Daniel H. Skellenger

NJGenWeb ~ Morris County, New Jersey

Source: History Morris County New Jersey, Volume II, Lewis Publishing Co., 1914

At this point in a biographical history of Morris county it is a pleasure to insert a resume’ of the career of Daniel H. SKELLENGER, who is successfully engaged in the general merchandise business at Chester and who is a stockholder in the Dover Trust Company. He owns a great deal of valuable property in and adjacent to Chester, and for five years served his community in the capacity of justice of the peace. Mr. SKELLENGER is a native of Morris county, New Jersey, the date of his birth being October 9, 1840. He is a son of Charles J. and Nancy (ANSON) SKELLENGER, both of whom were likewise born in Morris county and both of whom are now deceased. The father was for many years a prominent and progressive farmer, his fine estate of 140 acres being located five miles distant from Chester. He and his wife were zealous members of the Congregational church of Chester and devoted considerable time to good and charitable work. They lived an honest, outdoor life, their rugged, sterling characters being the outcome of a close association with nature. To them were born the following children:

Daniel H., of this notice;
Martha, married James ABLE and they are both deceased;
Josephine, wife of Charles STROWBRIDGE;
Charles Robert;
William H.;
Lydia C., wife of George WALK;
Emma, wife of Charles HOSKINS;
Mary, wife of Frank APGAR;
Anna, married Henry WIGGINS;
Laura, wife of Frank BUDD.

As the first born in a large family of children, Daniel H. SKELLENGER early became an able assistant to his father in the work and management of the old homestead farm. He attended the neighboring district schools and completed his educational discipline with a course of study in the Chester Institute. At the age of eighteen years he began to clerk in a general store at Flanders and he has followed the general merchandise business with marked success ever since. His well stocked mercantile establishment at Chester has been an institution here since 1875 and is recognized as one of the finest concerns of its kind in this section of Morris county. Mr. SKELLENGER has extensive property holdings in Chester and he has money invested in the Dover Trust Company. He is an unswerving Democrat in his political convictions and in 1888 he was honored by his fellow citizens with election to the office of justice of the peace, serving as such for a term of five years. He fraternizes with the local lodge of the I. O. O. F., and his religious faith is in harmony with the tenets of the Congregational church, of which he is now a trustee and of which he has been treasurer for a number of years. He manifests a deep and sincere interest in civic affairs, and as a man he is esteemed by his fellow citizens for his honorable and upright character.

Mr. SKELLENGER has twice been married. In 1863 he wedded Adeline FLEMING, whose demise occurred in 1895, and who is survived by a daughter,

Nancy, wife of Alfred BAKER;

Mr. and Mrs. BAKER have two children:

Albert and
Daniel.

In 1896 he married Amelia J. RENKEL. There have been no children born to the latter union. Mrs. Amelia J. SKELLENGER is the daughter of William and Mary J. (CHARLTAN) RENKEL. William RENKEL was a native of Germany and at twenty-seven years of age came to America and located in Sussex county, New Jersey. After his marriage in New York, in 1875, they moved to Chester township, Morris county, New Jersey, where he died in 1897, aged seventy-five years; his wife died June, 1904. They were farmers, attendants of Congregational church. Seven children:

Leonard, baggage master on Delaware, Lackawana & Western Railroad;
Sanford, farmer at Mt. Olive;
William, carpenter at Woodport;
Amelia J., mentioned above;
Rachael E., wife of Daniel ABEL, of Flanders;
Augustus, of Mountainville, a blacksmith;
Esther A., single, resident of Chester.

This biography was transcribed by John Cresseveur (1949-2003).