THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF SOMERVILLE.

This bank was incorporated with a capital of $100,000, March 21, 1864, with the following directors : A. D. Hope, Joseph Thompson, John G.. Schenck, John W. Taylor, Samuel W. Davenport, Samuel B. Birdsall, Nelson Young, Samuel S. Hartwell, and Peter V. Staats. A. D. Hope was chosen President. May 21st of that year John W. Taylor resigned as director, and was appointed cashier. John W. Ammerman was elected to fill the vacancy.. The bonds of the president and cashier were presented and filed on June 29th. The first banking business was on July 20, 1864. An office was opened in the first floor of the "Ten Eyck House," now occupied by a saloon, where they remained until the erection of their new building, on the north side of Main Street, in 1874. They removed to their present office on Saturday, April 10, 1875.
The present officers are Nelson Young, President; John W. Taylor, Cashier; Joseph Thompson, John G. Schenck, John W. Ammerman, David Craig, Peter De Witt, Samuel W. Davenport, Nelson Young, and James J. Bergen, Directors. The bank has a capital of $200,000.

THE SOMERSET COUNTY BANK.

This institution was incorporated in 1848 with a capital of $100,000, and opened for business October 10th of that year. Its first officers were Joshua Doughty, President; William G. Steele, Cashier; Philemon Dunn, Aaron Longstreet, John Steele, William Van Nest, Samuel S. Hartwell, Tunis Huff, James Castner, Albert Cammann, A. W. Dunham, and Rynier Veghte, Directors. Joshua Doughty remained president until Jan. 5, 1874, when John V. Veghte was elected, and held the position till January, 1880. Calvin Corle followed, and is now the president. William G. Steele remained cashier until November, 1862, when John V. Veghte was elected. Upon his accession to the presidency, in 1874, T. W. Frech was made cashier, and remained until September, 1878. John V. Veghte then assumed the position until August, 1879, when L. R. Vredenburg was chosen.

The present capital is $50,000. The officers are Calvin Corte, President; L. R. Vredenburg, Cashier; Rynier H. Veghte, John V. Veghte, John Lindsley, John D. Bartine, J. Vred. Voorhees, Culver Barcalow, Peter W. Young, Lewis E. Anderson, and A. C. Mollison,Directors. The banking-rooms were first opened in the Hartwell Building, and afterwards removed to the present office.

EUGENE SOLOMON DOUGHTY, third son of Maj.-Gen. Solomon Doughty, was born at Doughty's Mills, Morris Co., N. J., May 11, 1812. His minority was mostly spent at home, where be acquired a common-school education.
After the death of his father, in 1827, he worked on the farm in New Providence until he was twenty years of age, when he engaged in mercantile business with Mr. A. M. Elmer (afterwards Judge Elmer), of that place, and continued in trade until 1836. For two years following he was engaged in staging between Basking Ridge and New York City. In 1838 he came to Somerville, formed a copartnership with his brother Joshua (J. & E. S. Doughty) in a general mercantile trade, which was carried on until 1842, when he withdrew from the firm and established himself as a lumber merchant, which business he still continues, being a longer time in continuous trade as a lumber dealer than any other man in the State except one, Mr. George Green, of Trenton. He obtained his supply of lumber mostly from Pennsylvania, Canada, and Michigan. In 1861 he purchased some three thousand acres of pine timbered land in Tioga Co., Pa., and began manufacturing his own lumber, which he shipped, via Chemung and Erie Canals, through Albany to Elizabethport, N. J., and thence by railroad to Somerville. He continued manufacturing lumber for twelve years, and in 1863, having disposed of his timbered lands, he has since confined his lumber trade wholly to Somerville, purchasing most of his lumber in Michigan.

Mr. Doughty has been a stockholder of the State Bank of Elizabeth since 1843, and for thirty years of this time one of the directors of the bank. Upon the organization of the Somerset County Bank in Somerville, in 1848, he became its largest stockholder, which interest he retains in 1880, and for the past twelve years he has officiated as president of the Somerset County Mutual Fire Insurance Company.

He has always been interested in local and State legislation, and for many years an active member of the Democratic party. Although not solicitous of political preferment, he has often received the suffrages of his fellow-townsmen as a delegate to county and State conventions, and was elected to the Assembly of the State for the years 1850 and 1851, where he was efficient as chairman of the committee on ways and means, and also as chairman of the joint committee of both houses on lunatic asylum and State prisons.

Mr.. Doughty has ever been interested in and a liberal promoter of all worthy enterprises in connection with the growth and prosperity of the village, and his generosity has always been commensurate with his means. Of a naturally genial and sociable turn of mind, and ever sympathizing with those less fortunate than himself, he will be remembered for his many kind acts to those needing assistance, and for his self-sacrifice in remembering his many friends. His life has been one of activity, and almost wholly devoted to business operations, and his integrity has not been questioned during many years' residence in Somerville.

He married, in 1842, Mrs. Eliza, widow of the late James Onderdonk, and only daughter of Henry Van Arsdale, of Somerville. She died in February, 1876, aged sixty-two years. The children of this union are George Pierson, Eugene Solomon, and Mary Elizabeth.

JOSHUA DOUGHTY.

The father of Joshua, the late Maj. Gen. Solomon Doughty, was born Sept. 26, 1772, at a place called Doughty's Mills, about three miles from Basking Ridge, in Somerset County. For many years he carried on a grist- and saw-mill at that place, then a wilderness. This property he traded for a farm in New Providence, N. J., upon which he resided until his death, Dec. 20, 1827. He was active in politics and a representative man in the Democratic party during its early history, although he never aspired to office. For many years he was the principal civil engineer and surveyor in Morris and Essex Counties. He was brigade inspector during the war of 1812, and was subsequently promoted to the rank of major-general in the State militia.

Gen. Doughty married, March 9, 1796, Mary, a daughter of Jonathan Pierson, and granddaughter, on her mother's side, of Col. Ludlow, of Long Hill. She was born April 3, 1775, and died July 6, 1856. Their children were Agnes, Joshua, Elizabeth Pierson, Sineus Pierson, Eugene Solomon, and Sarah Maria.

Joshua, eldest son of Maj: Gen. Solomon Doughty, was born Feb. 25, 1799, in Morris Co., N. J. His early life was spent at home, where he received a good business education and learned those inestimable lessons,-economy and self-reliance. At the age of eighteen he went to New York City, and for some three years was engaged in a wholesale dry-goods house. Upon reaching his majority he went to Mobile, Ala., where he Spent one year, and then engaged in business on his own account in Appalachicola, Fla., when he sold the first goods ever offered in that place. After two years he engaged in a general country trade in Franklin, Ala., where he remained until 1886, when he closed up his business in the South, returned to his native State, and settled in Somerville. Here, in 1838, he built a store, and again entered into a general trade, in which he continued to be interested until, 1866. He purchased considerable real estate contiguous to the village, which he has improved, and on which he has erected many substantial residences, now forming a desirable part of the village of Somerville. His mansion is one of the old landmarks in New Jersey, having been built in 1751, of brick imported from Holland.

In 1848 he procured the charter for the Somerset County Bank. Immediately upon its organization he was elected its president, and held that position uninterruptedly for twenty-five years, resigning in 1873. This bank was one of the most substantially prosperous institutions of the kind in the State, and its high standing was due in a great measure to his judicious management. He has been for a number of years president of the Raritan Water-Power Company, and for several years a stockholder of the New Jersey Central Railroad. Since his residence here he has been interested in and a promoter of the various local enterprises tending to its prosperity as a village, and has perhaps done more than any other person towards building up and beautifying the place. He was one of the founders of the Episcopal Church in Somerville, and has been for many years one of its vestrymen and a liberal contributor to the funds necessary for its support. During his active business life he was a staunch supporter of the Democratic party, and in 1860 was one of the delegates to the National Democratic Convention at Charleston, where he supported Mr. Guthrie for the Presidency; but when that body adjourned to Baltimore he supported Breckenridge. In 1863 he was elected to the State Senate by the largest majority ever given to a Democrat in Somerset County, and while serving his first year as senator he was prominently identified as the efficient chairman of the committee on treasurer's accounts.

Mr. Doughty, now in the eighty-second year of his age, retains to a remarkable degree the vigor of both mind and body common to men younger in years. He is known to the people of Somerville as a man of sound judgment, correct habits, and possessed of strict integrity in all the relations of life. His residence here has been marked by indefatigable perseverance, a will to accomplish whatever he undertakes, and a conscientious devotion to every enterprise in which he has been engaged. He married, in 1835, Susan M., daughter of Col. Isaac Southard, and a niece of the late Senator Samuel L. Southard. Their children are Louisa (widow of the late Walter Cammann), Sarah Elizabeth, Mary Pierson (wife of A. C. Dunham, of Salisbury, N. C.), John R., Joshua (a druggist in Somerville), Susan (wife of Frederick Van Liew), Agnes Jackson, and Laura R.

RARITAN SAVINGS-BANK.

This institution was chartered in 1869, with the following officers: President, Andrew J. Farrand; Treasurer, George Y. Ford; Managers, Peter V. Staats, Andrew J. Farrand, David P. Kinyon, Jeremiah Whitenack, John F. Edwards, La Rue Vredenburgh, Rynear H. Veghte, John S. Haynes, J. Franklin Westcott, William S. Opie, Abraham Quick, Isaac Polhemus, Fred. J. Frelinghuysen, John Frech, Theo. Frelinghuysen, George Y. Ford, Albert P. Cooper, John J. Bergen, John V. Davis, Samuel B. Birdsall, Peter J. Schomp, Richard Provost, Jacob W. Stout, John Davis, Job C. Kinyon, Benjamin Ford. The deposits have reached $70,000. The accounts are kept at the First National Bank in Somerville, and the business office is at the drag-store of John V. Davis, at Raritan.

The present officers are D. P. Kinyon, President; A. P. Cooper, Vice-President; John V. Davis, Secretary and Treasurer; D. P. Kinyon, A. P. Cooper, Frederick J. Frelinghuysen, Theodore Frelinghuysen, Dr. J. T. Edwards, A. H. Brokaw, William S. Opie, Abraham Quick, James Harper Smith, John J. Bergen, Richard Provost, Henry S. Long, John V. Veghte, L. R. Vredenburgh, W. D. Wyckoff, John V. Davis, Jacob W. Stout, Managers.

SOMERVILLE DIME SAVINGS-BANK.

This institution was incorporated March 27, 1871, with John W. Taylor, Edward F. Loomis, Edwin C. Schott, John F. Conklin, Culver Barcalow, Nelson Young, Samuel W. Davenport, and Alvah A. Clark as incorporators. The organization was perfected by the election of officers: Nelson Young, President; E. C. Schott, Vice-President; Edward F. Loomis, Secretary; and John W. Taylor, Treasurer. The deposits amount to $100,000, and are now only received on old accounts. The entire funds of the institution are immediately available in case of demand. The business of the institution is transacted at the First National Bank.

The present trustees are Nelson Young, E. C. Schott, Alvah A. Clark, John T. Conklin, Geo. V. Tunison, Peter Dewitt, Culver Barcalow, S. W. Davenport, and John W. Taylor. The officers are Nelson Young, President; E. C. Schott, Vice-President; J. W. Taylor, Secretary and Treasurer.