History of Somerville, (Somerset County) New Jersey United States of America

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Biographies:

Abraham Messler, clergyman and author, was born in Readington, N.J., Nov. 15, 1800; son of Cornelius and Maria (Stryker) Messler; grandson of Cornelius and Maria (Dorlandt) Messler, and a descendant of Taunts Thomasen Metselaer, who came from Holland in 1641 and settled in New Amsterdam, and Belitze (Jacobs) Metselaer, his wife. He was prepared for college at New Germantown and Lamington, N.J., was graduated at Union college, N.Y., in 1821, and at the New Brunswick Theological seminary, N.J., in 1824, and was licensed by the closets of New Brunswick in 1824. He served as a missionary at Montville, N.J., and Ovid, N.Y., 1824-25; was pastor at Ovid, N.Y., 1825-29; at Pompton Plains and Montville, N.J., 1829-32, and of the First Dutch Reformed church at Raritan, N.J., 1832-79. He received the degree D.D. from Rutgers college in 1843, and was a trustee of that institution, 1845-82. He was married, Sept. 11, 1826, to Eleanor, daughter of Cornelius and Eleanor (Mandeville) Doremus, and their son, Thomas Doremus Messler of Pittsburg, who died Aug. 11, 1893, was vice-president of the Pennsylvania company, controlling and operating the lines of the Pennsylvania Railroad company west of Pittsburg. Dr. Messler is the author of: Fruits of Early Piety (1838); St. Paul's Gratitude to Onesiphorus (1839); Sermon on the Death of President Lincoln (1865); Eight Memorial Sermons and Historical Notes on Churches in Somerset County, N.J. (1873); Life and Public Services of Ex-Governor Vroom (1874); and Centennial History of Somerset County, N.J. (1878). He died at Somerville, N.J., June 12, 1882.

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

Theodore Runyon, jurist, was born at Somerville, N.J., Oct. 25, 1822; son of Abraham (1801?1892) and Mary (Runyan) Runyon; grandson of Ephraim (1769?1856) and Elizabeth (Coriell) (1770?1860) Runyon; great-grandson of John (1743?1792) and Violet (Layton) (1743?1782) Runyon; great2?grandson of Reune (1707?1776) and Rachel (Drake) (1711?1784) Runyon; great3?grandson of Vincent and Mary Ronnion and great4?grandson of Vincent Rongnion, a Huguenot, who emigrated from Poiters, France, and was married in the Province of New Jersey, July 17, 1668, to Ann, daughter of John Boutcher of Hartfordshire, England. Theodore Runyon was graduated from Yale in 1842; was admitted to the bar in 1846, and began practice in Newark, N.J. He was city attorney, 1853?56; city counsel, 1856; and in 1860 was a presidential elector on the Douglas and Johnson ticket. He was brigadier-general of the state militia, 1857?69; was mustered into the U.S. service as brigadier-general of volunteers in 1861, and assigned to the command of the fourth division of the Army of Northeast ern Virginia. His troops built Fort Runyon, but did not leave Washington, D.C. In August, 1861, he resigned his commission; was subsequently brevetted major-general of the state militia, and promoted to that rank in 1869. He was married Jan. 21, 1864, to Clementine, daughter of William D. and Sarah (Ostrander) Bruen of New York. He was elected mayor of Newark, N.J., in 1864, and in 1865 was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for governor. He was chancellor of New Jersey, 1873?87; practised law for six years; was appointed U.S. minister to Germany in 1893 to succeed William Walter Phelps; and was advanced to the position of ambassador extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary in 1894. He received the honorary degree of A.M. from Yale in 1862, and that of LL.D. from Rutgers in 1875, from Wesleyan, 1867, and from Yale, 1882. He died in Berlin, Germany, Jan. 27, 1896.

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

Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh, lawyer, was born in Somerville, N.J., June 19, 1767; son of the Rev. Dr. Jacob Rutsen and Dina (Van Bergh) Frelinghuysen Hardenbergh. He was the first in the ancestral line who could speak the English language as fluently as that of Holland. His father was the last pastor of the church at New Brunswick to preach in the Dutch language. He was graduated at Queens (afterward Rutgers) college in 1788, and received his A.M. degree in 1791, in which year he was also admitted to practrise law. He was the first president of the Bank of New Brunswick, chartered in 1807; a ruling elder in the First Reformed Dutch church, a trustee of Queens (afterward Rutgers) college, 1792-1841; and secretary of the board of trustees, 1795-1800. He owned extensive powder mills at Spottswood, N.J., and mills for the manufacture of mahogany veneering, which wood he imported. He inherited a large tract of land in the Hardenbergh patent but being unable to collect the rents peaceably he forsook the claim. His children neglected to re-enter, and his grandchildren were debarred by the peaceable possession by the squatters for over sixty years. He was a member of the synod of 1825 that changed the name (of Queens college to Rutgers in honor of Col. Henry Rutgers of New York. He was married Oct. 26, 1789, to Mary Margaret, daughter of Cornelius and Catherine (Hude) Lowe, and their children were: Cornelius Low, Jacob Rutsen, Catherine Low, John, Dinah Maria, James Hude, Lewis Dunham, Frederick Frelinghuysen, Joanna (who married the Rev. Dr. Ransford Welles), and Theodore Frelinghuysen. He died in New Brunswick, N.J., Feb. 13, 1841.

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