Essex County, NJ
Obituaries and Death Notices
EDWARD BALL
January 6, 1892 - Hydrophobia Killed Him
Newark, Jan. 4- Edward Ball, four years old, died of hydrophobia Sunday at his home in this city. The little fellow was badly bitten by a mastiff owned by Campbell Clark, a prominent citizen of this city, on Dec. 11. A younger brother of Ball was also bitten at the time and the worst result in his case is feared. [The Hopewell Herald - submitted by Shauna Williams]
HENRY BECHT
November 23, 1892 - Suicide While Is ----
Newark, N.J., Nov. 23 - Demented Henry Becht hanged himself in the caller of his home here. [The Hopewell Herald - submitted by Shauna Williams]
MRS. JOHN BECKER
April 20, 1892 - She Took Paris Green
Newark, N.J., April 19 - Mrs. John Becker, of Newark, committed suicide by taking paris green because her husband passed too much of his time in a saloon kept by a pre----ing widow. [The Hopewell Herald - submitted by Shauna Williams]
PAULME BROOS
Oct. 19, 1881 - Paulme Broos, a child, was whirled around a shaft and killed in Starrs & Co’s factory, Newark, NJ. [The Hopewell Herald - submitted by Shauna Williams]
DR. ISAAC D. DODD.
DR. DODD was born near Utica, New York, in 1799 ; was educated in Newark, attended lectures in Philadelphia, and studied medicine with Dr. Joseph S. Dodd, of Bloomfield. After securing his license he removed to Chester, Orange County, New York, where he had a large practice for ten or fifteen years, and enjoyed the friendship and patronage of Hon. William H. Seward, and the other leading people of that section. In 1838 he returned to Bloomfield, and remained there the balance of his life. He was a man of great physical power and imposing appearance, and on account of his great size was familiarly spoken of as the " big doctor." He died at Bloomfield on the 25th of October, 1869. [Source: Transactions of the Medical Society of New Jersey By Medical Society of New Jersey; 1868. Newark, N.J.; Printed at the Evening Courier Office, 309 Broad St. 1868, pg. 93, submitted by Michelle Byrd]
MORRIS DODD
Morris Dodd died at Newark, N.J., Oct. 24 (National Intelligencer, Oct. 29, 1831)
CHARLES DOLAN
Thursday, April 14-The body of the man found in the Passaic river at Newark has been identified as that of Charles Dolan, thirty-five, of Harrison, N.J. [The Hopewell Herald - submitted by Shauna Williams]
Capt. Benjamin Douglas - died, Bloomfield, N.J., December, 1882.
[1843 Chicago City Directory, reprinted in 1896, submitted by K. Torp]
Elizabeth (nee Platt) Firth
NEWSPAPER: Newark Evening News
DATE: Friday, October 9, 1925
FIRTH - On Thursday, October 8, 1925, Elizabeth Firth, beloved grandmother of Charles R. Drew in her 80th year. Funeral services at the Colonial House 137? Street, West Orange, NJ on October 10, 1925. [Submitted by Kathie Marynik]
GARRET FITZSIMMONS
August 31, 1892
Tuesday, Aug. 30-Garret Fitzsimmons, of Newark, NJ, while smoking at an open window, fell on the ground and was killed. [The Hopewell Herald - submitted by Shauna Williams]
LENA FRITZ
Jan. 15, 1882 - Coroner Reed, of Newark, began an inquest on Wednesday, in the case of Lena Fritz, a cook employed in Charles Maurer’s hotel at Montclair, who was burned to death in the destruction of the hotel by fire on January 19th. Two witnesses testified yesterday that just previous to the fire they heard cries of “murder” in the house. Maurer, who was arrested on Tuesday night, was present at the inquest. He was committed to jail pending the results. [The Hopewell Herald - submitted by Shauna Williams]
FRANK GILBRETH
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Gilbreth, of Montclair, N. J., were partners in a firm of consulting engineers until Mr. Gilbreth's death in New York recently on the eve of departure to Europe to attend a power conference. Mrs. Gilbreth went alone, read her own and her husband's papers and since her return is carrying on the work of the firm. [December 8, 1924 Hamilton Evening Journal - Submitted by Nancy Hannah]
JACKSON
Melancholy Accident
NEWARK, May 9 (1809) -- A circumstance occurred in the vicinity of this place, on Thursday evening last, calculated to excite the sympathy of every reader or hearer. The Rev. Mr. Jackson, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Bloomfield, with his wife, came to this town on a visit to a friend. They attended service at the Presbyterian Church that evening, and were on their return home in a chair when, about half a mile hence, on the Bloomfield and Newark Turnpike road, the night being dark, the horse unfortunately left the road and went off he side of the bank, about the height of ten feet. Mr. Jackson was precipitated a considerable distance, and received no material injury; but painful to relate, Mrs. Jackson was thrown near the horse's feet. Entangled in the harness, the horse began kicking, and before any assistance could be rendered to Mrs. Jackson, several fractures were made in her skull and she expired instantly. We learn that she has left a large family to mourn this sudden and awful bereavement. [May 24, 1809, The Centinel, Gettysburg, PA - Submitted by Nancy Piper]
DR. TIMOTHY KITCHELL
BY H. P. GEIB, M. D.
DR. TIMOTHY KITCHELL was born at Whippany, N. J., in the year 1798.
He commenced the study of Medicine at the age of 21 years, in the office of Dr. Darcy. He received license to practice from the Medical Society of New Jersey, and entered into partnership with Dr. Darcy, continuing with him until the latter left Whippany to practice in the city of Newark. Dr. Kitchell was remarkable for the energy and activity he displayed in the practice of his profession. Practicing for forty-one years in a region of country not very densely populated, and extending over a large territory, from Morris Plains to the Orange Mountains, he was noted for his untiring industry, and for the promptness with which he answered the many calls made upon him. In personal appearance he was plain; quiet and modest in manner ; and was what might be called a true representative of a country physician, never making a display of talent or performing one act for the purpose of increasing his popularity.
In his intercourse with his professional brethren he was noted for his strict adherence to the rules of medical etiquette, always kind and courteous in manner to any of them. He served one term in our State Legislature, with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his constituents, by whom he was again nominated, but refused to accept it. For one year previous to his death he suffered considerably from ill health ; but still continued to discharge the duties of his profession until a few days before his death, which occurred on the 6th day of August, 1869. The immediate cause of death was Uremia. His funeral was attended by the largest number of people ever assembled together at one time in this place. WHIPPANY, May, 1870. [Source: Transactions of the Medical Society of New Jersey By Medical Society of New Jersey; 1868. Newark, N.J.; Printed at the Evening Courier Office, 309 Broad St. 1868, pg. 88-89, submitted by Michelle Byrd]
JOHN KOSTA
July 13, 1892 - Died in His Cell
Newark, July 9 - John Kosta, aged fifty years, a prisoner in the Essex county jail, died in his cell of heart disease. [The Hopewell Herald - submitted by Shauna Williams]
WILLIAM LEET
March 1, 1882 - William Leet, aged twelve years, employed in Crable & Co’s needle factory, on North Third Street, Newark, was working at the rollers Saturday morning passing a coil of wire through, when the wire broke and coiled around him, cutting him in two and killing him instantly. [The Hopewell Herald - submitted by Shauna Williams]
GEO. MCCLELLAN
Gen. Geo. Brinton McClellan - died, St. Cloud, Orange Mountain, N.J., October 28, 1885, aged 59. [1843 Chicago City Directory, reprinted in 1896, submitted by K. Torp]
EARL RUFUS MELLEN
1894-1975
Services for Earl R. Mellen, 81, of Wyoming Avenue, were to be held today at 10 a.m. in Morrow Memorial Methodist Church, Maplewood. Mr. Mellen a former president of Weston Instruments, Newark, and a former chairman of the Hospital Service Plan of New Jersey (Blue Cross), died Monday at home.
Born in Lowell, Mass., he lived here since 1929. He was a 1916 graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and had been employed by Weston Instruments for 47 years before his retirement in 1959. Mr. Mellen was active in civic affairs both here and in Newark. He served as chairman of the local Planning Board, and was a past president of the Newark Chamber of Commerce and the Newark Rotary Club. He had been a director of the Newark Museum, the Howard Savings Bank and the Commercial Insurance Co., both of Newark; the National Industrial Conference Board and the Newark YM-YWCA. He was a chairman of the Hospital Service Plan of New Jersey.
Mr. Mellen was involved in Boy Scouts affairs and served as vice president of the Robert Treat Council. He was the recipient of the Scouts’ Silver Beaver Award. He was a member of the N.J. Association of Credit Executives, a director of Caluilagraph and a member of Kane Lodge F&AM, Newark. Surviving are his wife, Mrs. Isabel Holloway Mellen; four sons, Earl R. Mellen Jr.; Howard G. Mellen, Raymond R. Mellen and Walter R. Mellen; two daughters. Mrs. Joan Walsh and Mrs. Carol Wick; five sisters, Miss Myrtle Mellen, Mrs. Marjorie Blake, Mrs. Edwin Jacques, Mrs. John Prescott, Mrs. Harry Smith; two brothers, Judah Mellen and Raymond Mellen, and 16 grandchildren.
[Taken from the Millburn Item Thursday Nov. 6, 1975 - Submitted by Carole Dick]
HENRY E. MOONEY
February 9, 1893 - His Head Smashed in.
Newark, N.J., Feb. 8 - Henry E. Mooney, a well known expressman, was instantly killed on a Springfield avenue electric car. While stepping from the front platform his head struck one of the skeletonlike trolley poles on its sharp edge, cutting his throat, splitting his ear and crushing his skull. [The Hopewell Herald - submitted by Shauna Williams]
ANO MORABO
July 13, 1892 - Drowned in Morris Canal
Newark, July 10 - Ano Morabo, a little boy of ten, was drowned in the Morris canal here while swimming. [The Hopewell Herald - submitted by Shauna Williams]
D.H. MOUNT
October 19, 1892 Rocky Hill
Dr. D.H. Mount died at Newark on Saturday. The funeral services were held in Trinity church, this place, Tuesday morning, the interment at this cemetery. [The Hopewell Herald - submitted by Shauna Williams]
MICHAEL NIHIL
April 5, 1882 - Michael Nihil, a veteran of the late war, died at the Newark Soldiers’ Home, Tuesday week, from heart disease. He weighed 342 pounds. [The Hopewell Herald - submitted by Shauna Williams]
BENJAMIN OLDS
March 17, 1881
At Newark, N. J., March 8, Benjamin Olds, 91, great uncle of the editor of this paper.
[The Henry Republican, Henry, IL, January 4, 1883 - Submitted by Nancy Piper]
JAMES PARKER
March 23, 1892 - Monday, March 21- James Parker, of Newark, was found on the street with his neck broken. Probably he fell on the ice. [The Hopewell Herald - submitted by Shauna Williams]
ABRAM PARKS
December 16, 1891 - Fell Down a Coal Schute
Newark, Dec. 11 - Abram Parks, of 98 Cutter street, was killed by a fall down a coal schute in Woodside. [The Hopewell Herald - submitted by Shauna Williams]
GEORGE SPRINGER
May 17, 1893-George Springer, a mason, was instantly killed in Newark, NJ., by a live electric light wire. [May 18, 1893, The Hopewell Herald - submitted by Shauna Williams]
Mr. THOMAS THOMPSON
"Freedom's Journal". April 20,1827
Submitters Name: A Friend of Free Genealogy
In Newark, N.J. on the 10th inst. Mr. Thomas Thompson, aged 65.
FRANCES TITUS
February 23, 1893 - Mrs. Frances Titus, relict of the late Enoch Titus, of Pennington, died at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Emma Davenport, at Newark, on Monday, the 13th inst., aged 86 years. The funeral services and interment took place in Pennington on Thursday. [The Hopewell Herald - submitted by Shauna Williams]
CONRAD TREBER
March 8, 1882 - Conrad Treber was recently discharged from the Essex County Lunatic Asylum. While alone in his house, at Newark, last Thursday morning, he cut his throat with a pocket knife and ended his life. [The Hopewell Herald - submitted by Shauna Williams]
MAY TURNER
January 6, 1892 - Death Ended Her Sufferings
Newark, Jan. 5 - May Turner, a seven year old girl, died here after suffering terrible pain since Christmas. On that day half of a hickorynut lodged in her throat, which the surgeons could not extricate and which finally caused her death. [The Hopewell Herald - submitted by Shauna Williams]
CARRIE VOGT
June 1, 1893 - Carrie Vogt’s Body Found
Newark, N.J., May 31-The body of 14 year old Carrie Vogt, who has been missing from her home since Saturday, was found in the Passaic river. When last seen alive the girl was detected in a Broad street store ordering goods to be sent to her neighbors in order to annoy them. It is supposed she drowned herself. [The Hopewell Herald - submitted by Shauna Williams]
MICHAEL J. WALKER
Died. Michael J. Walker, 48, father of Edwin ("Mickey") Walker, world's champion welterweight pugilist; of heart disease, in Newark. [Time Magazine, Monday, May 5, 1924, submitted by K. Torp]
SAMUEL LAWRENCE WARD, M. D.
BY HIS SON, ARTHUR WARD, II. D., OF NEWARK.
DR. WARD, so long the indefatigable physician of Belleville, was a descendant, in the fifth generation, of John Ward, nephew of Deacon Lawrence Ward, both of whom were among the original settlers of Newark, from Branford, Connecticut.
He was born in Bloomfield, New Jersey, in 1791, and died in Belleville in 1869. He was the tenth of twelve children of Samuel Ward and Margaret Farrand. His early advantages of education were very limited. His father, though well to do, was not wealthy, and nearly if not quite all his academic instruction was obtained in the village school. He entered but never graduated from College.
His taste and early genius tended to mechanics, but there were those of his friends, among them his mother, who thought they saw in him a capacity for greater usefulness in the pursuit of medicine-and the long and useful life, now worn out in the practice, is the evidence both of their correct estimation of him, and of his native adaptation to it. He pursued his medical studies partly in Newark, in the office of Dr. Lee, and partly in New York, in the office of Dr. Seaman, and graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Soon after receiving his license he travelled, in search of a location, on horseback, as far as Zanesville in Ohio, then almost a wilderness, and being pleased, proposed to settle there, but he was over-persuaded by friends, and returning, settled for a year in Newark, thence he removed to Belleville, upon the death of Dr. Steel, and continued there to practice almost to the very day of his death-a period of nearly fifty years.
Dr. WARD seemed born a physician. There was in him a gentleness, coupled with firmness, and an unquenchable desire to alleviate human suffering, which, when developed, of necessity made him a martyr to his profession. With a constitution never rugged, he continued the ever arduous duties of a country practice, at all seasons, by night and day, ever ready to deny himself even necessary recreation, if duty called for the comfort or relief of others. His calling, with him, was not a business, else he had been wealthy; it was the unselfish desire to relieve human woe, or to make the approach of death less insufferable, at any cost to himself of time, or money, or effort.
He died of his profession-no specific disease was evident, only the gradual decline of tired nature. He was complaining and feeble for months, but was confined to his bed only a very few days, and then he quietly "slept." In social life, DR. WARD had that genial spirit which made old and young his friends. Modest, almost to a fault, and unconscious of his own value to others, he made every one feel happy in his presence.
He was a true patriot - a friend of learning - a student and ardent lover of nature - and a sincere and honest friend to all. He held the character of others sacred, and. allowed no words of detraction concerning absent acquaintances, and a mean or selfish act he detested beyond expression. In early life he united with the Presbyterian church in Bloomfield, and for many years previous to his death held the office of Elder in the Reformed church in Belleville.
His death was a beautiful closing of a valuable life. His last wish was accomplished in the consciousness that "God's ways were perfect." He had reached-not without a struggle-that abiding assurance whereby the last doubt had vanished and Death had no sting. His own words were, " My work is done-I am only waiting to be taken home." He died peacefully, June 14th, 1869. [Source: Transactions of the Medical Society of New Jersey By Medical Society of New Jersey; 1868. Newark, N.J.; Printed at the Evening Courier Office, 309 Broad St. 1868, pg. 87-88, submitted by Michelle Byrd]
JAMES T. WILSON
May 30, 1889 --Death of a Presbyterian Divine.
Newark, N.J., May 24-The Rev. Dr. James T. Wilson is dead at No. 41 Spruce street, this city. He was for thirty-six years pastor of the South Park Presbyterian church, Newark, and was very successful in his ministry. He took an active interest in home and foreign missions and was wide and favorably known in the Presbyterian church throughout the country. The Rev. Dr. Wilson was 80 years of age. [The Hopewell Herald - submitted by Shauna Williams]
