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 New Jersey Senate, 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 Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, 17th Amendment to the Constitution in 1913. While in the Senate, he frequented the Chevy Chase Club and would often golf with his fellow Senators Warren G. Harding, Stephen B. Elkins, and Eugene Hale. In 1921, President Warren G. Harding signed the Knox–Porter Resolution, 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. *Joseph S. Frelinghuysen Jr. (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 (1827–1908), the rector of Trinity Church (Manhattan), Trinity Parish. His wife's portrait and that of Joseph Jr, were painted in 1916 by the Swiss-born American artist Adolfo Müller-Ury; 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 United States presidential election, 1920 election for President, but before he was Inauguration of Warren G. Harding, inaugurated in March 1921. He died on February 8, 1948, in Tucson, Arizona, and was interred at St. Bernard's Cemetery in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

Legacy

A memorial plaque was placed on the estate grounds commemorating the Knox–Porter Resolution 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 New Jersey Route 28, Route 28, just north of the Somerville Circle, Somerville traffic circle.

References

External links

* Barbour, Thomas (nephew of William Warren Barbour). ''Our Families (Volumes 1 & 2)''. Self-printed. 1983 * Stephen H. Hess, Hess, Stephen. ''America's Political Dynasties: From Adams to Clinton''. Brookings Institution Press, Nov 24, 2015
Joseph Sherman Frelinghuysen Sr.
at Findagrave {{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