Mr. Auryansen received his educational training in the public schools of Harrington Township in Bergen County, and in hard work and study developed those traits which have marked his long and honorable career. As a boy he exhibited unusual mechanical genius and a strong inclination for that line of industry, and leaving school at the age of seventeen began to learn the trade of blacksmith. In 1843 he engaged in this business for himself and followed it with great success for eight years, leaving it in 1851 to accept a position as fireman on the Erie Railroad. In 1852 he was promoted to locomotive engineer, and in this capacity has ever since been in active service. He is one of the oldest and best known engineers on the Erie system, his career on that road covering a period of forty-eight years. His profession has always been of a nature which precluded his entrance into public and political life, yet he has from the first taken a deep interest in local matters, and in Hackensack, where he has so long resided, he has exerted no small influence upon the general welfare. As a member of the Dutch Reformed Church he has been active in the support of those movements which benefit a town and its people. He is a loyal, public spirited citizen, a firm friend, and a man of unswerving integrity.