Joseph Sherman Frelinghuysen Sr. (March 12, 1869 – February 8, 1948) represented

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

from 1917 to 1923.

Early life and family

He was born in

Raritan, New Jersey Raritan is a borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 6,881,Richard Stockton Field Richard Stockton Field (December 31, 1803 – May 25, 1870) was an Attorney General of New Jersey, a United States senator from New Jersey and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Edu ...

. He came from a historic New Jersey political family. His paternal grandparents were

John Frederick Frelinghuysen John Frederick Frelinghuysen (March 21, 1776 – April 10, 1833) was an American general and lawyer. Biography John Frelinghuysen was born in Millstone, then in the Province of New Jersey, on March 21, 1776 to Frederick Frelinghuysen and Ger ...

(1776–1833), a lawyer and

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

, and his second wife, Elizabeth Mercereau Van Vechten. His great-grandparents were

Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen (August 4, 1817May 20, 1885) was an American lawyer and politician from New Jersey who served as a U.S. Senator and later as United States Secretary of State under President Chester A. Arthur. Early life and ...

(1753-1804), lawyer, soldier, and Senator from

, and his first wife, Gertrude Schenck (1752/53-1794).

Career

After fighting in the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...

and starting an insurance business, Frelinghuysen was elected to the state Senate in 1905 and became president of that body in 1909. He held several statewide offices before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 1916. He was New Jersey's first directly elected senator following ratification of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution in 1913. While in the Senate, he frequented the

Chevy Chase Club Chevy Chase () is the name of both a town and an unincorporated census-designated place (Chevy Chase (CDP), Maryland) that straddle the northwest border of Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland, United State ...

and would often golf with his fellow Senators

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...

, Stephen B. Elkins, and

Eugene Hale Eugene Hale (June 9, 1836October 27, 1918) was a Republican United States Senator from Maine. Biography Born in Turner, Maine, he was educated in local schools and at Maine's Hebron Academy. He was admitted to the bar in 1857 and served for n ...

. In 1921, President

signed the

Knox–Porter Resolution The Knox–Porter Resolution () was a joint resolution of the United States Congress signed by President Warren G. Harding on July 2, 1921, officially ending United States involvement in World War I. The documents were signed on the estate of Jo ...

, officially ending America's involvement in World War I at Frelinghuysen's estate in

Raritan, New Jersey Raritan is a borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 6,881, The President stayed on the estate until at least July 4. After a failed reelection bid in 1922, Frelinghuysen returned to the insurance business. In 1938, after considering a run for one of the United States Senate seats in New Jersey, Frelinghuysen declined to run. Instead, he put his support behind fellow

, former Senator W. Warren Barbour, for the Republican nomination. Barbour eventually won the Senate seat and served until his death in 1943.

Personal life

Frelinghuysen married Emily Macy Brewster. Together they had three children: *Victoria Frelinghuysen (1907–2002), who married John Grenville Bates Jr. *Emily Frelinghuysen, who married H. Edward Bilkey until his death in 1950 and later married Dr. Ross A. McFarland of the

Harvard School of Public Health The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school of Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. The school grew out of the Harvard- MIT School for Health Officers, the nation's firs ...

. *

Joseph S. Frelinghuysen Jr. Joseph Sherman Frelinghuysen Jr. (August 11, 1912 – January 8, 2005) was the author of ''Passages to Freedom'', about his escape from a prison camp in Italy during World War II. Early life Frelinghuysen was born in East Hampton, New York, the so ...

(1912–2005), who married Emily Lawrance (1911-2004), the daughter of Charles Lawrance (1882–1950) and Emily Margaret Gordon Dix, and the granddaughter of Rev.

Morgan Dix Morgan Dix (November 1, 1827 in New York City – April 29, 1908) was an American Episcopal Church priest, theologian, and religious author. Early life Dix was born on November 1, 1827 in New York City. He was the son of Catherine Morgan, the ado ...

(1827–1908), the rector of Trinity Parish. His wife's portrait and that of Joseph Jr, were painted in 1916 by the Swiss-born American artist

Adolfo Müller-Ury Adolfo Müller-Ury, KSG (March 29, 1862 – July 6, 1947) was a Swiss-born American portrait painter and impressionistic painter of roses and still life. Heritage and early life in Switzerland He was born Felice Adolfo Müller on 29 March ...

; it is today in the Newark Museum, New Jersey. Frelinghuysen owned an 88-foot houseboat called ''Victoria'' that Harding used for 12 days after he won the 1920 election for President, but before he was

inaugurated In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugur ...

in March 1921. He died on February 8, 1948, in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, and was interred at St. Bernard's Cemetery in

Bernardsville, New Jersey Bernardsville () is a borough in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The borough is nestled in the heart of the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 7,707,

Legacy

A memorial plaque was placed on the estate grounds commemorating the

officially ending America's involvement in World War I. Today the estate is long gone and suburban sprawl has replaced it with mini-malls. The marker remains in a patch of grass near a Burger King parking lot along Route 28, just north of the Somerville traffic circle.

References

External links

* Barbour, Thomas (nephew of William Warren Barbour). ''Our Families (Volumes 1 & 2)''. Self-printed. 1983 * Hess, Stephen. ''America's Political Dynasties: From Adams to Clinton''.

Brookings Institution Press The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...

, Nov 24, 2015
Joseph Sherman Frelinghuysen Sr.
at

Findagrave Find a Grave is a website that allows the public to search and add to an online database of cemetery records. It is owned by Ancestry.com. Its stated mission is "to help people from all over the world work together to find, record and present fi ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frelinghuysen, Joseph S. Sr. 1869 births 1948 deaths Republican Party New Jersey state senators Frelinghuysen family Republican Party United States senators from New Jersey American people of Dutch descent Raritan, New Jersey People from Raritan, New Jersey Presidents of the New Jersey Senate Military personnel from New Jersey American military personnel of the Spanish–American War 20th-century American politicians