at heart. He is a member of the Union League Club of Jersey City, a man of broad and accurate learning, and universally respected and esteemed. In 1877 he married Miss Justine Bayard Blackwell, of New York City, and of their five children two are living. Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, page 68. |
JOHN LANE has achieved distinction in the twofold
capacity of marine surveyor and public officer. He is a native of
Shrewsbury, N. J., where he obtained his early education in the public
schools. Subsequently he pursued a course of study at Cooper Institute,
New York. Reared on his father's farm in Shrewsbury, he developed a strong constitution, and at the same time acquired those habits of thrift and industry which mark the successful man. His studies were designed to enable him to enter professional life, for which he was mentally and physically qualified, and in which he has won an honorable reputation. Entering, as a young, the shipyard of McCarthy & Brother, of Hoboken, he filled successively the positions of clerk, timekeeper, bookkeeper, and general manager, and gained the respect and confidence of all with whom he came into contact, and especially of his employers. His experience was at once broad and practical, and included a thorough knowledge of every branch of ship building, even to designing, carpentering and joining, calking, and marine draughting. After a period of sixteen years in these different capacities he withdrew to engage in business for himself as a marine surveyor, a profession for which his duties had eminently fitted him, and one in which he has achieved remarkable success. In 1888 he removed from Jersey City to West Hoboken, N. J., where he has built, on Malone Street, a neat and attractive home after his own plans and designs. Mr. Lane has for many years been an active and influential leader of the Democratic party, especially in the town where he resides, and in various capacities has served both party and town with ability, honor, and satisfaction. In 1891 he was appointed a member of the West Hoboken Board of Health. In 1893 he was elected a member of the Board of School Trustees. Since 1895 he has served as one of the Councilmen of West Hoboken, and in 1898 and 1899 was chairman of the board. He then discharged the duties connected with these positions with signal efficiency and fidelity. Public spirited, energetic, and progressive, he has always encouraged and supported every movement calculated to advance the general welfare of the community. He is a prominent member of the Masonic order, of the Royal Arennum, and the Foresters of America. Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, pages 144-145. |
ROBERT LINN LAWRENCE, one of the prominent members of
the bar of Jersey City, was born in Sparta, Sussex County, N. J.,
October 4, 1851. He is the son of Thomas and Margaret Rembert (Taylor)
Lawrence and a great-grandson of Thomas Lawrence, of “Morrisvale,”
Sussex County, who was appointed Judge of the Sussex County Court of
Common Pleas in February, 1801. His great-great-grandfather, Lewis
Morris, was one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence and
Judge of the Court of Admiralty from 1760 to 1876, and the son of Lewis
Morris, Sr., who was Judge of the Court of Admiralty in 1738, having
jurisdiction in the Providences of New York, New Jersey, and
Connecticut. Lewis Morris, the father of Judge Lewis Morris, Sr., last
named, was Governor of New Jersey, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in
1692, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New York from 1715 to
1733. Robert L. Lawrence thus numbers among his ancestors some of the most distinguished men in the professional history of New Jersey and New York, and at an early age developed those sterling qualities which characterize his race. He was graduated from Princeton College in the class of 1873, with honors, and afterward read law with Thomas Anderson, of Newton, N. J., being admitted to the bar of the State as an attorney in November, 1876, and as a counselor in June, 1885. Since 1876 Mr. Lawrence has been actively and successfully engaged in the practice of his profession in Jersey City, where he steadily rose to prominence among the members of the Hudson County bar. Endowed with broad intellectual qualifications, with superior judgment and great energy, he has through his own efforts achieved distinction as an able, industrious, and painstaking lawyer, and is highly esteemed and respected by all who know him. He was associated with Stewart Rapalje in conducting the Criminal Law Magazine from the commencement of the work until 1883 and in the preparation of that valuable and well known work entitled Rapalje and Lawrence’s Law Dictionary in the field of legal literature have gained for him a wide reputation in both legal and literary circles. Mr. Lawrence was married on the 18th of December, 1893, to Lillian M. Fisher, daughter of the late John H. Fisher and Jeannette P. (Walters) Fisher, of Jersey City, N. J., where they reside. Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, pages 119-120. |