NJGenWeb ~ Morris County, New Jersey

Biographical and Genealogical History of Morris County New Jersey. Illustrated. Vol. II., Lewis Publishing Company, New York and Chicago, 1899, p. 134

Ceaselessly to and fro flies the deft shuttle which weaves the web of human destiny, and into the vast mosaic fabric enter the individuality, the effort, the accomplishment of each man, be his station the most lowly or one of pomp and power. Within the textile folds may be traced the line of each individuality, be it one that lends the sheen of honest worth and honest endeavor, or one that, dark and zigzag, finds its way through warp and woof, marring the composite beauty by its blackened threads, ever in evidence of the shadowed and unprolific life. Into the great aggregate each individuality is merged, and yet the essence of each is never lost, be the angle of influence widespreading and grateful or narrow and baneful. He who essays biography finds much of profit and much of alluring fascination when he would follow out, in even a cursory way, the tracings of a life history, seeking to find the keynote of each respective personality, as one generation succeeds another. These efforts and their resulting transmission can not fail of value in an objective way, for in each case the lesson of life may be conned, —line upon line and precept upon precept. The subject of this review stands as a representative of old and honored families, not only of the state of New Jersey, but of the nation, and in tracing the genealogy the record is one which bespeaks noble men and noble deeds; bespeaks the unblotted escutcheon and lives significant of honor and usefulness in the various relations of life. Not unprofitable can prove even the passing glance at the careers of those who have thus conferred dignity upon society.

The original progenitor of the LUM family, in all its branches in America, according to well authenticated record, was Samuel LUM, who was born in England, in the year 1619, and who died in 1703. His three sons, Jonathan, Matthew and Samuel, emigrated to America in the early part of the seventeenth century, taking up their original residence in Connecticut. The direct line of descent to the immediate subject of this review traces through the Samuel just mentioned, his son, Samuel (3d), who died in 1732; thence through the latter’s son, Samuel (4th), son of Israel, born in 1745, died in 1835, being the father of Samuel D. (1819 - 1851), who was the father of Harvey M. LUM, father of Frederick H., whose name initiates this review.

Harvey M. LUM was born in Chatham, New Jersey, in the year 1820, and died at Chatham in 1886, having been engaged in building and standing as one of the honored and influential citizens of the community. He had two brothers and four sisters, namely: Charles; Paul; Caroline, wife of Hudson MINTON; Phebe Ann, wife of Harvey MUCHMORE and mother of Hudson MUCHMORE; Rowena, who died unmarried; and Jane, who was the first wife of said Harvey MUCHMORE, father of Alfred MUCHMORE; and Sarah, who became the wife of Jephthah B. MUNN. Two of the direct ancestors of our subject, Samuel and Israel LUM (father and son), fought side by side in the Continental army during the war of the Revolution, being ardent patriots and rendering the valiant service of loyal sons of the Republic. The maternal great-grandfather of Mr. LUM participated in all the battles of the Revolutionary war, and although he was often where bullets flew thick and fast he never received a scratch and was never sick. He died on his way home with a fever.

Harvey M. LUM was twice married, his first wife having been Margaret STURGES, who bore him a daughter, Margaret Drake, who became the wife of John A. TROWBRIDGE. He subsequently was united in marriage to Miss Jane S. BRUEN, daughter of Ashbel and Mary (CHANDLER) BRUEN, and they became the parents of four sons and one daughter, namely: Frederick Harvey, the immediate subject of this sketch; Merritt Bruen, to whom individual reference is made elsewhere in this volume; Edward Harris; Charles Mandred; and Caroline Elizabeth, the wife of Frank M. BUDD, of Chatham. The ancestor of all the BRUENS in north Jersey was Obadiah, the second son of John BRUEN, Esq., of Bruen, Stapleford, Cheshire, England, and records extant show that he was christened on Christmas day, 1606. He was a descendant of Robert Le Brun, A. D. 1230, who came from Normandy to England, - undoubtedly with William the Conquerer, - and of whom record is made in Domesday Book.

Mary (CHANDLER) BRUEN, the maternal grandmother of Frederick H., was born in 1803 and died in 1889, being the daughter of Jonathan CHANDLER, of Elizabethtown, New Jersey (1762-1836). At the age of sixteen years he entered the Continental army as a drummer boy, was captured by the British, but eventually released. The children of Ashbel and Mary (CHANDLER) BRUEN were: Benjamin, unmarried; Phebe Jane, mother of our subject; Elizabeth, who married Stephen BONNEL and went to Michigan; Theodore W.; Caroline, who became the wife of John BALDWIN, of Cheapside; Merritt, unmarried; Francis Marion; and Mary Adeline, who married Joseph EBLING, of Harlem, New York.

Frederick Harvey LUM, the immediate subject of this review, was born at Chatham, on the 5th of October, 1848, the son of Harvey Mandred LUM and Phebe Jane Smith (BRUEN) LUM. He received excellent advantages in the way of preliminary education and eventually entered the school of Julius D. ROSE, Ph.D., of Summit, New Jersey, graduating at this institution in 1866. He then began the work of preparing himself for that profession which has represented his vocation in life, and in which he has attained success and precedence, taking up the study of law under the able preceptorship of Judge John WHITEHEAD and William B. GUILD, Esq., of Newark, New Jer­sey, and securing admission to the bar of the state, as an attorney, at the February term of 1870, and as a counselor at the November term of court in 1873. Upon the day of his admission as an attorney he entered into a professional partnership with his former preceptor, Mr. Guild, under the firm name of Guild & Lum, and this alliance has ever since obtained, the firm retaining a representative clientage and touching much of the important legal business in their province. The office headquarters of the firm are in the Prudential Life Insurance Company’s building in the city of Newark, though Mr. LUM has retained his residence in Chatham, Morris county, since 1871. For twenty-five years he has been the counsel for the German National Bank of Newark and a director in the same; and he has also been counsel for Bishop WIGGER. He is closely identified with Newark and is well known as an able lawyer.

Mr. LUM is well versed in the learning of his profession, and with a deep knowledge of human nature and of the springs of human conduct, with great discrimination and tact, he has proved to be an advocate of power and influence and a wise and conservative counsel. He has never been an aspirant for political preferment, though a stanch advocate of the principles of the Republican party. His interest in all that touches the welfare of Chatham is constant and vigorous, and his personal popularity in the community is signalized in the fact that he served as president of the village of Chatham during its entire period of corporate existence, while upon the incorporation of Chatham as a borough be became its mayor, and has ever since been the incumbent of that office,  his service at the head of the municipal government of the place having thus extended over a period of seven years. When he was elected mayor he received every vote irrespective of party, which fact alone evidences his popularity.

On the 10th of March, 1870, Mr. LUM was united in marriage to Miss Alice Elizabeth HARRIS, daughter of Edward C. and Rachel P. (BANTA) HARRIS, of Nyack, New York. They have an interesting family of six children, —Susie May, Charles Harris, Frederick Harvey, Jr., Ralph Emerson, Ernest Culver and Lorentha Storms. Susie May is a graduate of Wellesley College and a very fine musician; Charles Harris is a graduate of the Columbia College School of Mines and is an architect at No. 70 Fifth avenue, New York city; two sons are now in the college, and one ready to enter Princeton College. The attractive family home is one in which are ever in evidence the refining amenities which contribute so largely to the satisfaction and pleasure of life, and here an unostentatious and gracious hospitality is extended to a large circle of friends.

Transcribed by Ronald Day

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