History of Jersey City, (Hudson County) New Jersey United States of America

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Local History Notes:

JERSEY CITY, capital of Hudson county, New Jersey, on the right or W. bank of the Hudson river, at its entrance into New York bay, and opposite New York city, from which it is 1 mile distant. It is the eastern terminus of the New Jersey railroad leading to Philadelphia, and the southern terminus of the Hudson and Paterson railroad. The Morris canal connects it with Easton, in Pennsylvania. Five large ferry-boats ply continually between New York and this city, and the Cunard line of ocean steamships run from this port. Jersey City is well built, with wide streets, crossing each other at right angles, and lighted with gas. There are 8 churches, viz. 2 Methodists, 2 Reformed Dutch, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Baptist, 1 Episcopal, and 1 Catholic. It contains 2 banks, a large manufactory of glass, one of black-lead, one of porcelain or delft-ware, several iron foundries, and two newspaper offices. It has several seminaries and a high-school, which enjoys a distinguished reputation. Arrangements have recently been made to supply this city with water from the Passaic river, 7 or 8 miles distant. The reservoir is on Bergen Hill, 2 miles W. from the city. The cost of the water-works is estimated at $600,000. The introduction of good water will, it is thought, commence an era in the growth and prosperity of this city. Steamers can always leave Jersey City for Europe, without obstruction from ice, which they cannot do from New York. Population in 1853, 18,456.

Biographies:

Franklin Murphy, governor of New Jersey, was born in Jersey City, N.J., January. 3, 1846; son of William H. and Abby Elizabeth (Hagar) Murphy; grandson of William Murphy, and a descendant of Robert Murphy, who emigrated from Ireland and settled in Connecticut in 1756. He served in the 13th New Jersey Volunteers, 1862-65, reaching the rank of 1st lieutenant. He established in 1865 the business of Murphy & Company, varnish manufacturers. He was chairman of the Republican state committee in 1892 and in 1900 was a member of the Republican national executive committee. He was a delegate-at-large to the St. Louis Republican national convention of 1896 and 1900, and was a U.S. commissioner to the Paris exposition of 1900. He was president-general of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution in 1899, and was made a member of the Society of Colonial Wars and of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion. In 1901 he was elected governor of New Jersey for the term 1902-5.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

George Catlin, author, was born in Wilkesbarre, Pa., July 26, 1796; son of Putnam and Polly (Sutton) Catlin, and grandson of Eli and Elizabeth (Way) Catlin, his grandfather being a captain in the revolutionary army. He was educated at home, and during 1817 and 1818 studied at a law school at Litchfield, Conn., where he became noted as an amateur artist. He followed his profession in New York, Buffalo, Norfolk, and in Philadelphia, from 1823 to 1829, and later travelled in all parts of America and Europe, becoming especially well-known as a painter of North American Indians. From 1852 to 1857 he travelled in Central and South America, and spent the following fourteen years in Europe. Among his published writings, all of which are profusely illustrated by himself, may be noted: Notes of Eight Years' Travels and Residence in Europe with his North American Indian Collection (1848); Museum of Mankind (1851); Illustrations of the Manners, Customs and Condition of the North American Indians (7th ed., 1848); The Breath of Life (1864); Last Rambles amongst the Indians of the Rocky Mountains and the Andes (1868); The Lifted and Subsided Rocks of America (1870); Life Among the Indians (1847); and O-Kee-pa; a Religious Ceremony; and other Customs of the Mandans (1867). He died in Jersey City, N. J., Dec. 23, 1872.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Gilbert William Gaul, painter, was born in Jersey City, N.J., March 31, 1855; son of George and Cornelia (Gilbert) Gaul; grandson of William and Almira (McKonn) Gaul; and a descendant of Richard and Rebecca (Young) Gaul. He studied painting under John G. Brown in New York city and in 1877 established a studio in New York city where he became known as an illustrator and painter of genre and historical subjects. He was elected an associate of the National academy of design in 1879, and became an academician and a member of the Society of American artists in 1882. Among his better known works are: Stories of Liberty to the Confined (1879); Charging the Battery (1882); Holding the Line at all Hazards, awarded first medal of the American art association (1886); and With Fate Against Them (1887). He was awarded a third-class medal at the Paris exposition in 1889, and received two medals for painting and illustrating at World's Columbian exposition, Chicago, in 1893.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

William Libbey, educator, was born in Jersey City, N.J., March 27, 1855; son of William and Elizabeth (Marsh) Libbey and grandson of William Seavey and Sarah (Farrington) Libbey. His first ancestor in America was an early settler of Portsmouth, N.H., 1630. He attended the Polytechnic institute, Brooklyn, N.Y., and was graduated from the Co11ege of New Jersey, A.B., 1877, A.M. and Sc.D., 1879. He was married, Dec. 7, 1880, to Mary Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Prof. William Henry Green, of Princeton Theological seminary. He was associate professor of natural science at Princeton, 1880-83; professor of physical geography and director of the E.M. Geological museum, 1883-85, and professor of histology, 1885-98. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Geographical society and of the Royal Geological society of London in 1880, the geographical and geological societies of France in 1879, and became foreign secretary of the American Geographical society. He edited Guyot's Physical and Meteorological Tables. (1884), and Guyot's Physical Geography (1884).

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor