Essex County NJ Archives Biographies.....Walter Alvin FLINT, 1870 - 1913
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 November 9, 2008, 5:04 pm

Author: Mary Depue Ogden, Editor  (1917)

FLINT, Walter Alvin,
Enterprising Citizen.

  Walter A. Flint, one of the selfmade men of West Orange, New Jersey, inherited
from sturdy English ancestry those qualities of industry, thrift and shrewdness
which carried him to success. Thomas Flint, the immigrant ancestor, is supposed
to have come from Wales, and is mentioned in the town records of Salem,
Massachusetts, for the first time, in 1650. It is quite probable that he arrived
prior to that year, and there are reasons for believing that his mother was in
New England as early as 1642. He was one of the first to settle in that part of
Salem Village, or Danvers, which is now the town of Peabody, where he purchased
land January 1, 1662. This has continued in the possession of his descendants to
the present time. He died April 15, 1663. The Christian name of his wife was
Ann, and their third son, John Flint, born October 3, 1655, was a freeman in
Salem Village in April, 1690, and died in April, 1730. His wife Elizabeth bore
him nine children. The second of these and their second child was John Flint,
born February 8, 1681. He settled in Windham, Connecticut, in that part which is
now Hampton, and was a farmer. He married (first) May 5, 1709, Christian Reed,
who died September 21, 1721. Their second child and eldest son was Samuel Flint,
born April 9, 1712, and after 1772 removed to Randolph, Vermont, where he died
in 1802. He married (first) April 13, 1736, Mary Lamphere, who died January 1,
1744, and he married (second) April 11, 1745, Mary Hall. His fourth son and the
fourth child of Mary Hall was James Flint, born August 10, 1751, in Windham (now
Hampton), and died in Randolph, Vermont. He resided in Hampton till 1782, when
he sold out his farm and removed to Randolph, Vermont, settling near his
brother, Deacon Samuel Flint, who was also a pioneer of that town. He married,
April 22, 1773, Jerusha, daughter of Elisha and Huldah (Tilden) Lillie, born May
20, 1757, in Scotland, Connecticut, formerly a part of Windham. Their fourth
child, James Flint, was born March 10, 1779, in Hampton, removed with his
parents to Randolph, and settled in the neighboring town of Williamstown,
Vermont, where he died. He married (first) March 31, 1803, Hannah Ford, born May
22, 1779. Children: Abel James, Warren Ford, Al-vin and Calvin (twins), Nabby
Wood-ard, Julia, Hannah, Jerusha Little, Den-nison, Major Dennison. He married
(second) June 9, 1822, Sally Kelsey, and they were the parents of two daughters,
Nancy and Sarah. Alvin Flint, one of the twin sons of James and Hannah (Ford)
Flint, married Orinda Peck, and they were the parents of Lewis Willard Flint,
born 1838, in Williamstown, died July 15, 1886. He married Emagene Aldrich
Webster, and they were the parents of: Myron Eugene, Inez Alma and Walter Alvin,
who is the subject of this sketch.

  Walter Alvin Flint was born May 27, 1870, in Williamstown, and died October
27, 1913, as the result of injuries received in an accident. He attended the
country schools, and was subsequently a student at Montpelier Seminary. His
father died when he was but seventeen years of age, and he was then obliged to
leave school and engage in some active occupation in order to sustain himself.
He found employment in a general country store where he had an excellent
schooling in salesmanship, and after three years removed to Newark, New Jersey,
where he engaged in the grocery business with a small capital. His store was in
the center of the business section of Newark, and here he conducted business
about three years. He then sold his grocery business and accepted a position as
salesman for a wholesale butter house. In the meantime he saw great
possibilities in the trade in butter and eggs. He resigned his position and
established his headquarters in Newark, New Jersey. He maintained wagons, which
delivered fresh supplies of butter and eggs to the householders of Newark, the
Oranges, Bloomfield, Montclair, Caldwell, and additional sections around these
towns. In course of time his brother, M. E. Flint, was admitted as a partner,
and the firm became known as M. E. & W. A. Flint. Soon after they moved their
headquarters to West Orange. After about two years they again changed their
business location to Orange road, Montclair, New Jersey, where this most
harmonious and successful relation continued up to the death of Walter A. Flint,
upon which his brother, M. E. Flint, bought out his interest and came into
possession of the entire business.

  Walter A. Flint was a man of many resources, and as his business grew he
continued to give it his personal attention. He was possessed of those genial
qualities which gained and retained friendships, and his keen business ability
and upright methods naturally proved beneficial to the business. Everything that
he undertook was made a success because he gave to it industrious care, and his
judgment and foresight prevented any disaster. Mr. Flint came to be known in
connection with other lines of endeavor beside his private business. He was the
founder of the West Orange National Bank, and continued to be its vice-president
until his death. This stands now as one of his monuments, and as an evidence of
his public spirit. He was one of the incorporators and a most industrious worker
for the success of the Llewellyn Building and Loan Association of Orange, and
was for many years a notary public of West Orange. Mr. Flint was ever imbued
with a desire to promote the happiness and prosperity of individuals as well as
the community, and was one of the founders of the Methodist Episcopal church of
West Orange, in which for fourteen years he was superintendent of the Sunday
school, a member of the official board of the church, and very active in all
church works. He was later a member of the Central Presbyterian Church of
Orange. He was a director of the New Jersey Fire Insurance Company of Newark,
and his counsel was frequently sought by his neighbors and friends because of
their faith in the soundness of his judgment. He became early active in
political movements, and exercised a large influence in the community, being
popular with both Democrats and Republicans. He acted with the latter, and in
1909 was elected mayor of West Orange, the only Republican to ever receive that
office. This he filled with credit to himself and satisfaction to his
constituents. He was ever ready to aid in the development of West Orange, and
was prominent in all movements tending to promote the public welfare. He was a
member of Union Lodge, No. 11, Free and Accepted Masons, of Orange, and of the
General Chester Council, Junior Order of United American Mechanics. In both
orders he was very enthusiastic and active, and was advanced in the Masonic
fraternity to the Royal Arch degree. He passed all the chairs in the Mechanics'
Council, and was an active member of the Fifth Ward Improvement Association.

  He married, in Newark, in the year 1893, Lottie A. Ball, daughter of George
and Sarah E. Ball, and they were the parents of two children: Russell Alvin and
Mildred Evelyn, both residing with their mother in the family residence on High
street, West Orange, built by the father in 1902.

  On the evening of October 28, 1913, while going in his automobile to attend a
men's dinner at the Central Presbyterian Church, where several prominent
speakers were to participate, Mr. Flint's automobile was struck by a trolley
car, and his death was the result. His funeral was very largely attended, and he
was buried with Masonic honors, and also those of the Junior Order of the United
American Mechanics. His body was laid to rest in Evergreen Cemetery. Appropriate
resolutions expressing the loss sustained by the community were passed by the
boards of directors of the Building and Loan Association, the New Jersey Fire
Insurance Company, and the First National Bank of West Orange. In the life of
Mr. Flint is found ample inspiration for the youth of to-day, who may seek to
better their own condition by their own industry, and to benefit the world by
exemplary and useful lives.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

MEMORIAL CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY

UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF MARY DEPUE OGDEN

VOLUME III
MEMORIAL HISTORY COMPANY NEWARK,  NEW JERSEY
1917


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