Transcribed from History of Sussex and Warren Counties, New Jersey, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Compiled by James P. Snell, (Author of History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, N. J.), Assisted by Prof. W. W. Clayton and a Numerous Corps of Writers. Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1881. Press of J. B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia. Transcribed by a volunteer.
John D. Everitt was born in Montague township on March 23, 1798, and was the oldest of eleven children of Isaac and Mary (Davis) Everitt. The earlier history of the family has been given in the sketch of his brother, Allen Everitt, on another page of this work.
The educational advantages of Mr. Everitt were limited to such instruction as he obtained at the district school of his locality during the winter season. In the fall of 1814 he entered upon the active duties of life as a clerk in the store of Jacob R. Everson, at Newburg, N. Y., where he remained nearly a year. Returning home, he assisted his father in his farming operations, and the following winter taught school in a school-house that stood near the present residence of Jacob Westbrook, in Sandyston township. His income from this avocation for the first three months amounted to one dollar per scholar, out of which he boarded himself. While engaged in procuring subscribers for his school he met, at the house of Alexander Ennes, Roanna Decker, daughter of Daniel Decker, whom he married on May 7, 1820; she was born May 6, 1799. In the spring of 1818, 1819, and 1820 he engaged in rafting on the Delaware River for George Nelden, and after three years of school-teaching he worked on his father's farm for a time, and then taught school in Pennsylvania. In the fall of 1821 he commenced keeping house at the present residence of George Cortright. In the spring of 1824 he took up residence with his grandfather, Daniel Davis, where Benjamin Cole now lives, and, purchasing the farm the year following, taught school and tilled the soil until the spring of 1829, when he sold the farm to Francis McCormack and bought the George Westbrook farm, where Mark Sigler now lives, in Sandyston. In June, 1829, he engaged in trade with Stoll & Hagerty, in Sandyston. After one year Mr. Hagerty was elected sheriff of the county, and the firm remained Stoll & Everitt for nine years, the business then passing to John A. Westbrook. In the spring of 1833 he sold the Westbrook farm to Peter Myers, and purchased of Partial Howell the farm and tavern (since destroyed by fire) of John Y. Clark, at Hainesville. For two years and a half he engaged in trade and kept tavern at that point, and, selling out to John A. Westbrook purchased the farm now occupied by Henry Phillips. After six months he sold this property to Peter Myers, and bought of James Frout the family homestead now occupied by his son, Robert H. Everitt, in Sandyston. Here he continued to reside until his demise, Nov. 15, 1876.
Mr. Everitt, during his lifetime, bore an important relation to the development of the section of country in which he was born, and was recognized as one of the leading men of his day. Possessed of great energy and force of character, an indomitable will, and definiteness of purpose, he made a success of everything he undertook, and accumulated a valuable estate. He was a man of generous impulses, a liberal supporter of church and kindred interests, and in close sympathy with the progressive movements of his age. He was first a Whig and then a Republican in politics, and a staunch supporter of the principles of his party. He filled with success the various townshp offices of Montague and Sandyston, and rose to the rank of colonel in the militia of his day. For fifteen years he was a justice of the peace, a commissioner of deeds for four terms, and for ten years one of the lay-judges of the Court of Common Pleas. He served as a commissioner to divide lands, and as executor and administrator in thirty-four cases, and enjoyed the respect and confidence of many friends. For more than thirty years he was a member of the board of directors of the Sussex National Bank of Newton, and during all that time never borrowed a dollar of the institution. He was postmaster at Hainesville for four years, commencing in 1833.
Mr. Everitt's first wife died on Feb. 28, 1859. For his second wife he married Diana, widow of Jacob Kittle, and daughter of Alexander Ennes, who survives him. By the first marriage were born six children,--namely, Catharine J., wife of John B. Layton, Jr., of Port Jervis, N. Y.; Daniel Davis, residing on the homestead of his grandfather, Isaac Everitt, in Montague township, and a leading farmer; Isaac J., died in 1875, at Orange, N. J., a prominent merchant and valuable citizen for many years; Martin Cole, president of the First National Bank, Port Jervis, N. Y.; Robert H. Everitt, an influential farmer of Sandyston township, residing on his father's homestead; and James Allen, who died in 1851, while a student at Yale College, New Haven, Conn.