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Vernon, NJ, Sept 12 - Almost four hundred members of the Condit family held their sixth annual reunion to-day at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Fillmore Condit, in Essex Falls. Luncheon was served at 1 o'clock, after which a business session prevailed over by the Rev. Charles B. Condit of Newark, was held. The family genealogy was given by Oscar E. Condit of East Oragne. One of the speakers at the meeting was William H. Start, at the New York Peace Society. Members of the association are lineal decedents of John Condit, who came from England in 1678 and settled in Newark.
(New York Tribune (New York) {NY} 1866-1924, September 13, 1913, Page 6, Image 6)
My first question was " How am I related to Fillmore Condit?"
What I found out is that technically he is my 4th cousin 5 times removed. On my family tree it looks like this.....
John Condit or Cunditt had a son Peter. Peter had 5 children. One of those 5 was my 6th Great Grandfather, Samuel. Another son of Peter's was Philip which was Fillmore's GGG Grandfather.
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| Fillmore Condit |
Now that I know who he was and how were are related I counted my search for more information about him.. The more I researched the more I came intrigued with this family member.
I found his funeral service announcement in a Long Beach newspaper. Long Beach!!! I lived close to Long Beach when I was living in Southern California. OK now I'm really wanting more about this man.
What I found was..... Fillmore Condit was born in New Jersey in 1855. He educated himself in the Newark Public Library. His first employment was on his father's farm and delivered papers during part of the Civil War. In 1869 at the age of 14, he worked at the Caldwell sawmill and from 1870 to 1873 he worked in the meat business and on a railway being constructed in Verona.(1)
By 1879, age 24, being employed in a Newark Store he had invented a refrigerator door fastener, which he had obtained a patent.(1) (Note: I saw a picture of this refrigerator door fastener in a newspaper article but when I wanted to find it again, I couldn't locate it again)
On March 30, 1881 he married Ida Frances Rafter at 26. He branched into real estate and bought and developed land in Verona, New Jersey where they made their home. Here Fillmore served as a member of the Essex County Board of Freeholders. They had 5 children, Jane, Everett, Jessie, Donald and adopted Clarence Neary. (1)
After a brief stay in Santa Paula, California they moved back to Verona, NJ in 1909 and Fillmore joined the Union Oil Company as the New York Representative. In 1911 their oldest son, Everett, who was married with a 6 month old child, died suddenly and unexpectedly. To honor him, the Condit's donated land to the city of Verona that is still used today as a baseball field, Everett Field.(1)
Fillmore became active in the Anti-Saloon League and supported the cause of women's suffrage.
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Fillmore Condit of Newark resigned a few days ago as treasurer and member of the Executive Committee of the Southern Auxiliary of the Law and Order League, with the excuse that others could do the work with less loss to themselves. Yesterday it was learned that there was a fort of a boycott behind the resignation. He owns the patient for a latch for refrigerator doors. As brewers and saloon keepers buy ice boxes and need latches for them a great deal of Mr. Condit's revenue came from the very people whom he was antagonizing by his activity against the violators of the Sunday Law.
(The Sun, New York, Feb 6 1889)
In 1919 Fillmore was the Independent Republican candidate for governor on the Prohibition ticket in New Jersey, but his wife Ida was determined the family move back to California. He obtained a pledge from one of the opposing candidates to support the Eighteenth Amendment then withdrew his candidacy. He also resigned his position from Union Oil and moved to Long Beach, California to live with his family (2)
A year and a half later he was asked to become a candidate for the city council and then Mayor of Long Beach which he served for a total of 6 years (2)
His wife, Ida, died in 1921. Fillmore remarried in 1922 to Mrs. Helen McKinnon, a widow. He founded the Long Beach Community Hospital. He also served as President of the Condit Family Association helping to research his family back to the first Condit arriving in New Jersey in 1678. (2)
Fillmore died on January 7, 1939 from infirmities of old age in Long Beach. He was 83. He was cremated with his ashes interred at Prospect Hill Cemetery, Caldwell, Essex, New Jersey (3) (4)
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| Fillmore Condit, 83 one of the organizers of the Union Oil Co., Prohibitionist candidate for Governor of New Jersey, died yesterday in Community Hospital, Long Beach, from infirmities. As a Long Beach Councilmen from 1921 to 1928, during pat of which time he held office as Mayor, he had been largely responsible for the founding of the hospital in which his life ended. He first came to California in 1899, later returning to his naive New Jersey for several years. For the last 20 years he had resided at Long Beach living at 2211 E. Ocean Blvd., at the time of his death. At one time he was executive chairman of the Anti-Saloon League of America, and was author of a pamphlet entitled, "Relation of Saloons to Insanity." He leaves his widow and one sone Donald Condit. (Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA), Sat, Jan 7, 1939, Page 21
Fillmore Condit was a very interesting ancestor. I'm sure there are other Condit's still living in California.
(1) "Genealogy of the Condit Family - Descendents of John Cunditt" by Joham H Condit & Eben Condit , Pages 387-388
(2) Findagrave.com - Fillmore Condit Memorial #9768524
(3) newspapers.com - The Akron Beacon Journal, 8 Jan 1939
(4) politicalgraveyard.com
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