History of Plainfield, (Union County) New Jersey United States of America

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Biographies:

William Valentine Kelley, clergyman, was born at Plainfield, N.J., Feb. 13, 1843; son of the Rev. Benjamin aud Eliza Kelley, and descended from English Puritans, who landed at Newburyport, Massachusetts Bay colony, in 1635. He was graduated from Wesleyan university, Conn., in 1865; was a teacher of mathematics, natural science and German in the Seminary and Female college, Pennington, N.J., 1865-66; joined the New Jersey conference of the Methodist Episcopal church and was stationed at Burlington, N.J., as a pastor in 1867, and at Centenary church in Camden, 1868. He travelled in Europe with the Rev. Charles Henry Payne in 1869; was stationed at St, James's church, New Brunswick, N.J., 1870-72; travelled in Egypt and the Holy Land with Mr. Payne and the Rev. Henry White Warren in 1873; stationed at Asbury church, Buffalo, N.Y., 1873; at Spring Garden Street church, Philadelphia, Pa., 1874-76; at Fletcher church, West Philadelphia, 1877; at Central church, Newark, N.J., 1878-80; at St. John's church, Brooklyn, N.Y., 1881-89, and at New Haven, Conn., 1892. He became manager of the American Bible society and Methodist Episcopal missionary board, and editor of the Methodist Review in 1898. He received the degree of D.D. from Wesleyan university in 1883, and that of L.H.D. from Dickinson college in 1898. He was elected a trustee of Wesleyan university in 1893, of Drew Theological seminary in 1897, and of Pekin university, China, in 1896. He contributed to reviews and periodicals, and was a preacher and lecturer at various colleges and theological schools. He was married, July 27, 1867, to Eliza W. McVeigh, daughter of John Whiteman, of Philadelphia, Pa.

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

David Jayne Hill, educator and publicist, was born in Plainfield, N.J., June I0, 1850; son of the Rev. Daniel T. and Lydia Ann (Thompson) Hill, grandson of Isaac Hill and a descendant of Abraham Hill. He was graduated from the University of Lewisburg, Pa. (afterward Bucknell), in 1874. He was instructor in ancient languages at Bucknell until 1877; was Crozer professor of rhetoric there, 1877-9; president of the university, 1879-88, and president of the University of Rochester, and Burbank professor of intellectual and moral philosophy, 1888-96. He studied at Berlin and Paris, giving special attention to philosophy and public law, 1896-98. On Oct. 1, 1898, President McKinley appointed him first assistant secretary of state to succeed John B. Moore, and while in the state department he also served as professor of European diplomacy in the school of comparative jurisprudence and diplomacy at Washington. He was married, June 3, 1886, to Juliet Lewis Packer. He was elected a fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Science in 1895 and a member of the Academy of Political and Social Science. Madison university conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. in 1883. He is the author of: TheScience of Rhetoric (1877); Elements of Rhetoric and Composition (1879); Life of Washington Irving (1879): Life of William Cullen Bryant (1880) ; Principles and Fallacies of Socialism (1885); The Elements of Psychology (1887); the Social Influence of Christianity (1887);Genetic Philosophy (1893), and magazine articles. In 1903 he was appointed U.S. minister to Switzerland.

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

Clemence Sophia Lozier, physician, was born in Plainfield, N.J., Dec. 11, 1812; daughter of David Harned. She was married in 1829 to Abraham W. Lozier of New York, and their son, Dr. Abraham W. Lozier, married Charlotte Irene Denman, who became a well-known physician. She conducted a school in the city of New York, 1837-48, during her husband's protracted illness. She became a member of the Moral Reform society, and after her husband's death attended lectures at the Rochester Eclectic Medical college; and was graduated M.D. from the Syracuse Medical college in 1853. She engaged in the practice of medicine in New York city and rose to prominence as a surgeon for women. She gave a series of lectures on medical subjects in her parlors in 1860, which resulted in organizing and establishing in 1863 the New York Medical college and hospital for women of which she was the dean of the faculty and clinical professor of the diseases of women and children. She was also president of the New York City Woman Suffrage society and of the National Woman Suffrage society, and a member of philanthropic and reform societies. She died in New York city, April 26, 1888.

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

Daniel Drake, physician and educator, was born in Plainfield, N.J., Oct. 20, 1785. In 1788 his parents removed to Mason county, Ky., and in December, 1800, he was taken to Cincinnati, Ohio, to study medicine. He began the practice of medicine in Mason county, Ky., in 1804, and attended lectures in the University of Pennsylvania in 1805 and again in 1815 and 1816, and was graduated in 1816. He was professor of materia medica in Transylvania university, Ky., 1816-18. In 1819 he obtained from the Ohio legislature the charter of the medical college of Ohio, located in Cincinnati; and from that time till his death he was engaged in teaching in different medical schools in that city, and in Lexington and Louisville, Ky., and Philadelphia, Pa. In 1821 he obtained from the Ohio legislature a grant of money to erect a hospital in Cincinnati. He established the Western Journal of the Medical and Physical Sciences in 1827, and was its editor until 1848. He published: Picture of Cincinnati and the Miami Country (1815); Practical Treatise on the History, Prevention and Treatment of Epidemic Cholera (1832); Practical Essays on Medical Education (1832); and Systematic Treatise on the Principal Diseases of the Interior Valley of North America (2 vols., 1850-54). See Life of Daniel Drake (1861) by his son, Charles Daniel Drake, LL.D. He died in Cincinnati, Ohio, Nov. 6, 1852.

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