From the Asbury Park Shore Press, October 28, 1899.
A trio of Bloomfields is highlighted in the following profile, and it is interesting to note that two of these men with the flowery name served in the New Jersey State Assembly just one term apart! The first of these men, Bloomfield Drummond Woolley, won election to the assembly at the youthful age of 21 and following his two terms served over thirty years as Long Branch city assessor. Born on April 3, 1876, Bloomfield "B. Drummond" Woolley was the son of Thomas Ridge and Annie Maria (West) Woolley. A distinguished figure in his own right, Thomas Ridge Woolley (1841-1917), was a former undersheriff of Monmouth County who later served as director and vice president of the Long Branch First National Bank, and from 1879-96 was Long Branch's mayor.
Young Woolley was a student at schools local to Long Branch, and in 1892 began a long career as a banker, joining the Long Branch Trust Co. He retired from his duties there in 1920, and upon his father's death in 1917 assumed the presidency of the Atlantic Engine and Truck Co., serving in that capacity until his death forty years later. During young adulthood Woolley was a volunteer fireman with the aforementioned engine company, initially serving as its secretary. He was later a second assistant and first assistant foreman, and at the time of his first term in the assembly was company foreman.
In April 1896 B. Drummond Woolley married Emma Kurrus, to whom he was wed for sixty years. Following their marriage, the couple undertook a three-week trip through the midwest, and after returning to Long Branch had a family that produced three daughters. In 1897 Woolley's name began circulating as a potential candidate for the state assembly, and that October was formally nominated at the Monmouth County Democratic Convention. In November Woolley won his legislative seat, polling 2,774 votes, and after taking his seat in January 1898, was named to the committee on Rules. Just 21 years old at the time of his election, Woolley was remarked as the youngest man to serve in the legislature in the state's history. He won a second term in November 1898 and served on the committee on Game and Fisheries during that session.
A candidate for a third term in 1899, Woolley was profiled in the Asbury Park Shore Press, where it was predicted that he would be reelected by a large majority:
"The fact that Mr. Woolley has been elected twice to the legislature speaks volumes...He is popular with the young men of Long Branch, and will receive the support of many Republicans. Mr. Woolley's ancestors were of the Jeffersonian type of Democracy. Assemblyman Woolley entered the political arena before he became a voter. His friends predict his re-election by an increased majority."
Drummond Woolley in old age, from the Long Branche Daily Recorder, Apr. 24, 1950.
When the polls closed in November 1899 it appeared that Woolley had won a third term, but as the night wore on it was revealed that he and other Democratic assemblymen had been overcome by a Republican majority. Three years after his defeat Woolley was named to the Long Branch board of health, and in 1904 was talked of as a possible nominee for Congress, but withdrew his name due to health concerns. He would serve several terms as a member of the Monmouth County Republican committee between 1920 and 1957, and in the former year retired from his duties with the Long Branch Trust Co.
In 1916 Woolley was returned to another stint on the city board of health, where he served until 1922. He began a thirty-two-year tenure as Long Branch city assessor in 1925, and his long period was profiled in the April 24, 1950 edition of the Long Branch Daily Recorder, where he spoke on the possibility of a full reassessment of all city property that year.
The latter portion of Woolley's life saw him continue with his duties as city assessor and was active in several fraternal organizations, including time as Exalted Ruler of the local Elks Lodge, and as a member of the Long Branch Rotary Club. After decades of service to Long Branch, B. Drummond Woolley died at his Long Branch home on May 30, 1957, aged 81, He was survived by his wife Emma, who, following her death at age 91 in 1967 was interred alongside him at the Old First Methodist Church Cemetery in West Long Branch.
From the Asbury Park Press, May 31, 1957.
From the Bridgton Pioneer, November 5, 1895.
As Bloomfield Drummond Woolley was beginning his first term in the New Jersey assembly in 1898, another Bloomfield had concluded his third term in the legislature a year prior. That man was Bloomfield Holmes Minch. Sporting a fine example of a 19th-century mustache, Bloomfield Minch was one of the most prominent citizens of Bridgton, where he was a fertilizer dealer, banker, and politician. Elected to his first term in the state assembly in 1894, Minch served multiple terms in both houses of the state legislature. The second of three children born to Francis and Elizabeth (Tice) Minch, Bloomfield Holmes Minch was born in Hopewell, New Jersey on October 10, 1864.
Minch's early education was obtained in Hopewell and later attended the South Jersey Institute. He graduated in 1883, and then took courses in business at the Bryant and Stratton College in Philadelphia, finishing in 1884. Settling in Bridgton following his return to New Jersey, Minch partnered with William Garrison in the firm of Minch and Garrison, soon to become prosperous in the sales of fertilizers, farming implements, coal, wood, and "agricultural produce." Additionally, both Garrison and Minch were incorporators in the Cumberland Construction Company, of which Minch served as vice president.
In December 1886 he married Nellie Rabeau, to who he was wed until her death in 1896. The couple had three children, Robert Francis (1887-1930), Mary (birthdate unknown), Oleta (born 1891), and Alberta, who died in infancy in 1895. Following his wife's death, he married Marion Kenney (1881-1955) in 1906, who survived him. This second union would be childless.
By the mid-1890s Minch's name had become one of the most prominent in Bridgeton, with he and his partner's business receiving glowing press in the Bridgeton Evening News. Some background on the history of their firm was given, with the News noting:
"The business in coal and fertilizers grew rapidly and soon they began the manufacture of fertilizers, the first of the kind in South Jersey. This branch of the business has increased now more than a hundred fold and their brands of fertilizers are sold are known all over South Jersey. The coal business increased to such magnitude that it became necessary to erect a monster coal elevator, with automatic machinery for unloading coal barges and for loading their coal delivery wagons."
With their business booming, Garrison and Minch's firm also milled grain and later dealt in seeds, while also selling wagons and bicycles. Following his terms in the assembly Minch left this firm in 1898 to concentrate on his personal affairs, with Garrison continuing business alone.
From the Bridgeton Evening News, January 18, 1898.
Minch's political career began in the late 1880s with his time as an election official and in 1891 he served as Republican chairman for Bridgeton's third ward. His business successes and activity in Republican circles saw his name bolstered for a possible assembly nomination. With his friends in Bridgeton urging his candidacy, Minch consented to run and formally announced his candidacy in July 1894, with the Bridgeton Pioneer reporting:
"Mr. Minch is one of the bravest of the young businessmen of this city and has made a success of his magnificent enterprises, which have added greatly to the value and importance of the city. Ever since Mr. Minch has been a voter he has been closely identified with Republican politics and has been an able and valuable worker for the cause of his party."
From the History of Trenton, New Jersey, 1895.
Bloomfield Minch was called once again to public life in 1901 when he received the nomination for state senator from Cumberland County. The nod was widely lauded in newspapers of the period, with the Bridgeton Pioneer noting Minch's popularity was so that "not a ward or township sent a delegate in opposition to him" at the county Republican convention. Elected that November, Minch's first senate term began in January 1901, and he was soon named to the committees on Agriculture, Commerce and Navigation, and Game and Fisheries. All told Minch served consecutive senate terms until 1910 and later served as chair of the committee on Corporations. He was President of the Senate in the session of 1907, and his long senate tenure was noted for his devotion to conservation and natural resources, with Scannell's New Jersey's First Citizens noting:
"Minch was the pioneer in championing and presenting legislation in 1902 which laid the foundation for the legislation that followed, creating the various conservation boards that have since taken up the work of conserving the timber lands and water sheds of the state. He was also author of the legislation which provided the fire lines for the protection of timber lands along all railroad tracks, which has had the effect of preventing the vast waste that had previously been created by the fires caused by locomotive sparks."
From the Bridgeton Pioneer, November 7, 1901.
Early in his senate service Minch pulled political double duty in 1904 with his service as a delegate to the Republican National Convention that year, and in 1916 served as an alternate delegate. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1910 due to his appointment to the state board of equalization and taxes that year, his service extending until 1916. During the First World War Minch, despite being too old to serve, joined in the ongoing war effort by serving as a fuel administrator for the counties of Salem and Cumberland. The latter portion of Minch's life saw him holding prominent posts in a variety of New Jersey businesses, including the following:
- President of the Bridgeton Glass and Light Company.
- President of the Parker Brothers Glass Manufacturing Company.
- President of the North Bridgeton Land Company.
- President of the Cumberland Building and Loan Association.
- Vice-President of the Bridgeton National Bank.
After decades of prominence in New Jersey, Bloomfield Holmes Minch died unexpectedly at the dinner table of his home in Bridgeton on June 25, 1929, aged 64. He was survived by his wife and children and was interred at the Old Broad Street Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Bridgeton.
From Scannell's New Jersey's First Citizens, 1917.
From the Camden Morning Post, June 26, 1929.
From the History of Oneida County, New York, 1912.
A leading lawyer in Oneida County, New York, Bloomfield Jervis Beach also served one term in the state assembly from that county. Born on June 27, 1820, in Taberg, New York, Beach attended schools local to Rome, New York, and attended Hamilton College in the mid-1830s. He later enrolled at Princeton, and following graduation worked on the Erie Canal as a civil engineer. Beach decided to pursue a career in law by the early 1840s and undertook study with Calvin B. Gay of Rome, and after his admittance to the bar in 1843 joined him in his law practice.
After three years with Calvin Gay Beach left that firm and joined the firm of Stryker, Comstock, and Beach. In 1847 he was elected to the New York State Assembly, and during the 1848 term was a member of the committees on Grievances and the Judiciary. Beach also served Rome as its village president from 1853-54, and in 1863 Following his term, he formed the law firm of Beach and Bailey, which continued into 1874 and gained further distinction in a variety of civic endeavors in Rome. A trustee of the Rome Savings Bank and the Water Works Company, Beach served as president of the Central New York Institute For Deaf Mutes and was director of the Fort Stanwix National Bank, the First National Bank of Rome, and the Rome and Clinton Railroad.
Bloomfield J. Beach died at his home in Rome on March 22, 1894, aged 73. He was survived by his wife Caroline and was interred at the Rome Cemetery in Oneida County.
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