Martin Rouse, an Irish Success Story

Martin Rouse was born on May 12, 1829 in Maugherabrack, in the parish of Kilglass, in county Sligo, Ireland. He was the son of Thomas Rouse and Margaret "Peg" Taylor.  His brother John was born two years later, and then around 1837, the family immigrated to America.

In the 1850 United States Census, he was still living with his parents in New York City.  He was working as a cooper, while his brother was a cartman. A year later, he was sworn in as a naturalized citizen of the United States.

36 & 38 Whitehall Street

By 1860, he had married Sarah Douglas and moved to Jersey City.  Although still listed as a cooper, by this time he had partnered with a tallow chandler named Goulard.  By 1870, the firm of Goulard, Rouse & Company had offices on Whitehall Street in New York, as well as Kansas City and Chicago.  He was a founding member of the New York Produce Exchange, and also served as the Chief Weigher for the Port of New York.

As Chief Weigher, his job was to set the value of cargo coming in the port. In the days before container shipping, cargo was packed into barrels to be worked into every nook and cranny of a freighter.  Actually weighing each individual piece as it came off a ship would have taken days, if not weeks. Instead, a weigher would examine the size of the ship, count barrels, consider the contents, and make a calculation that became the official figure for port fees and taxes.

Besides his business interests, Martin was also a long time member of Passaic Hose Company #4 of the Jersey City Volunteer Fire Department, and represented them in the Exempt Firemen's Association.

He died in January of 1894, after suffering from a long illness.  According to his obituary:

"He had been ailing for a long time before his death, his sickness really dating from the day after Grover Cleveland's election in 1892.  A huge game cock from Indiana was presented to him on the floor of the (Produce) Exchange by a friend, in token of the triumph that the result of the election was to Mr. Rouse, who was a fervent admirer of the President.  The fun-loving brokers took advantage fo the presentation to escort the old gentleman to the rostrum and prevailed on him to make a speech.  The rickety old structure gave way, and Mr. Rouse got a bad fall, from the shock of which he never wholly recovered." -- The New York Times, Jan 31, 1861

His death certificate notes that he died of blood poisoning.  He was interred at Arlington Cemetery in Kearny NJ on February 1, 1894.

Uncle Doc

My grandfather, Pop-pop Joslin used to tell us stories of his "Uncle Doc." He was a society doctor in Asbury Park, back at the turn of the last century, he knew Arthur Conan Doyle, he was the first man in town to own a car.

Dr. James F. Ackerman was all that. He was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, to Joseph Ackerman and Susan Reed. His father was a successful provisions dealer. Uncle Doc attended Amherst, but left to pursue a medical degree at Homeopathic College and Hospital in New York City. In 1890, he graduated and spent a year in Vienna. In 1891, he joined the practice of Dr. Bruce Smith Keator. Dr. Keator's health caused him to step down later that year, and Dr. Ackerman took it over.

The son of an astute business man, Uncle Doc inherited a strong business acumen; he was on the board of several corporations, including at least one bank. His efforts led to the creation of Fitkin Hospital in Neptune Township, which is still in operation to this day.

According to my grandfather, Uncle Doc was sitting in a train car at a station in New York City, reading a new book of stories about a fictional detective. Engrossed as he was, he couldn't help but notice an agitated man on the platform outside the train who kept looking in the window at him. A moment later, the man boarded the train and came into Uncle Doc's cabin.

"I say," he said, "I can't help noticing that you're reading that new Sherlock Holmes book, and I was curious to know how you find it." Uncle Doc offered that it was a fascinating story, very original and inspiring.

The man's face erupted into a grin; "Delighted to hear it! Forgive me for my interruption, but I had to know; I wrote it, you see; please allow me to introduce myself, I am Arthur Doyle!"

They quickly ascertained they were both men of medicine, and my grandfather maintained they corresponded off and on, and would occasionally meet up at medical events in New York and Washington DC. ( I have not been able to corroborate this story, but I am working on it!).

He married Ann Rouse in 1896. Annie was the daughter of Martin Rouse of Jersey City, himself an American success story. Rouse started off as a cooper, worked his way up to chandlery, and eventually was a partner in Goulard and Rouse, with offices on Wall Street, Chicago and St. Louis, and served on the board of the Produce Exchange for many years. Rouse's oldest son, John, married Transylvania Ludwig, the daughter of wealthy sea captain and merchant Capt. Joseph Ludwig.

John and Transy had three children together(Transylvania, Wiliam Martin, and Hattie), but the marriage didn't last. Aunt Annie and Uncle Doc took in John's two daughters and son for a time. They gave the girls all the advantages a debutante would expect at that time, and even celebrated the girls' "coming out." They became young Tranny's favorite aunt and uncle, and after she married Stew Joslin, they and their son, Stew Jr., were frequent visitors to 1001 Grand Avenue, Asbury Park. When Stew Jr. had trouble getting accepted at a college, Uncle Doc arranged for him to attend Amherst.

One year at Thanksgiving, my grandfather and some neighbors were discussing first cars, and my grandfather told us about Uncle Doc's car. "It was the first car in town, and the only car in town for several years. I remember they'd put it up for the winter in the barn. Oh, no, you couldn't drive a car in the winter back then: you'd jack it up to save the tires, and empty the radiator, and cover it in blankets to keep the dust off. In that season, he'd use the horse and carriage, which he did most often, anyway, because it was more reliable."

My grandfather also reported that Uncle Doc delivered the illegitimate daughter of Warren G. Harding; a story echoed by at least one of Harding's biographers. While I haven't determined the truth of that, his Amherst biography does indicate that among his achievements, he belonged to the US Secret Service; an odd membership for a doctor!

He died in 1936, and his obituary appeared in the New York Times, including the picture above.

Joseph William Ludwig

I found some new details about Capt Joseph Ludwig. I've been trying to fully document the line for a DAR application, and was trying a few new avenues of research. I found a post to a mailing list that led me to information I should have had, but somehow missed.

WHAT WE KNEW:

He was a ship's captain, born in Waldoboro, Maine. The Ludwigs came over with General Waldo in 1753. The patriarch (Capt Joe's great-grandfather), Joseph, (1699-1753) died enroute. His wife and three children - two sons and a daughter - continued the journey and helped found Waldoboro.

Capt. Joseph's grandfather was Joseph Henry Ludwig, who fought in the Revolution under the command of his brother, Jacob. They both served as councilmen for the town, and Jacob served as a Justice of the Peace.

Capt. Joseph's father, John, died when Joseph was 6 years old.

Capt Ludwig appeared on the 1850 Census in Boston, the 1860 Census in New York City, and the 1870 Census in Jersey City. In 1850, he was a "mariner," but by 1860 he was a ship's captain.

Capt. Joseph married Catherine 'Cate' Post, and had a daugher, Transylvania. Transylvania married John Rouse of Jersey City, and they had a daughter, which they named Transylvania Gifford Rouse.

WHAT'S NEW:

I found a lot of my data on him in a genealogy of the Ludwig family. BUT I did NOT read all the way back to find his brief biography, all I got was his lineage, and family data. A few lines in the first half of the book. I thought I did well. But I missed the juicy bits.

The book is "Ludwig Genealogy : sketch of Joseph Ludwig, who was born in Germany in 1699, and his wife and family, who settled at "Broad Bay," copyright 1866.

Turning to page 113, we learn:

• Not only did he command ships, he owned several of them.
• He commanded a 'government steamship' for the Union during the War Between the States.
• In February 12 of 1866, he bought the Vicksburg and Shreveport Railroad at auction for $50,000.
• As of 1866, he is reportedly retired. He was 45 years old at that time. Not bad.
  

So he was really well off. And this fits with the quality of the center table that has been passed down; it is an extremely fine work of Victorian Aesthetic.

NEW DATA THAT'S TURNED UP:
So with new data, I began researching him to see what else I could find. And what I found was his death notice, published in the Brooklyn Eagle on July 9, 1870:

July 7, 1870 Capt. Joseph W. Ludwig, 49, of Jersey City

My next challenge is to find out where he is buried.