Essex County NJ Archives Biographies.....Joseph Lewis MUNN, 1840 - 1914
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 November 9, 2008, 6:50 pm

Author: Mary Depue Ogden, Editor  (1917)

MUNN, Joseph Lewis,
Attorney-at-Law, Public Official.

  In referring to the life history of the late Joseph Lewis Munn, of East
Orange, New Jersey, we find many elements of peculiar interest as touching the
annals of the State of New Jersey. He stood as a representative of one of the
oldest pioneer families of the country, the same having been established in the
early Colonial days. The origin of the name of Munn is not definitely known, but
that it is of great antiquity is shown in its armorial bearings which are as
follows: Coat-of-arms: Per chevron sable and or, in chief three bezants and in
base a castle triple-towered of the first. Crest: A dexter arm in armor, holding
a lion's paw erased proper. Motto: Omnia vincit veritas ("Truth conquers all
things").

  Benjamin Mun, as the name was then spelled, made his home in Hartford,
Connecticut, served in the Pequot War in 1637. and died in 1675. He married
Abigail Burt and had five children, among whom was John Munn, who took an active
part in the great fight at Turner's Falls. His son, John (2) Munn, was born
March 16, 1682, and located in what is now Orange, New Jersey, about 1709,
coming from Deerfield, Massachusetts.

  His son, Benjamin Munn, died in 1818 at the age of eighty-seven years. He was
a farmer on his own land on what is now Munn avenue. East Orange, where he was
born in 1730. He was one of the members in communion with the Mountain Society
in 1756. He married Jemima Pierson, born August 28, 1734, a daughter of Joseph
Pierson, granddaughter of Daniel Pierson and great-granddaughter of Thomas
Pierson. Their son, David Munn, was born on the family homestead at the corner
of Main street and Munn avenue, East Orange. New Jersey, December 16, 1761, and
served in the New Jersey militia during the War of the Revolution. He married
Abigail Baldwin, a daughter of Moses Baldwin. Their son, Lewis Munn. was born
March 25,1784. He married Phebe Jones, a daughter of Joseph Jones, a member of
an old and prominent family of New Jersey. Their son, Asa Berton Munn, was born
in East Orange, New Jersey, June 28, 1809, and was a prosperous and successful
farmer. He married Mary Parcel, daughter of Joseph S. Hand, and a lineal
descendant of Colonel Aaron Hand, of Springfield, New Jersey, who participated
in the Revolutionary War.

  Joseph Lewis Munn, son of Asa Berton and Mary Parcel (Hand) Munn, was born in
the street named in honor of his family in East Orange, New Jersey, December 5,
1840, and died near this location, November 29, 1914. having spent his entire
life in East Orange. The local public schools and Newark Academy furnished his
preparatory education, and he then matriculated at Princeton College, now
Princeton University, from which institution he was graduated in the class of
1862. Taking up the study of law, he pursued it under the preceptorship of the
well known Amzi Dodd, and was admitted to the bar as an attorney in 1865, and as
a counselor in 1868. From the time of attaining his majority he was a factor to
be reckoned with as a supporter of the Republican party. In 1867 he served as
township clerk and later became township counsel. He was a member of the State
Assembly in 1881, and during this term  of office served as a member of a number
of important committees, and became noted for his careful drafting of laws. He
served as surrogate, 1884-89; as county counsel, 1894-1906, 1908-11; and was
counsel to the park commission, 1895-1907. The cause of education had in him an
earnest and devoted friend. He was the first county superintendent of the
schools of Essex county, and served continuously as a member of the East Orange
board of education. The excellent system of education now in force there is due
to his persevering efforts in this cause. He was counsel to the Court House
commission, 1901-07, under whose auspices the new Court House was built, and it
is entirely due to his suggestion that the County Law Library in that building
was established. Mr. Munn was conspicuously identified with the furtherance of
many other enterprises which were for the benefit of the county. He was one of
the organizers of the Orange Water Company, and served as counsel of this
corporation. He was connected as counsel with numerous other concerns, in all of
which his services were prized at their due value. In matters of religion he was
also a conscientious worker, and was a charter member of the Munn Avenue
Presbyterian Church.

  Mr. Munn married, in East Orange, September 11, 1866, Elizabeth P. Randall, a
daughter of John Merchant and Abbie (Taylor) Randall, and they had children:
Mary Randall, Huldah, Edward, John Randall and Margaret. From his boyhood years
Mr. Munn had been a great lover of out-door sports of every kind. and of the
study of nature. His fondness for the last mentioned was evinced in his later
years in his garden, whose beauty attracted attention from far and near. He was
noted for his wonderful memory which enabled him to keep the studies of his
earlier years fresh in his mind, and he was able to refer to them with the
greatest ease. Mr. Munn won notable triumphs at the bar, and high honors in
public life, and in private life he gained that warm personal regard which
arises from true nobility of character, deference for the opinions of others,
kindliness and geniality. His conversation was enlivened by wit and repartee
that made him a fascinating companion. He inspired friendships of unusual
strength, and all who knew him had the highest admiration for his good qualities
of mind and heart.


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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