Antisell, Thomas Murphy (1838-1917)

Thomas Murphy Antisell (1938-1917) emigrated to the United States from Ireland sometime before 1865. According to his obituary, Thomas was a mining engineer and after accumulating a modest fortune, moved [...]

Barrett, George Lincoln (1865-1927)

Born September 10, 1865 in New York City, George Lincoln Barrett relocated to Atlantic Highlands in the 1880s. On January 25, 1888, he married Jessie E. Morris (1884-1929) of that [...]

Bell, George Washington (1814-1897)

George was born February 23, 1814 in Liverpool, England and as a small child came to the United States, initially settling in New Brunswick, NJ. Around 1835, he came to [...]

Bucco, Rocco Philip (1882-1958)

Rocco Philip Bucco (1882-1958) is a good representative of the Italian American wave of immigration to this country in the late 19th/early 20th century. Many individuals left Italy around that [...]

Cartan, Lawrence (1832-1903)

Lawrence Cartan (1832-1903) was born in County Wexford, Ireland and came to the United States around 1852. After a short stay in New York City, he moved to Englishtown and [...]

Conover, Peter Hendrickse (1778-1817)

The Matawan Historical Society is in possession of three (3) family Bibles belonging to the family of Peter Hendrickse Conover (1778-1817): 1) 1828 Holy Bible published by C. Ewer, T. [...]

Cook, George Franklin (1858-1947)

George Franklin Cook (1858-1947) built the American Rice Food plant in Matawan in 1897 to manufacture Cook’s Flaked Rice, a product he invented to help with his dyspepsia, a digestive [...]

Devlin, Patrick (1834-1893)

Patrick Devlin (1834-1893) was born in Clonoe, County Tyrone, Ireland. On March 27, 1864, he married Honorah “Hannah” Driscol (c. 1835-1911), another Irish immigrant, in Middlesex Count, NJ. They subsequently [...]

Dunn, Ezra (1821-1898)

Ezra Dunn, born March 15, 1821 in Mercer County, came to Matawan in 1845 and worked at the establishment Reid & Craig as a carriage painter. There he met Josiah [...]

Eskesen, Bennet Knudsen (1834-1897)

Immigrants over the years have made impacts on the character and growth of Matawan – the Dutch, Scotch, English, German, Italians all made their mark at one time or another [...]

Kahn, Harry Joseph (1898-1983)

Harry Joseph Kahn was born in New York City on December 25, 1898. Harry was a student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology studying chemical engineering when WWI broke out and [...]

Kelly, James (1833-1914)

James Kelly was reportedly born in 1833 in Donegal County, Ireland. He leased the Matawan Tannery with William Casler in the early 1870s and operated it for some years (see [...]

Lloyd, William Henry (1842-1928)

There is limited information regarding William Henry Lloyd's early life. He is prominently featured in John Zinn’s The Mutinous Third Regiment: The Thirty-Third New Jersey in the Civil War. Zinn [...]

Maghan, James (1811-1893)

The Maghan Insurance Company is one of the oldest businesses in Matawan. The family has deep Monmouth County roots, with the forebearer of the current Maghan Matawan line being James [...]

Pitman, Aaron (1817-1894)

Aaron Pitman was born April 22, 1817 on a farm near Princeton, NJ, the third of eleven children of Jeremiah and Mary Rodman Pitman. Initially trained as a cabinet maker, [...]

Rue, Isaac (1793-1841)

Isaac Rue was born January 30, 1793 in Cranbury, NJ. He married Rebecca Ten Eyck (1791-1846) and they had three children – John L. Rue (1818-1889), Abraham Ten Eyck Rue [...]

Todd, Van Winkle (1892-1959)

Van Winkle Todd, born October 25, 1892 in Newark, NJ, was the grandson of Abraham Van Winkle (1838-1915), the founder of the electroplating company Hanson-Van Winkle Co. of Newark. Todd [...]

Towler, Samuel Comellious (1872-1954)

Samuel Comellious Towler was born March 20, 1872 in Boydton, Va. He was the third of fourteen (14) children of Sonny and Alice Towler – when his mother died, his [...]

Van Schoick, Josiah (1822-1898)

Josiah Van Schoick was born in 1822 in Monmouth County. His father was Josiah Van Schoick, Sr (1758-1831). Van Schoick researchers indicate he initially married Hannah Horsful and they had [...]

VanBrackle, Stephen Himes (1784-1826)

The VanBrackle family is one of the oldest in Monmouth County. One branch of interest to Matawan is that of Steven Himes VanBrackle, or “Himes” as he was known. He [...]

Wason, Charles Eugene (1874 – 1950)

Charles Eugene Wason Sr was born May 28, 1874 in Bridgeport, CT, the son of a Connecticut sea captain. His length of stay in Matawan was relatively short, being recorded [...]

Wicker, Thomas I. (1854-1939)

In 1985, a photograph of an elderly African American gentleman was donated to the Matawan Historical Society by the family of Myron Bradford Diggin (1904-1962). Simply entitled “Tom”, an inscription [...]