Biography Archives — New Jersey Genealogy

Biography of James B. Vredenburgh of Hudson County

Genealogical history of Hudson and Bergen counties, New Jersey

James B. Vredenburgh is of Holland descent, the respectability of which has been strengthened by intermarriage with the Coles, Schuremans, Van Dorns, Brinckerhoffs, and other of the most prominent Holland families. Isaac Van Vredenburgh (1), a well-to-do citizen, resident, and burgher of the City of Hague, in Holland, had a son who bore the somewhat elongated name of William Isaacsen Van Vredenburgh (2), who, while yet a very young man, enlisted as a soldier in the service of the Dutch West India Company and came to America in May, 1658, on board the good ship “Gilded Beaver.” He seems to … Read more

Biography of John J. Voorhees of Hudson County

Steven Coerts (or Koerts, as he wrote it), the common ancestor of the Voorhees family in Bergen and Hudson Counties, emigrated to this country in April, 1660, coming over on the ship “Spotted Cow,” with his wife and seven children. They came from Ruinen, in the Province of Drenthe, Holland, and from in front of the little hamlet of Hees, near that locality. Hence, the name was a first Van Voorhees, “Van” meaning “from,” “Voor,” meaning “near,” and “Hees” (the hamlet name) “from near” or, “over from Hees.” Steven was not the first of the family to emigrate. In February, … Read more

Biography of Moses E. Springer of Bergen County

Moses E. Springer, the leading undertaker of Englewood, New Jersey, was born August 5, 1827, in New York City, where he resided until 1857, when he went to Wisconsin, where he remained two years. His education was acquired partly in the public schools, but chiefly through his own exertions and by those means which an ambitious youth finds amid the active employments of life. Thrown at an early age upon his own resources, he manfully paved his way in the world, picked up here and there valuable bits of information, and rapidly acquired a practical experience which has served him … Read more

Biography of Jan Adrainse Sip of Hudson County

Jan Adrainse Sip was at Bergen as early as 1684, where, on April 22 of that year, he married Johanna Van Voorst He bought several lots at Bergen during the next fifteen years, and became an important and influential person in the town. His issue were eleven children, among whom were Ide, John, Cornelius, Abraham, Henry, and Helena. Most of them married and became residents of Bergen. Their descendants are still numerous in Hudson County.

Biography of Daniel Rutan of Bergen County

Daniel Rutan was located at Esopus on the Hudson River prior to 1700. The place of his nativity does not appear, but he was no doubt a Hollander. His sons, Abraham, Daniel, Jr., and Peter, came to New Jersey and located at Aquackanonck (Passaic) as early as 1702. In 1703 Abraham married, at Hackensack, Mary Rutan, probably a near relative of his. In 1710 Daniel married Ann Hanse Spier, of Bergen, whose parents were then living at Passaic. In November, 1713, Daniel’s brother Peter located at New Barbados (west of Hackensack), here he married Gertrude Vanderhoff. The Vanderhoffs and Rutans … Read more

Biography of Milton T. Richardson of Bergen County

Milton T. Richardson, a well known publisher of New York City and for two terms President of the Village of Ridgewood, Bergen County, New Jersey, was born in Westford, Massachusetts, on the 7th of February, 1843. He is the son of Thomas Richardson and Mary Fletcher, a grandson of Abijah and Elizabeth (Livingston) Richardson and of Peletiah and Sally (Woodward) Fletcher, and a great-grandson of Thomas and Hannah (Colburn) Richardson. On his father’s side he is descended from Ezekiel Richardson, one of three brothers who came to this country from England in 1630. His mother’s family–the Fletchers–are equally old residents … Read more

Biography of John Rathbone Ramsey of Bergen County

John Rathbone Ramsey is one of the leading lawyers of Hackensack, Bergen County, New Jersey, and, in November, 1895, was elected to the office of County Clerk by a majority of 961, being the first Republican ever elected to that position in that county. He is the son of John P. Ramsey, a farmer, and Martha Rathbone, his wife, and a descendant on his father’s side of Samuel Ramsey, a native of Scotland, who with his son, John Ramsey, came to America in 1772, and settled at New Scotland, Albany County, New York. The son John, born in 1757, married … Read more

Biography of William De Graw Kipp of Bergen County

William De Graw Kipp (10th gen.), brother of James Kipp, was born at Old Tappan, N. J., February 25, 1848, and like his brother obtained his education in the public schools of his native township. He left home in 1866 to take a position as clerk in the grocery store of Ward Carpenter, No. 529 Sixth Avenue, New York. Here he remained for a year and then entered the employ of E. C. Hazard & Co., where he filled the position of salesman for nine years, after which he embarked in the grocery business on his own account at Closter, … Read more

Biography of Edmund W. Kingsland of Hudson County

Edmund W. Kingsland, President of the Provident Institution for Savings of Jersey City and one of the ablest and best known financiers in Easter New Jersey, was born in Jersey City on the 15th of December, 1839, his parents being Edmund W. and Sarah A. Kingsland. He is a direct descendant in the sixth generation from Isaac Kingsland, an Englishman from the Parish of Christ Church, on the Island of Barbadoes, W. I., and a nephew of Major Nathaniel Kingsland, of the same place. On July 4, 1668, one Captain William Sandford, also of Barbadoes, W. I., purchased of the … Read more

Biography of William Mindred Johnson of Bergen County

William Mindred Johnson is one of the most prominent lawyers of Bergen County, N. J., and since 1895 has represented that county in the State Senate. He comes from distinguished families, his father being Hon. Whitfield Schaeffer Johnson, Secretary of State of New Jersey from 1861 to 1866, and his mother Ellen, daughter of Enoch Green, granddaughter of John Green, and sister of Hon. Henry Green, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. His paternal grandparents were John Jolinson and Maria C. Schaeffer. His paternal great-grandfather was Captain Henry Johnson, a Quartermaster in the Continental Army. Hon. Whitfield Schaeffer … Read more