he continued his profession until his death, Sept. 1,
1852.
Jacob T. B. Skillman was born March 10, 1794,
at Three-Mile Run, in Somerset County, where his
father, an industrious farmer, lived in comfortable
circumstances. He attended the primary school, and
then the academy at Basking Ridge, where, under the
Rev. Dr. Finley, he prepared for college. He entered
Union College in 1816 ; was a classmate of William
H. Seward and others who subsequently became dis-
tinguished. After graduating, he taught for two years
an academy in Virginia connected with the Hampden-
Sidney College, but ill health compelled his return
North. On his arrival home he began the study of
medicine with Dr. A. R. Taylor, of New Brunswick.
He was licensed in 1825, and settled at Woodbridge,
N. J. ; he subsequently removed to Rah way, and later
to New Brunswick, where for thirty years he dis-
charged the onerous duties of his profession, and
where he died June 26, 1864, in the seventy-first year
of his age. His wife was Miss R. C. Ayres, of Six-
Mile Run ; of an interesting circle of children, only
one son and one daughter survived him.
Samuel S. Doty was born Dec. 4; 1794, near
Basking Ridge, Somerset Co., and died at the same
place Sept. 22, 1863, aged sixty-nine. For over forty
years he practiced medicine at the place of his birth.
He received his early literary training under the cele-
brated Robert Finley, D.D. ; read medicine with Dr.
Budd, of Chatham, N. J., and Dr. McKissack, of
Bound Brook. He attended medical lectures in the
College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, 1813-
15, was graduated in March of the last-named year,
and licensed to practice in June. He was twice
married, — first to a daughter of the Hon. Judge
Southard, and afterwards to a daughter of Lott
Southard, Esq., who still survives. His surviving
children are a daughter and two sons by his first
marriage. Though of feeble constitution, he was a
man of unusual activity and vigor both in mind and
body. Disease did not seem to cripple him. He was
eminent in his profession, and prominent in other de-
partments df life. In agriculture, politics, law, and
religion he took a deep interest. He had a remark-
* MisB Yard was daughter of Mrs. Sarah Yard, of Philadelphia, who
after\vardn became Mrs. Williams. Mrs. Sarah Yard bought what is
known as the Dr. Elmendorf place, in 1777, of Ilondrick Wilson, and
presented it to her daughter Ann in 1778. Gen. Fred. FrolinghuyBon,
after the death of his first wife, in 1704, married Ann Yard.
THE MEDICAL PltOFKSSK >N OF SOMERSET COUNTY.
599
able memory and most brilliant conversational gifts.
He was a decided Christian, :iml his end was peace.*
Ahhaham Ski i.i.man, horn at Three-Mile Bun,
this county, in March, 17!Hi, was a graduate "I' the
College of New Jersey. He studied with the late 1 >r.
Taylor, of New Brunswick, attending lectures in N'i «
York and enjoying the privileges of the ollice of tin'
lato Dr. Cheeseman. In June, 1823, In- settled at
Hound Brook and commenced practice in company
with the late Dr. McKissack, who died in 1831. He
was president of the Medical Society of New Jersey
in 1848. lie was a skillful and successful physician,
devoted to his profession, and enjoying the confidence
of those among whom he practiced. All his medical
life — over forty years — was passed in this county. He
had been for i -e than thirty years a member of the
Presbyterian Church of Bound Brook, in the ceme-
tery of which church his remains were interred by
(In- side of his -on, who had preceded him hut a i\w
months, lie died at Bound Brook, Dec. 10, 1862.
.1 LOOB Hi mi \\t, although resident of New Bruns-
wick, may al -t he reckoned as a Somerset physician,
inasmuch as his practice for a score of years or more
extended all over the eastern portion of this county,
to Bound Brook, Six-Mile, Berrien's Tavern, Mill-
st one, etc. lie was the son of Col. A/ariah. grandson
of Rev. Jonathan, of I'iscalaway, and givat-grcat-
grandson of Edmund, who was the first white child
horn in Middlesex County. His brother Bewis was
also an eminent physician, and likewise was located
in New Brunswick. Jacob was born Sept. 2!), I7ii7 ;
died Aug. 7, 1882. Be attended medical lecture- in
Philadelphia about I7sil; was buried in Christ ( 'hurch
churchyard, .New Brunswick. Lewis was born 1754,
died 1X21, and was buried in the Presbyterian church-
yard of the same place.
RoiilCHT K. IIknry was living, at the commence-
ment of the Revolution, in Somerset County, having
graduated at Princeton in I77ii. lie entered the ser-
vice and was commissioned as surgeon's mate in gen-
eral hospital, Continental army, March 17, 1777,; as
assistant to Dr. Cochrane, lie was afterwards com-
missioned in the regular troops, serving four years in
Col. bead's regiment of Glen, P - brigade, New
Hampshire line. Be was at the battle of Brandy-
wine, in the hospitals al Morristownin 1780, and at
the light at Croton River was seriously wounded in
the arm and taken |ui- t. He wa- al-o with I leu.
Sullivan's expedition, and left the service only upon
the disbandmenl of the armies, when he settled at
I'r K I-. Somerset Co., where he died Dec. L'7.
1806. He was a member of the State Medical Soci-
ety, elected in 1786. Be married (1780 Mary Mil-
lard, of Reading, Conn. lli> wife and ten children
survived him; she was living in 1886 :it Peon Van,
\. Y., then aged seventy -h
• Tunis. Mod. Soo. Statu ol S .' . I- 1
t Str.vkn's RogUtor.
JTonert UBS Bloj ol im P
John JENNINGS was born in Somerset County.
1744, a son of Jacob Jennings. He migrated from
.New Providence to Readington (then known as North
Branch) in 17*4, ',. where he had an extensive and
successful practice. He removed thence to Virginia,
but soon returned to New Jersey; was licensed to
preach, and was ordained by the Synod of the Hutch
Reformed ('hurch of New Brunswick in 1789. lb-
died in Pennsylvania. Feb. 17, 1803.||
SAMUEL Kennedy, a native of Scotland, born in
1720, educated at the University of Edinburgh, came
to America, and was licensed to preach the gospel in
I 7 ."><>, was ordained, and settled at I (asking Ridge June
15, 1751. lie established a classical school there,
which was of a high order and extensively patron-
ized. In addition to his calling as a pastor and
teacher, he was a practicing physician, and acquired
reputation in the treatment of disease. He wa-, in
consequence, called " Doctor." lie joined the State
Medical Bed ty two fears after n- formation. He
died at Basking Ridge, Aug. 31, 1787, aged sixty-
sc\ell.*
Ill on Mi 1'."\vi:n, son of Alexander and Mary
in. - 1 McEowen. The former, horn in Scotland,
studied medicine in Philadelphia. lie was a student
at the Pennsylvania Hospital in 17X4, and his certifi-
cate of attendance was signed by Benjamin Rush and
John Poiilke, July 12, 1780. Having been licensed,
\nj. 19, 1786, he immediately settled at the place
now called Millington, a little south of Basking Ridge,
wdiere he continued to practice until laid aside by his
last illness. ||e had a very large field of labor, ex-
tending to Long Hill, Basking Ridge, and Mendham.
He married, June 2, IXol, Catharine Vail, of Bask-
ing Ridge, and had three children, — Mary, married
l>r. Edward A. Darcy : Matilda, married Rev. Dr.
Fairchiid ; and Alexander. The daughters survive,**
but there are no descendants of the name now
Uving.1 1
A. W. Mi 1>..\\ || I . alter graduating from the Med-
ical Department of the University of Pennsylvania,
in 1840, -ettled in Bedminster. He was an associate
of and intimate with Henry Van Derveer and Oor-
neliusO. Suydam, who lived at 1 'luck am in and Lesser
Cross-Roads respectively. 'Sec ski tch in the history
of Bedminster town-hip.
Cni:\i i it - C. StTSDAM was an only son, inherited
property, n ived ;i good education, and was gradu-
ated from the University of Pennsylvania, Be en-
tered upon a large practice at oi in hi- native
township, Bedminster. He was a careml yel bold
practitioner; never was atraid to u-e hi- medicines,
and did use them with consummate judgment and
U i iii-t Hunterdon. H8f M.wier.
in .I-.
Id f.uiiiiy nii't". printed In 1785, formerly In
iiightor. On it- tuto-pago fa it* bs>
Hugh.
ft Mist r N.J. II I., v.. ,p.SS8.
600
SOMERSET COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
skill. Towards the close of his life he practiced
chiefly as a consulting physician. After living a
haehelor nearly all his life, he married a most esti-
mable lady, after which event he removed to Liberty
Corner. He was called far and near, was admired
and respected, and was a true Christian. He was a
large and finely-developed man, sis feet four inches
high, and weighed over two hundred and fifty pounds.
He had an iron constitution, an indomitable will, a
clear mind, and a soul as large as his body. But for
years he suffered from diabetes, was reduced in flesh
to one hundred and fifty pounds, and, after medicine
lost its power on his system, predicted that his death
would occur in a week. He died on the eighth day,
departing this life Dec. 27, 1859, in his sixtieth year.
His funeral sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Eng-
lish, in whose memoriam was the sentiment " that
Dr. Suydam, though not a church-member, was truly
a Christian man."*
Abm. T. B. Van Doren was a native of Somerset
County, born June 15, 1823. He was a graduate of
Rutgers, standing sixth in his class, and matriculated
at the New York University in 1843. He married,
June 10, 1846, Miss Joannah, daughter of John More-
head, of Readington. He practiced at Neshanic from
1843 to 1848, part of the time associated with Dr.
Schenck, aud later at Ringos, in Hunterdon County ;
but in 1852, on account of failing health, he went
South, returning the following year to Branchville,t
where he died. He was buried in a private burial-
ground on the farm on which he was raised, now or
lately owned by Lanning Nevius, near Centreville
and the South Branch, where a modest monument
tells us that
" He died June 30th, 1853.
His wife died January 4th, 1855,
Aged 20 years, 8 months, and 13 days."
He left one son, John M. (born Oct. 2, 1849), now
living in New York. A contemporary says of Dr.
Van Doren :
" He made but little headway, owing to his health failing, and the
grave closed over the remains of a very worthy and well-educated medi-
cal man. Could his health have heen spared him, his future no doubt
would havo been happy and prosperous."!
Joseph Bonney practiced in Bound Brook before
the Revolution. From thence he removed to Short
Hills, Essex Co., and subsequently to Rahway. His
wife was Polly Davison, of Basking Ridge ; she died
May 3, 1806, in her twenty-ninth year. He died at
Metuchen, and was buried in Rahway. His monu-
ment bears this inscription :
"In memory of Dr. Joseph Bonney,
who died Nov. 27, 1807,
In tho 38th year of his age.
Our days — alas I our mortal days —
Are short and wrotched too ;
Evil and few, the patriarch says,
And well the patriarch knew."g
* Dr. McDowell, In "Our Homo," 1873. f Now South Branch.
J Dr. Wane's Hist, of Med. Mou of Hunterdon County,
g Wickcs' Hist, of N. Jersey, p, 102.
Lewis Morgan was admitted to practice medicine
in New Jersey about 1787, perhaps earlier. He settled
first in Somerset County, then in Burlington, whence
he went to Rahway a year or two before the death of
Dr. John Griffith. There he spent the remainder of
his days. Dr. Wickes says the tradition that he was
a surgeon in the British service during the Revolu-
tion is open to doubt, as he is not mentioned in Sa-
bine's "Loyalists in America." He died Jan. 12,
1821, in the sixty-fourth year of his age.
Jonathan Ford Morris, a son of Maj. James
Morris, || of the Continental army, was born in Morris
Co., N. J., March 21, 1760 ; served through the Rev-
olutionary war as a private, a lieutenant, and as a
surgeon, and was of the party who intercepted the
dashing Col. Simcoe at New Brunswick when on his
raid on the Raritan. In 1784 (March 1) he married
Margaret Smith Euen, of Elizabethtown, who sur-
vived him till 1844. They had nine children. Dr.
Morris immediately after the war resided and prac-
ticed at Bound Brook, later at Somerville, where he
died April 10, 1810. He was a popular physician, suc-
cessful surgeon, philanthropic citizen, and a forcible
writer.
Henry Southard, late of Somerville, was a native
of this county, born March 27, 1811. He was a son
of the Hon. Isaac and a grandson of the Hon. Henry
Southard, of Revolutionary renown. "Having stud-
ied medicine, he was duly licensed by the State
board of censors, and after practicing successively at
Flemington, Asbury, Danville, Belvidere, and Phil-
lipsburg, he finally established himself in Somerville,
where he remained in active practice for a number of
years. He was a member of the Hunterdon County
Medical Society, of which he was for a time secretary ;
was a member of the New Jersey Medical Society,
and in 1847 was a member of the State board of cen-
sors. His death occurred Oct. 13, 1859. His wife
was Louisa Maxwell, of Phillipsburg, N. J., who
subsequently married John Ball, of Somerville, where
she now resides.
John C. Sutphen, now of Plainfield, was born in
1836, in Somerset County, at the old Sutphen home-
stead. He graduated B.A. in 1856 at Princeton, and
M.D. at the University of Pennsylvania in 1859. The
first eight years of his medical practice were in Som-
erset County, at Liberty Corner ; in 1867 he removed
to Plainfield, N. J., where he resided until his death,
about 1876, reaping the rewards of his professional
skill, and also enjoying various political honors.
Wm. D. McKissack, late of Millstone, was born at
Bound Brook, Somerset Co., Jan. 28, 1781, and was
the son of Wm. M. McKissack, long an eminent prac-
titioner at Bound Brook. His education began with
a careful school course at Basking Ridge, followed
by collegiate graduation (Princeton, 1802), medical
reading under the famous Dr. Nicholas Belleville, of
| Fatally wounded at liattlo of Co
ntown, and died Jan. 7, 1777.
THE .MKIUCAL I'KOFFSSIOX OF S( >.M KIISFT COUXTY.
601
Trenton, concluding with medical lectures in New
York. In lso.'i lie ei emed to |>r:i.t i<-.- tin.' "heal-
ing art" at Pittstown, Bunterdon Co., but after two
years removed to Millstone', where for forty-six years he
was the leading representative of the profession, He
practiced at Millstone from I -07 to 1 - . .::. He was a
member of the Somerset County Medical Society and
of the State Medical Society, being for twelve years
recording si cretary of the latter oi Dur-
ing the war of 1812 he was captain of volunteers,
and after the war became a brigadier-general of the
State militia. Be was also .• smberofthe State
Legislature, 1*35-36. Socially and professionally he
was highly esteemed. He married Margaret, a daugh-
ter of Peter Ditmars, of Millstone, and by this mar-
riage bad five children. Bedeceased March 6, 1853.
His'wife (born in 1795 died Jan. 80, 1864.
William H. Meebill.— William, grandfather of
W. H., originally settled the homestead near Firm-
ington where John C. Merrill, father of our subject,
now resides. John 0. Merrill, born in 1802, on the
homestead, married Miss Elizabeth Dayton, who bore
him children as follows. .1. Dayton, Jane, wife of
Jeremiah J. Buff, Rachel, wife of John Dilts, Mary,
wife of Van Derveer Biggins, William H., Jesse
Simeon, and Ellen.
Dr. Merrill was born on May 24, 1842, Be spent
most of his minority at home, and received bis pre-
liminary education in the Bchools in Fleming ton.
• William I'.. .1 1, Kru.ln.it. ..1 „i WmI Point, Mi-red in iht M -
ami died od bli way homo; anothoi
pracUcoil nt Ullktoneroi Ihlrt] jrean, until hu death, In is:-.'.
89
Be prepared for college under his brother, Rev. J.
Dayton Merrill, A.M., then pastor of the Baptist
Church at Millburn, but now pastor of the B
Church at Ma - ina. X. Y.. and was subsequently a
student in the University of Lewisburg, Pa. In 1866
he began the study of medicine with Dr. 0. W. Lari-
son of Kingos, Hunterdon County, took his first course
of medical lectures at Geneva Medical College, and
then entered I'cllcvue Hospital Medical I 'ollegc, New
York, from which he was graduated in 1 369.
He began practice as a physician and surgeon at
Centreville, but after a short time settled in the fall
of the same year at South Branch, Somerset Co.,
where he bas had a growing practice since. Dr.
Merrill's skill in the practice of his profession, his
can- and attention to every interest of his patient, has
given him rank among the first physicians in the
county. Bis ride at first only extended over that
formerly enj; \'d 1 \ Dr. E tbinc, but hie devi b n to
his patients, his singleness of purpose, and bit
rity in practice have largely extended the former
bounds of his ride. l>r. Merrill never allows personal
enjoyment toi le between him and his patient; but,
dearly loving his profession, its toils become his
pleasure. In L874, I>r. Merrill built an elegant and
substantia] residence at South Branch, overlooking
the village, river, and surrounding country. He
married, Feb. 12, 1878, Rebecca C. daughter of Wil-
liam B. and Elenah (Colej Higgins, of Branchburg
township. They have one child. Howard V. Merrill.
Peter Ten Eyck was a lineal descendant, in the
-e\ enih generation, ofCoenradt Ten Eyck, the founder
of the Ten Eyck family in America, who emigi
this country in 1650. Became & Amsterdam, Hol-
land, with his wife, Maria I'.oele, and located in New
York City, where be engaged in agricultural pursuits.
He is supposed to nave hen buried on the present
site of the old post-office, in that city. The inter-
vening generations in the male line were Mattys, who
seti hd in Old Burley, Ulster Co., V V.. and founded
the Ten Eyck family at thai point ; Jacob, the pro-
genitor of the North I'.ranch Ten Eycks, of this
county ; Coenradt, Frederick, and Richard.
Dr. Ten Eyck was the son of Richard and Jane
Todd I'M Eyck, and was born at Millstone, N. J.,
June 24, 1817. His great-grandfather, Coenradt.
v.a- on,, of the first settlers at thai poinl and a
wealthy landowner, and his maternal grandfather was
Col. William Todd, of Lamington, V J., a brave offi-
ccr in the Revolutionary War. The earlier years of
Dr. Ten Eyck were passed ai home. I | attaining
sufficient age he began the study of medicine under
Dr. Mechisic, of Millstone, and, completing his studies
in the Medical Department of the University of the
State of New York, he was graduated with honor
from that institution in L848. Five years previous bo
that date, on March 7. 1848, he was united in mar-
riage to â– - S. fioutman. daughter of Sir
John Troutman, of the English navy. Miss Trout-
602
SOMERSET COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
man was a lady of culture and possessed of many vir-
tues. She was a graduate of the Moravian seminary
at Bethlehem, Pa., was a fine artist and musician, and
possessed a voice of exquisite power and beauty.
From the time of his marriage Dr. Ten Eyck's
home was in New York City, where he subsequently
enjoyed a successful and extensive practice. To his
skill in his profession he added achievements in the
direction of mechanical discovery. Being possessed
of strong inventive power, he employed his leisure
moments in discovering and patenting several useful
articles, among which were a rocking- and revolving-
chair combined and a brake for vehicles. He was a
remarkable linguist, could converse fluently in differ-
ent languages, and was possessed of considerable ar-
tistic ability, being a skillful draughtsman and able to
give great beauty to some of his designs. He built an
elegant residence in New York, on the northeast cor-
ner of Park Avenue and Thirty-fourth Street (Mur-
ray Hill), two blocks distant from the palatial resi-
dence of the late A. T. Stewart, and directly opposite
the Church of the Redeemer, and which he occupied
through life. He inaugurated, and was plaintiff in,
the proceedings against the New York and Harlem
Railroad which resulted in compelling that corpora-
tion to make Forty-second Street the terminus of
their inroad upon the municipal domains.
After a singularly active and successful life Dr. Ten
Eyck passed away on Feb. 11, 1860. To his other at-
tainments were added a. kind and benevolent disposi-
tion that endeared him to many, and made him an
ever-welcome visitor to the homes of his locality. In
his own home he was ever the faithful and considerate
husband and father, and by his removal the hearth-
stone of one of the happiest of New York homes was
made forever desolate. His loving and accomplished
wife followed him into the confines of the shadowy
land on Feb. 28, 1867, and left her only children—
Blendcnia S. C. and Charles Richard — to encounter
the stern realities of the world without a father's faith-
ful care or the kind attentions of a warm-hearted and
true mother.
But even these two children were not destined long
to remain united in their sorrows. Charles Richard
Ten Eyck was born in New York City on Nov. 1,
1852, and at the time of his mother's death was fifteen
years of age. At that period he entered Riverview
Military Academy, at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where he
remained nearly two years. He then accompanied
his sister on a journey to the South for the benefit of
her health, and upon his return he entered Tren-
ton Academy, at Trenton, N. J., and subsequently
passed through a course of business training at East-
man's National Business College, Poughkeepsie. At
the age of eighteen his health became impaired, and
he traveled South in the hope of reclaiming it. He
extended his tour to Cuba, where, owing to the exist-
ing relations between that isle and the Spanish gov-
ernment, he was a constant object of suspicion, and
whence he thankfully departed. After his return
Mr. Ten Eyck finished his course at the business col-
lege in Poughkeepsie, and subsequently engaged in
mercantile business in Trenton, N. J., as a member of
the firm of Bowne & Ten Eyck. The enterprise
proved to be an unfortunate one, and amid the wreck
of hundreds of business houses which the depressed
condition of the times induced, Mr. Ten Eyck's for-
tune was swept away. It had been the wish of his
father that he should enter the medical profession,
but, his health not permitting, he had not engaged in
business from necessity, but merely as a means of oc-
cupying his mind. His misfortunes preyed upon him
to such an extent that five years after their occur-
rence, on Feb. 5, 1879, he died of consumption, at the
hotel in Graniteville, S. C, kept by Mrs. N. E. Senn,
whose kindness to an unfortunate young man who
seemed driven by fate to her home to die will ever
be gratefully remembered by his friends. The fune-
ral services of Mr. Ten Eyck were held in the Middle
Reformed Church, Brooklyn, N. Y., and his remains
now rest in Cypress Hill Cemetery, beside those of
his parents. Thus ended, at the age of twenty-six,
the short, sad life of a young man of great ability and
promise, possessed of a frank and generous disposition
that made all men his friends, and who was an affec-
tionate and beloved brother. To his memory and to
the memory of her parents this memoir is appro-
priately inscribed in the history of the primal home
of their ancient family by its surviving member, Miss
Blendenia S. C. Ten Eyck, of Somerville, N. J.
Edward A. Darcy, son of Dr. John Darcy (of
Hanover, Morris Co.), studied medicine with his
father, and practiced with much success at Long
Hill and Basking Ridge. He married Mary, daugh-
ter of Dr. Hugh McEowen, and had two daughters, —
Ann C. and Catharine McEowen. In 1833 he as-
sisted in organizing a company of emigrants to Illi-
nois from Somerset and adjacent counties ; Jersey-
ville, 111., owes its origin to that movement. The
doctor was fond of surgery, and attended to all such
cases as came in his way, but was not in general
medical practice.*
John V. Schenck was born at Six-Mile Run
(Franklin Park), Somerset Co., Nov. 17, 1824. He
was the son of Ferdinand S. and Leah (Voorhees)
Schenck, both natives of New Jersey. Following a
common-school education and the usual preparatory
study, he entered Rutgers College in 1841, and was
graduated in 1844. He at once began to prepare him-
self for the medical profession ; entered the office of
his father, then a leading practitioner at Six-Mile
Run, and studied with him until 1845, when he en-