Hornblower

political office was apparently distasteful to his
refined and sensitive nature. At any rate, he
would not accept reelection to that body. Fol-
lowing the death of Chief Justice Charles Ewing
\_q.v.~\ in 1832, the legislature elected him to fill
the vacancy, in spite of objections to his appoint-
ment based upon his impulsive and emotional
nature. Reflected by the legislature in 1839 he
served as chief justice for fourteen years.

The cases with which his name is most fre-
quently identified are Stevens vs. Enders, 1833
(13 N. J. or i Green, 271 )5 which had to do with
the law of remainders; State vs. Spencer, 1846
(21 N. /. or i Zabriskie, 196) and State vs. The
Sheriff of Burlington, decided Mar. 4, 1836 (not
published in the regular court reports, but dis-
cussed in detail by R. S. Field, post). In the
Spencer case, the Chief Justice ruled, despite the
prevailing doctrine to the contrary, that in a
trial for murder a juror is not disqualified by
previous expressions of opinion as to the guilt
of the accused unless the opinion expressed was
such as to indicate ill will or malice. The rule
thus established has since been followed in New
Jersey (State vs. Fax, 1856, 25 N. L 566, 587)
and has received the approval of jurists else-
where. In the Burlington case a fugitive-slave
case, the Chief Justice took a stand which is in-
teresting in the light of subsequent events. He
held: first, that if Congress had the right to leg-
islate upon the subject of fugitive slaves at all, its
jurisdiction was exclusive; second, that the Fu-
gitive-Slave Law, enacted by Congress in 1793,
which related to the surrender of slaves, being
addressed to the states and conferring no juris-
diction upon Congress over the subject-matter,
was unconstitutional. In 1844 ne was elected a
delegate to the convention which framed the
New Jersey constitution of that year. As chair-
man of the committee on the executive depart-
ment, he took a leading part in its proceedings
(Journal of the Proceedings of the Convention
to Form a Constitution for the State of New Jer-
sey, 1844). He was especially instrumental in
securing the adoption of a bill of rights, setting
forth the so-called natural and inalienable rights
of the individual. Hornblower hoped and be-
lieved that this provision would put an end to
slavery in New Jersey, but his associates on the
supreme court held that it had no such effect
(State vs. Post, 1845, 2° N. L or Spencer, 368;
21 N. J. or i Zabriskie, 699.)

After retiring from the bench in 1846, Horn-
blower resumed the practice of law in Newark.
He was the first president of the New Jersey
Historical Society, serving 1845-64. In 1847, ^e
was called to a professorship of law in the Col-

Hornblower

lege of New Jersey (Princeton), but resigned in
1855 without having succeeded in building up a
school of law. In politics, he was first a Federal-
ist, then a Whig, and finally a Republican. A
strong believer in and supporter of the Union,
he was president of the electoral college of New
Jersey in 1860 which cast its vote for Lincoln
and Hamlin. He was twice married. His first
wife, whom he married Apr, 9, 1803, was Mary
Burnet, daughter of Dr. William Burnet, Jr.,
of Belleville, and grand-daughter of Dr. William
Burnet [#.f.], member of the Continental Con-
gress. She died Dec. 18, 1836, and on Mar. 9,
1840, he married Mary Ann Kinney, daughter of
Maj. John Kinney of Speedwell, Morris County,
who survived him several years. He had eight
children, all by his first marriage. His youngest
daughter, Mary, married Joseph P. Bradley
[g.f.], associate justice of the United States Su-
preme Court.

[William Nelson, Joseph Coerten Hornbhwer (iSgi),
and sketch by Nelson in Memorial Biogs. of the New-
Eng. Hist. Geneal. Soc., vol. V (1894); R. S. Field,
"Address on the Life and Character of Joseph C. Horn-
blower," in Proc. N. J. Hist. Soc., ^ol X (1867); L. Q. C.
Elmer, The Constitution and Gov. of the Province and
State of N. J. (1872); John Whitehead, The Judicial
and Civil Hist, of N. J. (1897), vol. I; Newark Daily
Advertiserj June 11, 1864. ] A. T. M.

HORNBLOWER, JOSIAH (Feb. 23, 1729,
N.s.~Jan. 21, 1809), engineer, legislator, judge,
fourth son of Joseph and Rebecca Hornblower,
was born in Staffordshire, England. His father
was an engineering associate of Thomas New-
comen, and his nephew, Jonathan Carter Horn-
blower, was the inventor of the double cylinder
or compound engine and other improvements
later taken over by James Watt (see sketch of
Josiah's brother, Jonathan Hornblower, and his
sons, in Dictionary of National Biography).
After elementary schooling Josiah mastered
mathematics, electricity, and astronomy at home
and absorbed the engineering technology of his
family. Hired to erect a steam engine for CoL
John Schuyler at the copper mine on the Pas-
saic River near Belleville, N. J. (then Second
River), he took passage, apparently in the snow
Irene, Nicholas Garrison, master, arriving Sept
9, J753» with engine parts in duplicate and tripli-
cate. This illegal export of the first steam engine
to be erected in America had taken four years,
despite Schuyler's wealth and influence. The
pumping plant was in operation by March 1755
and became a marvel to travelers.

In 1755 Hornblower married Elizabeth Kings-
land (1734-1808), daughter of Col. William and
Margaretta (Coerten) Kingsland To them were
born eight sons and four daughters. Schuyler
persuaded Hornblower to stay in America and

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