The E-Sylum:  Volume 3, Number 36, September 3, 2000, Article 7

MORE ON  L. Q. C. ELMER 

   In the "be careful what you ask for" department, we have this 
   note from Pete Smith on Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus Elmer: 

   "The book that immediately comes to mind is,  "History of the 
   Early Settlement of Cumberland County, New Jersey, and of 
   the Currency of this and Adjoining Colonies."  He wrote other 
   works on the law and New Jersey including, "Elmer's Digest 
   of the Laws of New Jersey,"  Elmer's Book of Law Forms," 
   "Reminiscences of the Bench and Bar of New Jersey," "History 
   of the Constitutional Government of New Jersey with 
   Biographical Sketches of the Governors from 1776 until 1845" 
   and "Genealogy and Biographical Account of the Elmer Family" 

   Elmer was born in Bridgeton, New Jersey, on February 3, 1793, 
   the son of Revolutionary War officer Ebenezer Elmer and 
   Hannah Seely. He served as an officer during the War of 1812. 
   He was a lawyer practicing in Bridgeton until he got involved in 
   politics. As a democrat he served in the state assembly, State 
   Attorney General, Congressman, and Justice of the New Jersey 
   Supreme Court. He died at Bridgeton on March 11, 1883." 

   The first book Pete mentioned,  "History of the Early Settlement 
   of Cumberland County, New Jersey, and of the Currency of this 
   and Adjoining Colonies," is the one we had in mind.  The scarce 
   1869 work has one chapter on Continental and Colonial 
   Currency as it circulated in New Jersey.  It was reprinted in 
   1976 by the Cumberland County Historical Society. 

   Interestingly, Pete added: "First, Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus 
   Elmer is more than just a funny name. The original Lucius 
   Quintius Cincinnatus was the Roman personification of 
   citizen-soldier who left the farm to serve his country in time 
   of crisis and, when the crisis was over, resigned to return to 
   the farm. 

   He was chosen as the symbol for the Society of Cincinnati, a 
   veteran's organization for American Revolutionary War officers. 
   In naming his son, General Ebenezer Elmer paid tribute to the 
   noble Roman and to his former comrades-in-arms. 

   And second, for several years I have been writing a genealogy 
   of the Eckfeldt family showing their connection by marriage to 
   the DuBois, Patterson, Ewing and Gallatin families. My 
   manuscript of more than 150 pages includes about 2500 names. 
   Lucius Elmer's grandparents had the last names of Elmer, 
   Lawrence, Seeley and Fithian. All those names appear in my 
   genealogy and represent intermarriages with the Ewing family. 
   I have found one connection: Lucius' cousin Harriet Seeley 
   married William Belford Ewing, a second cousin of Thomas 
   Ewing, who was Secretary of the Treasury.  There are many 
   intermarriages of the same families so the relationships can get 
   to be complex.  This has no numismatic importance but 
   represents the type of obsessive search I sometimes do while 
   following a research thread." 

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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