Morris County Tuttles

NJGenWeb ~ Morris County, New Jersey

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

The TUTTLES of Morris county are mainly descendants of the brothers, Timothy and Joseph TUTTLE, who bought land in this section about 1725, and removed to Hanover in 1733. They were sons of Stephen TUTTLE, of Woodbridge New Jersey, who was the grandson of William TUTTLE, one of the founders of New Haven colony in 1639, his father, Joseph TUTTLE, of New Haven, being the sixth child of William TUTTLE. The brothers, Timothy and Joseph, were prominent in Newark for a number of years before their removal to Hanover.

Joseph TUTTLE, the younger of the two brothers, was the purchaser of a tract of one thousand two hundred and fifty acres in 1734, at Hanover Neck, on the Whippany and Passaic rivers, near their confluence. In the deed he is called "Joseph TUTTLE, blacksmith". He was also a justice of the peace, a colonel of militia and a deacon in the church. He died in 1789, aged ninety-one. His tomb in the old Whippany graveyard is inscribed with a poetical epitaph from the pen of Rev. Dr. GREEN

Of Joseph TUTTLE'S eleven children, Ruth married David KITCHELL, Samuel married Rachel FORD, and Moses married Jane FORD, daughters of Colonel Jacob FORD, of Morristown; Joseph married Jemima HAINES and was the grandfather of Silas TUTTLE of Whippany, and Samuel TUTTLE, of Littleton; and David married Sarah Coe, and was the grandfather of John O. TUTTLE of Hanover. Timothy TUTTLE, the elder of the brothers, was born in Woodbridge, and was also a justice of the peace in Hanover, and died in 1754, aged fifty-eight. Of his family of seven children, Daniel, resided in Hanover, and Thomas settled in Littleton, where his granddaughter Eunice married William ROWE. Daniel TUTTLE was the father of fifteen children and with whom five of his sons enlisted in the army of the Revolution. His son, Captain William TUTTLE, married Tempe WICKE, and was the father of Mrs. Joseph Warren BLACHLEY, of Morristown. Another son Joseph TUTTLE, married Ester PARKHURST, resided at New Vernon, and was the father of William TUTTLE, of Newark, for many years a prominent citizen, and founder and proprietor of the Newark Daily Advertiser. Joseph TUTTLE was also the father of Rev. Jacob TUTTLE, who married Elizabeth Ward, of Bloomfield, and who was the father of the brothers, Samuel L., and Joseph F TUTTLE ministers, who were widely known in the county.

The elder of these, Rev. Samuel Lawrence TUTTLE, was born in Bloomfield, August 25 1815, educated at Princeton College and Auburn Seminary, was pastor of the Presbyterian church of Caldwell, Essex county, from 1841 to 1849, and in the service of the American Bible Society until 1853, when he became the pastor of the Presbyterian church of Madison. Here, as in his former fields, his work was well attended with marked success, and he became greatly endeared, not only to his own church, but to all classes in the community, who recognized in him a man of great public spirit and influence. His work in behalf of the town in attracting the attention of New Yorkers to its beauties, and also opening the village to improvements and financial prosperity, can never be forgotten. He did much also to collect and preserve the interesting historical details connected with old Bottle Hill, and was an enthusiastic student of the Revolutionary sites and recollections with which the place so richly endowed. His notes are valuable authorities upon these subjects. He resigned the pastorate in 1862, greatly regretting by his people, and, after four years' service as assistant secretary of the American Bible Society, died in Madison, April 16 1866.

The younger of these distinguished brothers, Rev. Joseph TUTTLE, D.D., was born in Bloomfield, March 12, 1818, and removed with his father's family to Ohio in 1832; was educated at Marietta College and Lane Seminary, and was pastor of the Presbyterian church of Delaware, Ohio, in 1846. In 1847 he became the pastor of the Presbyterian church of Rockaway, New Jersey, and not only were his labors as a preacher crowned with abundant success but he became widely known throughout Morris County by his influence and public spirit in all things affecting the interests of the people, and also as a historian of this region, collecting and publishing facts and reminiscences of Colonial and Revolutionary times which will always be of the gravest value. He is looked upon at present as the father of Morris county history and an unquestioned authority upon subjects comprised in that history. In 1862 he resigned the pastorate to become the president of Wabash College, at Crawfordsville, Indiana, and for thirty years remained at the head of the greatest institution. During this time his work in behalf of the College was of the greatest moment. He found it poor and struggling with difficulties, but under his effort it was endowed with nearly a million dollars, raised principally by his personal exertions, and was enlarges and elevated until it is recognized as one of the important institutions of the west and a decided feature of the state of Indiana. After the longest term of service yet filled by an American college president, he resigned, in 1892. He is still living an honored resident of Crawfordsville, and revered as a father by the officers and students of the college which his labors have so greatly blessed.

[These notes were prepared by William Parkhurst TUTTLE, of Madison, the oldest son of Rev. Samuel Lawrence TUTTLE. He has been engaged in the banking business in New York city and was a member of the stock exchange many years. He has always been interested in the genealogical and historical matters pertaining to Madison and Morris counties, and is well and prominently known as one of the best citizens of the place]

Transcribed by Ida King