A Democrat, Parker was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 1847, where he served until 1851 when he was appointed the "prosecutor of pleas" of Monmouth County. He continued to be active in politics and served as a New Jersey elector in the 1860 Democratic National Convention in Charleston, South Carolina were he voted for Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois.

       The following year, after the Civil War broke out, Governor Charles S. Olden appointed Parker a Major General of the New Jersey militia.

       After his term as governor was up he returned to his law practice. Republican Marcus L. Ward overcame his loss in 1862 and won the next election to be governor. Parker, though, was the "favorite son" candidate supported by New Jersey electors at the Democratic National Conventions in 1868, 1876 and 1884.

       After Democrat Theodore F. Randolph's term as governor was over, Parker was re-elected Governor in 1871 and served until 1874. He became the first person to be elected to two non-consecutive terms by the people. As governor, he called for the end of Reconstruction and the protection of States' Rights. After his second term was up, he was named Attorney General of New Jersey and later served as a justice on the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1880 until his death in 1888.

           Descended from John Ward, one of the original founders of the city of Newark in 1666, Marcus Lawrence Ward was born to Moses Ward and Frances Brown. His education was limited and attained in common schools. Ward's father was a wealthy candle manufacturer and his son joined the business (on 204 Market Street in Newark) and eventually was made a partner. Because of this, he became very wealthy. Ward married Susan Longworth Morris in 1840 and they had eight children. Ward became a director of the National State Bank in 1846 and continued throughout his life to be active in the business life of Newark. He also took an active part in the founding of the Newark Library Association. The site of his mansion, on 49 Washington Street opposite Washington Park, is now the Newark Museum.

           He was a Anti-slavery Republican who even went to "Bleeding Kansas" in 1858. He was a delegate to the 1860 Republican National Convention in Chicago that choose Abe Lincoln as their candidate. The Republicans nominated Ward for Governor in 1862, but he lost to Democrat Joel Parker by one of the largest margins in state history.

        During the Civil War, Ward became known as the 'soldier's friend' for his many donations he made to help the soldiers. He established Marcus L. Ward's Office for Soldier's Business - a private bureau which secured soldier's pay and transmitted it to their families.  In 1862, he borrowed money from the N.J. state government and leased a four-story building to begin the Ward U.S. Military Hospital in Newark. The Ward Hospital, with accommodations for 1,400 patients, was located in several factory and warehouse buildings east of Centre Street and between the railroad tracks of what is now the freight station of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the river.  The wounded and sick men were brought in from the front or from other hospitals, in trains and moved directly out of the cars into the hospital. In 1865 it became the Soldier's Home. Ward was also the chairman of the Public Aid Committee of Newark. Ward's active interest in the welfare of Civil War veterans and their families continued during the years of Reconstruction.

         Following the war in 1866, Ward was named the Chairperson of the Republican National Committee. He was the third person to serve in this position (replacing newspaper owner Henry J. Raymond of New York). He served until 1868 when he stepped down to run for governor (he was succeeded by William Claflin of Massachusetts). Ward is the only New Jersey governor to be Chairman of the RNC. 

        He is with Pennington in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Newark (not a very nice neighborhood). He is the namesake for "The MARCUS L. WARD HOME for AGED and RESPECTABLE BACHELORS and WIDOWERS" in Newark. I wonder where all of the non-respectable bachelors go?

         On a nice Sunday in June of 2002, Debbie and I took a drive out to Morristown. We visited The Ford Mansion which General Washington used as his headquarters when the Continental Army spent winters here, once in 1777 and the brutal winter of 1779-1780. Washington liked using the mansion as his headquarters and I am told, he liked the widow Ford too. The tour was very interesting if you are ever in the neighborhood. Also while in Morristown, we visited Evergreen Cemetery and photographed two more dead governors to add to my collection. Both were Democrats, which is strange, since I didn't think they allowed Democrats in Morris County. Maybe they only allow dead ones because they can't vote. Of course you have to be careful with that since in Hudson County, the dead have been known to vote (more that once.)

        He was governor (1869-72) after the Civil War when Ulysses S. Grant was president. You can also see that he is very fashionable, sporting those sideburns that General Ambrose Burnside made so popular. Randolph was the first of 7 consecutive democrat governors of New Jersey (Werts was the 7th). Somewhat odd since the country was mostly Republican during the post-Civil War period. After growing up in New Brunswick, Randolph moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi. He returned to New Jersey in 1852 - living in Jersey City. He was one of those railroad tycoon guys. 

        In 1859, he was elected to the State Assembly and then the State Senate in 1862. Randolph (representing Jersey City), along with another future governor Joseph Bedle, were members of the Democratic Convention of 1864 which met in Chicago and nominated George B. McClellan (future New Jersey governor) and George H. Pendleton of Ohio as president and vice-president. They lost badly to Abraham Lincoln in the general election (of course, New Jersey was one of only three states that McClellan carried).

        After serving one term as governor, he was elected to the U.S. Senate for a term (1875-1881) in the 46th Congress. He did become chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. Randolph also invented a stitching machine and a steam typewriter. He died in Morristown less then three years after leaving the Senate.

         Yes, Civil War enthusiasts - It's General George B. McClellan. After blowing his chance to defeat Robert E. Lee at Antietam and then losing to Abe Lincoln in the 1864 Presidential Election, 'Little Mac' ended up being our governor. Right now, he is in Riverview Cemetery in Trenton. You'll notice, he has a big memorial - fitting of his big ego.

       George McClellan, who is considered one of the most controversial figures in American military history, graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1846 (ranked 2nd in his class). His classmates included famous confederate generals; Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson and George E. Pickett. He served as an engineer in the Mexican-American War earning promotions to captain. He spent the next nine years in the military, three of them as an instructor at west Point, before resigning in 1857. McClellan took a job in the railroad industry, eventually becoming president of the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad. In 1860, he married Mary Ellen Marcy. 

       At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was appointed a major general of Ohio volunteers. He earned some minor success in West Virginia and, after General McDowell's disaster at the First Battle of Bull Run, was appointed commander of the Army of the Potomac in August of 1861 and top commander of all Union Armies a month later. He set about bringing order and discipline to the demoralized Union Army earning him the high popularity of his men who referred to him as "Little Mac." 

         By order of President Lincoln, McClellan reluctantly moved against the South in early 1862. He moved his vastly numerically superior force toward Richmond in what has been called the Peninsula Campaign. A series of battles around Richmond called The Seven Days Battle were indecisive for either side, yet McClellan, falsely thinking the Confederates had a much larger army, choose to retreat. His army was taken away from him and given to General Pope who was decisively defeated at the second Battle of Bull Run in August of 1862. 

        McClellan was once again in charge of re-organizing the army to their delight. In September, General Robert E. Lee moved the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia into Maryland. McClellan moved the Union Army north to meet him. Despite having Lee's plan fall into his lap, he refused to act quickly enough. McClellan attacked Lee outside of Sharpsburg, Maryland on September 17, 1862 at the Battle of Antietam in what became the bloodiest day of the war. McClellan had superior numbers but did not have a coordinated attack and was not able to defeat Lee. After the battle, Lee retreated back into Virginia. Even though he drove the Confederates out of Maryland, McClellan missed a golden chance to crush Lee's Army and possibly end the war. After the battle, he refused to go on the offensive and two months later was relieved of command. 

       McClellan remained in his home in Trenton for new orders which never came. Resenting Lincoln, who he blamed for everything and whom he was totally contemptuous of, McClellan accepted the Democratic presidential nomination in 1864 to run against Lincoln for president. The Democratic Party went on a platform of "Peace at any price" which contradicted McClellan's desire to continue the war until it was won. He carried only three states in the election (New Jersey, Kentucky and Delaware). 

       After the war, McClellan traveled around the world and held various positions, working on various engineering projects. In 1877, McClellan was nominated by the Democrats for governor and in the election easily defeated Republican William A. Newell. As governor, he did not get along well with the Democratic state Senate who were making political maneuvers to ensure their domination of state politics. This didn't work, and the Republicans regained control two years later. His major efforts was the elimination of taxes and the improvement of the National Guard. McClellan never favored any policy that might be considered controversial and never tried to exert leadership over the legislature. Overall, he was only a fair governor. 

      When McClellan's first term was over in 1881, he retired to his home in Orange. He died there less than five years later at age 58 of heart problems. 

         On a warm Sunday afternoon in August of 2005, Debbie and I took a drive to Brooklyn's Green-wood Cemetery. I was looking for Leon Abbett, who I couldn't find on my first trip here back in 2002. I knew the section, but couldn't find him.. Debbie and I were trying to find the plot number. Finally, Debbie looked across the road and there he was. Not in the section that the cemetery gave for him, but across the road in a neighboring section. Anyway, thanks to Debbie's keen eye, I now have my 28th Dead Governor of New Jersey. On the way home, we drove across the Brooklyn Bridge and found a Starbuck's for a celebratory frappuccino. Of course, Debbie had something without coffee in it.

       Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he was the son of Ezekiel and Sarah (Howell) Abbett (who are also buried in Green-Wood Cemetery with him). He became a  lawyer in 1857 and four years later, he moved to New York City. Abbett married Mary Briggs of Philadelphia in 1862 and moved across the river to Hoboken, New Jersey. A lawyer and Democrat, he soon entered politics in New Jersey and in 1864 was elected from Hudson County to the New Jersey State Assembly, where he served  to 1866 and again in 1869 to 1870. During his second term, Abbett served as Speaker of the General Assembly. In 1875, Abbett was elected and served one term in the New Jersey State Senate from 1875-1877, the last year serving as president of the Senate.

         In 1874, Abbett wanted to become governor, but lost the Democratic nomination to Joseph D. Bedle who was elected the 22nd Governor (above). Three years later, during the year he was president of the senate, Abbett again set his eyes on becoming governor. His political opponent was Hudson County rival Oretes Cleveland (former and future mayor of Jersey City). Cleveland claimed that Abbett had not played fair with him in past campaigns and political manipulations, so he used his keen mind and real managerial ability to block Abbett. The right-hand man of Cleveland in his campaign to prevent the nomination of Abbett was Henry C. Kelsey, already mentioned as a leader of the long powerful "State House Aristocracy" as it then was known. He came from Newton in Sussex County, and had been discovered and appointed Secretary of State in the year 1870 by Governor Theodore F. Randolph. This office is of great power and influence and is most important because of patronage. Nevertheless, Kelsey managed to hold onto it for more than twenty-five years. Cleveland looked to block Abbett from getting the nomination by introducing former Civil War general George B. McClellan at the convention. McClellan won the nomination and later the general election to become the 23rd Governor (above).

        After Governor George McClellan decided not to run for another term in 1880 there was again a  fight on who would succeed him. Abbet was one of two leading Democrats who wanted the job, the other was his old adversary Oretes  Cleveland. They entered into a desperate fight for the control of the Democratic State Convention that met in Trenton to nominate a candidate for Governor. Cleveland wanted it, but Abbett was too clever for him and, setting aside his own ambitions, he joined with the State House Crowd who were his former enemies, in order to block Cleveland. After one of the most disorderly sessions any Democratic convention ever had held, George C. Ludlow, Democratic State Senator from Middlesex County, was nominated and defeated Republican Frederic A. Potts, by the small margin of 651 votes, to become the 24th Governor  (above).

        Following Democrat Ludlow, Abbett was finally elected Governor of New Jersey in 1883. Abbett was the sixth consecutive Democrat governor. He was followed by Democrat Robert Stockton Green for one term and then Abbett was elected for a second term from 1890-1893. Even though he was a machine politician and party boss, Abbett, who was called "The Great Commoner", has been called a dynamic and visionary leader as well as a reformer who guided New Jersey into a new urban industrial age.

         Looking out to help the deprived urban lower classes who he saw as being oppressed by Big Business, he set out  during his first term as governor to tax the railroads. This was a major challenge considering the power the railroads held, but he ultimately prevailed. After his first term as governor, he ran for a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1887, but lost the Democratic nomination to Rufas Blodgett (who ultimately won the election and served one term). The powerful railroads, still smarting from Abbett's victory over them, used their power to have him defeated.

         In 1889, Abbett ran for a second term and won. During his second term he passed a number of reforms like a law to reduce voter fraud and another to outlaw segregated cemeteries. He set out to improve the lives of the common worker. He had laws passed that improved working conditions in factories, eliminate child labor, set a maximum number of hours in a working week and outlawed the use of Pinkerton detectives by large factories to break up labor strikes. Abbett also created a state police force to maintain peace in the industrial areas.

        As his second term as governor was ending in 1892, Abbett ran for the U.S. Senate again but lost the Democratic nomination to James Smith, Jr. (who ultimately won the election and served one term). After his defeat, he was named an Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court by Governor George T. Werts, whose election Abbett had helped secure, and served from 1893 until his death in Jersey City the following year.

       There is a book about Leon Abbett called Leon Abbett's New Jersey: The Emergence of the Modern Governor by Richard A. Hogarty.

          My mother and sister wanted to visit Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, so one hot August afternoon in the summer of 2002, I took them. Of course, it was my chance to pick up three dead governors. Unfortunately, I only found two. Somehow, Leon Abbets (27th Governor) eluded me. I will have to get him on a future trip (when it is cooler). Green was easy to find when I got to his section. 

          Born into an illustrious New Jersey family, Green graduated from the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) in 1850. His father, James Green, a democrat ran for the governorship in 1837, but lost to Whig candidate William Pennington (12th governor above). Following in his fathers footsteps, Green became a lawyer and than entered politics. He moved to Elizabeth and in 1857, he married Mary E. Mulligan. 

         In 1857, Green became the prosecutor of the borough courts and then later that year, city attorney of Elizabeth. He remained in this post until 1868. In 1860, Green was a delegate to the volatile Democratic National Convention that started in South Carolina Institute Hall in Charleston, South Carolina then later reconvened at Maryland Institute in Baltimore, Maryland that nominated Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois (he lost to Lincoln). He was also a surrogate of Union County from 1862 until 1867. He was elected to the Elizabeth city council in 1863 and served for ten years. In 1868, he became the presiding judge of Union County Court of Common Pleas 1868 and served until 1873. Green was also a member of the commission to suggest amendments to the constitution of New Jersey in 1873. He was admitted to the bar of New York in 1874. As a lawyer, green fought the railroad monopoly held by the Camden and Amboy Railroad, which held all transportation rights between New York and Philadelphia bringing him popularity.

        In 1880, he was a member of the Democratic National Convention in Cincinnati that nominated Winfield Scott Hancock (hero of the Battle of Gettysburg) for the presidency (he lost to James Garfield). In 1884, Green successfully ran for the U.S. Congress and served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives until his resignation on January 17, 1887 to become governor.

       While he was in Congress in 1886, Green successfully defeated Republican Benjamin F. Howey to become governor succeeding Democrat Leon Abbet. One of the major issues of the election was temperance (drinking of alcohol). Since Irish-Catholics were unfairly blamed for this, Green went after the Irish vote helping him win. A third-party candidate on the prohibition ticket helped Green also by taking votes away from Howey.

       He was again a delegate to the 1888 Democratic Convention in St. Louis that nominated Grover Cleveland of New York for president and Allen G. Thurman of Ohio for vice president (this was the election that Cleveland did not win). 

       Green's low-key style of co-operation instead of leadership made him fairly ineffectual as governor. He failed to carry out many of the reforms needed in the state. Most of his administration was occupied with the problems of alcohol. Many people were upset that state liquor laws were being ignored (especially in Jersey City). The Republicans were pushing for prohibition in the state. His veto of a temperance law was overridden by a Republican controlled legislature. As the issue got hotter, Green decided to stay on the sidelines. Green also alienated the Irish, who supported him in the election,  when he refused to go to an Anti-British rally.

       He left office after serving one term and was appointed vice chancellor of the State in 1890 by his successor, Leon Abbet (serving his second term). He served until 1895. He was also appointed a judge of the court of errors and appeals in 1894 and 1895. Green was not considered a good governor because he failed to realize what it meant to be governor.

         On a nice Sunday in June of 2002, Debbie and I took a drive out to Morristown. We visited The Ford Mansion which General Washington used as his headquarters when the Continental Army spent winters here, once in 1777 and the brutal winter of 1779-1780. Washington liked using the mansion as his headquarters and I am told, he liked the widow Ford too. The tour was very interesting if you are ever in the neighborhood. Also while in Morristown, we visited Evergreen Cemetery and photographed two more dead governors to add to my collection. Both were Democrats, which is strange, since I didn't think they allowed Democrats in Morris County. Maybe they only allow dead ones because they can't vote. Of course you have to be careful with that since in Hudson County, the dead have been known to vote (more that once.)

       Werts was governor at the end of the 19th Century (1793-96) when William McKinley was president. Werts created the Palisades Interstate Park Commission which saved the Palisade cliffs from being quarried for it's rock (have to give him credit for that). This one was tough to find. We had a location, but there is nothing in the cemetery to tell you what section your in, so having a location is fairly useless. It's like having an address, but none of the streets having signs. On top of that, we drove past this marker, but didn't notice it because there is a different name on the reverse side. Turns out, the two governors are very close to each other.

       In 1863, Werts moved to Morristown at age 17 and soon became a lawyer. He built a law practice over the next 16 years. In 1872, he married Emma Stelle. Werts, a Democrat, entered politics and in 1886 was elected mayor of Morristown (surpassingly since Morristown was heavily Republican). He was also elected to the state senate at the same time serving for five years. Werts moved from Morristown to Jersey City and lived in a mansion on Crescent Avenue on the present site of Lincoln High School.

      Wanting to get him out of the way politically, Governor Leon Abbett made him a state judge in 1892. However, he than supported him to be his replacement when Abbett ran for the U.S. Senate. Werts, riding Grover Cleveland's coattails, defeated the Republican candidate John Kean, Jr. However, as governor, Werts was fairly ineffectual. His administration was mired in a racetrack gambling controversy which hurt the entire Democratic Party in the state. His lack of leadership, caused both parties to fight over power. 

       In 1895, a scandal involving corruption among many Democratic legislative was exposed. Though Werts was not involved, this brought an end of a quarter of a century domination of New Jersey politics by the Democratic Party. He was the last of seven consecutive Democratic governors. Leaving office after one term, Werts returned to his law practice in Jersey City. He would die 20 years later at age 63.