Enos Goble Budd

Biographical and Genealogical History of Morris County New Jersey. Illustrated. Vol. I., Lewis Publishing Company, New York and Chicago, 1899.

In this materialistic age events of exciting interest rarely form a part of history of an individual, the prosaic and quietly useful usually dominating the careers of the majority. The life of Mr. BUDD, however, is rather extraordinary, therefore, from the fact that there are many chapters of excitement and intense interest in his history, having to do with the wild life on the Pacific coast in ante-bellum days, with service in the Civil war and with the political and business interests of his native state of New Jersey. He is a man of scholarly tastes, cultured, broad-minded and progressive, and is a leader in thought and action in his section of Morris county.

Born on the 5th of August, 1835, at Buddlake, Morris county, the ancestral home of his people, he is representative of the seventh generation of the family in America. He is descended from John BUDD, the eldest of four brothers who located land in New Jersey, partly lying in Morris county, also in New York and Connecticut. He was a near relative of Aeus BUDD, a great scholar and soldier of Paris, France, who founded the Royal College and was an ambassador to POPE LEO X in 1522. John BUDD emigrated from Sussex county, England, to New England in the year 1632 and his name is on the records of the New Haven colony as the first planter. He later settled in Southold, Long Island, and subsequently removed to Rye, Westchester county, New York, in 1661, and was deputy lieutenant to the general court of Connecticut in 1663. He purchased Apawquamus of Budd's Neck of Sachem, Shamarocke and other Indians, and this original conveyance of twenty miles up the Hudson river is on the records of Westchester county New York, dated November 8, 1661. His wife was Kathleen BROWN, and his will dated October 13, 1669, is on the records of Hartford, Connecticut. Joseph BUDD, his son, became owner of these lands and obtained patents for the same. He was a captain in the Indian service in 1700. His son John BUDD, sold his lands at Rye and removed to Morris county, New Jersey, where he located a considerable tract of realty. He married Mary L'ESTRANGE, and at his death his remains were interred at Chester. Their son Daniel BUDD married Miss Mary PURDY and lived and died at Chester. He was a captain in the American army during the Revolutionary war.

Colonel John BUDD, son of Captain Daniel BUDD, joined the Colonial army when only sixteen years of age. He was born April 5, 1762, in the town of Roxiticus, changed to Roxbury, and now Chester, on the old plantation. He enlisted under General WASHINGHTON and had charge of a battery when the British were advancing on Springfield, and kept the enemy in check until the militia gathered in force and ultimately defeated the English. At the battle of Monmouth he served with the rank of colonel and had charge of several important trusts. At the close of the war he married Julianor DICKERSON, who was born Nov 22, 1761, and following the Indian trail they made their way on horse back to BUDD's Lake, where Abraham Dickerson BUDD, father of our subject, was born. The Indians called the lake Kawkauanning, signifying talking waters, on account of the reverberating echoes of sound which at intervals is music in the air. There was great chance for the display of enterprise here and Colonel BUDD opened roads, cleared fields and developed a fine farm. He and his family attended church at Chester, frequently going to service on foot. The children of Colonel and Mrs. BUDD were: Abigail, born March 26, 1786; Hannah, born January 30, 1778; Abraham D.: Daniel Purdy, born April 22 1792; Elizabeth, born September 2, 1794; John, born Oct 11 1796; Julianor, born Feb 26, 1799; and Mahlon, Feb 29, 1802. The father died June 8, 1845, at the age of eight-three, and his wife passed away August 18, 1850, at the age of eighty-eight years.

Abraham Dickerson BUDD, the father of our subject, was born February 10, 1790, and married Margaret F. Goble, after which they took up their residence on the old homestead. Their children are John S., who married Martha Wilson and now lives on the Goble farm in Sussex county; William H., a pioneer, Indian scout, soldier and farmer who went to Wisconsin and is now living in Fairmont, Martin county, Minnesota, with his wife and children.

Whitefield H,. who graduated a Lafayette College, married Jennie Hathaway, was a professor of languages and mathametics and died near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after which his remains were interred in the old family burying ground of Mount Olive; Phebe E., who married Mahlon D Pruden and resides at Peach orchard, New York; Enos G., Abraham D. and Margaret E., who reside on the old homestead.

Colonel Enos G.BUDD, whose name begins this article, first entered school when twelve years of age and when fifteen had completed the most advanced studies taught in Roxbury township, including spelling, reading, grammar, geography, philosophy, higher mathematics and practical surveying. Afterward, while at work on his father's farm he read ancient history, mastered algebra, trigonometry and general engineering and studied materia medica with Dr. FEATHERMAN the family physician, also read Blackstone and stature law with a cousin, Phil JOHNSON, afterwards Democratic leader of the house of representatives during the Civil war. He also took a course in the New York Conference Seminary, reviewing his studies and advancing in astronomy, chemistry, Spanish, French and German, and read for diversion military tactics and army regulations.

He left school in 1856 and then returned to the routine of farm work. He thought the profession of medicine and the law were overcrowded and desired to see the Indians and the free life on the western plains. He accomplished this object through a plan of visiting his brother, who had located among the Sioux of Minnesota, and thus he made his way beyond the Mississippi. He became acquainted with some congenial companions on the frontier and among them a train was organized to start for the western coast, Mr. BUDD being chosen as their leader. They made their way to Salt Lake City, where they stopped for a rest; and, calling on General Albert Sidney JOHNSTON, who was located there, they entered his command for a short time and were engaged in military services against the Indians in the valley and among the mountains of that region. During that time they became well acquainted with Bringham YOUNG, president of the Mormons, Kit CARSON, the Indian agent and J. DeBOW, and from the last named Mr. BUDD learned to speak the Shoshone language. After some time, our subject and his company were allowed by General JOHNSTON to go on their way to California and en route they had a number of encounters with the Indians. Mr. BUDD began mining in Eldorado county, California, and was among the first in the great Comstock lode; but soon he left the latter place and returned to placer mining in California. He visited many sections of that state and Oregon, then returned to San Francisco in the latter part of 1859 and was there at the time that Senator BRODERICK and Justice TERRY fought their duel at the Twelve Mile House, and attended BRODERICK'S funeral. He next conducted a three-hundred-acre ranch, a part of the Castros, where Castroville now stands, sounded the mouth of the Salinas river in a small boat among the breakers and obtained a port of entry to ship wheat.

On selling the ranch Mr. BUDD went to Los Angeles, at which time all that section of southern California was largely populated by Mexicans. He joined a party organized of men mostly from the San Bernardino mines and crossed the desert, went through Sonora, Arizona, New Mexico and Chihuahua; but the Apache Indians got on the war path and after fighting Cochise and his warriors successfully the party returned to Texas and finally disbanded at Fort Smith. To relate in detail all the many experiences and hardships which Mr. BUDD underwent would fill a volume. The dangers and trials of life on the deserts, the difficulty of travel in the mountains, the constant fear of attacks from the hostile savages, the lack of all of the comforts and conveniences known to civilization, all these formed a part of the history of our subject during his stay in the west. While in the south in 1861 he was captured as a spy, and on securing his release he returned to his native state and joined the army.

Mr. BUDD became a private of Company F, Fifteenth New Jersey Infantry, which was assigned to the First New Jersey Brigade, Sixth Army Corps. He was afterward made sergeant and later promoted to the rank of first lieutenant and brevetted major. He participated in all the battles of the Army of the Potomac and received four bullet wounds at Spottsylvania, but was on duty soon. While a private he acted as drill master and after being made sergeant he commanded his company more than one-half the time, there being no commissioned officer present, and a assistant to commissioned officers he aided them in preparing their reports. He had confidence of both officers and men and could always draw on the commissary. When he fell, as it was thought in death, with four bullet wounds in the charge of Spottsylvania, the last officer of the company, his companions with heavy hearts bore him from the field. However, his wounds did not prove fatal and on his recovery he was chosen colonel of the Fifteenth New Jersey Regiment. He passed examination and was commissioned lieutenant by President JOHNSON, doing clerical work in New York city in 1865 and acting as assistant provost marshal under General TERRY in Virginia.

In the latter part of 1867 he returned to Budd's Lake, where he remained until the spring of 1881, When he went to St. Paul, Minnesota, and on to Duluth, and examined the pine timber among the Chippewa and Winnebago Indians, going also to Montana and the Dakotas, up to the Rainy lakes and the St. Louis river. By way of Chicago, Mr. BUDD returned to Morris county in December, 1881, and has since engaged in farming. He has, however, devoted considerable attention to public interests and has capably served his fellow townsmen in public offices. He is a stanch advocate of the principles of the Republican party and is recognized leader in its ranks in Morris county. He filled the office of coroner from 1868 until 1874, and was assessor of his township for twenty consecutive years, from 1870 until 1890. He was assistant sergeant-at arms in New Jersey in 1885 and 1886, was bill clerk of the house of representatives in 1887, was commissioner of deeds from 1868 to 1891, United States gauger of spirits from 1889 to 1893, was freeholder of Mt. Olive township, and on the 6th of February, 1897 passed an examination before the civil-service board in a class of fifty and was appointed deputy collector of revenue April 1, 1897. He was also at one time nominee of his party for county sheriff.

Mr BUDD has ever been the advocate of public improvements and has labored earnestly for the advancement of any cause tending towards the general good. He has done much to improve the roads in this section of the state, aiding in opening the Salinas river in California for sloops and schooners in 1860, and has been the promoter of various other enterprises. He invented and patented the revolving bucket water-wheel with reciprocal motion driven by a revolving center wheel on cross-cut saws. He wrote a volume called Nature's Working, which was published in 1868, and became connected with the ice business and with the railroad enterprises of his town in 1897. He was also the first discoverer of gold and silver in Morris county in 1861, some of the rock assaying ten hundred and fifty dollars to the ton.

Mr. BUDD was married in Chicago, Illinois, Jun 3, 1881 to Miss Mary A. A. DYER, and to them have been born four children: Augusta, born April 11, 1882; Grace, born September 19, 1884; Rose, born February 8, 1887; and Enos, born Nov 24, 1895, all natives of Buddlake. Some years since Mr. BUDD became a member of the Masonic fraternity, is an enthusiastic member of the Grand Army of the Republic and organized Sedgewick Post, of Hackettstown, of which he was commander for several years. He has also been senior vice-commander of the post in Morristown, and was made colonel of the New Jersey Volunteer Association in 1896. In his religious views he is very liberal, but is a charitable man of broad humanitarian principles.

Such in brief is the history of one whose experiences in life have been varied, interesting, useful, sometimes fraught with great danger and sometimes marked by enviable quietness. Wherever he has gone he has won the confidence and esteem of those with whom he has come in contact, but by no one is he held in higher regard than by the time-tired veterans of the Civil war by whose side he fought for the preservation of the Union. He is always eagerly welcomed among them and has been frequently called upon to address them on public occasions, when he has brought to them eloquent and interesting words, depicting scenes of war and peace and treating of the duties of man. In response to an address of welcome delivered to himself and his regiment in Somerville, New Jersey, in 1897, he said: " We have listened to the beautiful language of your address of welcome; and for my comrades of the Fifteenth New Jersey Volunteers, their wives and their friends, we thank you most sincerely. When Julius Caesar, the last great commander following the Latin-speaking republic, left the island of Cesarea in the English channel to enslave the brave, free and independent Britons, he left little thought that a liberal-minded king of those islands would ever give, in a new world of free and independent atmosphere, a new Cesarea where the Cavalier and Puritan would unite to form the beginning of a great republic, and when under Virginia's noblest son the brave Americans and Jerseymen turned the tide of battle against monarchy for free religious and political liberty. Time brought many changes, with diversified ideas in conflict, and when Mars, the god of war, looked down through the vanishing smoke of battle on the night of July 3, 1863, he saw the great sacrifice of American bravery which would settle empires, and he also saw that the unity of the states and religious and political freedom of these governments of North and South America must be held sacred ! But it seemed that the gods of mythology had decreed that more sacrifice should be made to show the power of the old-world the bravery, heroism and fortitude of the soldiers of our north and south as examples of American soldiers !! And in the battles following, particularly at Spottsylvania's bloody angle, all day long from early morn till late at night, the contesting lines fought with that bravery and self sacrifice which have never been equaled in the battles of the world ! New Jersey's sons were there and our Fifteenth New Jersey Volunteers lost many, very many of her bravest and noblest men, and the mother soil of old Virginia drank of the blood of Somerset and Morris counties' sons.

We need not go to Spartan mothers for brave and heroic sons, for our American mothers,- the mothers from the Arctic ocean to the land of fire, the mothers of our north and south, New Jersey's mothers, Somerset county's mothers, far excel the Spartan mothers of old in bravery, heroism and self sacrifice of their sons. The old soldiers and the young soldiers and the people of our North and South America continents are proud of their American bravery. They are so proud of their mother countries that they shook their ancestors from the topmost branches of their family trees as being unworthy to grow and live around the family stumps, guarded by their family sprouts. But the boisterous, though kind, Atlantic wafted them to these free shores, free air, free savages, free fighting, to live or die by their American bravery. The soldiers of our north and south are proud of our reunited Union, proud of our grandfathers' fathers and mothers, proud of the sympathetic tears over comrades' graves, and the graves of the heroes of our southern brothers. The people of New Jersey are proud of our Nova Cesarea, proud that though Julius Caesar the Latin-speaking republic had been changed to the English speaking republic,- proud of our war governor, - proud of our brave men and women,- proud of our noble sons and daughters,-proud of our beautiful Soldiers' Home; and we take pride in the brave colored soldiers who fought for freedom and know how to respect liberty and themselves. We meet here to-day by invitation of the survivors of our brave Company E. Our glorification, your glorification, is their glorification, and we fully appreciate your kind hospitalities and join with you on this glorious occasion"

Transcribed by Ida King.

This page was last modified on: 01 January, 2014