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ALONZO WORDEN LETTS
Originally published in 1900 |
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ALONZO WORDEN LETTS, a well known lawyer of Hoboken, descends
from some of the oldest families of New Jersey and New York. He is the
son of William Henry Letts and Gettie Jane Clum, a grandson of William
and Ann (Runyon) Letts and of Sylvester and Catherine (Hover) Clum,
and a great-grandson of John Letts, whose wife, Mary Bennett, was the
daughter of Uriah Bennett. The Letts and Bennett families were early
settlers of Manahawkin, Ocean County, N. J., while his paternal grandmother, Ann Runyon, was a native of Lakewood, in the same county, and
the daughter of Richard and Deborah (Runyon) Runyon. His great-great-grandfather, Benjamin Letts, was the son of Nehemiah Letts, a soldier in
the War of the Revolution and a nephew of John Letts, also a soldier in the
Revolution. William Letts, the earliest known ancestor of the family in
this country, was an original settler of Elizabethtown, N. J., and ever since
his arrival the name has been conspicuous in the history of both the Colony
and State. It is prominently mentioned in the Town Book of Middletown
as early as December 910, 1667, as well as in the Congressional records. now
in the library of the New Jersey Historical Society. Their ancestry is Holland
Dutch. The Bennetts came originally from England, and both families
were among the early settlers of Ocean County. The Clums and
Hovers, who were also of Holland Dutch descent, have lived in Columbia
County, N. V., for many generalions, and from the first have been prominent
and influential in all local affairs. Sylvester Clum, the maternal
grandfather of Alonzo W. Letts, was the son of Jonas and (Gettie (Stahl)
Chum, while his wife, Catherine (Hover) Clum, was the daughter of Jeremiah
Hover and Amanda Waters.
William Letts, the grandfather of Alonzo W., was born in Manahawkin, Ocean County, N. J., January 29, 1327. At the age of thirteen he left home and for many years followed the sea. In 1850 he settled in Hoboken, Hudson County, where he has since resided, being successfully engaged in the ice business. William Henry Letts, his son, and the father of Alonzo W., was born in Hoboken on the 13th of November, 1852, and has always lived in that city. He was educated in the Hoboken public schools, and for many years has been actively and successfully engaged in the ice business. He was a leading member of the Hoboken Volunteer Fire Department, serving for two years as Assistant Foreman and for three years as Foreman of Excelsior Engine Company No. 2. In 1882 he was elected, on the Republican ticket, Freeholder from the Ninth District, a Democrat stronghold, and for five years was annually re-elected to that office. This indi. cates at once his popularity and the confidence in which he is held by both Republicans and Democrats. In 1887 he was elected to the New Jersey House of Assembly, and being re-elected in 1888 served two terms in that body with great honor and ability. In 1892 he was appointed Fire Commissioner of Hoboken. In 1897 he received the appointment of Clerk of the Hoboken District Court, which position he still holds, having for three years discharged its duties with acknowledged ability and satisfaction. He is one of the best known citizens of Hoboken, where he has spent his life. Alonzo Worden Letts was born in Hoboken, N. J., May 28, 1S76. As a student in Public School No. 2 and later in the Hoboken High School he developed a strong inclination for professional life as well as decided scholarly ambitions, and after leaving the latter institution entered the Law Department of New York University, from which he was graduated with the degree of LL.B. On the 21st of February, 1898, Mr. Letts was admitted to the New Jersey bar, and at once began the practice of law in Hoboken. On the 22d of the following March he was appointed a Master in Chancery by the late Chancellor Alexander T. McGill. Mr. Letts came to the bar well equipped for the duties of a lawyer, and has already displayed those legal abilities and qualifications which win success. He is a member of Hoboken Council, No. 99, Royal Arcanum, and of the Columbia Club of Hoboken, and actively identified with the affairs of his native city. He was married July 21, 1898, to Marie C. Koch, of West Haven, Vt.
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