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Note: POSTED ON FIND-A-GRAVE WEB SITE: Birth: Aug. 22, 1781
New Vernon, Morris County, New Jersey, USA
Death: Feb. 22, 1847
New Jersey, USA
His ancestors being among the earliest settlers of that county. His grandfather, as well as his father and four brothers of his father`s, were not only brave soldiers during the Revolutionary war, but they were men of sterling worth and intelligence, who exerted upon their community a religious and moral influence which continues to be felt at the present day. Joseph Tuttle, father of William, was a man of remarkable qualities. An enterprising and industrious blacksmith, he soon became the possessor not only of a snug home, but of the respect and esteem of his neighbors. They honored him, with a public office, which interfered, however, so much with his private business that in the end he became a bankrupt, and, with a growing family about him, was obliged to struggle wearily for a living. But he was a devoted Christian and a tender-hearted parent, who would not suffer his children to grow up ignorant or irreligious. His godly example and precepts, as well as those of his lovely wife, were lessons which were daily and profitable placed before their offspring. William lost this good mother before he was eight years old, but he never lost the gentle spirit with which she had endowed him nor the effect of the sweet influence which she had exerted upon his tender mind; and to say this is, perhaps, to sum up the life of this lad, who, from the cradle to the grave, was a living witness of the force of virtuous precepts and examples. But the life of William Tuttle, simple and uneventful as it was, had much to do with the lives of those who grew up with him and with the lives of those who came up after him. The effect of his writings and teachings upon the community in which he lived, as well as the results of his labors of love, mark him as a man whose name should never be forgotten. Like the lads of the neighborhood, he went to the country school, but, unlike many of them, as his invalid father`s cash-book shows, he spent the hours for play in "covering corn," "driving oxen," "threshing grain," "chopping wood," "plowing," and other work which he found to do in a farming settlement, and which he gladly did in order to help a now crippled father, who, in a chair by the side of his anvil, slowly and painfully toiled for his daily bread. This poor father could illy spare the service of this gallant boy, but he had the wisdom and fortitude to defy any sort of suffering rather than to impede the career of a child of so much promise. Consequently, at the age of fifteen William was sent to Newark, N.J., to learn to become a printer. "A boy in age, he was a man in action," says his biographer, Rev. Joseph P. Tuttle, D.D., from whose "Life of William Tuttle" the facts of this short sketch are mainly drawn. In truth, this lad established a reputation for industry, integrity and sobriety within six months after he had entered the printing-office in which he passed his probation, prior to being indentured. At the end of that time his employer sold out his establishment, and William, being then on a visit at home, and under no obligation to return, went once more to school, aiding and cheering at leisure hours his invalid father. But he had left a good name in Newark. A letter was received ere long by his father making inquiries as to his engagements, and expressing a desire to secure his services, if he felt disposed to enter another printing-office. The result was that he became regularly indentured as an apprentice at the printing business. In later life Mr. Tuttle wrote a history of his apprenticeship, from which it may be seen that he lost no opportunity to improve his mind by reading and study. He began at length to exercise himself in writing, and in order to test his abilities in this direction he sometimes copied his essays in a disguised hand, and sent them through the post-office to the editor of the newspaper upon which, as a printer, he was at work. His efforts were successful. His articles were printed with an occasional remark of approbation from the editor, who little dreamed that it was his own apprentice who was thus contributing to his columns. It is evident that during his youth and, indeed, throughout all his life, he was a great student and a close thinker. Many of his letters which appeared in the biography above mentioned are models of excellency both as to style and thought. On the 22d of August, 1802, Mr. Tuttle`s apprenticeship came to a close, and soon afterwards he was made foreman of the printing establishment. On the 22d of November, 1803, in connection with Mr. John Pike, a fellow-journeyman, he purchased of the proprietor, Mr. Samuel Pennington, the establishment, including the newspaper Centinel of Freedom; and Mr. Pennington, in announcing to the public the transfer of the paper, says: "In making this transfer I have taken a scrupulous care that the press has not gone into hands that will prostitute it to venal purposes." The copartnership between Mr. Tuttle and Mr. Pike continued only until Aug. 14, 1804, when Mr. Pike withdrew, resigning his interest in the concern to Mr. Pennington, the recent proprietor, and thus Mr. Tuttle became the partner of his former master. Mr. Pennington was, however, engaged in a business which would not allow him to give any attention to the printing establishment, but Mr. Tuttle managed its affairs so well that on the 1st of July, 1808, he purchased all Mr. Pennington`s interest therein, and now became the sole proprietor and editor of the leading and most popular journal of the State. In his hands the Centinel lost none of the vigor or popularity which it had enjoyed since its commencement, in 1796, and, in speaking of Mr. Tuttle in connection with it, a contemporary opposed to him in politics, says: "I never saw him angry, nor ever saw another person angry with him. As the editor of a political paper, he was always firm and conscientiously sincere in the principles which he advocated, but never offensive in his language or opprobrious in his epithets." This is a high encomium to be bestowed by a political opponent upon an editor, especially in times when political discussions will often ruffle the tempers of the wisest and best of men. It is needless to say that Mr. Tuttle was a successful man. It could not well be otherwise with one possessing his habits as a business man together with his wonderful industry. That he ever became wealthy, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, cannot be said; but that he possessed riches which the world cannot give nor take away is beyond all doubt. Although not a professor of religion until he had reached the age of twenty-six, he displayed from boyhood to the grave the spirit and the conduct of a veritable son of God. In the journey of life it is rare to meet with a man so utterly unselfish, so entirely devoted to the welfare of his fellow-men. But in a sketch so limited as this must necessarily be it is impossible to convey a proper idea of this man`s quiet and beautiful career. If, as an unregenerate man, he was the essence of gentleness and love, the very soul of honor, what was there not in him of exalted virtue and profoundest piety as a professed servant of the Lord? Such was the homage paid to his sincerity and truly Christian spirit that at the early age of thirty-one he was chosen an elder of the First Presbyterian Church in Newark, an office which he held up to the time of his death, a period of more than thirty years, and the duties of which he performed with unexampled fidelity. From the time that he was called to this office he appears to have lived more for the welfare of others than for himself. His diary gives evidence of this, and though in it he makes no note of his own charities, it became well known that he was the daily visitor of the poor, the sick and the suffering, and that wherever he went he carried cheer and comfort. Indeed, during the last six years of his life he attended to no business, except that of his notaryship in old bank, in order that he might have more time to perform his deeds of love; and during those six years he gave in charities all his income, reserving only what was necessary for his daily wants. Truly, like Abou Ben Adhem, he could say to the angel, "Write me as one that loves his fellow-men." The angel came to him just as he had accomplished one of his many errands of mercy, and was directing his footsteps homeward. His body fell by the wayside. This happened Feb. 22, 1847.
Burial:
Whippany Burial Ground
Whippany, Morris County, New Jersey, USA
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