Research References

Moguls, Millionaires, Statesmen, Captains of Industry, Financial Giants, Media People, Society Figures, Politicos known about the Somerset Hills Area

From the archives of Inside the Brick Academy –
September 2002

Throughout the year, distinguished residents who live/lived in the Somerset Hills will be listed. Then, as now, the area’s serene beauty and wholesome life style have attracted the rich, famous, and outstanding people.

Bedminster

• Nicholas Brady, U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Regan and Bush
• Zebulon Pike, noted explorer
• John Honeyman, George Washington’s superspy
• Thomas Kean, former Governor of New Jersey, President of Drew University
• Steve Forbes, Publisher of Forbes Magazine and Chairman of the Board of Radio Free Europe
• D. Douglas Dillon, former Under Secretary of State, Ambassador to France and Treasury Secretary under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson
• Christine Todd Whitman, former Governor of New Jersey and current heads the U.S. EPA

Bernards Township

• Kienast Quints, born in 1970 in Liberty Corner. At that time only the third set to survive.
• Woodruff English, prominent attorney
• John Sloane, founder of W & J Sloane Furniture Company. Daughter married Cyrus Vance, Secretary of State under President Carter. They lived on his estate.
• Walter Reynolds, heir to Reynolds Tobacco Company. He sold the property to build the U.S. Veterans Administration Center at Lyons.
• George Ludlow Lee, Chairman of Red Devil Paint Company. He lived at Cedar Hill and donated 60 acres to build Ridge High School and Cedar Hill School.
• William Childs, with his brother Samuel Childs established the Childs Restaurant chain
  throughout the country.

Bernardsville

• John F. Dryden, U.S. Senator and founder of the Prudential Insurance Company.
• George B. Post, architect, designed the NY Stock Exchange and the NY Times buildings.
• Frederick P. Olcott, President of Central Trust
  Company
• Ogden Hammond, diplomat, former Ambassador to Spain and father of Millicent Fenwick.
• John A. Roebling planned and built the Brooklyn Bridge. Washington Roebling invented the cable that made suspension bridges possible.
• William O. Douglas, former member of the U.S. Supreme Court. He lived here while attending Columbia University School of Law.
  Far Hills
• Charles Englehard, dealer in industrial metals and minerals. He was the model for Ian Fleming’s “Goldfinger”.
• Grant Schley, banker, broker, tycoon, building of Fro-Heim (Happy Home) estate of 400 farms and 4000 acres (1500 under cultivation). It is now the site of Moorland Farms.
• Phil Cook, comedian of stage and radio in the
  1930s

Peapack-Gladstone

• Walter Ladd and Kate Macy Ladd, philanthropists, built Natirar (Raritan spelled backwards), 505 acres in three towns and a 47 room mansion. It is now owned by the estate of the King of Morocco. Proceeds of the sale were distributed to five universities.
• C. Ledyard Blair, financier, built 55 room villa in style of Louis XIII on 423 acres.
• Walter Matheny, established the Matheny School in 1946 to assist victims of cerebral palsy and related illnesses.