History of Morris County New Jersey United States of America

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William McLean, representative, was born in Morris county, N.J., before 1789; son of Fergus and Sophia (Blackford) McLean. His father, a native of Ireland, immigrated to Now Jersey, removed first to western Virginia in 1789, thence to Kentucky, and in 1799 to a farm in Warren county, Ohio. William attended school and in 1818 settled in Piqua, Miami county, Ohio, where he held the office of receiver of public moneys. He was a representative in the 18th, 19th and 20th congresses, 1823-29, and it was through his efforts that a subsidy of 500,000 acres of land was procured for building the Ohio canal from Cincinnati to Cleveland. He subsequently engaged in the mercantile business in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he died, Oct. 12, 1839.

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

Charles Kitchell Gardner, soldier, was born in Morris county, N.J., in 1787. In May, 1808, he joined the U.S. army as ensign in the 6th infantry, was promoted adjutant, May, 1809; 2d lieutenant, June, 1809, 1st lieutenant, March, 1811, and served as brigade inspector to General Hampton from April, 1811. He was promoted captain of the 3d artillery in July, 1812; brigade-major on the staff of General Armstrong, Aug. 4, 1812; adjutant-general, March 18, 1813, and transferred to the 23d infantry. In the war of 1812 he took part in the battles of Chrysler's Field, Chippewa, and Niagara, and in the siege and defence of Fort Erie. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel for distinguished and meritorious services, Feb. 5, 1815, and in May, 1816, was made adjutant-general of the division of the north. He resigned his commission, March 17, 1818. He was first assistant postmaster-general, 1829-37; auditor of the postoffice department, 1837-41; commissioner to settle affairs in connection with the Indians in the Southern states, 1841-45; postmaster of Washington, D.C., 1845-49; surveyor-general of Oregon, 1853-57, and clerk of the U.S. treasury department, 1857-67. He published: A Compendium of Military Tactics (1819); A Dictionary of Commissioned Officers who have served in the Army of the United States from 1789 to 1853 (1853); and A Permanent Designation of Companies and Company Books, by the First Letters of the Alphabet. He died in Washington, D.C., Nov. 1, 1869.

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

John McLean, jurist, was born in Morris county, N.J., March 11, 1785; son of Fergus and Sophia (Blockford) McLean. His father, a weaver by trade, emigrated from Ireland to New Jersey, removed to Morgantown, Va., in 1789, to Jessamine, Ky., soon after, to Mayslick, Ky., in 1793, and to Lebanon, Ohio, in 1793, where he died in 1939. John attended school as the opportunity presented itself, and in 1801 He had earned enough money to pay for private tuition. In 1803 he went to Cincinnati and obtained employment in the office of the clerk of Hamilton county. He studied law with Arthur St. Clair, was admitted to the bar in the fall of 1807 and practised in Lebanon, Ohio. He was a representative in the 13th and 14th congresses, 1813-17; was a firm supporter of President Madison; advocated the war against England; was a member of the committee on foreign relations and of the committee on public lands. He was appointed by joint ballot of the legislature, judge of the supreme court of the state of Ohio in 1816 and served until 1822 when he was appointed by President Monroe commissioner of the land office and in 1823 postmaster-general, which office he also held through President J. Q. Adams's administration. Upon the election of President Jackson, President Adams appointed him a justice of the U.S. supreme court and he was assigned to the seventh circuit, which at that time embraced the districts of Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio. He held the justiceship, 1829-61, and until the last two years of his life was never absent from his duties a single day. He was opposed to slavery but was impartial in his decisions on the question. In his opinions on the Dred Scott decision, he said: "If a citizen of a free state shall entice or enable a slave to escape from the service of his master, the law holds him responsible for the loss of that slave, and he is guilty of a misdemeanor, and I am bound to say that I have never found a jury in my circuit that have not sustained that law." In 1831, at the Anti-Masonic national convention held in Baltimore in September, his name was suggested for the candidacy for President but He declined in favor of William Wirt, and in 1830 he was urged to accept the nomination on the Whig ticket, but he again refused. His name was considered for president by the Free Soil party at Buffalo, Aug. 9, 1848; and by the Whig national convention at Baltimore, June 16, 1852; and by the Republican national convention at Chicago, May 16, 1860. He was twice married, first in 1807 to Rebecca, daughter of Dr. Edwards of Virginia, who died in December, 1840, and secondly in 1848 to Sarah Bells (Ludlow) Garrard, widow of Col. Jephtha Garrard and a daughter of Israel and Charlotte (Chambers) Ludlow. The honorary degree of LLD. was conferred on him by Wesleyan university, Conn., in 1885, and by Harvard college in 1889. He was made an honorary member of the New England Historic Genealogical society, Oct. I5, 1850 he delivered many addresses, and published Reports of the United States Circuit Court (6 vols., 1829-55). He died in Cincinnati, Ohio, April 4, 1861.

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

Philemon Dickerson, governor of New Jersey, was born in Morris county, N.J., in 1788; son of Jonathan Dickerson, and a direct descendant of Philemon Dickerson, who immigrated to Salem, Mass., and removed to Southold, Long Island, N.Y., in 1672. His brother, Mahlon Dickerson, was secretary of the navy, governor of New Jersey and U.S. senator. He studied law, was made an attorney in 1813, a counsellor in 1817, and a sergeant-at-law in 1824, and practised in Paterson, N.J. He represented his town in the New Jersey assembly in 1833, and his district in the 23d and 24th congresses, 1833-36, resigning in 1836 on being elected governor of New Jersey. He was a representative in the 26th congress, 1839-4l, but his election was contested by John B. Aycrigg, and he did not secure his seat until March 10, 1840, his term expiring, March 3, 1841. He was appointed judge of the U.S. district court in New Jersey by President Van Buren. He died in Paterson, N.J., Dec. 10, 1862.

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

History of Morris County New Jersey

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