YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY Gift of
Richard S. Kirby

hilla^^l^

IC74-

Biographical History

OK

WESTCHESTER COUNTY,

NEW YORK.

ILLUSTRATED.

VOLUME II.

CHICAGO:
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY.
1899.

CJ31.0T5

0

BIOGRAPHIGAL HISTORY.

JUDGE WILLIAM H. ROBERTSON.
The distinguished gentleman whose name introduces this memoir had1
passed his seventy-fifth mile-post when death released him from this mortal
life, on December 6, 1898, and could look back with just pride over a public
career replete with activity and usefulness. No one who has been a citizen
of White Plains is more deserving of honorable mention in the present work
than he.
Mr. Robertson was born at the family homestead in Bedford, Westches
ter county, October 10, 1823, a son of Henry Robertson. His boyhood was
spent on his father's farm, and his early education was obtained in the public
schools of the district in which they lived and at Union Academy, in Bedford.
For some time he taught school in Bedford and Lewisboro. Early selecting
the law for his profession, he pursued its study in the office of Judge Robert
S. Hart, in Bedford, and in 1847 was admitted to the bar. In 1854 he
formed a partnership with Odle Close, under the firm name of Close & Rob
ertson, for j;he practice of law, and this association continued until his death.
The Judge's taste for politics had its beginning while he was yet in his
'teens. He took a deep interest in the Harrison campaign of 1840, in 1844
cast his first presidential vote, for Henry Clay, and the next spring was elected
to the position of superintendent of town schools, which he filled for several
years. He was four times supervisor of Bedford and twice chairman of the
board of supervisors.
His legislative career began in 1848, when he was elected to the assem
bly, and he was re-elected the following year. In 1853 he was chosen to the
state senate, where he at once took a prominent position. Among the public
acts, he introduced a bill for establishing the department of public instruc
tion, which may justly be considered one of the most important events in the
educational history of the state. In 1855 he was elected county judge, was
twice re-elected to that responsible position, and thus filled the office twelve
years. He served six years as inspector of the Seventh Brigade of New York
militia, was chairman of the military committee appointed by Governor Mor
gan in 1862 to raise and organize state troops in the eighth senatorial district,
and was commissioned to superintend the draft in Westchester county. In
i860 he was a member of the electoral college, and voted for Abraham Lin
coln. He supported him again in the national convention of 1864, and during.

482 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
his whole administration was one of his most loyal and faithful adherents.
In 1866 he was elected a representative to the fortieth congress, and while a
member of that body he voted for the impeachment of President Johnson,
and took an active part in the legislation which led to the restoration of the
southern states to the Union.
Judge Robertson's second term of service in the state senate began in
1872 and continued without interruption for a period of ten years, during
the last eight of which he was president pro tern, of that body. He served
as chairman of the committees on commerce and navigation, rules, literature
and judiciary, being for eight years at the head of the judiciary com
mittee, a place of great responsibility, which he ably filled. In 1876 he
was one of three gentlemen who, at the request of the president, visited
Florida to supervise the counting of the votes for the office of president. On
two occasions — in 1872 and 1879 — the personal and political friends of Judge
Robertson made a strong effort to place him in nomination for governor of
New York, and, while he was each time defeated, the support given him was
indeed flattering.
In February, 1880, Judge Robertson was appointed a delegate to repre
sent his state in the national convention to be held in Chicago in June. A
vote was passed at the state convention instructing its delegates to vote as a
unit, the purpose being to enable the majority of the delegates to carry it en
masse for General Grant. Soon after the adjournment of the state conven
tion, Judge Robertson published a letter in the Albany Journal, in which he
repudiated the principles of the unit rule, and declared for Blaine. The let
ter attracted attention throughout the country and gave its author great
prominence in the opposition to the "third-term" movement. It is general
ly conceded that it was his leadership and organizing ability, more than those
of any other man, that broke the power of the "unit" rule in Republican
conventions and defeated the " third-term " candidate.
In March, 1881, Mr. Robertson was nominated by President Garfield for
collector of the port of New York. His political acts having been distaste
ful to the senators from his state, they demanded the withdrawal of his nom
ination by the president. This being refused, a bitter contest followed,
which was ended by the resignation of the senators in May and the comfirm-
ation of Mr. Robertson soon afterward. He did not, however, assume the
coUectorship until the first of August, and the legislature (he being in the
senate) did not adjourn until late in July. His judicial and legislative ex
perience had prepared him for the most difficult duty of the position, — the
consideration and decision of intricate points of revenue law, — and he dis
charged its obligations to the satisfaction of the importers and with the al
most universal commendation of the public press.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 483
Mr. Robertson was conspicuous and influential in local and state con
ventions for many years, took an active part in the national conventions of
1864, 1876, 1880 and 1884, and was for fifteen years a member of the Re
publican state committee. In his political life he was remarkably successful,
having never been defeated when a candidate before the people, although his
principal canvasses have been made in a district in which the party majority
was against him, He achieved this result by the strength of his personal
character, his fidelity to friends, his sincere and uniform courtesy, his unques
tioned integrity and his legal and business ability. He possessed, in an un
usual degree, the "genius of common sense," an acute knowledge of human
nature and thorough self-control. He was also of a literary taste and of
studious habits, and valued no less than his political honors the degree of
LL. D., which was conferred upon him by Williams College in 1876.
In 1865 Judge Robertson married Miss Mary E. Ballard, a daughter of
Hon. Horatio Ballard, who was a prominent lawyer of Cortland county, New
York, and well known throughout the state. In 1869 he built the house at
Katonah where he resided until his death. In the community where he
lived he was a judicious and willing counselor of all who sought his advice,
a liberal contributor to religious and charitable objects, a public-spirited citi
zen and a valued friend.

GEORGE N. RIGBY.

The gentleman whose name furnishes the title to this brief biographical
¦sketch is a rising lawyer and popular citizen of Yonkers, still young in years
and with worthy achievements which foreshadow his future success. He
received his primary education in the public schools of Yonkers and was grad
uated from the high school in 1891. He was graduated in the electrical
engineering course at Cornell University in 1895, and in law from the New
York Law School in 1897- Thus equipped educationally, and endowed with
first-class talents intellectually, he entered upon the practice of his profession
in Yonkers, determined that his career at the bar should be a successful one,
and he is amply meeting the expectations of his most enthusiastic well-
wishers. He early took an interest in political affairs and views national questions
from a Republican point of view. He is financial secretary of the Republic
an Club of Yonkers, was secretary of the assembly convention of 1898, and
has been a delegate to county, judicial and various other conventions. He
has ably filled the office of justice of the peace since November, 1896.
Mr. Rigby is a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon and other college
fraternities, and of the Cornell University Club, of New York.

484 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
He was married April 6, 1897, to Miss Maude Lawrence, of Yonkers,
daughter of William Fred and Mary (Weddle) Lawrence.
Franklin H. Rigby, Mr. Rigby's father, is a prominent resident of Yon-
ers, and is connected with the Prudential Life Insurance Company in New
York city. He married Mary Mockridge, daughter of George N. and Marinda
(Lyon) Mockridge. Her father was a wholesale hardware merchant in New
ark, New Jersey, and her mother was a descendent of " Robert Bond, the
planter, " of Elizabethport, and also of Henry Lyon, a founder of Lyon's Farms,
New Jersey, and a representative of another distinguished old family of New
Jersey. Franklin Rigby's mother was, before her marriage, Miss Mary E.
Adams, who descended in the Virginia line of Adamses. Elihu Bond, one of
the ancestors of Mrs. Franklin Rigby, was captain in the patriot army during
the Revolutionary war, and performed gallant service for the cause of inde
pendence. Mr. Rigby has one brother, Frank Rigby, Jr., and three sisters,
named in the order of their birth, Norma, Pansy and Florence.
George N. Mockridge, after whom George N. Rigby was named, was a
son of Elihu Mockridge, who was one of Newark's wealthiest land-owners
during the early part of this century. The old homestead, which is still stand
ing on Franklin street, has been used by the family for over one hundred
years, and is still entailed, somewhat after the manner of English estates.
Elihu Mockridge was the son of William Mockridge. who came over
from Wales as a boy some time before the Revolution. He married Jonnah
Baldwin, who was a descendant of Joseph Baldwin and wife, nee Sarah
Cooley, who were among the first settlers of New Jersey.

HICKSON F. HART, M. D.
The subject of this sketch is one of the leading young physicians of York-
town, New York, and belongs to a family which has long been identified
with Westchester county. Hickson Field Hart, his grandfather, was one of
the first settlers of the county. He married Mary Ann Knowlton, a native
of the county, and their son Stephen L. was the father of our subject.
Stephen L. Hart and his wife, whose maiden name was Jane Drake Morgan,
are the parents of five children, namely: Hickson F. , whose name heads
this sketch; Alonzo K. , of Peekskill, New York; Stephen B., engaged in
business in Brooklyn, New York; Joseph Waldo and Georgianna. The father
has long been a man of prominence in the county, affiliating with the Demo
cratic party and taking an active interest in its cause. Several terms he has
served as sheriff of the county. He is now engaged in farming.
Hickson Field Hart entered the Peekskill Military Academy when a boy
and is a graduate of that institution, with the class of 1882. Then he took

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 485
up the study of medicine, pursuing his studies under the tuition of Dr. A. 0.
Snowdon, of Peekskill, New York, and in due time engaged in the practice
of this profession. For six years he has been located at Yorktown, and has
been successful in gaining a large and lucrative practice here. The Doctor
is a member of the Westchester County Medical Society, of which he has
served as vice-president, and is also a prominent member of the New York
State Medical Society, at Albany.
Dr. Hart was married, June 25, 1891, to Miss Mona Ward, a native of
Albany, New York, and a daughter of Thomas Ward and Maria (Van Buren)
Ward, his wife. Mr. and Mrs. Ward had six children, of whom four are
living, two sons and two daughters, — Julia Robinson, Mona, Thomas Ward,
Jr., and Albert. Dr. and Mrs. Hart have two sons, — Ward Van Buren,
born October 2, 1893, and Morgan Drake, born January 8, 1899. Mrs.
Hart was educated in Albany, New York, and is a woman of culture and
refinement. She is a member of the Presbyterian church, while the Doctor
is a Methodist, of which church his parents are members. Socially he is
identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and his political views
are those set forth by the Democratic party.

HENRY R. HICKS.

The ancestral history of the Hicks family is one of close indentification
with the colony of Massachusetts. The Mayflower, which brought the little
band of Pilgrims to the shores of the New World, was followed the next
year by the stanch little barque Fortune, which, sailing from London,
arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts, on the nth of November, 1621. Among
its passengers was Robert Hicks, the founder of the family in America.
He was a leather-dresser from Bermondesey street, Southwark, London.
His father, James Hicks, was lineally descended from Sir Ellis Hicks, who
was knighted by Edward, the Black Prince, on the battle-field of Poinctiers,
September 9, 1356, for bravery in capturing a set of colors from the French.
Margaret, the wife of Robert Hicks, with her children, came to America in
the ship Ann, which arrived at Plymouth in the latter part of June, 1622.
The family settled in Duxbury, Massachusetts, but two of the sons, John
and Stephen, about 1642, removed to Long Island. In October, 1645,
Governor Kieft granted a patent to Thomas Farrington, John Hicks and
others for the township of Flushing, Long Island. John Hicks seems to
have taken a leading part in the affairs of the settlement, and was appointed
at various times to fill the most important offices. His name and that of
his son Thomas appear in connection with almost every public measure for
many years.

486 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Robert Hicks was twice married. He first wedded Elizabeth Morgan
and had four children,— Elizabeth, Thomas, John and Stephen. Before leav
ing England he married Margaret Winslow, and their four children were
named Samuel, Ephraim, Lydia and Phebe. John Hicks, the second of the
family, married Rachel Starr, and of their children — Thomas, Hannah and
Elizabeth — the eldest was the second in the line of descent to him whose
name heads this sketch. Thomas Hicks wedded Mary Washburn, and their
children were Thomas and Jacob. The mother died and he later married
Mary Doughty, by whom he had ten children, namely: Isaac, William,
Stephen, John, Charles, Benjamin, Phebe, Charity, Mary and Elizabeth. Of
this family Isaac Hicks married a lady whose first name was Elizabeth, but
whose surname is not known. Their children were Charles, Benjamin,
Isaac, Gilbert, James, Thomas, Henry, John, Edward, Margaret, Mary.
Isaac Hicks, the son of Isaac and Elizabeth Hicks, married Charity Esmond,
and their union was blessed with five children, Edward, Charles, Amy,
Sarah and Margaret. The second son, Charles, was the great-grandfather
of our subject. He married Mary Hicks, and their children were Rodman,
Oliver, Charles, Sarah, Philetta and Lindley.
Oliver Hicks, the grandfather of our subject, was born on Long Island
and there spent the greater part of his life. He married Susan Vermillyea,
whose father was a resident of Horseneck, Westchester county. By occupa
tion he was a farmer and at the time of the Revolutionary war he loyally
served his country as a colonel in the American army. Unto Oliver and
Susan Hicks were born two sons and three daughters: Charles, Eliza, Scott,
Susan A. and Jane.
Charles Hicks, the father of our subject, was born on Long Island, near
Hicksville, and was a relative of the celebrated Elias Hicks, the founder of
the Hicksite branch of Friends, one of the early branches of that society.
Mr. Hicks became a member of the firm of Schenck, Downing & Company,
dealers in paints and glass at Nos. 106 and 108 Fulton street, New York city,
and thus continued for many years, having formerly been engaged in
merchandising. For about ten years before his death he lived retired from
business cares, enjoying a well earned competence, which supplied him with
all the necessities and many of the luxuries of life. In politics he was a
stanch Democrat, but voted for Abraham Lincoln and was a strong Union
man, placing the country's good before party preferment at the time of the
nation's peril. He was also one of the first to advocate the issue of bonds
for the purpose of carrying on the war. In his early life he served as a cap
tain in the Twenty-seventh Regiment of the* New York state militia, and was
ever a valued citizen of the community in which he made his home. He
died May 29, 1866, at the age of sixty-nine years. His wife, who bore the

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 487
maiden name of Jane Ann Sackett, was a representative of one of the prom
inent old families of Westchester county. She is deceased, and, like the
others of the name, lies buried in the cemetery at Bedford.
Henry R. Hicks, the only child of Charles and Jane A. (Sackett) Hicks, was
born in New York city, December 14, 1835, and pursued his education in
school No. 7, and in the grammar school of Columbia College. At the age
of sixteen he entered upon his business career, securing a clerkship with the
firm of John Haslam & Sons, hardware merchants, with whom he continued
until 1858, and after that was in the employ of Read & Towsley until i860.
From that year until 1874 he was employed in the engineering department of
the Brooklyn navy yard, acting as storekeeper from 1865 until the close of
his connection with that business. On resigning his place, in 1874, he
retired to private life and has since resided in the seventh ward in Yonkers,
upon a farm of thirty acres, which has been his place of abode for thirty-six
years. He was one of the organizers of the Citizens National Bank, and
from the beginning has continuously served on its directorate, he and Charles
Dusenberry being the only charter members of the bank who are now acting
as directors. For many years Mr. Hicks has occupied positions of distinctive prefer
ment in connection with the public life of Yonkers. In his political affilia
tions he is a stanch Republican, and has long been a recognized leader in the
ranks of the party. From the old fourth ward of the city he was elected a
member of the city council in 1872, and served in that capacity for six con
secutive terms, — a longer continuous service than any other member of that
body. His long retention in the office was certainly a high tribute to his
ability and to the fidelity with which he discharged his duties, and for three
terms he had the honor of being president of the council. He exercised his
official prerogative for the benefit and progress of the city, supporting all
measures which he believed would advance the general welfare. He has
been one of the police commissioners of Yonkers since September, 1892, when
he was appointed to that office, and by reappointment, received in 1897, he
will continue to serve until 1901. Socially he is a member of the Rising Star
Lodge of Masons.
On the 2 1 st of May, 1863, Mr. Hicks was united in marriage to Miss
Isabell Weed, a daughter of Isaac Weed, an agriculturist of Yonkers. They
have two daughters: Eveline W., wife of Dr. Karl H. Krober, a physician
of Yonkers; and Isabell, wife of Rudolph Eickemeyer, Jr. Such in brief is
the history of one who for many years has been a distinguished and repre
sentative citizen of Yonkers. In all his business dealing and official duties he
has been scrupulously exact and fair. In the former he has been very suc
cessful, as the result of ability, discrimination and enterprise. The life of

488 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
such a man is an object lesson of real value to the observing and thoughtful.
It brings out prominently the characteristics that win, offers encouragement
to young men who are willing to work with their minds and with their hands,
and affords another proof of the familiar adage that there is no royal road to
wealth or distinction in this republic. The achievement depends upon the
man.
JACOB READ.
Mr. Jacob Read, a representative of the Yonkers people who were
engaged in farming during 1825 and 1855 and intervening years, is still (1896)
a resident of the town, which for fifteen years he served as supervisor. In
1895 he said, in substance:
I came to Yonkers in February, 1829, when a boy in my eleventh year. I recall distinctly
the prominent farmers of Yonkers from 1829 to 1855, and their mode of life. I also recall the
kind of crops they raised, and how they marketed their produce. Through the '20s and '30s
and up to the '40s, the principal crops were oats, rye, wheat, corn, hay, potatoes and pickles.
The potatoes were of the "blue nose " and " kidney " variety. Afterward came the "Early
Rose." We did not have, as farmers do now, a number of varieties, all dug out of the same
hill. The fruits were apples, peaches, pears and cherries. The apples were " Pound Sweets,"
" Catheads," and " Fall Pippins." The peaches of Yonkers in the latter part of the '30s and the
first of the '40s were very fine. The cherries were of the Dyckman variety, a sour cherry and
excellent. We used to call tomatoes " love apples;" but nobody ate them. I never ate tomatoes
until 1847. We had good walnuts and chestnuts. The garden truck the farmers raised was
for their own use only. None was sent to market until 1835. All the cabbage for market, for
example, was raised on Bergen Point and Long Island. Nor did the Yonkers farmers send any
milk to New York. It was kept in milk-rooms, for there were no ice-houses. The milk-rooms
had stone bottoms, and were cool. Tables in those days were supplied with plenty of fresh
meat. I remember that Mr. David Horton, with whom I lived, would kill a sheep in summer,
or a lamb or a pig in the fall, so as to have fresh meat, and would send a quarter over to Mr.
Vermilye Fowler's, or Mr. Nattie Valentine's, or Mr. David Oakley's; and when they killed, they
returned the favor. The poultry in the farm-yards also supplied the tables. Barrels of salted
meats and hogsheads of cider, as also butter, lard, turnips and potatoes stocked the cellar-
Blacksmiths, wheelwrights and carpenters made many agricultural instruments which they are
not expected to make to-day.
Beef and ham were smoked in the farmers' smoke-houses. Up to 1845 sheep were kept.
The lambs were sold in New York. A man came up from Manhattan island during a period of
years and bought lambs of the farmers. Pork and poultry were also sent to New York. Large
droves of cattle and sheep from the north passed through Yonkers down the Albany post-road.
Perhaps as many as two hundred or two hundred and fifty cows and from three hundred to five
hundred sheep would be in a single drove. Two or three men or two men and a boy could
manage a drove, as the line fences were all up and the gates were closed. The drovers "put
up " at old Uncle Post Dyckman's, on the other side of Kingsbridge.
Hay was sold in New York. Marketing was done by land as well as by river. A team
would be sent to New York with a load on Sunday night in order to be there for the Monday
morning market. The team was returned the next day and again sent down on Wednesday,
back Thursday, and down again on Friday. Butter sold at from tencents-to a shilling a pound.
Loose sugar, that is, brown sugar for every-day use, was purchased in quantities of seven
pounds. White sugar was purchased by the " loaf." A " loaf" of white sugar weighed about

Jacob Read.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 489
ten or twelve pounds. It was more expensive than brown sugar. We didn't see any of that
white sugar around except when there was company. Then it was cut off the loaf and placed
on the table. We used to count money by pounds, shillings, and pence up to about 1841. " One
and three pence " was fifteen cents; " one and ninepence," twenty-two cents; " two and tupence,"
twenty-seven cents. In these early days we used " dips," that is, tallow candles. The candles
were made by hanging wicks over alder rods (from which the bark had been peeled) and dip
ping them into the mixed mutton and beef tallow; the beef tallow hardened the candles. The
alder rods were selected because they were light and easily handled. After the candles
were made the rods were carefully stored away for the next year's use. In later years
¦sperm oil and kerosene oil were used. Coal was not in use in Yonkers until about 1839 or
1840. Then Mr Ebenezer Baldwin, who kept a lumber yard, brought in twenty tons; but its
sale was slow. Nobody at first had a coal-stove. Everybody used open fireplaces or " Frank
lin " stoves. The "Franklin!' was used in parlors. It was open in front like a fire-place. On
•one side stood the tongs and on the other the shovel, their brass tops polished bright.
I recall distinctly the routine work of each year on the Yonkers farms. January and
February were the months in which wood was cut for summer use. Enough wood was cut in
the winter to last all summer. Fire-wood was drawn from the woods by ox teams. When the
snow was deep we could put a chain around the tree we had chopped down, and, with our oxen,
would drag the tree to the wood-shed, breaking a road through the snow, which in those winters
fell plentifully. I have seen it three feet deep, and of course there were often heavy drifts. We
used to pile the woodshed full of fire-wood and then pile it up outside. Loads of chips were
brought to the yard from the woods. Chips made a quick fire for boiling the tea-kettle.
Besides the wood we cut for home use we cut a good deal of cordwood to be taken to New York
by our teams. We had no buck-saws, but used axes and sometimes cross-cut saws. Besides
getting in our wood, we threshed oats, rye and wheat in January and February, calculating to
get through before the first of March, which was the month for repairing stone walls and rail
fences, and for cutting brushes and briars and heaping them up in piles to burn. In April the
farmers were generally digging out stone and building stone walls. They were also at that
time getting ready to plow their corn ground and also to plow their oats, which were sown in
April. In May we planted our corn ground and also planted potatoes and plowed our pickle
ground. Every farmer had his pickle patch, some reserving four acres and some five or six for
that crop. In June the pickles were planted. That was a very important crop. Not one-quar
ter of the pickles were taken to the Yonkers pickle factories. The fact of the business is, that
Yonkers, Fordham, West Farms, Eastchester and Greenburgh were the principal pickle pro
ducers for the New York market. It was a former Yonkers man who established the pickle
industry in one of the western states. In June we also put our cheese peppers in beds to be
afterward transplanted. A good many of them were raised. June was also the month for
plowing and hoeing corn and potatoes. In the latter part of the month we plowed for buck
wheat and turned over our turnip ground. Turnips were raised to feed the cattle, not for mar
ket. June was the month in which the sheep were sheared and in which cherries were picked
and taken to market. I have taken down to the city as many as sixteenhundredweight of cher
ries. In July we were plowing and hilling corn, which we tried to finish before the beginning
¦of haying and harvesting, which was our July and August work. In July we also plowed and
hoed our pickle crop. Apples were taken to market in August and pickles were picked in the
last part of the month. That was the principal work. We also at that time dug potatoes and
took them and our apples to market. This work extended into September. Forty-five bushels
of apples were a load for a team. September might have been called our marketing month, for
then we were gathering our crops and taking them to market. We also were topping our corn
.at that time, but we did not husk it until October, which was also the month for picking some
variety of apples, digging some kinds of potatoes and for making cider. In November we were
yet busy husking corn and digging potatoes. We were also, during this and other winter
months, threshing grain, killing hogs and poultry, cutting wood, etc.

490 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
The crops in Yonkers were fine. In the '40s over here in the valley (Tibbett's Brook),
at the Horton farmhouse, near the present Dunwoodie railroad station, and a little south of the
road to Eastchester (Yonkers avenue), we would get up the oxen and take the cart, which held
forty-five bushels, out to the potatoe patch, in November, and there dig potatoes and fill the cart
and have them in the wagon-house or cellar by noon. We would get another cart-load in the
afternoon. We calculated that six hills of the variety, which was very large, would fill a bushel
basket. They*did fill it. Some of those potatoes were from six to eight inches long, and they
were good, too! I remember that sometimes after supper we went to the barn to sort apples and
potatoes. We made two candlesticks by cutting holes in two large turnips. We put a dip in
each. One dip would be burning at one end of the heap of potatoes or apples, and the other at
the other end of the heap. We sat there in the barn and worked. Just before stopping work, one of
the men would go into the house and put some of those potatoes in the hot ashes of the open
fire-place. When we all came in from the barn the potatoes were nicely backed, and there we sat,
before going to bed, and enjoyed those mealy and white baked potatoes.
As to the price of farm land, the Horton farm of two hundred acres, at what is now
called Dunwoodie, was bought in 1833, or 1834, for six thousand dollars. A little more than a
score of years afterward, when the village was incorporated (1855), the average price of a lot on
Warburtom avenue was about one hundred and fifty or two hundred dollars. Opposite Manor
Hall the price was two hundred dollars. Judge Woodruff owned the property at that ti me. As to.
the upper end of what is now Warburton avenue, they would almost give you a lot in that locality
if you would go up there. In 1872, when the city was incorporated, those lots opposite Manor
Hall were worth five and six hundred dollars each. When Dr. Gates bought of Levi P. Rose two or
three acres on the hill, opposite the present First Reformed church, he paid for it three thousand
and nine hundred dollars. In 1893, a part of that property was offered to the city, for a city hall
property, for one hundred and thirty thousand dollars.
I recall one event which created great excitement in Yonkers in 1842 or 1843. A dam
above Ashford (a place subsequently called Ardsley by Mr. Cyrus W. Field), about five miles north
of Yonkers, gave way, by reason of a sudden and heavy fall of rain, owing to a cloud-burst.
Oliver Rhead, whose farm was in Sawmill river valley, a little north of St. John's cemetery, saw
the river rising rapidly, and, mounting his horse, rode swiftly down to Yonkers to alarm the
village. The Wells and Paddock dam, north of the present Elm street bridge, was then com
paratively new, but for some time it resisted the pressure of the flood. In those days there were
no factories or other buildings near the dam to be damaged. At last the water broke through
and with irresistible force rushed through the little village. It gullied out Mechanic (now New
Main) street about seven feet. It also gullied out Mill (now Main) street, west of Getty Square.
At that time the " TonyArcher " bridge, a wooden structure near the present cemetery(Oakland),
spanned the Sawmill river. It had upright side-posts surmounted with railing. The water
overflowed that bridge and the bridge over the Sawmill river just north of the present Getty
Square. The Sawmill river road was covered. The water ran up over the stone wall, and as
far as the old parsonage, in what are now Oakland cemetery grounds. It also overflowed.
*' Gully Guion's lane." I was on my way to a political meeting to be held at Bashford's tavern,
which stood on the north bank of the Nepperhan, west of Manor Hall. When I reached the
Tony Archer bridge, near the parsonage lot, I attempted to ford the water, which was running.
over the bridge. The current swept me and my horse down stream, and, after regaining solid
ground, I rode down to the Post-road bridge and forded it without accident. I recall the deep
gully in Mechanic street near the site of the present Getty House. A few days after the flood a
young horse belonging to Anson Baldwin was taken to be shod at Archibald's (afterward Peter
Nodine's) blacksmith shop. The horse was restless and succeeded in breaking away from.
the tie-post. He ran around into Mechanic street, fell into the deep gully and was killed.
The gully was full of boulders.
Jacob Read was born at Southeast, Putnam county, New York, on Sep
tember 30, 1818. His father, Rooney Read, was a soldier in the war of

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 491
1812, and his grandfather, Jacob Read, was a soldier in the Revolution. Mr.
Read came to Yonkers at the age of eleven, and is one of the oldest and best
known citizens. He has held many positions of trust; for fifteen years was
supervisor, and at present is a member of the board of water commissioners,
acting as treasurer. He is a member of the Odd Fellows and Masonic
orders. On November 23, 1845, he married Miss Catherine L. Mann, who
died on December 26, 1891. Five of his children are living, — George,
Leander and David H., all residents of Yonkers; Mrs. Amanda Gibson, of
White Plains; and Helen L. , wife of Wilbur B. Ketcham, of this city.

THEODORE HILL.

One of the most progressive and successful agriculturists of Yorktown
township, Westchester county, is Theodore Hill, who is the owner of a beau
tiful farm of two hundred acres. His methods of farm management show
deep scientific knowledge, combined with sound, practical judgment, and
the results show that "high-class" farming as an occupation can be made
profitable as well as pleasant.
Mr. Hill was born December 1, 1850, and belongs to a family which was
founded in this county by his great-grandfather, Uriah Hill, who came here
from New York city during the early days of settlement on Manhattan island.
His grandfather was Abraham Hill. His father, Abraham Hill, Jr., was a
farmer throughout life, was broad and liberal in religious matters, and at the
polls voted the Democratic ticket. He married Miss Thamer Lounsbury,
the daughter of Daniel Lounsbury, who belonged to an old family of this
section, and was the son of a Revolutionary soldier. To Mr. and Mrs. Hill
were born two children: Theodore, the subject of this sketch; and Hannah
J. , wife of Peter Curry. The mother died in early life, and the father after
ward married Miss Mary A. Fowler, whose death occurred in August, 1897.
Theodore Hill was reared and educated in Yorktown township, West
chester . county. New York, and since attaining to man's estate has devoted
his time and energies to agricultural pursuits, with good success. He now
owns and operates a fine dairy farm near Lake Osceola, in Yorktown town
ship, Westchester county, on which is an excellent orchard, large barns and
a nice residence, — in fact, all the conveniences and accessories of a model
farm are there found.
On the 20th of June, 1892, Mr. Hill was united in marriage with Miss
Susan H. Curry, a daughter of Dr. James H. and Emily (Minor) Curry. Her
father is a prominent physician of Yorktown, and both parents are promi
nent members and active workers in the Methodist church. Mr. and Mrs.

492 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Hill have two little sons, who make bright their home, namely: James Curry
and Theodore A.
While taking an active interest in political affairs, Mr. Hill is not a mem
ber of either of the great political parties, but prefers to vote for the man
whom he believes best qualified to fill the office, regardless of party ties. He
is an efficient member of the school board, and is also filling the offices of
collector and commissioner in his township. He and his wife are leading
members of the Methodist church, and they well deserve the high regard in
which they are uniformly held.

NELSON H. BAKER.

A prominent and distinguished attorney of Sing Sing, Mr. Baker has
for almost forty years successfully engaged in practice at the Westchester
county bar. He was born in this county, March 4, 1835, a son of Quinby
and Elizabeth (Dayton) Baker, and is a worthy representative of good old
Revolutionary stock. The Baker family is. of English origin, and tradition
states that its progenitor in the New World was the chaplain on the May
flower. Our subject's great-grandfather, Daniel Baker, was a captain in the
Colonial army under General Washington, and participated in the battle of
White Plains at the time the British fleet came up the Hudson river, and the
grandfather, Daniel Baker, who was a farmer, served as a soldier in the war
of 181 2. Quinby Baker was an inventor and was accidentally killed when our
subject was quite small, having participated in the Mexican war, in which he
was wounded and died from the effects of a poisoned bullet. He left three
children, the others being Alonzo, a mechanic residing in Bedford, and Cla
rissa, now deceased. For four generations the Baker family have resided in
Westchester county and have been numbered among its most worthy and
progressive citizens. The Dayton family is also an old and loyal one, being
wellrepresented in the Revolution, the war of 1812 and the civil war, and is
connected with the Greene family of Revolutionary fame. Our subject's
maternal grandfather, Gilbert Dayton, was wounded in the war of 18 12.
Reared upon a farm, Nelson H. Baker obtained his early education in
the district schools and by private instruction from an Irish tutor, Thomas
O'Rily. At the age of twenty-one he commenced the study of law with
Francis Larkin, of Sing Sing, and was admitted to the bar in November,
1859, since which time he has engaged in general practice in Sing Sing.
Early in life he became interested in political affairs, and when still a young
man made the race for supervisor, and was elected. The following year he
was elected justice of the peace, and filled that office for four consecutive
terms. He was then appointed district attorney to fill an unexpired term of

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 493
more than two years, and at the end of that time was elected to that position,
which he then held for four terms, or fourteen years in all. Since then he
has given his entire attention to his private practice, making a specialty of
criminal law, and has defended many noted criminals. Prominence at the
bar comes through merit alone, and the high position which he has attained
attests his superiority. As a fluent, earnest and convincing advocate he has
but few equals. Thoroughness characterizes all his efforts, and he conducts
all business with a strict regard to a high standard of professional ethics. He
follows his own peculiar style and is quick to discern which course to pursue,
but has always refused to prosecute a case when he has believed the prose
cution to be unjust. As an attorney he ranks among the foremost in this
section of the state, and he is recognized as one of the most eminent citizens
of Westchester county. «
On the 2d of November, 1859, Mr. Baker was united in marriage
with Miss Elizabeth Urmy, a native of the town of Ossining, now Sing Sing,
who died February 21, 1898. Two sons were born to this union, Ralph
and Stuart, both of whom have been well educated, and Stuart practices-
law and is a member of the Westchester county bar.

ROBERT A. ROTCHE.

A prominent and popular citizen of Peekskill, Westchester county, Mr.-
Rotche has always been noted for his patriotism and loyalty to the govern
ment and for his earnest efforts to advance the welfare of the community in
which his lot is cast. He was a young man of but nineteen years when he
offered his services, and his life, if need be, to the Union, and with his brave
comrades took a distinguished part in the battle of Antietam, two hundred
and sixty-five of the regiment meeting death in that fearful combat between the
opposing armies. He was also a participant in the battles of Fredericksburg
and Roanoke Island and in minor engagements and skirmishes with the
enemy. His term of service extended over a period of two years, beginning;
on August"i9, 1861, and terminating in August, 1863, when he received an
honorable discharge. He was a member of the famous Hawkins Zouaves,
Ninth Regiment of New York Infantry.
Mr. Rotche has never lost his interest in the boys who wore the blue,
and, wherever he has gone has been identified with the Grand Army of the
Republic, and is now the commander of Abraham Vosburgh Post, No. 95, of
Peekskill. He is a stanch Republican and has loyally aided that party since
he had the privilege of casting his first presidential ballot, for Abraham
Lincoln. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
belonging to Cortlandt Lodge, No. 6, and while he was a resident of San.

494 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Francisco, California, he was a member of Oriental Encampment, No. 57
I. O. O. F.
Robert A. Rotche, who has made his home in Peekskill for many years, is
a native of this county, his birth having occurred in Cortlandt township,
January 13, 1842. He is a son of John G. and Margaret (Henry) Rotche.
The father, who was a native of Philadelphia, was a brick-maker by profes
sion. His death took place over thirty years ago, in 1867. His widow
passed away in August, 1896, at the advanced age of eighty -six years. Both
were members of the old Dutch Reformed church. They were the parents
of six children, only two of whom survive, namely: John H., a resident of
Croton-on-Hudson, and Robert A.
In his youth Robert A. Rotche received an excellent education in the pub
lic schools of the county of his nativity. Soon after he left the school-room
he entered upon his army life and when he returned from the battle-fields of
the south he went to San Francisco, California, where he remained for
twenty years or more, and there engaged in merchandising and was also
prominently identified in local political affairs.
In 1867 the marriage of R. A. Rotche and Miss Jennie Black was
solemnized in Brooklyn, New York, by Rev. Dr. Lowry, of Hanson Place
Baptist church. Mrs. Rotche is a daughter of James Black, of Brooklyn.
Edward A., the only child born to our subject and wife, died June 17, 1883,
at San Francisco, aged fifteen years. He was a bright, promising youth,
admired and loved by all who knew him, and his loss was deeply felt by a
large circle of friends.
LEONARD JACOBI.
As one who has attained conspicuous success in connection with the busi
ness and industrial activities of the nation, and standing at the head of one
of the important and magnificent manufacturing and commercial enterprises
of Westchester county, there is a manifest consistency in according in this
compilation at least a brief review of the life of Leonard Jacobi, of Yonkers,
who is the president of the Nepera Chemical Company, of Nepera Park.
His exceptional business sagacity and acumen can be recognized when we
revert to the circumstance that he had by his own efforts accumulated a suf
ficient competency to enable him consistently to retire from active business
at an age when the average man is but formulating plans and initiating his
business career.
The subject of this sketch received his educational discipline in the pub
lic schools of New York city, and thereafter instituted his independent busi
ness career by going to San Francisco, California, where he became a stock
broker. Instituting operations in this line in the year 1874, his success was

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 495
almost phenomenal, as is shown in the fact, already referred to incidentally,
that he was able to retire at the age of twenty-seven years, having accumu
lated a fortune by his wise manipulations and rare business discrimination.
The story of his brilliant success is as brief as it was astonishing, taking into
consideration his youth and the difficulties with which he naturally had to
contend. After retiring from business in California, Mr. Jacobi devoted fourteen
years to travel and recreation in Europe, and while thus journeying about
from one place of interest to another he chanced to form the acquaintance
of Dr. Leo Baekeland, who is now associated with him in the great enter
prise which they have built up in Westchester county. A more formal
description of this industry appears in connection with the sketch of Dr.
Baekeland, which is published on other pages of this work. Suffice it to say
at this point that the enterprise was inaugurated in 1893, when the Nepera
Chemical Company was organized, its principal product being the celebrated
Velox photographic paper — a sensitized paper for use in printing from
ordinary photographic negatives, and one whose facility in manipulation is
bound to revolutionize this feature of the photographic processes. The paper
is described more fully in the review of the life of its inventor, Dr. Baeke
land, but it will not be out of place to state here that the pronounced points
of superiority in the product are that it is sensitive to what the photographer
would call very "slow" light — that is, prints can be made with utmost
facility not alone by daylight, but from the light of ordinary gas or lamp;
while the process of developing and fixing the prints is by gas light or any
artificial light. The Velox paper, however, gives results which equal any
thing that can be obtained from aristo papers, and also gives the depth of
tone-shadows and lights which the aristo paper invariably blurs. In this
respect the Velox is superior to both the aristo and the old-time albumen paper,
which likewise had its elements of superiority over the former in the pres
ervation of the more delicate values of the various negatives.
The Nepera Chemical Company has an extensive and finely equipped
plant, which covers a large area, and here employment is afforded to one
hundred individuals. The Velox paper met with an almost instantaneous
favor on the part of photographers, and the product of the factory is now
shipped to every civilized country in the world, foreign agencies having been
established in a number of the principal cities abroad. In addition to these
agencies in foreign lands, a number have been established in the various sec
tions of the United States, and a large corps of traveling salesmen is em
ployed by the company in the introducing and sale of the Velox paper.
Besides Velox, however, the Nepera Chemical Company has the only manu
factory in the world that produces all kinds of photographic papers, other

496 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
manufacturers having their specialties only. In this respect the Nepera.
Chemical Company stands unique in its branch of industry. The enterprise
has important bearing on the industrial status and prosperity of Yonkers,
and is duly appreciated by all classes of citizens who are interested in the
progress of the city. The company largely employ home labor and skill
and pay good salaries, much of the work requiring the co-operation of prac
tical chemists and men of education.
Personally Mr. Jacobi is a man of most pleasing personality, genial and
affable in manner, and he has gained a distinctive popularity in both busi
ness and social circles. He is a thorough business man, alert and progress
ive, and a hard worker. He is quick and energetic, and is recognized for
his superior ability in handling affairs of great breadth. He has pushed the
business of the Nepera Chemical Company to the front with great rapidity,
expending each year many thousand dollars in advertising, realizing that by
this typical American method a business may be built up in one year to a
point which could not be reached in ten by the slow system of gradual intro
duction of products by personal solicitation alone. He stands distinctively
as the business head of the enterprise; Dr. Baekeland devotes his attention
to the development and improvement of the manufacturing processes, by con
tinued investigation and experimentation, being also secretary of the com
pany; while Albert G. C. Hahn, M. S., is treasurer. Mr. Jacobi took up
his residence in Yonkers in 1897.

EDWARD B. REAR.

The present well known and popular supervisor of Yorktown township,
Westchester county, was born March 24, 1866, and is a representative of an
old and highly respected family of this county. His paternal great-grandfa
ther, Jonathan Kear, who was of Welsh descent, settled near the present vil
lage of Yorktown some time prior to the Revolutionary war. His son, Peter
Kear, the grandfather of our subject, was here reared to manhood and mar
ried Miss Susan Anderson, who was born at Croton-on-Hudson and was of
German descent. To them was born a family of nine children, and of those
who reached maturity we offer the following brief record: Peter is a resident
of Geneva, New York; Amos died in 1891, his being the first death in the
family for forty years; Henry C. is the father of our subject; William and
George are both residents of Seneca Falls, New York; Cyrus resides at
Almont, Michigan; Sarah Dean has her home at Rochester, New York; and
Daniel also resides at Almont, Michigan. The mother of these children died
at the age of eighty-two years, and the father two or three years later. By-
occupation he was a farmer, and in politics was a Republican.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 497
Henry C. Kear, the father of our subject, is a native of Westchester
county, born December 18, 1836, and was reared on the homestead at York-
town, receiving his education in the public schools of the neighborhood. At
the age of twenty-seven years he was united in marriage with Miss Catherine
Farmer, a native of Ireland, and to them were born two children: William
C, of Yorktown; and Edward B., of this sketch. The Kear homestead con
sists of two hundred and fifty-six acres of choice farming land, which has
been placed under a high state of cultivation and improved with good and
substantial buildings. In fact it is one of the most valuable and attractive
farms in the vicinity. To its further improvement and cultivation father
and sons still devote their energies with most gratifying results, and Mr.
Kear also owns a valuable farm of one hundred and forty acres in the town
of Somers. Edward B. Kear obtained his early education in the public schools near
his boyhood home, and later attended the Hackettstown Institute, where he
was graduated in the class of 1884. Since attaining his majority he has been
a stanch supporter of the Republican party, and has taken an active and
prominent part in local politics. His fellow citizens, recognizing his worth
and ability, elected him township clerk in 1889, and he has also been called
upon to fill the offices of justice of the peace and township supervisor, in
which he has served w'ith credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of
his constituents. Mr. Kear was again re-elected to the office of supervisor of
the township in the spring of 1899, by an increased majority over his former
opponent. In 1894 Mr. Kear was elected a justice of sessions of Westches
ter county, and filled that office till its abolishment by the constitutional
amendment. On the 3d of June, 1896, Mr. Kear was married to Miss Josephine Rey
nolds, of Croton Lake, a daughter of Lockwood Reynolds, of that place, and
in the social circles of the community they occupy an enviable position-

EUGENE P. SHEPHERD.

The well-known proprietor of the Croton Valley Poultry farm, at Croton
Falls, Westchester county, is Eugene Purdy Shepherd, who was born in New
Jersey, in 1864, the son of C. C. and Ann (Purdy) Shepherd. His maternal
grandfather was Joel B. Purdy, a member of one of the old and prominent
families of New York.
During his boyhood and youth Eugene P. Shepherd received a good
practical education and also learned the jewelry trade, which he followed for
a time. For some years he was also employed as a traveling salesman for a
New York firm, but for the past seven years has engaged in his present
32

498 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
business. He was married in 1895, the lady of his choice being Miss Ella
Bailey, who died November 24, 1898, leaving two daughters, — Florence B.
and Helen. The Croton Valley Poultry farm is one of the best and most widely
known farms of the kind in the state. The grounds are large, and a good
residence has been erected on a natural building site. Mr. Shepherd has
spent over four thousand dollars for stock and buildings and has con
verted it into an ideal poultry ranch. He makes a specialty of Plymouth
Rock and Leghorn fowls and some of his prize winners are valued at one
hundred dollars per pair. Orders for fowls and eggs come from all parts of
the country, and he has received first and sweepstakes prizes in New York,
Boston, Buffalo, Albany and other places. He is a member of the American
Poultry Association and also belongs to several smaller and local poultry
.associations. A man of superior intellect, frank and genial in disposition, he is very
popular with his fellow men, and his circle of friends seems limited only by
his .circle of acquaintances.

WILLIAM F. McCABE.

For thirty years this well-known resident of Mamaroneck has made his
home in this flourishing little village, and during the past score of years has
risen to a position of prominence and influence in its affairs, commercial and
otherwise. He has been an important factor in local politics, being a worker
in the ranks of the Democratic party, and was the receiver of taxes for two
years and excise commissioner for three years.
The parents of our subject were William F. arid Ellen (Collins) McCabe.
He was born in East Morris, now included within the limits of Greater New
York, in 1857. At the age of one year William F. accompanied his father to
Mamaroneck, and has since looked upon this place as his home. He received
his higher education in Saint Francis Xavier College, in New York city, but
left his studies when eighteen years of age in order to enter upon his business
-career. He was associated with his father in contracting until twenty-five
years of age, when he embarked upon independent work. His first important
task was the construction of the reservoir dam for the New Rochelle water
works, and having executed this contract to the entire satisfaction of all con
cerned he had no difficulty in obtaining further contracts at other points and
for various kinds of public works. One of the finest pieces of work that he
has accomplished is the Byron bridge, connecting New York and Greenmont,
Connecticut. This structure has a beautiful double arch of cut stone. Though
he has taken contracts for a great many private parties, he is especially quali-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 499
fied to take much more important pieces of work, and caters to large public
improvements. Among those for whom he has carried out contracts are Mr. Schoon-
maker, of Scarsdale, and William H. Macy and Porter A. Harrison. For
three years and eight months he was engaged upon the construction of the
new Croton dam for the New York city water works, and excavated the first
yard of rock for that remarkable piece of work. Few public works have
been carried out in this town without his co-operation, and many of the more
important improvements in Mount Vernon have been managed by him. He
built six miles of macadam road in Richmond, and has the most complete
facilities for this kind of enterprise, as he owns a stone-crusher and steam
rollers, and in other work he has the most approved modern steam drills
(eight in number), hoisting machines, etc., and keeps twenty-two horses for
use in his various departments of business. It is conceded that, for the execu
tion of street paving and public works in general, he has the most complete
machinery and equipments of any contractor in this county. He employs
as many as four hundred and fifty men at a time, and his payroll frequently
amounts to eight thousand dollars a month, while his contracts for two years
footed up about two hundred thousand dollars.
Though he is quite devoted to his business affairs Mr. McCabe always
finds time to discharge his duties as a citizen. He has been active in the
work of the fire department, as for five years he was identified with the
Mamaroneck Hook & Ladder Company; was for three years a member of
the Croton Hook & Ladder Company and was in the patrol department here
for some time, being at present an honorary member of the same. Frater
nally, he is a member of the orders of Foresters and Red Men.
The marriage of Mr. McCabe and Miss Minnie Anthes was celebrated
April 15, 1889. Mrs. McCabe is a daughter of Frederick and Dorothea
(Miller) Anthes, of this place. The four children born to our subject and
wife are William F. ; Ellen Dorothea, deceased; May; and Irene.
William F. McCabe, as an honored old citizen of Mamaroneck, deserves
special mention. He is a native of county Kildare, Ireland, born about
1830. He came to America prior to his marriage and engaged in contract
ing after he had been on these shores for a few years. At first, however, he
was employed on farms as a manager of the same. He has made a specialty
of building seawalls and other similar works of public improvement, but for
the past fifteen years he has lived practically retired from active labors. He
has been influential in the affairs of the local Democratic party and for twen
ty-four years occupied the office of road commissioner, at the expiration of
which period he resigned, refusing to retain the office longer. Among many
other works of improvement here with which he was identified was the con-

500 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
struction of the Mamaroneck water main. Both he and his estimable wife
have arrived at the age of sixty-eight years. Of their ten children five sur
vive, namely: Sarah Carroll, William F., Thomas, Ellen and Richard.

FREDERICK W. SHERMAN.
The ancestry of the Sherman family, of which our subject is a represen
tative, can be traced back to William Sherman, bailiff of Debenham Stone
ham, in Suffolk, England. He flourished about 1410, and was the father of
John Sherman, of Suffolk, whose son, Thomas Sherman, of Dedham, Eng
land, died in 1564. The last named was the father of Henry Sherman, also
of Dedham. His wife was Agnes Sherman, and his will was dated 1589.
Edward Sherman, the son of Henry and Agnes Sherman, married Ann Clerc,
made his home in Dedham, England, and left a will dated 1598. His son,
John Sherman, was the next in the line of direct descent to our subject, and
his will bore date 1654 or 1655. The last named was the father of Captain
John Sherman, the founder of the family in America. He was born in Ded
ham, England, in i6i3,and came to America in 1634, locating in Watertown,
Massachusetts. His daughter was Martha Palmer, daughter of William
Palmer, and their son John was killed in the Narragansett Indian fight. It
was Edward Sherman, of Dedham, England, an uncle of Captain John Sher
man, from whom descended General William T. Sherman and Senator John
Sherman, of Ohio. Joseph Sherman, a son of Captain John Sherman, mar
ried Elizabeth Winship, daughter of Lieutenant Edward H. and Elizabeth
Winship, of Cambridge, on November 18, 1673, and of this union was born
William Sherman, of Charlestown, Massachusetts, who married Mehitable
Wellington. They became the parents of Roger Sherman, the great-grandfather of
our subject, one of the most distinguished patriots who promoted the cause of
liberty and freedom in that period which gave birth to the republic. He was
married May 12, 1763, to Rebecca Prescott, daughter of Benjamin and
Rebecca (Minot) Prescott, of Danvers, Connecticut. He was a member of
the continental congress in 1774, was one of the signers of the address to the
king in that year, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and one of the
committee who drafted that document. He was also one of the signers of
the articles of confederation and of the constitution of the United States.
He had the distinction of being the only person who signed all four of these
great state papers in the early history of the country; in fact no other signed
three of them. From 1791 up to the time of his death he was a member of
the United States senate, and was also a judge of the supreme court of Con
necticut. He had graduated in Yale College with the degree of Master of

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 501
Arts, and was a most scholarly and diplomatic statesman. He left the impress
of his strong individuality upon the new republic and took a leading part in
formulating its policy. He was the grandfather of three United .States sena
tors, his daughter Rebecca being the mother of Roger Sherman Baldwin, who
was governor of Connecticut and a member of the United States senate;
Mehitable, another daughter, was the mother of William M. Evarts, a mem
ber of the senate; and Sarah, the third daughter, was the mother of Frisbie
Hoar, United States senator, and the late E. Rockwood Hoar, judge of the
supreme court of Massachusetts. Roger Minot Sherman, the eminent jurist
of Fairfield, Connecticut, was also a relative of the same family.
Roger Sherman, the grandfather of our subject, was likewise a native of
New Haven, Connecticut, and there spent his entire life. He was a member
of the firm of Prescott & Sherman, prominent merchants, who were exten
sively engaged in trading with the West Indies. He died at an advanced age.
In 1801 he married Susanna Staples, who was born August 1, 1778, and died
November 22, 1855. She was a sister of the great lawyer, Seth P. Staples,
and the granddaughter of Hannah Standish, whose grandfather was Miles
Standish, one of the colonial governors of Massachusetts.
The father of our subject, Edward Standish Sherman, was born in New
Haven, Connecticut, and there spent his early life. In his younger manhood
he began dealing in iron and other metals. He removed to Fairfield, Con
necticut, where he made his home the greater part of the time until his death,
which occurred in 18.82. He was quite successful in his business dealings,
but at the time of the civil war met with heavy losses. In politics he was a
Republican, and was one of the charter members of the Union League Club,
of New York city. He married Catharine Augusta- Townsend, of Boston, a
daughter of Dr. Solomon David and Catharine (Davis) Townsend. Her
father was an eminent surgeon of Boston, and in his honor the Townsend
ward in the Massachusetts General Hospital was named. Mrs. Sherman's
grandparents were Dr. David and Elizabeth (Davis) Townsend, and the for
mer was a son of Shippie Townsend and a grandson of David Townsend.
Mrs. Sherman is still living, at the advanced age of seventy-three years, and
is a member of the Episcopal church. In their family were eleven children,
ten of whom are still living. '
Frederick William Sherman, the honored representative of the family
of Rye, New York, was born at No. 42 East Thirty-first street, New York
city, February 10, 1862, and spent his childhood days in Fairfield, Connect
icut, until about twelve or fourteen years of age, when he accompanied his
parents on their removal to Rye, New York. He was educated in the public
schools and Park Institute of Rye, and, having determined to make the prac
tice of law his life work, completed a course of study by his graduation in

502 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
the Columbia Law School of New York, in 1883. He then began the prac
tice of his profession in New York, where he remained for four or five years,
after which he opened an office in Port Chester, near Rye, where he has since
made his home in a sightly residence recently built by him and overlooking
Long Island sound. He practiced in Port Chester, in White Plains and in
Rye, and now has a distinctively representative clientage. Since his arrival
in the county he has been connected with much of the important litigation
heard in the courts, and is attorney for the local street railroad company and
other local corporations. To an understanding of uncommon acuteness and
vigor, he added a thorough and conscientious preparatory training. His
preparation of cases is exhaustive; he seems almost intuitively to grasp the
strong points of law and fact; his arguments are forcible and his logic con
vincing, while his familiarity with the facts, the law and with precedents is
comprehensive and accurate.
Mr. Sherman was united in marriage to Miss Grace Blanchard, a daugh
ter of Anthony Blanchard, ex-surrogate of Albany county and district attorney
for Washington county, New York. Mr. Sherman is a member of the Epis
copal church, and in politics is a Republican. In the fall of 1892 he was the
candidate for county attorney, but the entire ticket was defeated at that elec
tion. In his profession he has attained a prominent position, and, being yet a
young man, still greater successes are probably in store for him. His life has
always been upright and honorable, in harmony with the untarnished record of
the prominent family of which he is a representative.

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER.
James Fenimore Cooper is another distinguished author who may be
included among the literati of Westchester county, for his first novel was
written while he resided at Mamaroneck. Cooper was born at Burlington,
New Jersey, September 15, 1789. His father, Judge William Cooper,
removed the following year to the neighborhood of Otsego lake, New York,
where he had purchased a large tract of land, on which he established a set
tlement, to which he gave the name of Cooperstown. In this frontier home,
in the midst of a population of settlers, trappers and Indians, young Cooper
imbibed that knowledge of backwoods life and of the habits of the aborigines
which afterward served him so well in the construction of his romances. At
the age of thirteen he entered Yale College, and after remaining there three
years received an appointment as midshipman in the United States Navy. In
the latter he obtained, during the six years of his service, a familiarity with
nautical life which he utilized with splendid results in his famous sea
stories.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 503
In 1 8 1. 1 Cooper resigned his commission in the navy and married Miss
De Lancey, a member of the well known New York family of that name and
sister of the bishop of western New York. They settled in the village of
Mamaroneck, in Westchester county, and not long afterward Cooper's mind
was accidentally turned to the field of fiction. One day, after reading an Eng
lish novel, he remarked to his wife that he believed he could write a better
story himself. To test the matter he wrote "Precaution." He had not
intended to publish the novel, but was induced to do so by his wife and his
friend, Charles Wilkes. The descriptions of English life and scenery gave
it great popularity in England, where it was republished. "The Spy," which
followed, was as thoroughly American, and obtained great success, not only
in this country but abroad. It was almost immediately republished in all
parts of Europe. " The Pioneers " was the first of the series of frontier and
Indian stories, on which the novelist's reputation chiefly rests. It was foL
lowed by "The Pilot," the first of the sea stories. Other novels followed
in quick succession, and Cooper's reputation grew apace. He was also
sharply criticized and became involved in various controversies, which cul
minated finally in a series of libel suits against his detractors in the news
papers. In 1826 he visited Europe, and upon his return to this country
made his home at Cooperstown, New York. During his residence abroad
(1826-33) he was everywhere received with marked attention. His literary
activity was unchecked by his wanderings, and during his stay in Europe he
wrote a number of novels. After his return to this country he wrote the
"Naval History of the United States," which excited an acrimonious dis
cussion as to the correctness of his account of the battle of Lake Erie. In
one of his libel suits Cooper defended, in person, the accuracy of his version
of the battle. A lawyer, who was an auditor of the closing sentences of his
argument, remarked, "I have heard nothing like it since the days of
Emmet." Cooper continued to write with amazing fertility and vigor almost to the
close of his life, which was terminated by dropsy, September 14, 185 1. Not
withstanding his defects of style, his romances are. conceded to be among the
most vivid and original of all American works of fiction. He was the first
of his countrymen who obtained a wide recognition in other portions of the
world. His works were translated into many languages, and the Indian tales
especially were universal favorites in Europe. The great French novelist,
Balzac, said of him, "With what amazing power has he painted nature!
How all his pages glow with creative fire! Who is there writing English
among our contemporaries, if not of him, of whom it can be said that he has
a genius of the first order? " " The empire of the sea," says the Edinburg
Review, " has been conceded to him by acclamation; " and the same journal

504 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
adds, "In the lonely desert or untrodden prairie, among the savage
Indians, or scarcely less savage settlers, all equally acknowledge his domin
ion." 
LEONARD CHADEAYNE.
This gentleman was for many years one of the prominent and influential
citizens of Westchester county, New York. He was born on the old
Chadeayne homestead in this county, June 12, 1809, passed his life in this
vicinity and lived to a venerable 'age, his death occurring February 11, 1893.
The Chadeayne family has long been identified with Westchester county.
Daniel Chadeayne, the grandfather of Leonard, was one of the first Demo
crats in this section of the country. His son, David, our subject's father,
was born in Westcnester county, October 11, 1766, and married Miss Han
nah Underhill, whose birth occurred January 6, 1772. The fruits of this
union were ten children, three of whom died in infancy, the others being
John, Julia, Gilbert, Susan, Ann, Leonard and Sanford. The mother died
in 1 84 1, at the age of sixty-nine years; the father, in 1846, at the age of
eighty-nine. Leonard Chadeayne was reared on his father's farm and was engaged in
agricultural pursuits all his life. In July, 1847, he married Miss Mary Ann
Thorn, a native of Orange county, New York, reared and educated in Ulster
county, this state, daughter of Thomas P. and Eliza (Gerow) Thorn. Mr.
and Mrs. Thorn were the parents of four children, viz.: Eleanor, wife of
John Carpenter; Mary Ann, wife of the subject of our sketch; Esther G. ; and
Jane, wife of Amos Brown, of Orange county, New York. Mrs. Thorn died
at the age of seventy-six years, and Mr. Thorn was eighty-four when he died.
Mr. and Mrs. Chadeayne became the parents of six children, namely: Eliza
beth; Hannah, who died at the age of twelve years and ten months; Thomas
Thorn, a business man of Sing Sing, New York, married Harriet E. Young;
David, a resident of Yorktown, married Ida Acker, and has one son, H. Leon
ard; William, a business man of Tarrytown, married Miss Lotta Palmer; and
Mary, wife of Anson Lee.
Mr. Chadeayne was a man who throughout his life bore a character that
was above reproach. He was broad and liberal in his religious views, and
politically, was a stanch supporter of the principles advocated by the Repub
lican party. He was a good citizen, a loving and dutiful husband and an
indulgent father, and his death was mourned by many friends. Mr. Chade
ayne was a successful financier, and frequently was chosen as executor and
administrator in the settlement of estates, etc. He was a most worthy and
estimable citizen, and his domestic life stood exemplary of all that belongs
to a model husband and father.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 505

LEO HENDRIK BAEKELAND, D. Sc.
No pen, however facile or however skillful with thought that moves it,
can compete in its portrayals with the sun ray. This swift and beautiful
messenger, robed in the mysteries of sun and stars, silent in its ministry, in
an instant gives the picture, and the picture is errorless. Through a small
opening it will bring in the landscape and throw it upon the screen. It will
touch the sensitive plate and leave there every lineament of the human
face. It is fleeter than muscular movement, or steam, or even electricity.
To the eye rapidity of motion veils the object; to light everything is still. It
writes history on the wing. It vestures earth and sky, the infinitely small
and the infinitely great, and tells the story of either with absolute exactness.
Nothing more clearly establishes nature's willingness to divulge her secrets
than this marvelous ministry of the sun's ray. " Know me, learn my ways
and behavior, and I will teach you all," is the new "bow of promise" of
light to science. A direct ray of light not only pictures but it analyzes. It
breaks itself up, at the will of the scientists, into innumerable indices of
refrangibility, detailing a separate messenger for each individual story it has
to tell. He whose name initiates this review has attained distinction in the scien
tific world, as the result of his well directed study, investigation and careful
experimental work, and in no one line have the practical results of his efforts
"been more pronounced and effective than in those closely allied to the art or
science of photography. Revelations of the ultimate possibilities of photgo-
xaphy have been made rapidly within the past decade, and Dr. Baekeland
has contributed in no small measure toward the advance movement. As
identified with one of the principal industrial enterprises of Westchester
•county, — an enterprise whose ramifications are of wide extent and whose
basis may be properly said to be of semi-scientific character, — Dr. Baeke
land merits distinct representation in this work, which has to do with those
•who have been and those who are identified with the specific progress of this
favored county of the old Empire state.
Leo Hendrik Baekeland is a native of Belgium, having been born in the
iamed old city of Ghent, on the 14th of November, 1863, the son of Karel
Lodewyk Baekeland and Rosalia Merchie. His preliminary educational dis
cipline was received in the public schools of his native city, the capital of
East Flanders. He next became a student in the Athenaeum in Ghent, in
which institution he was prepared for the university. In the evenings he at
tended the free lectures of the Technical School of Ghent, taking the free
yearly course in chemistry and graduating with honors in 1880. Soon after
his graduation the young man was offered the position of assistant chemist at

506 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
the State Agricultural Station, but as he wished to continue his studies and
to attain the highest possible degree of proficiency, he declined to accept the
offer, and within the same year matriculated in the University of Ghent, a
government institution, being the youngest student in that institution.
On entering the university Dr. Baekeland took up the course of study
in the medical department, but it was a notable fact that chemistry
and natural sciences had a special attraction for him, and to these
branches he devoted himself with marked interest and zeal. After having
passed the two examinations for the degree of Bachelor of Sciences, summa
cum lande, he attracted the attention of the professors of the faculty of
sciences, and a position as laboratory assistant in chemistry was tendered to
him and accepted, whereupon he indefinitely renounced the specific study of
medicine for that of the natural sciences. His devotion to his work was
earnest and unremitting, and in 1884 the degree of Doctor of Natural
Sciences was conferred upon him. He also obtained a special diploma in
chemistry, passing both examinations summa cum laude, which required nine
ty-five per cent, of the maximum points allowable.
Ambitious to learn and to accomplish something in a practical way, Dr.
Baekeland prepared himself to accompany one of the scientific expeditions
which were then being organized for the exploration of the upper Congo, but
just as he was about to take his departure for the wilds of Africa he received
the appointment of first assistant professor of chemistry in the University of
Ghent, and that of professor of chemistry and physics at the government
Normal School for Sciences, which was then located at Bruges. These note
worthy appointments naturally caused him to abandon his proposed trip to
Africa. In the meanwhile he had given to the world the results of certain
of his original researches in the field of pure chemistry, by the publication of
works exploiting said researches, — notably, "A New and Analytical Method
for the Separation of Copper and Cadmium," "Researches on the Oxydation
of Hydrochloric Acid Under the Influence of Light," "Dissociation of Nitrate
of Lead," etc. In 1887 he was proclaimed laureate in chemistry of the four
Belgian universities, in a competition among all alumni who had obtained
within the three preceding years the degree of Doctor of Sciences at any one
of the universities. The work which earned him this distinction was his origi
nal researches on the phenomena of chemical dissociation. The prize awarded
consisted of a gold medal, two thousand francs' worth of books, and a two-
yearly subsidy of two thousand francs, for traveling and visiting foreign uni
versities. The Doctor visited the higher institutions of learning in Germany,
England and Scotland, and subsequently the University of Ghent promoted
him to the rank of associate professor of chemistry, after he had resigned his
position as professor in the normal school at Bruges.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 507
From his boyhood Dr. Baekeland had been an enthusiastic amateur pho
tographer, and it is needless to say that his wide knowledge of chemistry
enabled him to work out the best results in the production of negatives, while
his appreciation of the artistic values in photography eventually led him to
the series of experiments which brought about the establishing of the Nepera
Chemical Company, with which he is now so conspicuously identified. When
the dry plate was invented he was one of the first to try this process, which
was revolutionizing photography. It so happened that in Ghent several large
dry-plate manufactories were established, and that later on, when Dr. Baeke
land had begun to gain some reputation as a chemist, he was frequently con
sulted by these manufacturers in regard to the technical difficulties encoun
tered. About 1888 he took out a patent for an improved dry plate, which
could be developed in a tray of plain water. At the time, this invention was
a very important one, and created a sensation; but since then the methods of
developing dry plates have been enormously simplified, thus diminishing the-
importance of his invention.
In 1889 Dr. Baekeland was united in marriage to Miss Celine Swarts,
the daughter of Professor Theodore Swarts, dean of the faculty of sciences-
at the University of Ghent, and within the same year — during his summer
vacation — he came to the United States for the first time. His expenses
were paid by the Belgian government, the object of the trip being to visit
some of the more important American universities and colleges and make a
report on same. While here he was consulted by certain chemical-manu
facturing firms, securing suitable recompense for his services. He asked for
an extension of his leave of absence, and, this being granted, he remained
here a few months longer, — " long enough," as the Doctor says, "to become
thoroughly enthused with American ideas and American institutions." When
he returned to Belgium he there remained for a time, but his experience in
the United States prompted him to return hither and to try his fortunes in
the New World, with whose spirit of progress and vitality he was thoroughly
in sympathy. He accordingly resigned his position at the university, the
special privilege being granted him by the Belgian government of retaining
his rank and title of associate professor of the University of Ghent. He
returned to the United States in the month of September, 1890, and estab
lished himself as a consulting chemist in New York city, where he remained
until 1893, when he removed to Yonkers, Westchester county, where he
became associated with his friend, Leonard Jacobi (who is individually men
tioned elsewhere), in the organization of the Nepera Chemical Company,
whose history has been one of marked and merited success. At a later date
Albert G. C. Hahn, M. S., became identified with the enterprise, and the
three gentlemen mentioned constitute the official corps of the company, —

508 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Mr. Jacobi being president, Dr. Baekeland, secretary, and Mr. Hahn, treas
urer. The fine manufactory of the company is largely devoted to the pro
duction of photgraphic papers, the manufacture and the final manipulation of
which are based on original and improved methods, — the result of the crit
ical investigation and practical experimenting on the part of the subject of
this review, who devotes his time and attention to laboratory and scientific
work having a bearing on the continuous improvement of the processes of
manufacture and the bringing out of new and valuable products. Mr. Jacobi
devotes his attention more particularly to the commercial department of the
enterprise, promoting and expanding its interests in every possible direction,
while Mr. Hahn superintends the general work of manufacturing. The com
pany has not satisfied itself with the limited trade derived from this conti
nent, but has established a large export business, there being hardly a civil
ized country in which the products of the factory are not to be found. The
leading product is the celebrated "Velox" paper, whose superiority over all
other photographic papers manufactured either in this country or abroad
¦can not be doubted. It is hardly in the province of this article to enter into
details in regard to Velox paper, but it is certainly demanded that. a brief
mention of the same be made, since it represents the practical outcome of
careful study and work on the part of Dr. Baekeland.
In a little brochure issued by the company the superior claims of ' ' Velox "
are presented in a very attractive way, and from the introductory paragraph
we make the following extracts:
Ordinary processes of printing, toning and fixing are slow, dirty and uncertain. They
require sunshine, patience, persistent attention; unpleasant, uncertain and expensive chemical
processes, — in other words, time and outlay. A process which is quick, simple, certain and
independent of sunlight, increases the profits of the professional and the pleasure of the ama
teur. Velox paper does not require sunlight, complex chemical processes or time. It prints
by sunlight, daylight, gaslight, or any light as fast as frames can be filled. It requires no toning
and no long and tedious chemical manipulation. It is clean, easy, simple and certain. Velox
paper conquers technical difficulties due to imperfect methods, and thereby gives sole promi
nence to the artistic element, — that which makes photography an art instead of a handicraft.
In short, the mere fact that the paper, is susceptible to the influence of
slow light is sufficient to cause it to supplant all papers hitherto used, — the
uncertainty of printing, owing to unfavorable light, having seriously handi
capped all professional photographists who have had recourse to the ordinary
types of photographic paper. But superadded to this point of great superior
ity justly claimed for Velox are others of almost equal importance to the
artist. The simple method employed in bringing the prints into condition
for final mounting is such that the entire processes of printing, toning and
fixing may be accomplished in less time, and with no complicated chemical
combinations, than any one of the three portions of the work would require

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 509-
with the ordinary aristo or albumen papers. Aga'in, the full values of the
delicate chiaroscuro of the negative are preserved with even greater fidelity
than in the albumen paper, which has in this regard always surpassed the
more modern aristo products, while the Velox insures practical permanency
in every print made thereon, — there is no fading or disintegration. More
need not be said in regard to the result of the labors of Dr. Baekeland along
this particular line.
We have already referred to the marriage of Dr. Baekeland to Miss
Swarts, and in conclusion we may note that to them three children have
been born: The first child was born in Belguim after the return of the Doc
tor to that country after his first visit to the United States, the death of the
first-born occurring in Yonkers, after his removal here. In this city were
born his son, George Washington Baekeland, and his little daughter, Nina,
both of whom lend brightness and cheer to the attractive home, which is a
center of refined hospitality.

JOHN M. FURMAN, A. M.

John M. Furman, A. M. , principal of the Irving Institute, in Tarrytown,
New York, is recognized as an educator of high standing. During the eight
years of his connection with the well known institution just mentioned he has
abundantly proven his genius and special aptitude in the noble field of
endeavor which he has chosen to be his life work. Year by year he has
found it necessary to increase the facilities of the institute, the patronage of
which is perceptably gaining, and one of his aims being to provide the pupils
entrusted to his care with every educational appliance and advantage possi
ble and practicable.
Forty-five years ago the Irving Institute was founded, and each year
since then if has sent representatives to the leading colleges and educational
institutions of this country. The various buildings of the schools, erected
expressly for the purposes of the institute, are well lighted and heated with
modern methods and all the conveniences of this enlightened age add to the
comfort and well-being of the pupils. The buildings are situated in the out
skirts of Tarrytown, on high ground, and the beauty of the surrounding
country and the healthfulness of the location are among the favorable feat
ures. A gymnasium, erected in 1898, is equipped for thorough physical
exercise and development, and is under the direction of a competent
instructor. The fortunate students of Irving Institute are considered as members of
the principal's household, and particular pains is taken that only boys and
youths of good family and moral training be admitted here. Excellent dis-

S10 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
choline, sufficiently lenient, yet firm and judicious, is maintained, and incor
rigible pupils are not permitted to remain in the school. In every respect
the institute sustains its well-earned reputation of being a model school for
boys, as thousands of testimonials from leading families of this and other
states have voluntarily testified. The able corps of instructors in the various
branches of learning are headed by the genial and popular gentleman whose
name stands at the beginning of this review. With an elective system of
studies to cover the admission requirements of all colleges, all of the benefits
cf individual and class training are to be found here. Recently a new build
ing, containing a library and sixteen additional students' rooms, has been
added. The main building is large and cheerful, and the grounds afford
splendid opportunities for all kinds of out-door sports.
John M. Furman was born in Schenectady, New York, September 30,
1866. He received his preparatory education at his native place, and in
1889 graduated from Union College. In 1892 the degree of Master of Arts
was conferred upon him by his alma mater. His high standing and scholar
ship led to his being tendered the position of principal of the public schools
of Cambridge, New York, which position he held for two years. In 1891
he became principal of Irving Institute. Here he has ample scope for his
financial ability as well as his skill as a teacher and manager, and in each of
these departments of power he has met the requirements and added fresh
laurels to his name. Parents and pupils alike attest his worth and popularity,
and few indeed possess in greater degree the knowledge of the successful
management of growing boys. The influences of a refined Christian home
surround the pupils, and every effort is made to inculcate in them upright
principles and high standards of action, which will be their mainsprings of
conduct throughout years to come.

WASHBURN BROTHERS.

These well known contractors and builders of Peekskill, New York, have
been successfully engaged in business for the past eighteen years, and on all
sides are seen many notable examples of their skill. The firm is composed
of Harvey M. and Silas W. Washburn, and during the busy season they often
employ as many as thirty men. Thoroughly reliable in all things, the quality
of their work is a convincing test of their personal worth, and in business
circles they occupy an enviable position.
These brothers are sons of Henry S. and Margaret (Green) Washburn,
in whose family were five children, all still living, namely: Harvey M.; Silas
W. ; Josephine, wife of A. Donaldson, of New Paltz, Ulster county, New
York; George J., who is engaged in business at Davenport, Iowa; and Will-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 511
iam, a carpenter of Peekskill. During the greater part of his life the father
was engaged in agricultural pursuits, and he was always a supporter of the
men and measures of the Democracy. The mother was an earnest and con
sistent member of the Methodist church.
Harvey M. Washburn was born in Dutchess county, New York, in 1848,
and at the age of nineteen years commenced learning the carpenter's trade,
to which he has ever since devoted his time and attention with marked suc
cess. He was married at Croton-on-Hudson, July 24, 1874, to Miss Isabella
Purdy, a daughter of Silas J. Purdy, a farmer at that place, and she died
leaving three children: Edith, Catherine and Marion. In his political views
Mr. Washburn is a Democrat, and he has been quite prominently identified
with local affairs, has served in several township offices, and at present is
filling the position of assessor.
Silas W. Washburn is also a native of Dutchess county, born in 1850,
and he began work at his trade at the age of twenty-two years. On the 18th
of November, 1881, he was united in marriage with Miss Eliza L. Lefferts,
of Sing Sing, by whom he has two sons, Ralph L. and Randall G. Her
father died when she was a child and her mother afterward married William
Grant, of Sing Sing. Mr. Washburn takes an active interest in political
affairs, and as a pronounced Democrat he is prominent in political circles.
He is now serving as president and trustee of the fire company at Peekskill.
He was also elected member of the board of water commissioners in 1898,
and is now serving as president of the board. The brothers are both public-
spirited and progressive citizens, giving their support to all measures for the
public good, and those who know them best are numbered among their
•warmest friends.

S. WOOD CORNELL.

S. W. Cornell, dealer in lumber and coal, manager of the Cornell Lime
Company, manufacturers of snowflake lime, and president of the Nannanagan
Ice Company, of Pleasantville, New York, is entitled to distinction as one of
the most progressive and enterprising business men of Westchester county.
Upon the commercial activity of a community depends its prosperity, and
the men who are now recognized as leading citizens are those who are at the
head of extensive business enterprises. He is a man of broad capabilities
who carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes.
Mr. Cornell was born in Ulster county, New York, November 26, 1854,
and is a son of William T. Cornell, now deceased. His mother, who bore
the maiden name of Elizabeth Wood, was a daughter of Stephen Wood, of
Mount Kisco, New York. Our subject, one of a family of three children.

512 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
was reared in this county, attending the Mount Kisco schools and later
boarding schools at Poughkeepsie, New York and Providence, Rhode Island.
Mr. Cornell is a most energetic and wide-awake business man, giving
strict attention to every detail of the business under his control, and in his
undertakings he has met with a well deserved success. He is now treasurer
of the Cornell Lime Company, manufacturers of snowflake lime for building
and chemical purposes, their works being established in 1865. He is one of
the most popular and influential men of his community and his circle of
friends and acquaintances is extensive. Politically he is an enthusiastic
Republican.
HENRY SWEET.
The editor and proprietor of the New Rochelle Pioneer, Henry Sweet, is
one of the influential men of the town, and we take pleasure in here referring
personally to him in presenting a brief review of the publication of which he
is the head.
Looking first at the history of the New Rochelle Pioneer, we find it was
established in 1859 by John Dyott, an Englishman, an actor, who had settled
in this country some years before, and who conducted the paper for a number;
of years. Afterward it was for several years run by his son and daughter, the
latter now being Mrs. A. Major, of New York city. In 1882 it was sold to-
Charles G. Banks, Esq., who subsequently became associated with Henry C.
Henderson, under the firm name of Banks & Henderson, and from this firm
it passed into the hands of Steadman & Sweet. In the year 1885 the senior
partner conducted it until his death, in 1889, after which his wife assumed
her husband's interests, and the paper was edited by Mr. Sweet until March
1, 1890. Then Mr. Sweet purchased Mrs. Steadman's interests, and has
since been sole proprietor. In 1897 he erected his new building, a brick
structure, thirty-two by ninety feet, and two stories high, and in March, 1898,
moved into it, now having a modern and complete establishment.
The Pioneer is an eight-page, six-column paper, up to date in every
respect, has a large circulation in the town and county, and is the organ of the
Republican party of the village.
Mr. Sweet is a native of New Rochelle. He was born in this town, June
28, 1864, and is a son of Henry and Eliza Sweet, natives of London, Eng
land. His parents came to New Rochelle in 1853, where his father died in
1869, his mother still residing there. For eight years his father was sexton
of Trinity church, New Rochelle, which position, after his father's death, has
been held continuously up to the present day by his eldest brother, Joseph.
After coming to New Rochelle, Mr. Sweet's father was a manufacturer of
seals for legal papers of various kinds in the employ of Thaddeus Davids.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 513"
& Company, whose place of business is at 127 and 129 William street, New
York city.
The • subject of this sketch was educated in the public schools of his
native town. On leaving school he was employed at different places in the
town until he became connected with the newspaper business, in which capacity
he has proven himself master of the situation.
He was married, in 1894, to Miss Lucy Kirchhoff, second daughter
of Joseph Kirchhoff, an old resident and highly respected citizen of New
Rochelle. They have one daughter.

FRANK R. HOLMES.

Holding rank among the leading business men of Mount Vernon, Frank
Riggs Holmes is well known in commercial circles and sustains a high reputa
tion for reliability and enterprise. He was born in New York city, January
16, 1868, a son of William and Lizzie (Kerchof) Holmes. The ancestry of
the family can be traced back to Francis Holmes and his wife Ann, who leav
ing their home in Yorkshire, England, in 1660, crossed the Atlantic to America
and took up their residence in Stamford, Connecticut. Later they removed
to Bedford, Weschester county, New York, becoming pioneer settlers of that
locality. One of their sons, James Holmes, a direct ancestor of our subject,
was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, and John Holmes, Sr., became one of
the original proprietors of Bedford in 168 1. He had six sons and two daugh
ters, and died in 1720, at the age of ninety years. Richard Holmes married
Miss Mary Miller, and they reside in the town of Bedford, Westchester
county. He served as tax collector in 1724, and later participated in the
French and Indian war. One of his sons, Richard Holmes, was a lieutenant
in the British army in 1737, and was the father of Peter Holmes, who married
Mary Holmes, and served his country in the Revolutionary war. He held
the rank of ensign, and later he again entered his country's service in the war
of 18 12. John Holmes, a son of Peter, was born December 31, 1752, also
loyally espoused the cause of independence as a Revolutionary hero and was
at one time a member of the continental congress. He married Catherine
Slawson, May 13, 1779, and died December 24, 1839. One of his sons,
James Holmes, was born May 27, 1784, married Elizabeth Starr, and died
in Monticello, New York, in 1817.
William A. Holmes, the grandfather of our subject, was born in the town
of Bedford, and after attaining to man's estate became engaged in the real-
estate business in New York city. He possessed splendid business and exec
utive ability, and by his judicious investments and careful management
amassed considerable property. The latter years of his life were spent in

33

514 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
retirement from business cares, in bis pleasant home in Mount Vernon. In
his political views he was a stanch Republican, and while residing in Dutchess
county, New York, he held the office of judge. He first married a Miss Brill,
and their son, James Henry Holmes, is ex-secretary of the territory of New
Mexico, and is now a prominent lawyer and real-estate dealer of New York
city. After the death of his first wife Judge Holmes married Alta Riggs, who
is still living, at the age of ninety years. Their children were William;
Agnes, wife of Robert Taylor, a physician of New York city; and Herbert,
who is living a retired life in Mount Vernon. Betsy Holmes, the wife of a
Mr. Squires, who served in the Revolution, lived to be one hundred and two
years of age.
William Holmes, the father of our subject, was born in Poughquag,
Dutchess county, in December, 1844, attended the district schools of that
neighborhood, and the public schools of New York city. There he engaged
in business with his father, and subsequently became the owner of consider
able property. For some time he carried on the grocery trade at the corner
of Fortieth street and Sixth avenue, but in 1887 he removed with his family
to Mount Vernon, where he has since conducted a large and profitable gro
cery and dairy business. He has admitted his son Frank to a partnership,
under the firm name of Holmes & Son, and the firm ranks foremost among
the leaders in the line. In his political views he is a Republican, socially he
is connected with the Masonic fraternity, and in his religious views he is a
Presbyterian. He was also at one time a member of the old volunteer fire
department of New York city. He has two sons, Frank R. and Robert Wal
lace, the latter an electrician, formerly with the Edison Electric Company,
but now a resident of Denver, Colorado.
Frank Riggs Holmes pursued his education in the public schools of New
York city and was .graduated with the class of 1888. He then engaged in
the brush-importing business in the metropolis for a time, and later was con
nected with other enterprises. In the meantime he had become interested
in the grocery and dairy business at Mount Vernon, and in 1897 removed his
family to this city, where he has since resided. He now devotes his attention
almost exclusively to the conduct of their extensive trade. They have a large
and well appointed grocery store and employ three wagons in the delivery of
their goods. They also have a number of wagons used in delivering their
dairy products to the customers, their trade in that line being larger than that
of any other dairy firm in the city.
Mr. Holmes was married on the 7th of June, 1892, the lady of his choice
being Miss Grace S. Baily, a daughter of Lewis and Ann M. (Scott) Baily.
Her father is engaged in the leather business in New York city, and is a vet
eran of the Seventh Regiment, New York State National Guard. Mrs. Holmes

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 515
is an only daughter, and by her marriage she has two children, Dorothy
Anna and Frank R. Mr. Holmes and his family occupy a very fine residence
on Clinton Place, Chester Hill, Mount Vernon, and their home is the center
of a cultured society circle. Mr. Holmes is a member of Hiawatha Lodge,
F. & A. M., and Golden Rod Council, Royal Arcanum. His political sup
port is given the men and measures of the Republican party, but office-hold
ing has had no attraction for him, his attention being fully occupied with his
extensive business interests and his social duties. His genial manner renders
him popular in all circles, and he is accounted one of the leading and valued
citizens of Mount Vernon.

EZRA M. POWELL.

Ezra Marshall Powell, of Cortlandt township, Westchester county,
New York, was born in this county, December 29, 18 19, the son of Stephen
Powell and grandson of John Powell. John Powell was of Scotch descent,
and both he and his wife, Elizabeth, lived for many years at Somerstown,
Westchester county, of which place they were early settlers, and there they
died and were buried. Stephen Powell was born in Somerstown. He mar
ried Miss Fanny Hyatt, daughter of Samuel Hyatt, of Westchester county,
and to them were born nine children, viz.: David, Daniel, Stephen, Joseph,
William, Ezra M., Deborah, Earl and Mary. All of this large family are
deceased except Ezra M., the subject of our sketch. The mother died at
the age of seventy-three years, and the father was eighty-two when he died.
He was a man of many sterling qualities, was by occupation a farmer, and
in religion a member of the Society of Friends, commonly designated
Quakers. Ezra M. Powell was reared and educated in his native county, and
farming has been his life work. He was, however, for some time interested
in the insurance business. For the past thirty-two years he has lived on his
present farm, formerly known as the Thonell Jacobs farm. It consists of
twenty acres, is located a mile and a half from the village of Peekskill, and
is under a most perfect state of cultivation.
Mr. Powell was married in Cortlandt township, November 20, 1849, to
Miss Mary Elizabeth Miller, a native of this township and a daughter of
Cornite Miller. They have had three children: Louisa, who died, aged
eleven years; and Fanny and Hattie. Fanny is the wife of Charles Yellott.
Hattie became the wife of Samuel Pugsley, who died, leaving his widow with
two children, Flossy and Winnie. Mrs. Pugsley lost one child, Lilian, at
the age of twelve years and six months. Mr. Powell's daughter, Fanny,
was educated in the State Normal School at Albany, New York. Mr. Powell

516 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
and his family are all consistent members of the Dutch Reformed church at
Peekskill. Mr. Powell has served as commissioner of highways in Cortlandt town
ship for three terms of three years each, and is a very worthy citizen.
Politically he affiliates with the Democratic party.

JAMES HOPKINS.
James Hopkins, of Armonk, Westchester county, was born March i,
1830, in the county in which he now lives and in which he has made his home
to the present time. He traces his ancestry back in a direct line to England
and to the year 1616.
Thomas Hopkins, a son of William and Joanna (Arnold) Hopkins, was
born in England, April 7, 1616, and came to Providence, Rhode Island, about
1640. He had three sons. With his daughter-in-law and h«r two children
he removed to Little Neck, near Musketo Cove, now called Glen Cove, Long
Island, and died there in 1684. His children were Ichabod, who married
Sarah Coles and died in 1726, leaving children: Thomas, who married Mar
garet Pine in 1738; Daniel, who married Anny Weeks; Elizabeth, who be
came the wife of Benjamin Birdsall in 1734; Ann, who never married; and
Sarah, who became the wife of Joseph Merritt in 1736.
Thomas, the son of Ichabod, moved to the town of North Castle, New
York, about the year 1740. The children of Thomas and his wife Margaret
were Thomas, Daniel, Benjamin, Margaret, Naomy and Ann. Thomas, the
son of Thomas, was born in 1740, and married, January 14, 1767, Zeruiah
Palmer, according to the rules of order of the Society of Friends, at their
meeting-house in the Purchase, and to them six children were born, namely
James, born October 14, 1767, married Mary Tripp and died August 29, 1859
Elizabeth, born June 5, 1769, married Job Cox and died September 30, 1828
Samuel, born June 8, 1771, died September 1, 1828; Mary, who was born
August 14, 1773, died unmarried, December 5, 1825; Thomas, Jr., who was
born June 27, 1783, died July 17, 1837; and Pine, who was born February
14, 1786, married Hannah Tripp and died August 29, 1856.
James Hopkins, the first, married Mary Tripp, and to them were born
two sons, — John and Alfred. The latter married Mary Brower, and their
union was blessed in the birth of one child, Eleanor, who is now living at
Stamford, Connecticut. John T. Hopkins married Hannah Dayton, a native
of the same county in which he was born and a daughter of David and Martha
(Wood) Dayton. This worthy couple became the parents of five children,
viz.: Alexander, deceased; Ed. R., also deceased; James, the subject of this
sketch; Josephine, deceased; and Mary Elizabeth, who married William Ire-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 517
land. Their father was a merchant and a farmer, and died in 1868, at the
age of seventy-six years; their mother lived to be sixty years of age. She
was a member of the Episcopal church.
After reaching manhood James Hopkins turned his attention to mer
chandising, and from 1857 to 1880 kept a general store. He has for years
been more or less interested in political matters, and has filled a number of
positions of prominence and trust in his township. His first presidential vote
was cast for John C. Fremont, in 1856, and he has ever since given his sup
port to the Republican party. Among the offices tendered to him by his
party are those of postmaster, which position he accepted and filled for
twenty-three years; town supervisor, twelve years, and was chairman of the
board the last year of his service; and township clerk and justice of the
peace. He resides upon a farm near Armonk, where he has a pleasant and
attractive home, which he is pleased to call Brookside.
In 1850 Mr. Hopkins married Miss Mary J. Smith, a daughter of Abram
and Caroline Smith. Her father was a well known and popular citizen of
Westchester county and has long been deceased. Their happy union lasted
for a period of twenty-six years and ended with her death in 1876, — the
great loss in Mr. Hopkins' life. She was a member of the Methodist Epis
copal church. Of the five children born to them only two are living, —
Edwin R. and Abram S. The deceased were Josephine, Carrie and James
Warren. Both his sons are married and settled in life. Edwin R. married
Miss Cornelia Davis, and they have two children, — Floyd and Edwin. Abram
S. married Miss Anna Flewellin, and five children were born to them: Mary
I., who died in 1897, Niles, Eulalia, Gertrude and A. Josephine.
Since 1881 Mr. Hopkins had devoted his energies to the mastery of the
business of farming, the most ennobling employment in the world, but finds
that he commenced too late in life to realize the best results. For a number
of years he has been a member of the board of managers of the Agricultural
and Horticultural Society of Westchester county, of which he has been
president for the last two years. He has long been a member of the Method
ist Episcopal church at Armonk, and as a member of the building committee
assisted in the erection of the new church edifice, which is one of the attrac
tions of the village, and he has held the office of trustee of the society for
many years.
REUBEN BORLAND.
Though but thirty-one years of age, Reuben Borland, one of the native-
born sons of the city of Yonkers, occupies a position of responsibility and
trust such as few young men of his age are honored with. The confidence
and regard in which he is held by his employers, however, is not misplaced,

518 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
for no one could have a more thorough sense of duty or more earnest desire
to meet every requirement of an important and difficult position than he, and
during the fifteen years of his service for his firm he has always been found
faithful to their interests, active and anxious to promote their welfare.
The birth of Reuben Borland took place in Yonkers on the 2d of March,
1868. He is a son of James and Sarah (Sloss) Borland, and when he had
attained a suitable age he became a student in the public schools of this city.
He was graduated here in 1883 and soon afterward entered upon his business
career. Entering the employ of the famed Alexander Smith Carpet Com
pany, he began at the bottom rounds of the ladder, and was gradually pro
moted from spool-boy in the sitting department to one and another position,
and finally was made foreman of the yarn department. Then, having
become thoroughly familiar with every detail of the sitting department, and
having served for four or five years as assistant foreman, he was promoted to
the post of foreman, and acted in that capacity until 1894. For the past four
years he has been superintendent of the great "moquette" mill, where he
has five foremen to assist him, and has under his supervision about eighteen
hundred persons. In this mill are manufactured moquette carpets, the hand
somest and most expensive carpets that are made. The Alexander Smith
Carpet Company has a world-wide reputation, and is, indeed, the most
extensive concern of the kind in this or any other country. Forty-five hun
dred persons are employed by the establishment, and the carpets which are
manufactured here find their way into every portion of the civilized world.
The highest possible excellence of goods, quality, style and workmanship is
maintained, and thus the great importance of Mr. Borland's position is
apparent. • He duly appreciates the high esteem in which his superiors hold
him, and for years their business relations have been of the pleasantest and
most satisfactory nature all around.
In local society Mr. Borland is a great favorite, and he is a member of
the Hollywood Gun Club. His principal diversion in his leisure moments,
however, is music. He has become very proficient on the violin, and is
taking a special course of instruction to further perfect himself in the use of
that instrument. In political affairs he is a stalwart Republican. He is a
member of the Episcopal church, and is liberal in his gifts to religious and
charitable enterprises.
EDWARD WHITE.
To a student of human nature there is nothing of greater interest than
to examine the life of a self-made man and analyze the principles that he has
followed, the methods he has pursued; to know what means he has employed
for advancement, and to study the plans which have given him prominence,

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 519
enabling him to pass on the highway of life many who have had a more
advantageous start. Through his own efforts Mr. White has attained to a
position of prominence in business circles, and he is to-day a leading mer
chant and undertaker of Croton, New York.
He was born in that place, November 23, 1851, and is a son of Patrick
and Margaret (Cartigan) White, both natives of Ireland, the former born in
Queens county, the latter in county Kilkenny. When young they crossed
the Atlantic, and their marriage was celebrated in New York city. On coming
to Westchester county they located on the sand flat below the old Croton
dam, and when the dam gave way they lost all their property and barely
escaped with their lives. The father, who was a laborer, died in the prime
of life, at about the age of forty-seven years. In his family were nine chil
dren, of whom four are now deceased. In order of birth they are as follows:
William,- who was foreman in the brickyard at Virplanks, and is now deceased;
Charles, a boatsman, deceased; Mary Ann; John, deceased, who was for many
years captain of engine No. 12, fire department, New York city; Catherine;
Margaret; Thomas, a grocer of Peekskill, New York; Edward; and Elizabeth,
who is deceased.
At the early age of nine years Edward White began earning his own
livelihood as an employe in a brick-yard, and he continued to follow that
occupation until he attained his majority, during which time he saved his
money and assisted in caring for his aged mother. At the age of seventeen
he decided to embark in business on his own account, in connection with his
brother Thomas, and at the end of two years they had saved from their earnings
six hundred dollars, after having paid off an indebtedness of one hundred
and seventy-five dollars. With this capital they started in business, spend
ing five hundred dollars for a stock of groceries and liquors, and in this way
the present mercantile establishment of our subjects was founded. At the
end of about four years they dissolded partnership and Edward has since
been alone. He has a good general store, well stocked with a high class of
goods, and since 1884 has also been interested in the undertaking business,
doing the only business in that line in the village. At Sing Sing he also
established a business similar to his own in Croton, and in partnership with
John Dorsey the store is conducted under the firm style of White & Dorsey.
Mr. White has since twice married, his first wife being Miss Mary Ann
Vaughey, and she and the three children born to them all died within a few
months. His second union was with Miss Elizabeth Donovan, by whom he
has had four children, Maggie, Mamie and Catharine, all living, and one
deceased. Mr. and Mrs. White are communicants of the Roman Catholic
church, but Mr. White gives liberally of his means to the support of all
churches, and his aid is never witheld from any enterprise which he believes

520 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
will prove of good to the community. He is a public-spirited, progressive
citizen, broad-minded and liberal in his views, and has the confidence and
esteem of all who know him. The Democratic party has always found in
him a stanch supporter of its principles, and he has been an influential dele
gate to its various county conventions, and has also been a member of the
town committee for years. For five or six years he filled the office of over
seer of the poor, and is now president of the board of fire commissioners.

BENJAMIN FAGAN.
Mr. Fagan, who is a well-known attorney of Sing Sing, is one of the
younger members of the Westchester county bar, but his prominence is by
no means measured by his years; on the contrary, he has already won a repu
tation which many an older practitioner might well envy.
Mr. Fagan was born in Brooklyn, New York, April i, 1874, and is a son
of Thomas and Mary (Guilfoil) Fagan, both of whom are natives of the
Emerald Isle, and who now reside at Sing Sing. The father, who is a stone
cutter by occupation, is of Irish descent and has made his home in West
chester county for the past thirty years. In the family are six children,
namely: Edward, a manufacturer of metallic roofing paint at Lincoln,
Nebraska; John, a resident of Westchester county and a member of the
engineering corps of New York city; Frank, a stonecutter of Sing Sing;
Catharine E. , at home; Joseph, also a stonecutter of Sing Sing; and
Benjamin. '
The subject of this sketch first attended public schools and later a pre
paratory school, after which he entered Cornell University in 1892, taking a
complete course in law. There the degree of LL. B. was conferred upon
him June 21, 1894, and the degree of LL. M. June 20, 1895. In the latter
year he opened an office in Sing Sing, and has since successfully engaged in
practice, making a specialty of corporation and real-estate law. He is thor
oughly in love with his profession and is eminently gifted with the capabilities
of mind which are indispensable at the bar. As a Democrat he takes quite
an active and prominent part in political affairs and is an efficient campaign
worker in this state. Religiously, he is a member of the Catholic church of
Sing Sing. _^ 
JAMES F. HUNT.
The well known and popular young postmaster of Croton, New York,
has spent his entire life at that place, his birth occurring there January 31,
1869. His father, John Hunt, was a native of Kings county, Ireland, and
was twice married, having by his first wife one child. In New York city, he

4&6t^t v^fe^^^tL

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 521
wedded Miss Ellen McGuire, the mother of our subject, and in 1866 they
removed to Westchester county, where he worked as a laborer until life's
labors were over and he was called to his final rest, in 1882. In religious
faith he was a Roman Catholic.
The schools of Croton afforded James F. Hunt his educational advant
ages, and when his school days were over he engaged in various forms of
labor. At the age of thirteen years he commenced working at brick-making
and while thus employed attended school during the winter months. He
made excellent use of his opportunities and passed the required examination
at North Tarrytown for the normal course. He early learned that knowledge
is the key with which the poor boy anywhere can open the storehouse of the
world and cull its choicest fruits, and he has therefore fitted himself to
•occupy any position in life which may fall to his lot.
Mr. Hunt always gives his political support to the men and measures of
the Democracy, and takes a deep interest in local affairs. On the 25th of
May, 1895, he was first appointed postmaster of Croton, and when the office
was raised to that of the third class he was reappointed, October 1, 1896,
and on the expiration of his commission, in February, 1897, was again
appointed to the same position, as he had so creditably and satisfactorily
discharged his duties. He was also appointed notary public in May, 1897,
by ex-Governor Black, and still holds that office.

JAMES H. JACKSON.
True merit is recognized sooner or later, the exceptions simply proving
the rule; and thus it has been in the case of James H. Jackson, a well known
•citizen of Yonkers, who has climbed to the very responsible position which
he now occupies, solely on account of his genuine business ability and per
sonal worth. His superiors in the great commercial house with which he is
connected feel that in him they have one in whom they can place implicit
trust and confidence, certain that he will not neglect the least of his duties,
and that everything which he agrees to accomplish will be promptly and con
scientiously performed. Such employes are the strong foundations on which
every successful business is reared, and the great and prosperous merchants
of this decade acknowledge this fact cheerfully and act accordingly.
James H. Jackson comes from sturdy Protestant-Irish stock, than which
there is none better nor more loyal to the highest motives which govern
citizens of this great republic, once they have come under its mantle of
protection. James Jackson, the father of our subject, was a native of the
northern part of the Emerald Isle, there growing to manhood. He learned
the trade of gardening and found his chief pleasure among the plants and

522 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
trees, in the pure, open air, for he was a great lover of nature. Coming to
the United States when a young man he followed his favorite occupation
during his entire active life— for a period in Boston, Massachusetts, and for
about a quarter of a century in New York city and Yonkers. His home
was in this city for several decades and here he was an active and earnest
member of Westminster Presbyterian church. In his political faith he was
a zealous Republican. He enjoyed the esteem and genuine regard of all
who knew him. The maiden name of his wife was Sarah Matthews.
The birth of James H. Jackson took place in Riverdale, now a part of
New York city, April 22, 1858. For some time he was a pupil in Yonkers
school No. 6, but when he was a lad of about fourteen he left his studies
and commenced working in the hat factory of John T. Waring, being
employed there for some three years. In 1885 he became connected with
the Alexander Smith Carpet Mills, and was here occupied in the weaving of
chenille by hand, and later he secured employment in the dyeing department
of the moquette mills for three years. Since 1894 he has held the position of
head of this important department, and has under his supervision one hun
dred and ten men. He is a thorough and practical master of his trade, and
takes special pride and interest in the excellence of the work turned out from
his branch of the immense establishment, which is one of the largest carpet
manufactories in the world. In the matter of politics Mr. Jackson adheres
to the creed of his father, and renders his allegiance to the nominees and
principles set forth by the Republican party.
The pleasant and thoroughly attractive home of our subject and his
recently wedded bride is one in which their numerous friends delight to
assemble, for the hospitality of the host and hostess is genuine and free from
ostentation. Mrs. Jackson was Miss Mildred J. Bell, a daughter of the late
John Bell, a respected citizen of Yonkers, and her marriage to Mr. Jack
son was solemnized on the 19th of October, 1898.

REUBEN BARNES.

The honored subject of this memoir was for a long term of years one of
the prominent and most respected citizens of Yonkers, with whose upbuild
ing and material prosperity he was closely identified, while in all that con
serves the uplifting of men into the plane of right living he was ever to be
found zealous and earnest in doing good to all, ever mindful of the lofty prin
ciples expressed in the Golden Rule. He lived to attain the venerable age of
eighty-one years, passing to his reward at the close of a well spent life, secure
in the lasting esteem and veneration of those who had come within the influ
ence of his pure and unassuming character.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 523.
Reuben Barnes was born in Preston, near Norwich, Connecticut, on the
8th of July, 1810, being one of eleven children. When twenty-two years of
age he went to Mobile, Alabama, where for about twelve years, as architect
and builder, he was engaged in business with his brother, James Barnes.
There also he made the acquaintance of Miss Mary Hodge, of North Adams,
Massachusetts, to whom he was married in 1837. In 1884 he returned to
the north, locating in Poughkeepsie, New York. While there he erected
many buildings, among the more inportant of which was the Cannon Street
Methodist Episcopal church, of which he was an active and efficient member.
In the year 1852 Mr. Barnes removed to Yonkers, where for nearly forty
years he was actively and prominently concerned in manufacturing and build
ing. He was animated by the stanchest integrity in thought, word and deed,
and upon his business career as well as his private life there rested no shadow
of wrong. He was called upon to mourn the loss of his devoted wife in the
spring of 1881. She was born in North Adams, Massachusetts, whence her
parents eventually removed to Michigan, becoming pioneers of Jackson
county, that state, where all the other children of the family also located,
becoming prominent and substantial citizens. Of the large family of brothers
and sisters only one is now surviving, Mrs. Sarah A. Baker, widow of Dr-
Timothy Baker, of Union-City, Michigan. At the time of Mrs. Barnes' death
three of her children were surviving, namely: Martha, the wife of James B.
Odell, of Yonkers; Hiram Barnes, an architect and builder of Yonkers; and
Mary, who is unmarried. Of these Mrs. Odell died on the 21st of June, 1894.
In the fall of 1882 Mr. Barnes consummated a second marriage, being
then united to Miss Nancy Sample, of Norwich, Connecticut, who survives
him. In June, 1891, Mr. and Mrs. Barnes visited Norwich and Preston,
Connecticut, and while iu his native place the subject of this memoir was
taken ill and at once returned to his home, 188 Buena Vista avenue, Yonkers,
where on July 28, 1891, he was compelled to yield to the inexorable sum
mons of death, passing away in the fullness of years and honors. His mortal
remains were interred in St. John's cemetery. While in Mobile Mr. Barnes-
was soundly converted, and thereafter lived an earnest, consistent Christian
life. He was a man of deep convictions and was endowed with a courage
sufficient to express them, but his entire life was a beautiful lesson of charity
and good will to all. For many years he was an active and official member
of the first Methodist Episcopal church of Yonkers, and when the Central
Methodist church was organized he became an earnest and zealous member
and supporter of the same, being at one time president of the board of trus
tees. There are many in Yonkers who will ever revert with deep respect
and affection to this noble and kindly pioneer, whose life was one worthy of
emulation.

524 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

WILLIAM OAKLEY HOBBY.

Mr. Hobby is one of the most enterprising young business men of West
chester county, his success in the past few years being nothing short of
phenomenal, yet accounted for only by his excellent methods of transacting
and managing his financial affairs. He deserves great credit for the pros
perity and high standing he has achieved, and the future for him is one of
much promise, judging from what he has already accomplished. In political
matters he is liberal, using his ballot for the nominee whom he- considers best
¦qualified to fill any given position, and he has served as a city committee
man. For the most part, he uses his franchise in favor of the Democratic
platform and party. Fraternally he is a member of Hiawatha Lodge, F. &
A. M. ; of Mount Vernon Encampment of St. John of Malta; the Ancient
Order of Foresters; the Mount Vernon City Club, and at the present time is
a member of the Central Hose Company. In all matters affecting the city
and community he takes zealous interest, his influence being ever given to
progress and improvements in all lines. ,
W. O. Hobby is a son of James R. and Kate C. (Gent) Hobby, and was
born in the city of New York, February 18, 1867. He received his education
in the schools of the metropolis, graduating in the same. He then entered
the employ of Acker, Merrill & Condit, of New York city, and remained with
them for five years, thoroughly learning the details of the wholesale liquor
business. Afterward he was for a short time an employe of Luyties Brothers,
cf the same city, that firm being in the same line of trade.
Seven years ago Mr. Hobby came to Mount Vernon and established a
bottling plant at Boston road and Third avenue. He began this enterprise
on a small scale, at first employing but one wagon. At the end of two years
his business had doubled and two wagons were necessary to deliver his goods,
and at last he was impelled to seek increased facilities for handling his large
and remunerative trade. Then, for a few years, he did business at No. 37
South Fifth avenue. In 1898 he was again obliged to extend his business
and increase the capacity of his plant; and he accordingly organized the
Hobby Bottling Company, of which he is the president and general manager.
He is also the agent and collector for the Henry Zeltnor Brewing Company
and the William A. Miles Brewing Company, of New York city.
The handsome new brick building which the Hobby Bottling Company
occupies at Nos. 21, 23, 25 Prospect avenue, is constructed in a modern man
ner, the style of architecture being particularly pleasing. The front is of
pressed brick and the building, three stories in height, is fifty by one hundred
feet in dimensions. The brick stables and wagon-house in the rear of the
lot are thirty by one hundred feet in dimensions. The machinery with which

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 525.
the works are fitted is of the most approved modern style, every possible
device for convenience and rapidity of working, etc., being found here.
Everything that can possibly be done by machinery is done, and the high
grade of the goods turned out here is all the proof necessary of the merits of
the system in use. Only the best class of hotels and families are catered to,
and only the finest and most expensive materials are utilized in the manu
facture of the various "soft" drinks and other styles of liquor bottled here.
Tanglewylde spring water, positively pure and sweet, and Saratoga spring
gases (in use in carbonated waters) are used exclusively, and pure fruit syrups
and extracts are manufactured in the plant, by cold process, in porcelain
tanks. Two carbonaters, one for high, and one for low pressure, are used,
thus keeping the waters- charged absolutely free from all vitreous and marble
dust. From the time when the pure spring water enters the tanks until the
sparkling beverage is corked and labeled in the special bottles of the company
(corked with a specially fine "Crown" cork), the entire process is carried on
automatically. This finely-equipped plant cost upwards of forty-seven thou
sand dollars, and in 1897 one hundred thousand dollars' worth of business
was transacted by the company. In the manufacture, sale and delivery of
the beer, ale and lager, carbonated waters, " soft " drinks, etc., forty men
are afforded employment and fifteen wagons are kept running continuously.
The firm has branch agencies at Mamaroneck and White Plains. All things
considered, the works here are as complete as any to be found in New York
city and they are far superior to many of the bottling establishments in vari
ous other large cities. The Hobby Bottling Company contemplate enlarg
ing their plant and buildings by the addition of another floor to the main
building in the spring of 1899, doubling its capacity.
William Oakley Hobby was united in marriage, July 14, 1887, to Miss
Kate Agnes Rehil, a daughter of Thomas and Rose Rehil, and to this union
have been born three children, viz. : Kate, William and Charles.

FRANCIS J. HACKETT.
For the past ten years Francis James Hackett has been engaged in bus
iness in Yonkers, Westchester county, and has won an enviable reputation
for square dealing, thoroughness and general reliability. He is quite a factor
in local Democratic politics, and is now representing the seventh ward, as
an alderman. This ward is the largest one in the place, comprising, as it
does, about one-third of the territory covered by the city, and its importance,
therefore, is obvious. Mr. Hackett was elected to this office in 1897, and
has been in thorough sympathy with all movements of public improvement,
judicious expenditure of the people's funds, and progress along all lines. The

526 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
same good judgment which he exercises in the management of his own busi
ness affairs he brings to bear in his public office, and thus his friends and the
citizens in general place great confidence in his ability and wisdom. Often
he has been delegated to attend the various conventions of his party, and for
years he has been aggressive in the support of the banners of the Democracy.
He belongs to the Seventh Ward Democratic Club and is connected with the
city fire department. Socially he is a member of the Improved Order of
Red Men and of the Knights of Columbus.
Francis J. Hackett is one of the eight children of Charles and Elizabeth
(Fitzpatrick) Hackett, five of the number being sons. He was born Novem
ber 23, 1865, in the city of New York and there acquired his education in
the public and parochial schools. When he was seventeen years of age he
left his studies and entered upon the more serious business of life. His father
was a stone-cutter by trade, and the son concluded to follow the same line
of business. For five years he worked as a journeyman, and at the end of
that time, believing that he was master of the trade, he embarked in the
same line of work upon his own account, at his present location on Midland
avenue, in the seventh ward. He quarries and deals in all kinds of building
stone and does a very extensive business, employing as many as sixty-five
men at one time, during busy seasons. By well directed energy and enter
prise he has succeeded in building up an extensive trade, and all with whom
he has had dealings speak in terms of praise of the manner in which he fulfils
contracts and adheres to the letter thereof. He is a member of St. Joseph's
Roman Catholic church and is liberal in his benevolences and contribu
tions to the worthy poor. Kindly by nature, and having himself worked his
own way upward, he is ever ready to lend a helping hand to those less fortu
nate than himself.
CHARLES HENRY DWORNICZAK.
The subject of this sketch is better known at Croton, New York, where
he is engaged in the drug business, by the name of Charles Henry, than he is
by his full name. He is a German by birth, early association and education,
but has been a resident of this country since 1862 and is thoroughly identified
with America and her interests.
He was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1841, and in his native land had
the advantage of college training, his education being directed toward the
medical profession. He did not, however, enter the practice of that profes
sion. When he started out to make his own way in the world it was as a
bookkeeper in a wholesale house in Hamburg, Germany, the business being
an American one. In 1862, owing to a lull in business in Germany, he came
to America, and the next three years he traveled throughout the United

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 527
States, looking for a business opening, from time to time accepting various
forms of employment. Finally, in 1866, he located in Peekskill, New York,
and there married Miss Matilda Biettinger, a New Jersey lady.
Mr. Henry continued to reside in Peekskill for two years. In 1868 he
went to Plank's Point and opened a barber shop, which he conducted for two
years, but owing to ill health he found a change of location was necessary,
and his next move was to Croton, where he has since resided. Here he found
opportunity to bring into action his medical education. He opened a drug
store, soon built up a good business, and has been successfully engaged in
this line of trade ever since. On turning his attention to the drug business,
he naturally became interested in the drug societies throughout the county
and state. For two years he was president of the County Pharmacy Society
and he has long been active in pharmacy, his name being No. 68 on the regis
ter of the State Board of Pharmacy. He has a fine library, including a wide
range of books on scientific subjects, principally psychology, in which he
takes special interest, having been a great student from his boyhood up to the
present time. He has written several articles on scientific subjects, and strives
to enlighten rather than follow. As a citizen, he is public-spirited and pro
gressive, ever looking to the best interests of his town, and at this writing
holds the office of treasurer of Croton. He was one of the organizers of the
fire department of the village. He is a member of the United Friends, and
politically is a Democrat.
ELBERT S. N. WILLSON.
Mr. Willson is serving as justice of the peace in North Salem, a posi
tion which he has filled for twelve years, with credit to himself and satisfac
tion to his constituents. He is thoroughly impartial in meting out justice,
his opinions being unbiased by either fear or favor, and his fidelity to the
trust reposed in him is above question. He is regarded as one of the lead
ing and highly respected citizens of North Salem township, and it is, there
fore, consistent that he be represented in a work whose province is the
protrayal of the lives of the prominent men of Westchester county.
Mr. Willson is a native of Somers township, and is the only child of
Nehemiah and Eliza Ann (Smith) Willson. The father was born in Lewis-
borough township, this county, December 14, 1806, and was a son of Jus
tice and Phoebe (Searles) Willson, farming people. The birth of the
grandfather is supposed to have occurred on Long Island, New York. His
children, all of whom save one are deceased, were: Thomas, who was a
farmer of Wisconsin; Belinda, who became the wife of Rev. George Coles;
John, a farmer, who- died in Massachusetts; Nancy, who was the wife of
William Rogers, a silver manufacturer of Hartford, Connecticut; Nehemiah,

528 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
the father of our subject; and Electa, who is the only one living, is unmar
ried and resides in Hartford. The children born to Rev. George Coles and
wife were as follows: Mary Frances, who married Rev. Erastus O. Haven,
who was one of the leading educators of this country and was a bishop in
the Methodist Episcopal church for many years prior to his death; Elizabeth,
who married Rev. George W. Woodruff, D. D., a Methodist Episcopal min
ister belonging to the Eastern conference of New York; George W. J., who
served through the civil war and is now clerking in New York city; and
James S., who also was one of the boys in blue, died in the service. In
connection with farming Nehemiah Willson, our subject's father, conducted
a store in North Salem and for some time he served as supervisor of that
place. Politically he was first a Whig and later a Republican. He died in
1889, and his wife passed away in 1884, honored and respected by all who
knew them.
Elbert S. N. Willson has always made his home upon his present farm
of thirty acres, and to general farming has devoted much of his time. His
education was acquired in the North Salem Academy. He now gives special
attention to the raising of chickens, having upon his place some very fine
specimens of Buff Leghorns and Plymouth Rocks, and has won several
premiums at the poultry fairs in New York. He is one of the leaders of the
Republican party in his township, and is quite influential and prominent in
public affairs, having since 1886 most acceptably filled the offices of assessor
and justice of the peace.
On the 19th of October, 1859, Mr. Willson wedded Miss Mary J. Todd,
who was born in Lewisborough township November 24, 1836, a daughter of
Abraham and Maria (Wescott) Todd. Three daughters bless this union:
Eliza Ann, wife of Theodore Knapp, a farmer of Lewisborough township, by
whom she had three children, — Lillian, Arthur and Ernest; Florence W. ,
wife of Gilbert B. Burr, a farmer of Ridgefield, Connecticut; and Loretta B.,
wife of Gilbert M. Anderson, a clerk in New York city, by whom she has one
child, Gilbert M., Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Willson and their children are earnest
members of the Methodist Episcopal church, with which he is officially con
nected, and the family are held in high esteem by all who know them.

JOHN O. MERRITT.
Mr. Merritt, who is a prominent contractor and builder at Port Chester,
was born December 12, 1837, at Greenwich, Connecticut, which place, by
the way, is but three miles from Port Chester, New York. Of this place also
his father, William Merritt, was a native, and he also was a mason, contractor
and builder, his operations in these lines being very extensive. He died at

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 529>
the advanced age of eighty-six years. During the war of 1812 he enlisted
for service in the army, but was not called into action. In his politics he
was a Democrat, and in religion a member of the Methodist church. Jesse
Merritt, the father of the last mentioned, was also a native of Greenwich,
where he passed all his life, also as a mason and contractor, and he also died
at the age of eighty-six years. His father was from England, coming with
two brothers and settling upon a farm at Greenwich, which place is still in
the possession of the family.
William Merritt, the father of John O., married Miss Jane Ann Han
cock, of New York, and a daughter of William Hancock, who was a native
of England and a sea captain. He was taken prisoner by the British during
the war of 1812 and held in captivity for three years. Mrs. Jane Ann Mer
ritt died when about sixty years of age, a zealous and exemplary Methodist.
Mr. John O. Merritt remained on the farm of his father until twenty-five
years of age, learning meanwhile the mason's trade, of his father and an older
brother. At that time he came to Port Chester, where he has ever since
resided and carried on his trade. After coming here he followed his trade as
a journeyman for a short time and then engaged in contracting for and build
ing sewers, walls and large factories, — among the latter being the Glenville
Woolen Mills, the New Rochelle school-house, etc. His operations at pres
ent comprise the laying of water pipes, sewers, etc., and road building. He
now has a thirty-thousand-dollar contract for laying the track of the trolley
street-car line at Port Chester. Mr. Merritt has always been an enterprising
and successful man in business. In politics he has ever been an influential
and active Democrat; was village trustee three terms, and for seven years
was a member of the fire department.
He was united in matrimony with Miss Eliza J. Parker, of Harrison
township, this county, and they have two children, — Freeman, a contractor
at East Chester, New York; and Edith, the wife of Henry Buckout, of White
Plains, this county. WILLIAM H. and GEORGE NELSON.
The Nelson Brothers, who are dairy farmers of Somers township, are
two of the most energetic and enterprising business men of Westchester
county. They embarked in the dairy business about 1878, under the firm
name of Nelson Brothers, but business is now conducted under the name of
W. H. Nelson. On starting out they had only twenty-five cows, but as their
trade gradually grew they purchased more, and now have from five to six
hundred head. They have established a large milk depot at No. 210 West
Thirty-fifth street, New York city, where they dispose of most of their prod
uct in a wholesale business. Their large farm comprises about twenty-five
34

530 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
hundred acres of valuable land, and in connection with its operation they have
been extensively engaged in raising fine horses, and have some excellent
specimens of the noble steed upon their place. Both brothers are natural
mechanics, and upon their farm they have shops equipped for making all
necessary repairs on machinery, etc. They also manufacture their own
wagons and have turned out some fine carriages from their factory. They
devote about three hundred acres to the raising of corn, which large area
implies that the product is the largest amount of that cereal raised on any
farm in the county. They started at the very bottom of the ladder finan
cially, but by their combined efforts, industry and determination to succeed,
they have built up a most extensive and profitable business, now furnishing
employment to about fifty men all the year around.
The parents of these gentlemen were Henry G. and Prudy K. (Sarles)
Nelson. The father died in i860, at the age of forty-seven years, but the
mother is still hale and hearty, at the age of eighty. Our subjects were their
only children, William being born in 1846, and George in 1850. Both were
principally educated in the public schools, though they pursued a business
and collegiate course for a short time. They are wide-awake, energetic men
of known reliability, and occupy an enviable position in the business world
of this part of the country. Both vote the Democratic ticket, but George
takes a more active part in political affairs than his brother. He was mar
ried February 17, 1898, to Miss Katie L. , daughter of Samuel and Emma
Lounsbury, and they reside on the old Nelson homestead, two miles west of
Katonah.
GEORGE E. CARRIGAN.
The efficient chief of police of Sing Sing, New York, is a native of West
chester county, born April 14, 1862, and is a son of James Edward and Mary
Elizabeth (Anderson) Carrigan. The father also was born in this county, in
1822, and was here reared to manhood. Almost his entire life was passed
upon the water, and at the early age of fourteen years he was given command
of the sloop Ben Brandreth, plying between Croton and New York city. He
was later accredited with being one of the best and most successful navigators
that plied the Hudson river, and was the owner of several different vessels,
including the Lucy Hopkins, one of the fleetest sloops that ever sailed that
stream. She was about one hundred tons burden. For the long period of
forty-eight years Captain Carrigan had command of different vessels, and
after the organization of the Republican party he was one of its stanch sup
porters. His father was William Carrigan, also a native of Westchester
county and a cooper by trade. The Captain is now deceased, but his wife,
who was a native of Putnam county, New York, is still living; and of the

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 531
twelve children born to them, seven survive: William H., a resident of
Yonkers, New York; Elnora, wife of Charles Acley, of Croton; Marian, wife
of Edward Fillmore, of Sing Sing; Mary E., wife of James D. Edwards, of
Sing Sing; James Edward, a steamboat pilot and a resident of New York
city; George E., our subject; and Clarissa D., wife of Joseph Poria, of
Yonkers. George E. Carrigan was reared in Croton, New York, and was educated
in the public schools of that place. When his school days were over he
engaged in boating on the Hudson, and on attaining his majority was given
command' of the schooner George A. Brandreth. Subsequently he was cap
tain of another schooner and continued to follow the water for ten years.
He then accepted the positions of deputy sheriff and constable, which offices
he held for two years, discharging his official duties in a most commendable
manner. Prior to accepting his present position, however, he engaged in
the roofing business throughout the state for five years, making his head
quarters first at Yonkers and later at Sing Sing. At the end of that time he
was appointed chief of police in the latter city, a position he has since
retained, discharging his various duties with promptness and fidelity. He is
emphatically a man of enterprise, positive character, indomitable energy,
strict integrity and liberal views, and is thoroughly interested in all that con
serves the prosperity of his village and county.
In his political affiliations Mr. Carrigan is an ardent Republican, and
socially is a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
being identified with Sunnyside Lodge, No. 289, of which he is past grand,
and also with Columbian Encampment. He is also president of the Sunny-
side Association. In 1^85 he was married, at Yonkers, to Miss Isabella
Bogart, a daughter of Addison and Mary Bogart, and to them have been born
two children: William H. and Florence B.

PURDY L. HITCHCOCK, M. D.
Dr. Purdy Leander Hitchcock is one of the best known and leading prac
titioners in Westchester county, New York, where he has been engaged in
practice since .1882, having graduated the previous year at the College of
Physicians and Surgeons, of New York city.
Dr. Hitchcock was born in Westchester county, New York, September
23, 1850, and is a son of David Hitchcock, a native of Putnam county, New
York, descended from English ancestors who were among the early settlers
-of this country. David Hitchcock is now seventy-seven years of age, strong
-and robust. By trade he is a carpenter, and for a number of years he was
engaged in building.

532 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Purdy L. Hitchcock received a good education in the schools of his nat
ive county and then commenced a course of study under the direction of Dr.
Charles Lee, of Purdy, by whom, perhaps, more than any other individual
was his life shaped. After graduating, in 1881, he took up hospital practice
for a time and in 1882 settled in Croton Falls, where he has since remained.
Subsequent to his regular professional study he took a post-graduate course
at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and is a member of the Alumni
Association of that institution. He has met with gratifying success and has
established a reputation as a skilled and careful practitioner. He is a member
of the Westchester County Medical Society, and fraternally is identified with
the Royal Arcanum. From 1889 to 1892 he was surgeon for the Croton
Magnetic Iron Mines.
November 29, 1884, the Doctor married Miss A. Butcher, a woman of
refinement and culture, daughter of John Butcher, deceased. Dr. and Mrs.
Hitchcock have one child, Grace A.
Dr. Hitchcock takes an active and commendable interest in all the
affairs of his town, and as an enterprising and public-spirited citizen is appre
ciated by his fellow citizens. He, is a member of the board of education, is
health officer, and occupied several other positions of honor and trust. While
his life is a busy one, he yet finds time to enjoy the society of a large circle of
friends, extending and receiving numerous hospitalities.

JAMES GIBSON, Sr.

This citizen of White Plains, New York, has for a number of years been
closely identified with the interests of Westchester county. During his res
idence here he has been prospered financially and ranks now not only as one
of the leading farmers of his locality but also as one of its capitalists. His
record is that of a self-made man, and briefly is as follows:
James Gibson, Sr. , was born in the city of Edinburg, Scotland, in the
year 181 3, was educated in the common schools of his native place, and
remained there until his twentieth year. He is next to the youngest of five
children, three sons and two daughters, composing his father's family, arid
and is the only one of that number now living. James Gibson, his father,
was a carpenter and builder, following that business throughout his life. The
mother of our subject was before marriage Miss Margaret Wright. Both
passed their lives in Scotland.
In his youth the subject of our sketch learned the baker's trade, serving
an apprenticeship of four years, and shortly after completing his term of serv
ice sailed for America, landing at New York city, May 22, 1834, in the Isabella
Irvine, after a long and tedious voyage, covering a period of ten weeks. In

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 533
New York he secured work at his trade, saved his earnings and was soon able
to start up an establishment of his own, which he did, and there he con
ducted asuccessful business until 1858, when he sold out and came to White
Plains. Here he purchased a farm of seventy acres, located two miles and a
half southeast of the town, and on it has since carried on general farming, his
land being among the best cutivated and most desirable in the locality. From
time to time he has made valuable investments and is to-day the owner of
much valuable real estate. He built the Auditorium in White Plains, a
fine structure of brick and stone, the first floor used for stores, the second
occupied by the Young Men's Christian Association, and the opera-house.
Also he owns a good business block on the corner of Lexington and Railroad
avenues, which he rents.
Mr. Gibson is a man who has always kept himself posted on the topics
of the day, and thinks for himself. In national and state matters he gives
his support to the Republican party, but in local affairs he is somewhat inde
pendent, voting for the man he believes best suited for the office rather than
adhering strictly to party lines.
From 1838 to 1858 Mr. Gibson was a member of the Scottish Presby
terian church in New York city, and since coming to White Plains has been
identified with the First Presbyterian church of this place, to which his fam
ily also belong and in which he has served for a number of years as a trus
tee. He is the oldest trustee now serving in the First Presbyterian church
at White Plains. He is also school trustee of district No. 2, having held
that office since 1862, and he has also been road commissioner.
In 1838 he was united in marriage with Miss Ellen Jackson, who was a
companion contributing to the happiness of his life for almost forty-four
years, departing from the scenes of this world May 15, 1882. He has had
three sons and two daughters, namely: John, James, Jr., Mary Ann, Mar
garet and Thomas. John died March 14, 1896; James, Jr., is married and
a resident of New Rochelle. The daughters are unmarried and reside with
their father. Thomas is married and resides at the parental homestead.

JOHN W. TRUESDELL.
One of the leading business men and agriculturists of Westchester county
is John W. Truesdell, who has been a resident here for eight years only, but
who is well and favorably known throughout this section. He is the super
intendent of the noted Greene estate, which comprises some seven hundred
acres of fine, arable farm land, — one of the best and most valuable home
steads in the state. With wide experience and general ability, Mr. Truesdell
is just the man for the responsible position he so ably fills, and his efforts

534 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
have materially increased the value of the property and the revenue there
from. One of the native sons of the Empire state, the subject of this sketch
was born December 3, 1854, in Wyoming county, and passed his boy
hood in that portion of New York. He is the son of E. G. and Lucy
(Popple) Truesdell, respected and honored citizens of Wyoming county.
After leaving the common schools J. W. Truesdell entered Warsaw Acad
emy, and there pursued the study of the higher branches of knowledge.
When he attained his majority he left home and went to Orange county,
New York, where for many years he was successfully occupied in farming
and kindred pursuits. In 1890 he was engaged to act as manager or
superintendent of the Greene property in Westchester county, and he has
since devoted his energies to the cultivation and improvement of the place.
He has always given much attention to the raising of fine horses, and he
is now interested specially in this direction, as a ready market is to be
found for good animals in the neighboring cities.
In all his views and methods Mr. Truesdell is liberal and broad-minded,
being zealous in the support of all measures which accrue to the welfare of
the general public, and is active in local affairs as well. In his political
faith he is an earnest Republican, but he has never been an aspirant for
public position, as he finds that his time is fully occupied in properly
attending to his business affairs.
January 27, 1875, Mr. Truesdell married Miss Mary E. Mills, a daughter
of A. J. Mills, of Orange county, New York. The only child of Mr. and Mrs.
Truesdell is Charlotte M., now the wife of Robert Hoyt, of Katonah, West
chester county. OSCAR SMITH.
This prominent and representative citizen of New Castle township, West
chester county, now filling the office of assessor, was born in Yorktown town
ship on the 1 2th of March, 1831, and is a son of Samuel Smith, whose birth
occurred August 15, 1797, on the old homestead where our subject now re
sides. The grandfather, William Smith, was a native of Holland, and mar
ried a Miss Vredenburg. They settled in this country prior to the Revolu
tionary war, and both died in York township at the ages of ninety and eighty-
six years, respectively. They were most estimable people, and were identified
with the Society of Friends. In their family were only two children:
Samuel, and Rebecca, wife of John Brown.
Samuel Smith grew to manhood in Yorktown township, throughout life
devoted his time and attention to agricultural pursuits, and was a stalwart
supporter of the Republican party. He married Miss Jemimah Young, a

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 535
daughter of James and  (Baldwin) Young, and of the ten children born
of this union nine reached man and womanhood, and four are still living,
namely: Eliza, wife of B. Secoy; John B., a resident of Yorktown town
ship; Oscar, our subject; and Eben, of Yorktown township. Those deceased
are: Phoebe J.; Willet R. ; William, and James, who died in Tompkins
county, New York, and was the father of two sons — William and Eugene —
who served in the Civil war.
Oscar Smith was reared on the home farm, and pursued his studies in
the neighboring schools. Going to Wisconsin in 1856, he taught school there
for one season, and on his return to Westchester county made his home for
two years in Bedford. In 1865 he located on the old homestead of his grand
father, which is pleasantly located only a half-mile from the Millwood station,
and is supplied with water from one of the best springs in the county. Here
he has a nice home, and is surrounded by all that goes to make life worth the
living. In his farming operations he has met with excellent success, and is
to-day one of the well-to-do and substantial citizens of his community.
On the 8th of June, 1861, Mr. Smith married Miss Sarah J. Sherwood,
a daughter of Absalom and Harriet (Brown) Sherwood, of Bedford, in whose
family were six children, three still living: Frances, wife of William Barnes;
Sarah J.; and Mary E., a music teacher of New York city. Those deceased
are Charles W., George E. and William H. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have four
children, namely: Ella V., wife of Henry N. Merritt, of Yonkers, New York,
by whom she had two children, — Maud and Clarence; George E. , who mar
ried Grace Brown, and is a floor-walker in Simpson&Crawford's store of New
York city; Irvin E. , who is employed by the Metropolitan Traction Company
in New York; and Minnie F., wife of H. E. Freeland, a railroad conductor,
by whom she had three children, — Helen M., Edna May and Grace.
During his business career Mr. Smith worked for his uncle, E. S. Young,
conducting a stage line in the city for a time, and also successfully followed
teaching. He has ever taken an active interest in educational affairs, and for
many years has efficiently served as a school trustee. He holds a member
ship in the Friends church, while his wife is a Methodist. Both are earnest,
Christian people, and have the respect and esteem of the entire community
in which they make their home.

JUDGE THOMAS M. PARKER.
It is with pleasure that we come now to record in this volume a refer
ence to the principal landmarks in the life of the gentleman whose name
forms the caption of this article, speaking first of his ancestry.
His father, Edward Parker, was born in county Dublin, Ireland, where

536 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
he grew up and learned his trade as blacksmith. When he had attained the
age of twenty-two years he emigrated to the land of greater opportunity,
arriving at New York city, where he was employed at his trade as a journey
man. In 1847 he came to Port Chester and continued at his trade for ten
years, when he purchased the shop now owned by his son, Judge Parker, and
plied his laborious vocation here as long as he lived, his death taking place
April 4, 1897, at the age of seventy-six years and six months. Politically he
was a Democrat, and in public office he was village trustee two terms and
for a time overseer of the poor. In religion he was a Catholic. For his
wife he married Miss Ellen Mulvaney, a native of Ireland, who was brought
to America when but two years of age; and she is still living, aged fifty-eight
years. She also is a communicant of the Catholic church. Of her sixteen
children nine are still living.
Judge Parker, of whom we more particularly write, was born May 27,
1864, in Port Chester, educated in the public and Catholic schools, and at
the age of seventeen years began to learn the blacksmith's trade of his father,
and he continued in that heavy work for fifteen years.; and since that time
he has managed the shop that his father owned.
Politically, he is an active Democrat. He has served one term as village
treasurer, which office he resigned when he was appointed a justice of the
peace to fill an unexpired term, and after the expiration of that period he
was elected for a full term. He is a good man for the place.
In matrimony he was united with Miss Maggie Stanley, of this place,
and they have two daughters, named Helen and Jane Elizabeth.

ABRAHAM A. COLES.

The family name of this gentleman has figured conspicuously on the
pages of the history of the Empire state through many generations, repre
sentatives of the family taking an active part in many of the leading events
which form an integral part of the annals of New York. Patriotism, honor
and enterprise have ever been among their marked characteristics since the
time when Robert Coles, a native of England, crossed the Atlantic to estab
lish a home in the New World. This was in 1641, and he cast his lot with
the early colonists of the land which gave promise of liberty and freedom of
conscience and the exercise of the independent rights of the individual.
He was accompanied on his journey by his two brothers, Nathan and Daniel,
and in 1677 the three secured a tract of seventeen hundred acres of land on
Long Island. This included all the portion of the island known as Glen
Cove, and thereon Robert Coles, who was the great-grandfather of our sub
ject, made his home. There also occurred the birth of Jesse Coles, the

a^r?

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 537
grandfather, whose natal day was in September, 1757. He was one of the
gallant heroes of the war of the Revolution, serving all through the seven
long years of that conflict. For three years he was on detached duty as a
spy under the command of Washington, and being taken prisoner was
incarcerated in the old " sugar-house prison," but was afterward paroled.
Later he was again captured by an English boat on the Long Island sound,
while carrying messages, but the papers were skillfully hidden under the lin
ing of his coat between the shoulders, and were not found; so, there being no
proof against him, he was released. Had the papers been found he would
have been summarily shot. The gun which he carried, and which had been
given to his father by Richard Mott, is now in possession of our subject, as
is the old family clock. While a prisoner in the sugar-house the life of
Jesse Coles was saved by Anna Mott, a nurse, who warned him against eat
ing some food that had been poisoned. When his loved country no longer
needed his services he returned to the peaceful pursuits of the farm, and on
the 25th of March, 178 1, was married to Deborah Carpenter.
Their son, Joseph Coles, father of our subject, was born in Greenburg
township, Westchester county, December 27, 1790, and died July 2, 1872,
in the house now occupied by Abraham A. Coles. During his active busi
ness career he followed agricultural pursuits and met with success in his
various business undertakings. Prior to the Civil war he was a Democrat,
but at that time he transferred his allegiance to the Republican party and
was afterward one of the stalwart advocates of its principles. He was also
a faithful member of the Reformed church, and his honorable life commanded
uniform regard from his fellow men. He married Elizabeth Yerks, a daugh
ter of William Yerks. She was born in Mount Pleasant, Westchester
county, February 25, 1801, and departed this life July 15, 1871.
Abraham A. Coles, whose name introduces this review, and who is now
a leading citizen of Tarrytown, was born in the town of Mount Pleasant,
Westchester county, October 7, 1827. He was reared in a manner usual
to farmer boys of that period and locality, and pursued his education in what
was then known as the " old red school-house." Between the ages of twelve
and twenty years he worked industriously upon the home farm and then
entered upon an independent business career. For a few years he operated
a farm of his own and engaged in raising live stock to some extent, but since
the fall of 1865 he has not resided on the old homestead, which is situated
in Greenburg township, his home being now in Tarrytown. Disposing of
his farm he came to live with his parents, who had been residents of Tarry
town for several years, caring for them until they were called from the
scene of earth's activities. Mr. Coles has since continued to live in the
eld Tarrytown home, devoting his time and energies to the management of

538 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
his various investments and valuable property interests. He is also one of
the trustees of the Westchester County Savings Bank.
In 1873 Mr. Coles married Julia A., daughter of Daniel D. and Julia S.
(Amerman) Foot, and a granddaughter of Isaac Amerman, who served as an
alderman in New York city for several years and was a prominent citizen of
the metropolis. Mrs. Coles is a native of that city, and by her marriage has
become the mother of four sons, namely: Edward A., Fred H., Charles
L. and Russell. Mr. Coles is identified with the church of his ancestors,
the Reformed, while his wife is a member of the Episcopal church. Widely
and favorably known in Tarrytown, the warm personal friendships which
they inspire secure them the hospitality of the best homes of the place.
Like his honored father, Mr. Coles gives his political support to the Repub
lican party, but he has never aspired to official distinction, preferring to
devote his attention to his business interests, in the management of which
he displays marked ability and executive force, combined with keen discrimi
nation.
AUGUSTUS M. HALSTED.
We are now permitted to touch briefly upon the life history of one who
has retained a personal association with the business affairs of Westchester
county for many years, but is now living retired at Rye, and whose ancestral
line traces back to the colonial epoch in our country's history. His life has
been one of honest and earnest endeavor, and due success has not been
denied. Records show that the Halsted family is of English origin, and that it
was founded on American soil about 1628 by representatives of the name from
Hemill-Hempstead, England. They settled in or near Boston, and the family
name appears in the log of the Mayflower. Subsequently they removed to
Providence Plantation, now Providence, Rhode Island, and at a later date
one of the family went to Long Island and, in connection with other early
colonists, founded the town of Hempstead. For several generations the
Halsted family has been connected with the history of Westchester county.
The parents of Ezekiel Halsted, the great-grandfather of our subject, were
the first to locate here, and his birth occurred in New Rochelle, November
29, 1738. At an early day he removed to Rye township and settled on the
old homestead, which is still in possession of the family and a part of which
will be inherited by our subject should he outlive the present life tenant.
Ezekiel Halsted was a large land-owner and extensive farmer, as well as one
of the most prominent and influential citizens of his community. He served
with distinction as captain in the Revolutionary war. His son, Philemon,
was also a captain in the state militia, and his discharge papers, granted by

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 539-
Governor Jay, of New York, are now in possession of Augustus M. Halsted.
He was the first president of the Westchester County Agricultural Associa
tion, and was an important factor in the promotion of many interests of public
concern. The grandfather, Philemon Halsted, was born on the old homestead in
Rye township, and there spent his entire life as a successful farmer, owning
large tracts of land. He was also one of the leading citizens of the com
munity, and for a great many years served as president of the Westchester
County Agricultural Society. He married Deborah Davenport, a daughter
of Lawrence Davenport, of New Rochelle, and to them were born two chil
dren: James Davenport and Newberry Davenport, the latter a prominent
farmer. He took a very active part in public affairs and was acceptably
serving as a member of the state legislature at the time of his death.
James Davenport Halsted, the father of our subject, was born on the
old family homestead, October 20, 1809, and carried on agricultural pur
suits in the township of Rye throughout his entire life. He was a recognized
leader of public thought, action and opinion and left the impress of his strong
individuality upon many measures of general interest. A stanch supporter of
the Democratic party, he efficiently served for many years as supervisor of
this township. Although not a member of Christ Episcopal church, he
served as one of its vestrymen for a number of years and was held in the
highest regard by all who knew him. His death occurred January 25, 1865.
His wife, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth S- Todd, was born July 2,
1 8 16, in Waterford, Saratoga county, New York, and died October 28, 1896.
She was a most estimable lady, and during her entire residence in Rye was a
faithful member of the Protestant Episcopal church. Of their three children
Augustus M. is the eldest. James M. is a resident of Oakland, California;
and Elizabeth S. is the wife of H. C. Edgette, of Haddonfield, New Jersey.
Mr. Halsted, whose name introduces this review, was born in Rye
township, November 22, 1836, and his boyhood days were spent under the
parental roof. He had charge of the home farm from the time he was seven
teen years of age until 1862, when he engaged in the produce and commis
sion business, in New York city, carrying on operations along that line for
three years. During the following four or five years he was engaged in
newspaper work there, as associate editor of a stock paper, and on one of
the prominent evening dailies, reporting political meetings and the actions of
other large conventions and assemblages as his special department of the work.
He next engaged in the manufacture of specialties in sheet-metal goods, and
was the first in America to invent and make a self-regulating incubator. On
account of ill health he retired from business in 1895, and is now enjoying a
well earned rest, free from the cares and responsibilites of business life.

.340 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Mr. Halsted married Miss Amanda M. Hayward, a daughter of Colonel
John R. Hayward, a prominent citizen of East Chester, New York, whose
farm comprised a greater part of the present city of Mount Vernon, and who
died at the age of sixty-seven years. The children born to this worthy couple
are as follows: Rev. Newberry O., an Episcopal minister, who is now super
intendent of St. Johnland, Dr. Muhlenberg's home for aged men and orphan
children, at Kings Park, Long Island; Carrie L, wife of G. Arthur Tuthill,
of Brooklyn, New York; James D., a contractor and builder, in Rye; J.
Henry, who is engaged in advertising specialties and patent business in New
York city; Jennie A., wife of William H. Porter, of the firm of William Por
ter & Sons, New York; Florence, a talented artist in minature and figure
work; A. Elizabeth, at home; and Robert A., who is attending the Irving
Institute, at Tarrytown. The family is identified with the Episcopal church,
and in politics Mr. Halsted affiliates with the Democratic party. For eight
een years he has been a member of the board of education, serving as its
president for fifteen years, but he has never cared for political honors, always
refusing to become a candidate for office. In manner he is pleasant, genial
and approachable, and all who know him esteem him highly for his genuine
worth. WILLIAM MAISON du BOIS.
Mr. du Bois was born in the town of Ossining, Westchester county, New
York, and moved in 1871 to the town of White Plains, in the same county,
to the residence on Hamilton avenue where he has lived since that time.
He was admitted to the bar of New York state as attorney and counselor
at law in 1879, after having graduated at the Columbia Law School with the
degree of LL. B., and has followed the practice of the law, his office being
located in White Plains. He was also admitted to the United States district
court in 1879.
He is descended from many families whose names are to be found among
the earliest records of this country, some of his ancestors being of Huguenot
origin, to-wit: duBois, Le Fevre, Hasbrouck, Deyo (four of the patentees
of New Paltz, New York), Blanshan, du Ry, Le Maistre, Le Comte, Par-
mentier and Cresson; some of them being Holland Dutch, to-wit: van Bomell,
van Kleeck, van der Bogart, van Voorhoudt, van Schoonhoven, van der
Linden, van Dyck, Viele, Aertsen, ter Bos, Segers, Schouw, Frederickse,
Ten Broeck, Ten Eyck, Jorisen, Schermerhorn and Meyer; some of them
English, to-wit: Skinner, Manning, Way, Marshall, Broadhead and Hugh-
son; and some of them of various nationalities: for instance, Zabriskie
¦(Poland), Goetschius (Swiss); Vermilye (Italian), Hazard (Welsh).
Mr. du Bois is a Freemason and a member and officer of White Plains

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 541
Lodge, No. 473, F. &. A. M., of the state of New York, and also a member
of the following (and other) societies, viz. : Society of Colonial Wars, Sons
of the Revolution, Military Order of the Loyal Legion, Saint Nicholas Society
of New York, Huguenot Society of America, Washington Continental Guard,
New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, New York Historical
Society, Westchester County Historical Society and the Westchester County
Bar Association. He married, at White Plains, New York, first, Grace Bartram, who died
May 29, 1885, eldest daughter of Colonel Nelson B. Bartram; and secondly,
Mabel Bartram, the second daughter of Colonel Bartram. Colonel Bartram,
who died December 25, 1886, was of New England descent and commanded
during the war of the Rebellion the regiment raised by the Union League
Club of New York city.
Mr. and Mrs. du Bois have one child, a daughter named Mabel.

A. WATSON NEUMAN.

A. Watson Neuman, of Nepera, Westchester county, New York, is one
of the representative and well-known men of this county. He was born
here February 24, 1848, and belongs to a family long resident in America.
His father, Alvah Neuman, was born in 18 13, son of John Neuman and
grandson of Joseph Neuman, a soldier in the Revolutionary war. John
Neuman married Hannah Benedict; daughter of Colonel Benedict, an officer
in the Revolutionary war. The subject of this sketch has the musket that
was used by his great-grandfather, Joseph Neuman, in the Revolutionary
war. It has the mark made by a saber cut in the hands of a British officer.
While in charge he warded off the blow with his gun and used the bayonet.
John Neuman had ten children: Joseph (1), Sarah, Rebecca, Elizabeth,
Holly, Alvah, Deborah, Joseph (2), Mary Jane and Patience. Alvah Neu
man, the father of our subject, married Nancy See, daughter of James Peter
See and granddaughter of Peter See, a Revolutionary soldier. Thus it is
seen that A. Watson Neuman can in more ways than one trace his direct
descent from Revolutionary stock. Alvah Neuman and wife were the
parents of nine children, three of whom died in infancy. Those who
reached adult years are as follows: James A. ; John Milton, of New York;
William A., also of New York; A. Watson, whose name introduces this
sketch,' Abbie Amelia, wife of Bailey Kipp; and Loring, who died at the age
of twenty-five years. The mother died in 1883, at the age of sixty-seven
years, and the father died in 1891, at the age of seventy-eight. Some time
before his death he was thrown from a wagon and had a limb broken, and
from the effects of this injury he never recovered. He was a prosperous

542 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
farmer, religiously a member of the Reformed church, being an elder of the
same, and politically a Democrat April 3, 1809, by Daniel D. Tompkins,
governor of New York, he was appointed an officer in the military -regiment
of Westchester county.
A. Watson Neuman was reared on the old farmstead, and in 1879 he
married Miss Anna May Graham, daughter of Newman Graham, and, like
her husband, having Revolutionary blood in her veins. Her grandfather,
Dr. Isaac Graham, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. and was a de
scendant of the Scotch duke of Montrose. Newman Graham married
Anne Onderdonk, a daughter of Abraham Onderdonk, a native of New
York. Three children came to bless their union, — Ike Gilbert, of Tarry
town; William Warren, of Sing Sing; and Anna May. Mr. and Mrs. Neu
man have four children, — Anna Kate, Albert Milton, Howard Graham and
Laurinda. Both Mr. Newman and his wife were reared in the faith of the Reformed
church and they, like their parents, are consistent members of the same, he
being an elder in the church. Politically, he is a Democrat, and has served
several terms as township collector.

GEORGE F. ODELL.

Since 1893 George F. Odell has been a resident of the town of Congers,
New York, while his place of business is in Yonkers. In both of these thriv
ing little cities he is very well known and occupies a prominent place as a
citizen. As an active member of the Citizens' Land Improvement Associa
tion of Congers he has forwarded the interests of the town, and is recognized
as one who is thoroughly patriotic, striving ever that the communities with
which his life is connected may be sent onward on the road to progress. He
was one of the leaders in the movement to organize the association above
mentioned at Congers, and has been the chairman of the same for three
years. Not waiting for others, he has initiated and brought about numerous
works of improvement there, and has ably seconded many enterprises which
,have materially benefited the place.
For years an able and efficient worker in the Republican party, he
founded a club in Congers. At first it comprised but ten members, but the
zeal and energy of Mr. Odell on behalf of the party and the constantly grow
ing population of the town have wonderfully aided the club, which now, at
the end of two years' existence, boasts of over one hundred members. The
efforts of Mr. Odell have secured the opening of several new streets and the
paving of many; the proper organization of the town under an approved sys
tem of administration, regular departments, etc. No more fitting man

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 543
could have been found for the honor and position of postmaster there, and it
was an appointment which was hailed with pleasure by the majority of the
citizens of Congers, when, in 1898, he was chosen for the office. He has
frequently attended conventions of his party, and has often gone in the
capacity of a delegate.
A son of James B. Odell, and born during the civil war, George F.
Odell is in the prime of manhood. His birth-place was in Yonkers, and the
date of his advent on the stage of human existence February 20, 1863.
After he had completed a liberal education in the public schools of this place
he entered the Yale College Preparatory School here, his plan then being to
enter the medical profession later. This idea, however, he abandoned, and
for two years he engaged in the steam job printing business with William P.
Constable, of the firm of Odell & Constable. The six years following he
traveled representing the Van Derveer & Holmes Biscuit Company of New
York city, and in 1895 he opened a wholesale biscuit business on his own
account in Yonkers, and has since handled the wares of the National Biscuit
Company, dealing in the same in wholesale quantities. He has met with
the business success which he eminently deserves, and on account of his
health was compelled to retire from the business, so sold out to the National
Biscuit Company and now has located in Congers in the real-estate and
insurance-brokerage business, which is meeting with success. Fraternally,
he belongs to the Masonic order as a member of Rising Star Lodge, No. 450,
F. & A. M. Moreover, he is connected with John C. Shotts Camp, sons of
veterans; with the Knights of Honor, and the Lincoln Legion, a political and
social organization; also is an honorary member of the Congers fire depart
ment. In his religious belief he is a Methodist, a member of the First
Methodist Episcopal church of Yonkers.
The marriage of Mr. Odell and Miss Emma K. Graham, of King's
Bridge, New York city, was solemnized April 22, 1889. Two little daugh
ters grace their union, namely: Helen Ruth and Wilhelmina Catherine.

DANIEL D. LEVINESS.

Daniel D. Leviness, a retired farmer of Scarsdale, Westchester county,
New York, is one the oldest and most highly respected citizens of the com
munity, having passed the eightieth milestone on life's journey. He was born
October 30, 18 17, and is a native of the town of Greenburg, as were his par
ents. His father, Gershorn Leviness, was born in 1794, and was married to
Phoebe Tompkins, who was born in 1793- They were the parents of eight
children, as follows: Becca Ann, who married Edward LeFurgy; Phebe Jane,
wife of Gilbert Lawrence; Mary Elizabeth, who became the wife of John

544 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
LeFurgy and after his death married Jasper Devoe; Frances Caroline, wife of
Andrew Olson; John Wesley, who married Hannah Taylor; Sarah Esther, wife
of Alexander Taylor; and Abigail Adelia, wife of David Quick. The Leviness
family originated in France, and the paternal grandfather of our subject was
Joseph Leviness, who married Elizabeth Sherwood. The maternal grand
parents were Nathan and Effie Tompkins. Gershorn Leviness died July 16,
.1882. Daniel Leviness spent his boyhood days under the parental roof and
attended the district school of the neighborhood. When he was fourteen
years of age his father rented a farm and through the summer months he
assisted in its cultivation, while in the winter season he pursued his studies.
He was thus employed for two years, when he secured work as a farm hand.
He was employed in that capacity for four years, during which time he gave
his wages to his father. The latter then purchased a farm and Daniel
Leviness worked for him until his death occurred, in 1882. Two years
before his demise he gave a part of the farm to our subject and said
that if it had not been for Daniel he would never have owned a farm.
Throughout his life Daniel D. Leviness has thus carried on agricultural pur
suits. His diligent attention to his work insured him good crops, while his
profits were judiciously invested until he now rests secure in the knowledge
that he has sufficient means to enable him to spend his last days in comfort
and plenty. In 1 88 1 Mr. Leviness was united in marriage to Miss Alletta Olsen, who
died in 1892. He is a Republican in his political views, and has always
taken an active interest in state and county politics, but has not been an
aspirant for office. He is a firm believer in the gold standard and expressed
his opinion by casting his vote William McKinley in 1896. He is an honored
member of the Reformed church of Greenburg, and although in his eighty-
second year is a remarkably bright gentleman who has retained the posses
sion of all his faculties.
WILLIAM M. WILSON.
There is no denying the fact that austere virtue leads to the greatest
degree of happiness, and that in the case of the Wilson family it has also led
to those great concomitants of happiness, — longevity, business ability and
success generally.
Mr. Wilson, who has now for the past fourteen or fifteen years been a
retired resident of Mount Vernon, enjoying in the evening of life the happy
results of a life well spent, was born March 16, 1820, in Colchester county,
Nova Scotia, where his grandfather, William Wilson, was one of the first
settlers, after England had gained possession of the dominion from the

'9r^ %^&^>x

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 545,
French. He was a farmer from Londonderry, Ireland, of Scotch-Irish
ancestry, and his adherence to Presbyterianism was of the most zealous
type, although in his manner he was quiet and unassuming. He married
Esther Reid and had seven sons and three daughters, — Samuel, William,
John, Henry, Frank, Robert, James, Hannah, Mary and Esther,— all of
whom lived to be nearly a hundred years old, their ages aggregating eight
hundred and seventy-six years! Their mother died at the age of one hundred
years. The father of William M. was James Wilson, who was born in Nova
Scotia, was a farmer, owning a considerable amount of land, married Eliza
beth Staples and had thirteen children. All the sons engaged in agricultural
pursuits for their life's calling. He departed this life in the year 1888, at the
age of ninety-five years, in Nova Scotia. His children were: John, born
July 5, 1816; Rachel, June 25, 1818; William M., March 16, 1820 (our sub
ject); Robert, November 20, 1822; Easter, February 3, 1824; Jane S.,
October 6, 1825; Matthew, September 17, 1827; Mary C, June 5, 1830;
Jervis, August 21, 1832; David, April 24, 1835; James, May 11, 1837;
Sidney, October 13, 1839; and Junius R., January 18, 1840. The youngest
died at the age of eleven years, but all the rest grew up to years of maturity.
Their mother died at the age of seventy-four years.
Mr. William M. Wilson, the subject proper of this record, received his
education in a private school, but being the eldest of the sons his work was
of such a nature that he could not attend regularly. He remained an inmate
of the parental home until he was twenty-one and a half years of age, when
he left for the great metropolis, New York, with only sixty cents in money!
There, among strangers, he was to seek his fortune and make his own way
in the world. Learning the trade of carpenter, in which he soon became
highly skilled, he followed that vocation for several years, when he began
taking contracts for building and also engaged in speculating, buying lots and
improving and selling them. Both in his contract work and his improvement
of lots for sale he was signally successful, maintaining meanwhile the highest
degree of credit and honor.
In 1884 he moved to Mount Vernon, which beautiful city has since
been his place of residence, and here he has built a number of residences,
including his own, he being his own architect. He has led a very active and
busy life, but for the last fifteen years he has practically retired from the
heavy duties and responsibilities of business. As a diversion he keeps a
"spanking" team of trotters, his tastes leading him rather to out-door
recreation. In his views of national policies he is a Republican; and in his religious
convictions he has been a decided and zealous member of the Baptist church
35

546 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
ever since he was nine years of age, showing religious inclination even as
early as the age of six. His piety is deep, his religious principles definite,
positive and strong, and his church relations have ever been the most pleas
ant. He was a trustee of the Baptist church on Forty-second street, in New
York city, and is now a trustee and deacon of the Mount Vernon Baptist
church. June 1 8, 1848, he was united in matrimony with Miss Sarah Maria Roff,
and they have had five children, namely: Jane E., who died in childhood;
Eunice, deceased; William F., who was a carpenter and builder, but at
present is an inventor, residing in Mount Vernon; Ulysses S. Grant, a builder
in Tuckahoe, this county, where he resides; and Schuyler Colfax, who died
at the age of twenty-six years.
As a miscellaneous item we may mention that Mr. Wilson is related by
blood to the Harper and the Cutten families, of Massachusetts, and the
celebrated publishers of New York city, the Harper Brothers.

THOMAS FEARON.

In connection with the boat-building industry the name of Thomas
Fearon is known throughout the country, and in rowing circles it is no less
familiar, for his ability as an oarsman has gained him national fame. Almost
his entire life has been passed in southeastern New York, where by his own
unaided efforts he has risen from a humble position to one of prominence in
the business world, his successful career standing as an exemplification of the
possibilities that are open to young men of ambition, courage, enterprise and
energy in this fair land.
Born in New York city, May 15, 1842, he is a son of Daniel and Mary
(Strang) Fearon. His father was a native of Ireland, and on coming to
America located in New York city, where he spent his remaining days. The
mother died during the early boyhood of her son, who was then reared by
strangers. He made his home with farmers in Westchester county, and
secured his education in the district schools, pursuing his studies through the
winter months, while in the summer he assisted in the cultivation of the
fields. He was also for a time in school No. 2 at Yonkers, and in the little
yellow school-house at Tuckahoe. In the spring of 1857 his employer, Mr.
Westfield, removed to Chicago, Illinois, where he secured a farm, upon which
Mr. Fearon worked until Mr. Westfield returned to the east. Our subject
then secured a position as ship carpenter and followed that trade until the
election of President Lincoln, when he was promoted to the position of drafts
man in the navy yard at Brooklyn, where he remained until 1864.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 547
In that year Mr. Fearon came to Yonkers and purchased the boat-build
ing business of John Ackerman, whose establishment was located on the pres
ent site of the rubber factory. There he carried on operations until 1867,
when he established his present plant at the foot of Gold street. He has con
ducted a successful business since that time and his reputation as a boat-
builder has extended throughout the entire country. He has been particularly
famous for his racing shell-boats, which are regarded as the best produced in
America. These are of the finest workmanship, and in their construction
the most care and exactness is required, so that they shall be absolutely per
fect. He builds the boats in use by various colleges, and since the decline
of rowing as a sport he" has made a specialty of steam launches and
other small craft. He has a large factory, one hundred and fifty by thirty-
three feet, supplied with all modern machinery and appliances necessary for
the production of the finest boats known to the trade. In his business Mr.
Fearon has met with most gratifying success, his sales having reached exten
sive proportions, as his products have found favor with the public owing to
their excellence and superiority over many others that are produced. He has
invested considerable capital in real estate, and now has some valuable realty
holdings in Yonkers. His sound judgment in business matters, his thorough
understanding of the industry, his reliability and resolution in carrying out
his carefully formed plans, all insure him success, and at the same time have
won him the confidence and respect of all with whom he has had dealings.
Mr. Fearon 's skill as an oarsman has also gained him a national reputa
tion, and he is particularly well known as the amateur champion single sculler
cf America. He was prominent in the organization of the Vesper Rowing
Association of Yonkers, which was formed August 12, 1867, other charter
members being Thomas Franklin, R. C. Elliott, Benjamin Mason, William
McFarlane, James T. Howland, William Hull and George Watt. They
erected a club house at a cost of five thousand dollars, and the club became
very prominent by reason of the victories won by its noted crew, composed
cf Thomas Fearon, bow; Owen Van Winkle, No. 2; William McFarlane,
No. 3; and John H. Keeler, stroke. This crew participated in many con
tests with crews of the Hudson River Amateur Rowing Association, composed
of clubs on the Hudson between New York and Albany, and never met
defeat in a single race. They achieved a national reputation, and in all the
regattas, scull and barge races carried off the honors over skilled competitors.
The first notable race which they won was held at the Elysian Fields, Hobo-
ken, New Jersey, gaining two races in one day and carrying off the silver-
rservice medal. The first race was an eight-oared-barge race, and the second
was a four-oared-shell race, in which five crews were entered. One of the
most exciting races in which they participated was held at Bergen Point,

548 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
August 29, 1 87 1, their opponents being the Argonautas. Thousands of
people witnessed the race, the greatest excitement prevailed, and large wagers
were staked on the result. They made a mile and a half in seven minutes
and ten seconds. After that race the members of the crew were the undis
puted amateur champions of the country. In 1876 they won a victory in a
regatta at Philadelphia, open to all. In 1868 Mr. Fearon won the single-
scull championship medal from the Hudson River Amateur Rowing Associa
tion, consisting of the flag and diamond medal. The flag had to be won for
three successive years in order to hold it, and accordingly he won it in 1869-
and 1870. This was a medal sought more than any other offered by the
association, and the association entered their best man, Edward Smith, a
nephew of the celebrated Josh Ward, who defeated the English champion.
Mr. Fearon defeated Smith in three miles single by one-eighth of a mile, up
to which time Smith had never met defeat. The race took place at Yonkers
in 1882. In 1874, at Saratoga, in the intercollegiate single-scull races, Mr.
Fearon's boats, which he had built himself, won all the races. Boat-racing
was then one of the most popular sports of the time, and these events were
frequently attended by twenty thousand people. Mr. Fearon, in all the
many contests in which he has taken part, has never been defeated but twice
— once by George Lee, a professional oarsman, now rowing in England, and
the second time by Kennedy, of Bob Cook's crew, who rowed at the Cen
tennial, in Philadelphia, in 1876. He has won about sixty medals in racing,
and for many years hardly had an equal in the entire country.
In May, 1864, Mr. Fearon was married, the lady of his choice being
Miss Elizabeth H. Dingee, a daughter of Henry A. Dingee, of New York
city. He was a native of Yonkers, and spent his last days here. His father
was once the owner of Chicken island. Henry Dingee became the owner of
extensive real-estate holdings in Yonkers, much of which is still in possession
of his daughter, Mrs. Fearon. He was a very enterprising and successful
business man and amassed a comfortable fortune. He died in New York
city, at the age of sixty-eight years. To Mr. and Mrs. Fearon have been
born five children: Mary Dingee, wife of Edward T. Howard, a resident of
Yonkers; Jane A.; Henry, deceased; and two who died in infancy. The
Fearon household is noted for its bountiful hospitality, which is enjoyed by
the most prominent people of Yonkers. Mr. and Mrs. Fearon occupy a very
enviable position in cultured society circles, and have the warm regard of a
very extensive circle of friends. In Yonkers not to know the subject of this
review is to argue one's self unknown. In all his social and business rela
tions he is popular, and in private life he has gained that warm personal?
regard which arises from kindness and geniality, deference for the opinions of
others and true nobility of character.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 549

HON. DAVID W. TRAVIS.
In the last half of the present century the lawyer has been a pre-eminent
factor in all affairs of private concern and national importance. He has been
depended upon to conserve the best and permanent interests of the whole
people and is a recognized power in all the avenues of life. He stands as the
protector of the rights and liberties of his fellow men and is the representa
tive of a profession whose followers, if they would gain honor, fame and suc
cess, must be men of merit and ability. Such a one is Mr. Travis, who was
admitted to the bar in October, 1847, and has since successfully engaged in
practice in Peekskill, New York.
He was born January 15, 1824, a son of David E. Travis, and grandson
of Elijah Travis. His parents were highly respected farming people, and
on the paternal side he is of English origin and on the maternal side of Ger
man descent. He was reared and educated in Peekskill, graduating at the
Peekskill Military Academy. He married Miss Catherine M. Hunt, and to
them was born a daughter, now the wife of William H. Craig, who is a mem
ber of the health department of Peekskill.
In early life Mr. Travis was a Whig, but on the organization of the
Republican party he joined its ranks, and has followed its fortunes ever since.
In 1854 he was called upon to fill his first office, that of justice of the police
courts, but since then he has often been called into public life, and for three
terms, in 1867, 1879 and 1880, he most ably represented his district in the
state legislature. He has served on several commissions of appraisal in rela
tion to the New York city water-works, and has always been found true and
faithful to every trust reposed in him, whether in public or private life. As
a lawyer he has won the admiration and confidence of all, for truth and right
are the only motives which sway him, and his career has been most progress
ive and honorable. Many important trusts have been committed to his
care, and the confidence reposed in him has never been betrayed. Socially
he is a member of the Masonic fraternity.

JAMES A. TUTTLE.
This gentleman is one of the highly respected citizens of Katonah, West
chester county, New York, and belongs to that honored class of brave men
who rendered valiant service to the Union in the dark hour of its peril when
secession attempted to overthrow the republic that our forefathers had estab
lished. Mr. Tuttle was born September 11, 1842, and is a son of Hiram
Tuttle, a native of Connecticut, born in 181 1. Hiram Tuttle was a shoema
ker by trade, and when a young man he married Miss Julia Field, by whom

550 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
he had six children, three of whom are living,— Mary Marshall, of Bridge
port, Connecticut; Emily, of Peekskill, New York; and James A., whose
name begins this review. Those who have passed away are Elizabeth, Addie
Garrison and Charles, the last named having been accidentally killed by
railroad cars.
James A. Tuttle was educated in the public schools of Westchester
county, and was still in his 'teens when the trouble between the north and
south precipitated the country into civil war. A spirit of patriotism, how
ever, was at once awakened within him, and on the i ith of September, 1862,
he celebrated his twentieth birthday by enlisting as a member of Company F,
Second New York Cavalry. He was in the service for three years, valiantly
defending the old flag and the cause it represented. During the early part
of his army life he was stationed with his command along the Potomac. Later
on, during the Dahlgren raid in Virginia, he was taken prisoner and held as
such three months. His whole service was marked by that promptness and
fidelity which characterize the true soldier, and at the expiration of his term
he received an honorable discharge.
Returning home at the close of hostilities, Mr. Tuttle devoted his ener
gies to slate-roofing, which business he stiil follows.
He was married December 6, 1871, to Miss Matilda Brown, a daughter
of Isaac G. and Catharine Brown, of Yorktown, and was one of a family of
six children, namely: Phoebe Jane, widow of A. Gray and a resident of Sing
Sing, New York; William Henry, also of Sing Sing; Lewis, a resident of
Tuckahoe, New York; Margaret Reynolds, who makes her home in Croton,
New York; Mrs. Tuttle, of Katonah; and Antoinette Taylor, of Newark,
New Jersey. Both Mr. and Mrs. Tuttle are members of the Methodist
Episcopal church, of Katonah, and he belongs to McKeel Post, No. 120, G.
A. R. , of which he formerly served as commander, while at the present writ
ing he is filling the office of adjutant.

CHARLES G. MARTIN.

The subject of this memoir was one of the honored citizens of Mount
Vernon, Westchester county, and had been identified with the industrial life
of the American metropolis for a long term of years, winning success through
his personal efforts and guiding his life according to the maximum principles
of honor and integrity. He attained a venerable age, passing away in the
fullness of years and honors. Endowed with the most sterling character,
energetic, independent and vigorous in his intellectuality, he won for himself
a place in connection with the valuable activities of life, and it is certainly
incumbent that in this compilation be included a brief sketch of his career.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 551
Mr. Martin was a native of New Jersey, having been born in the historic
old town of Perth Amboy, on the 26th of August, 18 14, the son of Ephraim
and Elizabeth (Andrews) Martin. The father served in the war of 18 12, and
his death occurred about the year 1825. He left his widow with four small
children and with but a modest patrimony. Mrs. Martin was a native of
New Jersey, while the Martins were numbered among the pioneer families
of Westchester county, New York, whither they came from the state first
mentioned. Daniel Martin, grandfather of the immediate subject of this
memoir, was a native of New Jersey, and his death occurred in 1790. He
married Mary Applegate, who was born in New Jersey, being a representa
tive of an old English family. Isaac Andrews, grandfather of our subject on
the maternal side, was an active participant in the war of the Revolution, in
which he did valiant service for the cause of the colonies. He died about
the year 1828, and his wife survived him about three years.
Charles G. Martin passed his boyhood in his native town, Perth Amboy,
attending the district school until his fourteenth year, when he laid aside his
text-books and initiated his practical business career by learning the trade of
a locksmith, making combination locks for banks, being in the employ of Dr.
Solomon Andrews, of Perth Amboy. After completing a thorough appren
ticeship at his trade Mr. Martin went to New York city, where he secured
a position with the firm of Day & Newell, manufacturers of locks, remain
ing in their establishment for several years. Thereafter he went to Har
per's Ferry, West Virginia, where he was engaged in the manufacturing
of locks and keys for a period of eighteen months. At the expiration of
this time he joined a party of New Jersey men who made the voyage to
California on their own ship, sailing around Cape Horn and landing at San
Francisco, where Mr. Martin remained nearly two years.
Returning to New York city, he entered into a partnership relation
with Silas H. Herring, under the firm name of Herring & Martin, and they
engaged in the manufacture of safe locks on a quitCextensive scale, grad
ually building up an excellent business by reason of the superiority of their
products and the honorable methods according to which they conducted
operations. The association continued for a number of years, but the busi
ness was finally placed in the hands of the firm of Mackerell & Richard
son, with whose establishment Mr. Martin continued to be identified for
a period of ten years. In 1864 he again engaged in business on his own
responsibility, establishing foundry and finishing works, which he conducted
with marked success until 1877, when "he turned the business over to his
son, Benajah M., who continued the industry on South Fifth avenue, New
York city.
Being well advanced in years, Mr. Martin retired from active business

552 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
pursuits, and in his attractive home at Mount Vernon, this county, was
enabled to enjoy the fruits of a long life of faithful toil and endeavor. He
was a man of the most unbending integrity in all the relations of life,
endowed with strong intellectuality, and was known and honored as a
valued citizen. In his political adherency he was stanchly allied with the
Republican party, taking not a little interest in local political matters, but never
seeking or holding official preferment. He lived to attain the venerable age
of eighty-four years and four months, his long and eminently useful life draw
ing to its close on the 2 ist. of December, 1898.
On the 1 2th of June, 1845, Mr. Martin was united in mstrriage to Miss
Catherine Hampton Molleson, of New Brunswick, New Jersey, and they
became the parents of two daughters and one son, namely: Benajah M.,
who succeeded his father in business; Mary Andrews, who is the widow of
Rev. Wellington White, a missionary for ten years in Canton, China; and
Anna Molleson, who is the wife of Rev. Henry F. McEwen, D. D., pastor
for eleven years (1 887-1 898) of the old Presbyterian church at the corner of
Second avenue and Fourteenth street, New York city. Mr. Martin was a
devoted member of the Presbyterian church, with which his widow is also
identified. Since the death of her honored- husband she has made her home
with her daughter, Mrs. McEwen, at Amsterdam, New York. It is worthy
of note in the connection that John Hampton, a lineal ancestor of Mrs.
Martin, was taken prisoner by the British in the Revolutionary war, being
confined in the famous old sugar house in New York city for a period of
thirteen months. His death occurred in 1822.

JOHN B. BONNETT.

The subject of this sketch has been one of the prominent business men
of Hastings, Westchester county, for the last score of years. He is a native
of New York city, and* a son of James and Emily Barberie Bonnett. The
Bonnett family is of French ancestry, and records in possession of its mem
bers prove that the first emigrant from the fatherland to these shores was
David Bonnett. He is the forefather of all those who to-day in America
bear 'the name of Bonnett. David Bonnett was a silk-weaver in the village
of Thorigne, France. Two hundred years ago he was pursuing his daily
vocation, little thinking that his life was soon to be disturbed, and that the
rest of his days were to be spent in an environment far away from that in
which he then moved. But David Bonnett and his wife were Huguenots,
and this simple statement in itself is sufficient to account for any persecutions
which might have followed. The rules by which this sect governed their
lives were few and simple, but they adhered to them with all the tenacity of

:5iP

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 553
their natures. They believed that the trust which they possessed was the
-eternal trust of God; and wedded to that belief was the determination to
hold to the trust and to live it out in life, it mattered not though the bitter
est persecution, yea, even death itself, should be the consequence. The
fact that they were held in disrepute by the people only strengthened their
faith. But at this juncture organized hostility began against the Huguenots of
the'village of Thorigne. Troops were sent to convert them at the point of
the sword. When the report of their approach reached the ears of Mon
sieur Bonnett, he hastily decided to evade, if possible, the approaching doom
by flight. He had heard of a land across the sea where men could worship
God according to the dictates of their own consciences, and he trusted that
somehow a way might be open by which he might transport his family
thither. The task lying immediately at hand, however, was to escape from
the village. Loading a donkey cart with vegetables, as if going to market,
he and his wife hid their children in the midst of the load, cautioning them
to preserve strict silence, it mattered not what might happen. Mr. Bonnett
with a basket of turnips, walked, his wife following and driving the donkey.
Outside the village they met the troopers, who stopped them and made an
examination of their goods, and concluding that they were only market
people let them pass on. But in order to be sure that they were not escaping
Huguenots, and that no human beings were hidden in the cart, one of the
soldiers ran his sword through the very sacks in which the children were con
cealed. The little ones, true to the command of the parents, let no outcry
escape them, but it was afterward found that their boy of five years had a
sword thrust through his thigh. He suffered the intense pain with perfect
silence, and when uncovered the brave child's first words were: " I did not
speak: did I, mother?"
The family succeeded in working their way to America, and the boy
who saved his own life and the lives of his parents by his silence, grew into
manhood, and became the progenitor of the American line of the family.
The paternal grandparents of our subject were: Samuel and Elizabeth
Woolley, of Long Island. Their son, James Bonnett, Jr., father of our sub
ject, was born in New Rochelle in 1816, and arriving at the age of manhood
became a merchant in New York city, moving later to New Rochelle, where
he continued the business for a number of years. He married Emily Bar-
berie, daughter of John Barberie, Esq., who also was of Huguenot descent,
his antecedents coming to America during the religious persecutions in France
and taking up their abodes in New York city in 1681. Mrs. Bonnett died in
i860, and was buried in Greenwood cemetery on Long Island, while Mr.
Bonnett was laid to rest in the cemetery at Upper New Rochelle. Two chil-

554 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
dren have survived them: John B., whose name begins this sketch, and'
Elizabeth A. , widow of Harvey Bryant, late of New Jersey.
John B. Bonnett spent the greater part of his youth in the village of New
Rochelle, and received such meager educational advantages as were then
afforded by the common schools. At an early age he left school and entered-
the employ of George W. L. Underhill, a merchant in New Rochelle. Later
he connected himself with William S. Hunt, who was an extensive builder
in New York city. Subsequently he entered upon an independent business
career in the produce business on Ninth avenue, New York city, removing
thence to enlarged quarters at Tenth avenue and Thirtieth street, in which
latter place he continued until the year 1878. Then, disposing of his busi
ness there, he moved to Hastings, where he started in a general merchandise
store. In connection with that he conducts a lumber, coal and wood yard,
and carries a full line of masons' materials. He has built up a large, profit
able and constantly increasing business, and is one of the leading represent
atives of commercial interest in the town.
In 1870 Mr. Bonnett married Miss Hannah Munson, daughter of the-
late George Munson, Esq. , of Hastings, a very prominent and highly respected
citizen. Four children have been born of this union: Hamilton Woolley,
George Munson, John Van Tuyl and Frederick Melville.
Mr. Bonnett is a member of the Dutch Reformed congregation of Hast
ings; and contributes most liberally to its support. He has been closely
identified with the growth and prosperity of the village during these past
twenty years, and few projects are put forward looking toward the improve
ment of the village, without securing his advice. He is at present a member
of -the village board of health, and is treasurer of the board of education, hav
ing served in both capacities for several consecutive terms. He is ever ready
to give moral and financial support to every movement which is calculated to
advance the interests of the place and its people. Mr. Bonnett's exemplary
character, his business ability, unpretentious manner and genial disposition
have made him a great power in molding the life of the community, and have
won for him a host of friends, all of whom regard him with the deepest
respect and affection.
AMOS ACKERMAN.
Mr. Ackerman, who is one of the prominent and influential citizens of
Mount Pleasant township, was born near the place where he now lives,
November 18, 1823, and throughout life has been identified with the agri
cultural interests of that section. He now owns and occupies what years
ago was known as the old homestead of Major William Van Tassell, an
officer of the war of 18 12 and later a prominent Democratic politician, who

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 555.
knew by sight every voter in the county. He was a gentleman of the old
school and a soldier of fortune.
James Ackerman, our subject's father, was* of Holland descent, and
was born in this state, being a son of David and  (Tillison) Ackerman,
both of whom died in the neighborhood of our subject's home. Here James-
grew to manhood and learned the weaver's trade, at which he did a good
business for many years, but later in life devoted his attention to farming.
He married Catherine Van Tassell, daughter of Abraham Van Tassell, one
of the seven men who captured Major Andre. He was a large, muscular
man of great strength and endurance, and was Washington Irving's hero,
Brom Bones, in the Legends of Sleepy Hollow. He married Elizabeth Yerks,
the daughter of a large land-owner in Westchester county. In the family
of James and Catherine Ackerman were eight children, namely: Hiram;.
Berlin; Mrs. Eliza Requaw; Leonard; Elliott V.; Amos, our subject; Mrs.
Jane Requaw; and Mrs. Mary De Revere. Our subject is the only one now
living. The father was a strong Democrat in politics, an admirer of Andrew
Jackson, and was a member of the Dutch Reformed church. He died at
the age of seventy-four years, and his wife, who was a most estimable
woman and a member of the same church, departed this life at the age of
eighty-three. Reared on the home farm, Amos Ackerman pursued his studies in the
district schools of the neighborhood, and at the age of seventeen began learn
ing the blacksmith's trade with his brother Berlin, remaining with him for
four years, or until the brother's death, in 1844. He then took charge of
the shop and engaged in business on his own account at East View and later
at Switching's Corner, which half a century ago did an extensive business and
was headquarters for politicians, stockmen, drovers and others for miles
around. In October, 1 846, Mr. Ackerman was united in marriage with Miss Eliza
beth Bird, who was born, reared and educated in Mount Pleasant township,
a daughter of John and Mary (Secor) Bird, and to whom was born one child,
—Mrs. Emma Hunter, of Pleasantville, this county, who has four children:
Leonard, Kate, Lemaii and Amos. Mrs. Ackerman died in 1852, and subse
quently our subject was again married, his second union being with Miss Mary
Angevine, a native of Mount Pleasant township, and a daughter of Gods and
Catherine Angevine. One daughter also blessed this union, Addie, now the
wife of Colonel Ellsworth Van Tassell, by whom she has two children: Mary
Leta and Ethel. The Colonel was born here in 1862, was reared and edu
cated in this county, and. is a son of Sylvester Van Tassell, and grandson of
Major Wiliam Van Tassell, previously mentioned. After a happy married
life of several years, Mrs. Ackerman was called to her final rest May 1, 1890.

356 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
She was a loving wife and affectionate mother, and an earnest Christian
woman, a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, at Pleasantville, to
which our subject-also belongs. Politically he is identified with the Repub
lican party and is a supporter of all measures calculated to advance the moral,
educational or material welfare of his town or county. He is recognized as
one of the most useful and valued citizens of his community and is very popu
lar socially.
HON. JOHN Q. UNDERHILL.
If kindness and geniality count for aught in this world, if a life above
reproach, both in the discharge of public and private duties, is deserving of
commendation, then John Quincy Underhill has certainly merited the high
regard which is uniformly accorded him. In business he is the soul of honor
and integrity, and from a humble clerkship has worked his way upward until
he now has an important official connection with one of the leading insurance
companies of the country. As a leader in Democratic circles he has also
won prestige and has been honored with high political preferment.
Mr. Underhill was born in New Rochelle, in 1848, and isa representa
tive in the eighth generation of a family that is descended from Captain John
Underhill, who fought with Captain Mason against the Indians in New Eng
land. He crossed the Atlantic in 1630 and about 1660 made a permanent
location on Long Island. His first wife was a sister of Governor Winthrop,
of the Massachusetts colony. Members of the Underhill family, descend
ants of Captain John Underhill, removed from Long Island to Westchester
•county, New York,- establishing here what is now one of the oldest and most
honored families of the locality. Peter Underhill served his country in the
war of 1 8 12 and rose to the rank of colonel. John Bonnett Underhill,
grandfather of our subject, was a native of Westchester county, where also
occurred the birth of George Washington Lafayette Underhill, father of him
whose name introduces this review. He married Julia Ann Barker, also a
native of Westchester county and a daughter of Isaac Barker. They are
still residents of New Rochelle, and for many years the father was actively
connected with the business interests of the city. In early life he was a
farmer but afterward engaged in merchandising, which he carried on until
his retirement from active business life.
In the district schools near his home John Q. Underhill acquired his
early education, and later attended the Free Academy, now the College of
New York City. In 1869 he entered the employ of the Westchester Fire
Insurance Company, in a clerical capacity, and has since retained his con
nection with that corporation, steadily advancing step by step as he has
demonstrated his mastery of the business and his ability to handle success-

z^m

dflfj%

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 557
fully its interests. In 1879 he was made secretary of the company, and in
1892 was elected both secretary and vice-president, but in that year resigned
the former position in order to assume the duties of treasurer in addition to
those of vice-president. Such is his present connection with the company
with which he has been associated for thirty years. Largely owing to his
able and sagacious management, a most gratifying success has attended this
enterprise during his connection therewith, and the assets have increased
from two hundred thousand dollars to two million five hundred thousand
dollars during that period. Mr. Underhill is a man of keen discrimination
and unabating perseverance, and with a judgment rarely in error he formu
lates his plans and carries them forward to a prosperous conclusion. In
connection with others, he aided in the organization of the New Rochelle
Bank, in 1887, and has since been a member of its directorate. He is.a man
of unswerving loyalty to any interest entrusted to his care, and his honesty
in business matters is proverbial.
But it is not alone in the business world that Mr. Underhill is well
known. He is regarded as one of the essential factors in the public life of
New Rochelle, was three times elected president of the village, and was a
member of the town board for a number of years. For ten years he had the
general management of the construction of the sewers of the village, and
introduced a system which adds much to the healthfulness of New Rochelle,.
and is unsurpassed in any town of its size in the Empire state. While serv
ing as trustee and having charge of the sewer system, more than a million
dollars of public money passed through his hands, every cent of which was
faithfully accounted for. He drafted a bill, which was passed by both houses
of the legislature, making New Rochelle a city, and though he met the most
stubborn opposition on the part of a number of citizens, he persevered in the
pursuit of this commendable purpose until his object was accomplished. He
is eminently popular, a fact which was shown in 1898, when he was elected
on the Democratic ticket to the fifty-sixth congress from the sixteenth con
gressional district of New York by a plurality of sixty-three hundred and fifty,
over James Irving Burns, the Republican nominee. During the two preced
ing terms the district had been represented by a Republican, and his
immediate predecessor, William L. Ward, had been elected in 1896 by a
plurality of seventy-two hundred, a fact which shows that he increased the
Democratic vote about fourteen thousand. He was the only candidate on
the Democratic ticket elected in Westchester county, in the fall of 1898, and
it will thus be seen that he wields a mighty influence in political affairs in the
county, and, indeed, throughout the entire congressional district.
In 1872 Mr. Underhill wedded Miss Minnie B. Price, of Sag Harbor,
Long Island, daughter of James H. Price. They now have a daughter, Anna

558 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
B., an accomplished young lady and a graduate of the woman's law class of
the University Law School, of New York city. They have a pleasant home,
in the midst of attractive surroundings, and in social circles their position is
enviable. Mr. Underhill is a member of Huguenot Lodge, No. 46, F. & A.
M. His cordiality and general worth make him a favorite among his friends,
while his strong mentality and marked executive ability have gained him
leadership in business circles and in public life.

STEPHEN G. SEYMOUR.

No man in Westchester county is probably more worthy of representa
tion in a work of this kind than he whose name stands at the head of this
sketch. He has been identified with its business interests for many years,
as a dealer in general merchandise, flour and feed at Lewisboro, has served
as postmaster at that place since first appointed by President Andrew John
son, and for the long period of twenty-seven years has also filled the office
of justice of the peace.
Mr. Seymour was born in New Canaan, Connecticut, September 14,
1835, and on the paternal side is of English descent. His grandfather, Sam
uel Seymour, was a farmer by occupation, and his father, Rufus S. Seymour,
was engaged in shoemaking and later was a farmer. The latter married Miss
Sally Keeler, the daughter of Thaddeus Keeler, who died in Potter county,
Pennsylvania, and both are now deceased, the father having died at the age
¦of seventy-six years. They were faithful members of the Methodist church,
and in his political views Mr. Seymour was a pronounced Democrat.
Stephen Seymour is indebted to the public schools for his education,
and when a young man he successfully engaged in teaching school for some
time. In i860 was celebrated his marriage to Miss Frances D. Lockwood,
who was born, reared and educated in this county, and is one of the four
children born to Rufus and Sally (Raymond) Lockwood, the others being
John, Samuel and Joseph W. , of Lewisboro township. Mr. and Mrs. Sey
mour have two children: Urban G., who married Miss Cora Crawford; and
Ada Frances, a resident of Lewisboro, but attended school in New Jersey.
The wife and mother is an earnest member of the Methodist church, and is
-held in high esteem for her many excellencies of character.
For many years Mr. Seymour has been unwavering in his support of the
Democratic party and takes a lively interest in political issues, on which he
- is well informed. Over his life record there falls no shadow of wrong, his
public services has been most exemplary, and his private life has been marked
by the utmost fidelity to duty. He therefore merits and receives the respect
and confidence of the entire community.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 559
LEON E. PEELER, M. D.
Leon E. Peeler, M. D., a prominent young physician and surgeon of
Harrison, Westchester county, was born January 7, 1871, in Sodus Center,
Wayne county, New York, and is a representative of a well-known family of
that part of the state. His parents being George U. and Augusta (Ireland)
Peeler, he is a descendant on the maternal side of Martha Biddle and
Lorenzo Ireland, his great-grandparents, Martha Biddle having been a sister
of the well-known Nicholas Biddle, who was president of the United States
Bank at Philadelphia until it was dissolved, during President Jackson's
administration. The Doctor received his preliminary education at the high school at
Sodus, New York, and commenced the study of medicine in 1889, under the
direction of Dr. H. F. Seaman, one of the oldest practicing physicians of
Wayne county. In the autumn of 1892 he entered the medical department
of the University of the City of New York, where he was graduated in the
class of 1895 with honor, winning by competitive examination after gradua
tion a position as interne to Bellevue Hospital. In July of the same year he
located at Harrison, where he soon succeeded in establishing a good practice,
which he still enjoys.
In September, 1896, Dr. Peeler married Miss Katherine Seaman, a
daughter of Benjamin B. Seaman and a niece of our subject's former pre
ceptor. As a family they are actively identified with the interests of Har
rison, and are regarded as prominent residents by the members of that grow
ing, town.
CHARLES H. ABBOTT.
For 'a score of years this sterling old citizen of Westchester county has
held the office of justice of the peace in Pound Ridge township. He comes
from one of the pioneer families of this locality, and was born on the old
homestead, which he now owns and carries on. On the paternal side he is
of English descent, as his name implies, and his ancestors were numbered
among the early settlers of Connecticut. His grandfather, Ebenezer Abbott,
was a native of the town of Wilton, Connecticut, and both he and his wife,
whose girlhood name was Molly Adams, lived for some years in Lewisboro
township, this county, and there passed to their last reward. Their son,
Moses A., the father of the subject of this review, was born in Wilton, Con
necticut, in 1795, and died, when in his ninety-seventh year, in 1891. His
boyhood and youth were spent in this county, and for many years, when he
was in his prime, he was one of the most influential citizens of his home
neighborhood. He chose for his wife Miss Phcebe Lynes, a native of Lewis-

560 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
boro township, a daughter of Holly Lynes, who was of French extraction-
She died at the age of seventy-four years, a faithful member of the Methodist
church, to which her husband also belonged. He was a Whig and Repub
lican in his political views, and enjoyed the high regard of all who knew him.
Charles H. Abbott, whose birth occurred June 3, 1839, is one of nine
children, five of whom are deceased, namely: William, Elizabeth, Ebenezer,
Ebenezer (the second) and Betsey J. Those of the family who survive are
Cordelia, widow of Thomas L. Downs, of Montour, Tama county, Iowa;
Emily, wife of Aaron Schofield, of Pound Ridge township; Julia, wife of
Enoch Ambler, of Garwin, Tama county, Iowa; and Charles H. '
In his youth Charles H. Abbott received an excellent education in the
common schools of this county, and by special study and " burning of the
midnight oil " prepared himself for the work of teaching. Having success
fully passed the required examinations he was granted a teacher's certificate
and for the following decade gave his attention to educational work. Since-
the expiration of that period he has devoted himself exclusively to agriculture
and has cultivated the old homestead of seventy acres. The place is well
improved with substantial buildings, a good orchard and fences, and is one
of the best in the township. The year 1864 Mr. Abbott spent in Tama county,
Iowa, where he had some idea of permanently locating, but he changed his
plans and ultimately returned to the place made dear to him by the associa
tions of childhood. In 1893 he went on an extended visit to Tama county,
and, though for some reasons he believes it might have been better for him
to have remained in the west after the close of the civil war, he does not
regret his decision to live and die in the home of his father.
In 1883 Mr. Abbott married Miss Louisa Newman, a daughter of David
Newman, of Brooklyn, New York. Both Mr. and Mrs. Abbott are active mem
bers of the Methodist Episcopal church and take an intelligent interest in all
movements calculated to accrue to the lasting benefit of their fellow-citizens.
They give their earnest support to various benevolent and religious enter
prises, and are always to be safely relied upon to use their influence and
means in the upholding of righteous law and good government. In his polit
ical affiliations Mr. Abbott is a Republican.

FRANCIS D. BROWN.

This honored and highly esteemed citizen of North Salem township,
Westchester county, was born July 12, 1822, on the farm where he still con
tinues to reside. His great-grandfather, Samuel Brown, was born in 1734,
in Stamford, England, and later emigrated to America, locating in Stamford,
Connecticut. In 1772 he came to Delancy township, now known as North,

^

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 561
Salem, in Westchester county. New York, where his death occurred, in
1815. His wife Susan, who was born March 28, 1737, lived to the extreme
old age of one hundred and three years. Their children were Rebecca,
Mrs. Abby Palmer, Susanna, Nathan, Prudence, Samuel W. , Mrs. McGil-
lavry and Mrs. Lamb.
Nathan Brown, the grandfather of Francis D. ,.was born in Connecticut
February 20, 1767, and in early manhood married Miss Lobdell, by whom
he had four children, — Mary, Thomas (father of our subject), Abby and Ann.
For his second wife he married a Miss Allen, and they had one child, whom
they named Susan. Nathan Brown and both his wives died in this county.
Thomas Brown, our subject's father, was born and reared on the old
homestead where his son is now living, and throughout life engaged in agri
cultural pursuits there. He was one of the leading and prominent citizens
of his community, was a soldier in the war of 18 12, an active member of
the Methodist Episcopal church, and died June 24, 1857, at the age of sixty-
three years. In early life he married Miss Sally Williams, of Bedford, a
daughter of James and Polly Williams, who were related to the Lounsberrys
of this county. Mrs. Brown departed this life November 4, 1891, at the
age of ninety-eight years. She was a devout Christian, kind and charitable
at all times; and it is safe to say that she did more work in the Methodist
Episcopal church than any other woman of the congregation to which she
belonged. In her family were one son (our subject) and four daughters, all
residents of North Salem township, the daughters being: Susan, the wife of
Clark Lobdell; Mary, widow of Hiram Reynolds; Chloe, the widow of
Charles Bloomer; and Clarissa, the wife of Martin Todd.
On the home farm Mr. Brown early became familiar with every depart
ment of farm work, and he is recognized as one of the most thorough and
skillful agriculturists of his community. His literary education was obtained
in the public schools and the old Salem Academy. At the age of twenty-
seven he married Miss Almira P. Frost, of the same town, a daughter of
Stedwell and Eliza (Fowler) Frost, both of whom died in that township.
Mrs. Brown departed this life in 1865, leaving two children: Elbert D., and
Mary E. , now the wife of James Colwell, of New York city, by whom she
had one son, — Francis, deceased, and a daughter, Mary F. Elbert D. grew
to manhood upon the home, farm and February 20, 1878, married Miss
Frances I. Stevens, of Delaware county, New York, a daughter of James W.
and Catherine (Christie) Stevens. They have had four children, two of
whom, Almira C. and Francis D., Jr., are living. Our subject was again
married in 1868, his second union being with Miss Jane E,. Landrine, of
Tarrytown, this county. She died November 25, 1892, leaving no children.
In his political predilections Mr. Brown has always been a Democrat,
36

562 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
and for the long period of twenty-four years he most efficiently served his fel
low citizens in the capacity of road commissioner. He has always taken a
most active part in church and Sunday-school work, as a member of the
Methodist Episcopal church, being for half a century superintendent of the
Sunday-school, and he is therefore well known throughout the country in this
part of New York state for his efficiency in that line. Although seventy-six
years of age he is still well preserved, for nature deals kindly with the man
who abuses not her laws, and he has an extensive circle of friends and
acquaintances who esteem him highly for his genuine worth.

HENRY F. PATCH, M. D.
The genial gentleman whose name adorns this page, Dr. Henry F.
Patch, of Chappaqua, New York, is one of the best known physicians and
surgeons of Westchester county, where he has been engaged in practice for
-a period of twenty-four years, he having located here in 1874.
Dr. Patch was born December 7, 1839, in Francestown, New Hamp
shire, a son of William and Sallie (Stevans) Patch, representatives of families
that were counted among the early settlers of New England. Dr. Patch's
education, begun in the public schools, was carried forward at Francestown
Academy and completed at Dartmouth Medical College, Hanover, New Hamp
shire, where he graduated with the class of 1866. In that year he opened
an office in Harlin, and in 1874 became identified with Chappaqua, where he
soon built up and has retained a large and lucrative practice.
The year of his location in New York, Dr. Patch was united in marriage
to Miss Leonora Bull, a native of New York city, and their home circle in
cludes four children, — Florence E., Lillie L. , Daisy M. and Harry F. Their
charming abode is a historic place, it being the old Greeley homestead, where
Horace Greeley produced one of his best works.
In social and fraternal circles the Doctor has a wide popularity. He is
a member of several medical societies, among them the Westchester Medical
Society; also he is a member of Greeley Lodge, I. O. O. F. , of Chappaqua,
of which he is the secretary.

ROBERT T. EMMET.
The name of Emmet is one which has been long and conspicuously
identified with the history of the Empire state, and is one in which each suc
cessive generation has produced men of honor and sterling worth, — men who
have honored and been honored by the state which gave them birth and
which has figured as the field of their respective endeavors in connection with

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 563
the material activities which have ever conserved the progress and prosperity
of the Union. From the Emerald Isle came the first American ancestor,
Addis Emmet, who crossed the Atlantic about 1804, locating in New York
city. He soon won prestige as a prominent lawyer and was elected attorney.
general of the state. His son, Robert Emmet, grandfather of our subject,
was born in Dublin, Ireland, and came to the United States during his child
hood. Entering the legal profession, he was called to the important office of
corporation counsel of the city of New York, and also filled the position of
judge of the common-pleas court. His death occurred in New Rochelle, in
1873. Several representatives of the family have gained marked distinction
at the bar, their eminent ability reflecting credit upon the profession with
which they were allied.
William J. Emmet, father of our subject, was born in New York city,
where he acquired his education and was reared to manhood. Entering upon
his business career, he was for a number of years successfully engaged in the
sugar-refining business in the metropolis. He married Julia C. Pierson, and
they are now honored residents of New Rochelle. Mrs. Emmet is a native
of Ramapo, Rockland county, New York, and her grandfather, Josiah Pier-
son, was the founder of the East Ramapo Iron & Foundry Works. He was
there extensively engaged in the manufacture of iron and at the same time
operated an extensive factory.
Robert T. Emmet was born in New York city in 1854. He studied in a
private boarding school, after which he entered West Point Military Academy,
on the Hudson, pursuing the four-years course of that institution. He was
graduated in 1877, and continuing in the military service of his country as a
member of the Ninth Regiment of United States Regular Cavalry, he went to
the frontier to aid in the suppression of the Indians, who frequently menaced
the property and lives of the pioneers on the western borders. He served in
that cavalry command for fourteen years and for four years was on the staff
of General Pope, after which, with his regiment, he was stationed at Fort
Niobrara, Nebraska.
Resigning his commission in 1891, Mr. Emmet returned to New Rochelle,
New York, where he has since resided, giving his attention to civil engineer
ing. On the breaking out of the war with Spain, he volunteered and was
commissioned major in the First Infantry New York Volunteers, and served
for some months in the Hawaiian islands with that regiment. In 1883 Mr.
Emmet was married to Miss Helena V. C. Phelps, only daughter of Henry
D. and Kate Phelps. Her father belongs to one of the oldest and most
honored families of Westchester county, and has long been a valued resident
of New Rochelle. Mr. and Mrs. Emmet have three children, two sons and
a daughter, — Robert M., Herman L. R. and Anita H. Mr. Emmet belongs

564 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
to the University Club, of New York city, and the New York Yacht Club.
While campaigning in the west he acquired a fund of interesting and oft-
times amusing reminiscences, which enrich his conversation and, together
.with his genial disposition, unfailing courtesy and uniform kindness, render
him a social favorite. 
CHARLES G. BANKS.
Charles G. Banks is ex-register of Westchester county, ex-president of
New Rochelle, having held the office for three terms in succession, and
ex-police justice and corporation counsel of New Rochelle, New York. An
enumeration of those men of the present generation who have won honor
and public recognition for themselves, and at the same time have honored
the state to which they belong, would be incomplete were there failure to
make prominent reference to the one whose name initiates this paragraph.
He holds distinctive precedence as a safe and careful lawyer, and has been
and is pre-eminently a man of affairs, wielding a wide influence. A strong
mentality, an invincible courage and a most determined individuality have so
entered into his make-up as to render him a natural leader of men and a
director of opinion. For twenty years he has been an important figure in
legal and commercial circles in New Rochelle, and is a representative of one
of the old families of the county.
In Middle Patten, in the town of North Castle, Westchester county,
Charles G. Banks, was born May 26, 1847, his parents being Captain James
P. and Thurza A. (Palmer) Banks. His paternal grandparents were James
and Sarah (Lane) Banks, and his maternal grandparents were Allen and
Sarah (Smith) Palmer. In his father's family were four children, his brother
being William L. Banks, of White Plains, and his sisters are Clarissa A.
Banks and Mrs. Lizetta P. Hegeman, of Brooklyn, New York. For several
generations the representatives of the Banks and Palmer families had been
industrious and respected farming people of the town of North Castle and
the central part of Westchester county.
When seventeen years of age, Charles G. Banks left the farm, his father
having died some twelve years before, to make his own way in the world, and
in 1865 accepted the position of clerk in the LeRoy Place Hotel, at New
Rochelle, under his uncle, George W. Banks. He was afterward made
manager, and then became proprietor of this once well-known summer resort,
which was destroyed by fire some years ago. Although he met with success
in this undertaking, he did not find it altogether to his taste, and in 1872
he began the study of law in the office of Charles H. Roosevelt, of New
Rochelle, New York. In 1873 he entered the New York University, and
was graduated in the law department of that institution in the class of 1875.

Tha Lh^-s FuBfisEirng Cn On-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 565
He was admitted to the bar, at a special term of the supreme court in Pough
keepsie, the same year, and in July, 1875, became the senior member of the
well-known law firm of Banks & Keogh, his partner being Judge Martin J.
Keogh, of the second department.
A short time before his graduation Mr. Banks was elected upon the
Republican ticket to the office of police justice of New Rochelle for a term
of four years, and was subsequently chosen corporation counsel of that city,
which office he acceptably filled for several years. In 1877 he became the
Republican nominee for registrar of Westchester county, against Stephen S.
Marshall, the Democratic nominee, and, after a very active and hotly con
tested campaign, was elected by a majority of seventeen hundred and sev
enty-seven, although the county went Democratic by over a thousand major
ity. This was certainly a high tribute to his personal popularity, and was
an indication of the confidence reposed in him by his fellow-townsmen and
friends throughout the county. He was again a candidate, in the fall of
1880, but was defeated, by a few votes, with the remainder of the ticket.
For a period of six successive years (three terms) he was president of New
Rochelle, his first opponent being the late James W. Todd; his second, Hon.
John Q. Underhill, and third, Charles H. Roosevelt, and his administration
of the public affairs was most progressive, business-like and commendable.
His fidelity in the discharge of every duty devolving upon him in connection
with public office is above question, and his service has ever materially
advanced the interests of the community he represents. For ten years he
was an active member of the fire department, and within that period was
both foreman and assistant foreman of his company.
Mr. Banks' operations in real estate have been extensive and profitable.
He owns much valuable property in New Rochelle and elsewhere in West
chester county and has erected many buildings in the city, including the
United States post-office building, a three-story brick structure, one hundred
and ten feet long, at the corner of Huguenot and Bridge streets, New Ro
chelle. It is in this building that his law offices are located. In his practice
he has steadily risen to an eminent position at the Westchester county bar,
and he has a large and lucrative clientage. He has largely mastered the
science of jurisprudence, and prides himself on a thorough preparation of
every case committed to his care, which enables him to meet fairly any con
tingency that may arise, and his opponent often finds great difficulty in over
throwing his masterful logic. Mr. Banks is a member of the State Bar Asso
ciation, the Westchester County Bar Association, the Republican Club, the
Board of Trade of New Rochelle, and the Exempt Firemen's Association.
Mr. Banks married Miss Fannie E. Morgan, only daughter of Charles
V. and Susan M. (Badeau) Morgan, of the town of East Chester. For the

566 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
past ten years Mr. and Mrs. Banks have spent the winters in sunny Florida,
where he has ample opportunity to indulge his taste for tarpon fishing. He
finds another source of recreation in driving, and is a lover of a good horse.
He has owned fully a dozen with a record of 2:20 or better, and his stables
are never without some valuable specimens of the noble steed. He is also
the owner and proprietor of Fashion Stock Farm, which is credited in the
horse world with choice specimens of equine stock. His life is practically
that of a self-made man. Through his own efforts he has risen to a position
of professional prominence and commercial leadership, and at the same time
has gained the highest regard of an ever broadening circle of acquaintances
and friends. Mr. Banks enjoyed the friendship and confidence of the late
Hon. William H. Robertson, General James W. Husted and Judge Silas
D. Gifford, all of whom were elected to office upon the Republican ticket
with him upon one occasion.
Among the important criminal cases that Mr. Banks was connected with
early in practice, and successfully helped to defend, was that of Richard
Hanna, indicted and tried for his life, for the murder of Thomas White, a
hotel-keeper, at New Rochelle, and also the case of Frederick Eveson (col
ored), indicted and tried for his life for the murder of a white girl in the out
skirts of New Rochelle. Eveson, like Hanna, was acquitted. Another
case was that of Levison, the jeweler, indicted for grand larceny, charged
with extracting a three-hundred-dollar diamond from a ring belonging to a
Miss Emmet, and substituting an imitation in its place. The defence was
an ingenious one and the jeweler was acquitted.
Among some of the important civil cases that Mr. Banks has been con
nected with in the past might be mentioned the action of the receiver of the
New Rochelle Savings Bank versus William R. Humphrey, secretary; George
J. Penfield, president; Thomas L. Disbrow, treasurer; and George Wilson
and others, trustees. This action was brought to recover upward of twenty
thousand dollars, embezzled by the secretary, Humphrey. Mr. Banks
appeared for trustee Wilson in the case, but really in fact was in the interest
of the president, Mr. Penfield, and the treasurer, Mr. Disbrow. Through a
clever arrangement of Mr. Wilson's counsel, his client paid a nominal sum
for a general release, which also released the joint wrong-doers, Messrs.
Penfield and Disbrow. Another important case was that relating to the pro
bate of the will of the late James Morgan. Mr. Banks had drawn the will,
which related to real and personal estate of the value of one hundred thousand
dollars or more. The probate of the same was contested from the surro
gate's court to the court of appeals, but was sustained in every court.
Mr. Banks is and has been executor and trustee of many large estates,
among which might be mentioned that of the late Hon. Albert Badeau and

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 567
Henry L. Dean; he is also counsel for many large estates and has the hand
ling of large amounts of trust funds and securities. It is estimated that dur
ing the past fifteen years more than five millions of dollars have been per
sonally invested by him for his clients, in county bonds and mortgages.
Mr. Banks politically is a Republican, but has many warm Democratic
friends and supporters, as is evidenced by the fact that in the dozen times or
more that he has been a candidate upon the Republican ticket he has always
succeeded in getting a handsome majority in the city and town in which he
resides. Mr. Banks is a hard worker, does his own thinking and is noted for
his staying qualities.
WILLIAM VAN DUZER LAWRENCE.
The well known founder of Lawrence Park, Bronxville, New York, is
the subject of this sketch. He purchased about one hundred acres of the
old Prescott estate, ten years ago, and transformed it into one of the most
beautiful and attractive suburban parks near New York city. The grounds
are well fitted by nature for the purpose for which they are now used, being
considered the highest and most picturesque point of land in all this section
of the country. The park is a natural forest of great trees and has been
laid out in irregular lots, with roads winding in and out instead of being on
regular lines and blocks as is usually the plan in laying out suburban resi
dence districts. These lots are sold under certain restrictions, and they
have been taken largely by the artistic and literary class of citizens, and
Lawrence Park has become quite celebrated for its colony of noted people
who have purchased cottages there.
In 1897 Mr. Lawrence erected the Gramatan Inn on the top of Sunset
hill near the Bronxville station. It contains one hundred and twenty-five
rooms, has wide porches and verandas, making it a most beautiful place in
summer and winter for visitors and guests. It is a fine Colonial structure,
with all modern improvements,, including electric lights and bells, and
steam heat, and from its verandas one has a fine view, extending from the
Hudson river to the Sound. In the winter these porches are inclosed with
glass, forming sun parlors, and the Inn is open all the year round. One of
its most desirable features is its close proximity to the city, being only a
twenty-six minutes' run on the New York & Harlem Railroad from the Grand
Central station, Forty-second street, New York, so that the busy man, who
is obliged to remain in the city during the day, can here find cool, bracing
country air, where he can enjoy the society of his family and friends in the
evening. In the construction of the hotel no convenience has been omitted
that would add to the happiness and comfort of the guests.
Mr. Lawrence is a native of New York city, where he was reared and

568 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
educated, is a cultured and pleasant gentleman and thorough business man.
He has not developed Lawrence Park as a money-making scheme, as is
usually the case in suburban park affairs, but his methods have been quite
original and new, and therefore successful. .

NORMAN SECOR, Jr.

An historic old family of Westchester county is the one of which the sub
ject of this sketch is a worthy scion. The Secors were among the French
Huguenots who, fleeing from the persecutions with which they were beset in
their own loved country, came to the hospitable shores of the New World,
where they might have " freedom to worship God " according to the dictates
of their hearts. This little band of refugees landed at New Rochelle, West
chester county, in 1681, and here they founded homes and became a thriving,
prosperous little colony, respected by all with whom they had dealings.
The great-grandfather of our subject belonged to this brave band, and
his son Thomas, the next in the line of descent, was born on a farm in the vicinity
of East Chester, this county, where he spent his entire life. His son Nor
man, the father of our subject, was born in the town of East Chester, Sep
tember 9, 1 8 18, and after having spent a long, useful life as a tiller of the
soil is now enjoying a justly earned rest from labor. He has passed the
eightieth milestone on life's journey, and for one of his years has remarkably
good health. In his early manhood he chose for his wife Mary Ann Purtell,
whose birth occurred in New Rochelle, in 1830, her parents being James and
Anna Purtell, of that locality. Mrs. Mary Secor is also living.
Norman Secor, Jr., was born in the. town of Greenburg, Westchester
county, January 4, 1852, and from his earliest recollection has been occupied
in the varied duties of farm life. Under his father's tutelage he acquired
practical knowledge of agriculture, and in the schools of the neighborhood
he received a liberal business education. Later he was a student in the
Ardsley school for a few months, and by private study and reading he became
the well informed man that he is to-day. Having given his father his assist
ance until he reached his majority the young man then embarked in business
on his own account, and from that time until the present has carried on a
farm, keeping from eighteen to twenty cows for dairy purposes, and in addi
tion to this he bandies annually about five thousand tons of ice. His good
business methods and industry have wrought out success for him, and he is
now well-to-do and prosperous. He owns considerable property, and from
time to time has made profitable investments.
It is in his happy home circle that Mr. Secor finds his chief pleasure in
life, and there, surrounded by his family, the cares of the busy world seem

jg^L^r^. J?^

WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

569

far away. It was in 1872 that he was united in wedlock with Mary Ann
Lander, eldest daughter of Henry S. and Ann (Williams) Lander. Her
father, a native of England, is engaged in farming and is also interested in
the manufacture and sale of a fertilizer. Like her husband, Mrs. Secor was
born in the town of Greenburg, and from childhood they were friends and
companions. Four sons and three daughters blessed their home, namely:
Henry R., Alice M., Harriet W. , Mabel B., Arthur W., Ethie J. and Jerome.
Henry is married and has three sons, Thomas M., Russell H. and Thornton,
and they have nine grand and great-grandparents living ! Alice, the eldest
daughter, is the wife of Fred H. Wille, of Ardsley, New York, and they have
one son, Kenneth R., who has eight grand and great -grandparents living.
The family is one noted for longevity.
Though he is a stalwart Republican and never neglects his duty as a
voter, Mr. Secor has steadfastly refrained from entering politics, refusing to
accept public office. His time is given to his family, his friends and his
business, and in all life's relations he is accorded and justly merits the high
regard of his many friends.

JAMES A. GRENZEBACH.
Westchester county has been the home and scene of labor of many men
who have not only led lives that should serve as an example to those who
come after them but have also been of important service to their town and
county through various avenues of usefulness. Among them must be named
James A. Grenzebach, who died of heart failure September 2, 1892, after a
life of industry, and one which was rich in those rare possessions which only
a high character can give.
He was born in New York city, in 1837, and spent his boyhood in Pel
ham, Westchester county, receiving a good public-school and academic edu
cation. His father was a farmer and a worthy citizen of his community.
Our subject began his business career as a clerk for Harper Brothers, of New
York city, and in 1867 became a member of the firm of Maxfield & Company,
dealers in and importers of fruit, doing business at the corner of Washington
and Fulton streets, New York. That partnership was dissolved in 1876 and
he came to New Rochelle, Westchester county, where the firm of Grenze
bach & Carpenter was formed, our subject having purchased the interest of
Charles Hoffmeister in the lumber and coal business. The firm soon won
an enviable reputation and were wonderfully successful. The January before
his death Mr. Grenzebach practically retired from the company, though he
was still retained as a special partner, and the name was changed to Car
penter, Todd & Company

570 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
He married Miss Annie E. Carpenter, a sister of his partner, Robert P.
Carpenter, and they became the parents of four children, one son and three-
daughters, who yet survive him. All are unmarried with the exception of
Mrs. Harry H. Todd.
Mr. Grenzebach was one of the first members of the Enterprise Hook
and Ladder Company; also belonged to the Yacht Club and the Maenerchor;
and was an honorary member of the Rowing Club. In politics he was an
ardent Democrat, and he was often called upon to fill public positions of
honor and trust, being trustee of the village in 1879, 1880, 1881, 1883, 1884,
1888 and 1889. He was also village treasurer in 1889 and again in 1892,
being unanimously elected in the spring of the latter year. For fourteen
consecutive years he was a member of the board of education, and spent
much time and energy as a member of the committee on buildings and
grounds. He was always willing to lend a helping hand to any good cause,
or to sympathize with and aid those in distress. Although quick to resent
an injury, he was always willing to forgive, and was deeply attached to his
home and family. The large attendance at his funeral testified to the esteem
in which he was held by the entire community, and his remains were laid to
rest with honor in the Woodlawn cemetery. Generous and sympathetic, he
made friends easily, and he justly deserved the high regard in which he was
uniformly held. JAMES W. TODD.
The late James W. Todd was for many years one of the most prominent
and influential citizens of New Rochelle, New York, always taking a leading
and active part in public affairs, and in his death the community realized
that it had lost one of its most useful and valuable citizens. He was born
December 6, 1837, and began his business career as a boy in the employ of
Berrian & Company, then the leading dealers in house furnishings in New
York city, and he remained with the firm some years, advancing step by step
until he became manager. After his marriage he embarked in the jewelry
business with his father-in-law, George W. Platt, at the corner of Maiden
Lane and Liberty Place, New York city, and for many years he successfully
engaged in that business, giving it up on account of ill health. Thinking that
country air would benefit him, he came to New Rochelle and opened an office
as a real-estate and insurance agent. However, he continued to visit the
city every other day to attend to an optical business which he had estab
lished, and in which he retained an interest as long as his health and strength
would permit. His death occurred August 4, 1893, and his remains were
laid to rest in Woodlawn cemetery.
Being a public-spirited and progressive man, Mr. Todd wielded a wide

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 571
influence in the village, and his record is a monument of good citizenship.
For twenty-three years he was one of the most efficient and untiring workers
on the board of education, during most of that time serving as either its
president or secretary, and both positions he filled with marked ability,
though he received no compensation for his valuable services. For four years
he was also secretary of the sewer commission and took a deep interest and
pride in its work. In 1875 and 1876 he was the efficient and popular presi
dent of the village of New Rochelle.
Mr. Todd was a hard worker and successful business man, and for some
time was one of the directors of the Bank of New Rochelle. On his removal
to that place he purchased a beautiful site on Long Island Sound, and there
erected a most comfortable home, where he continued to live until called
from this life. After his health began to fail he made frequent trips to
Florida, where he and several of his New Rochelle friends had invested in
orange plantations. He was a prominent member of Huguenot Lodge, F. &
A. M. ; Huguenot Council, Royal Arcanum, and formerly was an honored and
active member of the Enterprise Truck Company. He was a noted marks
man, and often carried away the first prize at contests, including those held
at Wimbleton and Creedmoor. During his busy and useful career he never
neglected the holier duties of life, but was an active an influential member of
the Salem Baptist church, at New Rochelle, and served as its treasurer. He
was a man of whom it may truly be said that the world was better for his
having lived.
Mr. Todd married Miss Mary N. Platt, and at his death left a widow and
five sons: William, the eldest, is engaged in the real-estate business in West
San Francisco, California; Walter Herbert is an assayer; Harry H. is treas
urer of the New Rochelle Coal & Lumber Company; George is a civil
engineer ; and Irving is a clerk in the Bank of New Rochelle.

REV. JOHN A. KELLNER.
The rector of St. Gabriel's Catholic church, of New Rochelle, the Rev.
John A. Kellner, was born in New York and acquired his preliminary educa
tion in the parochical schools, after which he attended St. Francis Xavier
College, of his native city, in which institution he was graduated in 1875. After
acting as assistant for several years in the parishes of St. Nicholas, Second
street, and St. Joseph, One Hundred and Twenty-fifth street, he was selected
by Archbishop Corrigan to form the chancel choir and take charge of the
musical part of the services of St. Patrick's Oathederal. There he labored
for six years, with remarkable success, and at the close of that period he was
selected to take charge of St. Gabriel's church, whither he came in 1893. He

572 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
has since lived and labored in New Rochelle, and his efforts have been most
effective. When he assumed charge there was a membership of three hun
dred families, representing a parish of two thousand souls.
The beautiful church edifice and rectory were the gift of the Iselin fam
ily, and occupy one of the most desirable sites in New Rochelle. The church
is constructed in the Roman-Norman style of blue granite and is one hundred
feet long, eighty feet wide and seventy feet high. A square Norman tower
containing a clock and peal of bells rises many feet above the highest point
of the roof, which is covered by beautiful dark red Venetian tiles. The
work of the church in its various departments is in a flourishing condition.
There is a prosperous Sunday-school, also an excellent parochial school, in
charge of the sisters, and it was through the instrumentality of Father
Kellner that the Adrian Iselin gymnasium was donated to the sisters school.
It is a beautiful brick structure, appropriately equipped in keeping with the
purpose for which it was designed. A handsome residence, also the gift of
Mrs. Iselin, has recently been erected for the sisters of charity.
Father Kellner not only organized his own parish and made it an excel
lent working one, but also extended his field of labors in 1896 by erecting and
equipping St. Catherine's church, of Pelham, making it one of the most
beautiful little churches outside the metropolis. He is a man of scholarly
attainments, of broard, general information, as well as versed extensively^ in
church lore, and is regarded as one of the most respected and beloved priests
in the archdiocese of New York. He gives his labors untiringely to the
advancement of the cause of the church, and his efforts have been followed
by excellent results. CHARLES PRYER.
One of Westchester county's most distinguished and honored citizens,
and an author of considerable prominence, is Charles Pryer, who resided
upon the old Pryer homestead in the town of New Rochelle, where he was
born in 185 1. His father, John Pryer, was born in the city of New York, in
1802, and after completing his education in the schools of the metropolis, he
began his business career there as a merchant. In 1839 he removed, with
his family, to the town of Mamaroneck, Westchester county, where he pur
chased one hundred and fifty acres of land, but soon afterward disposed of
that property. His death occurred April 18, 1875, and his wife, who sur
vived him-for some years, departed this life June 9, 1887, at the age of seven
ty-five. They were the parents of five children who reached years of matur
ity, but George is now deceased, and William E. died September 24, 1888,
in New Rochelle, where he successfully engaged in the practice of medicine
from 1867 up to the time of his death, having a large practice; John T.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 573
resides in New York city; Adeline C. makes her home in New Rochelle; and
Charles completes the family.
On both the paternal and maternal sides our subject is descended from
most distinguished ancestry. Jasper Pryer, the founder of the family in
America, was a Norman Knight and a descendant of Sir Thomas Pryer,
guardian of Prince Edward, known as the Black Prince. It was in 1692 that
Jasper Pryer came to the New World and located in New York, city, where
he removed his family. One of his sons later became a resident of Bergen
county, New Jersey. Our subject's great-grandfather was Thomas Pryer,
and his grandfather was Captain Thomas Pryer, who made his home in New
York city during life and was in the United States Navy for a number of
years. Mrs. Pryer, our subject's mother, was in her maidenhood Miss Eliza
Matilda Chardovoyne de Crevecoeur, and was the daughter of William St.
John Chardovoyne, who was a son of Eli Chardovoyne de Crevceoeur and
was America's first minister from France.
Charles Pryer was principally reared upon the farm, and at a private
school in New York city he prepared for college, and passed a college course
under private tutors. He has since given his attention mainly to the opera
tion of the farm and to his literary work, contributing to different magazines
many able articles, which have received most favorable notice. He is also
the author of a work entitled Reminiscences of an Old Homestead, Legends
of Westchester county, New York; the Booklet for historic New York, en
titled National Ground; and a history of American yachting, which appeared
in the Sporting Encyclopedia. His works have all been most favorably com
mented upon by the press and literary critics of the day.
On the 17th of June, 1880, Mr. Pryer was united in marriage with Miss
Julia C. Miller, a daughter of A. B. Miller, of New Rochelle, but she died in
October, 1884, leaving one son, Harold C. He was again married in 1888,
his second union being with Miss Mary E. Harmer, daughter of John H.
Harmer, and to them has been born a daughter, Alice de Crevecoeur.
In politics Mr. Pryer is conservative. He is a leader in social circles,
taking quite an active and prominent part in a number of societies and clubs.
He is a director of the Knickerbocker Press, in which he has filled the office
of secretary; was commodore of the New Rochelle Yacht Club, and of the
Corinthian fleet for three terms; is a member of the Century Club, of New
York city; the Atlantic Yacht Club; Larchmont Yacht Club; New York Yacht
Club; the Wood Club; and the New York Historical Society; and is also a
fellow of the American Geographical Society; the American Numismatic and
Archaeological Society; and the Botanical Garden and Zoological Society, of
New York city. He has a fine private library and one of the most extensive
collections of foreign coins in the state. He is a man of marked ability,

574 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
forceful character and distinctive culture, — one who will leave his impress
upon the world,— and the community is certainly fortunate that numbers him
mong its citizens.

GEORGE T. DAVIS.

The village of New Rochelle, in which Mr. Davis now resides, is also
the place of his nativity. He was born December 12, 1843, and traces his
ancestry back to an old and prominent family of New England that was
founded in America in 1665 by ancestors who came from Wales and located
in Derby, Connecticut. His great-grandfather, Colonel John Davis, was
born in Oxford, Connecticut, and was colonel of the Connecticut militia.
The grandfather, Truman Davis, was born in Oxford, New Haven county,
Connecticut, in 1787, and was a carpenter by trade, but in his later life he
turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. He loyally served his country
in the war of 18 12, and died in his eighty-second year. His wife was Mary
Allen, of Woodbury, New Haven county.
Captain Clark Davis, the father of our subject, was born in the town of
Naugatuck, New Haven county, Connecticut, in 181 5. Having attained his
majority he wedded Mary Ann Toffey, a native of the town of New Rochelle,
Westchester county. She died in 1880, leaving four children: George T. ;
Mary Esther, wife of Homer Riggs, of New Rochelle; Anna Eliza, wife of
Albert Cornell; and Francis H., superintendent of the New Rochelle Water
Company. Captain Davis was for a time engaged in shipping interests,
owning and running a sloop between New Rochelle and New York city, but
the major part of his life was spent on his farm. He was one of the pro
gressive men of the county, and was importuned to accept office, but always
refused except in a few cases of local preferment. He died in October,
1898. The boyhood days of George T. Davis were passed in his native town
and there he acquired his literary education. He entered upon his life career
as a farmer. In 1862 he enlisted in the Twenty- second New York Militia,
Colonel Monroe commanding, and was sent to Baltimore, Maryland, later to
Harper's Ferry. In 1863 he took part in the Gettysburg campaign, being in
action at Hampton or Sporting Hill and Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
After receiving an honorable discharge Mr. Davis returned to the farm.
In 1864 he entered an undertaking establishment and became thoroughly
acquainted with the business in its various departments. He assisted his
father in an undertaking business until 1871, when he opened his present
establishment, and has since worked up a very large trade, having a splen
didly equipped establishment, fine horses and excellent teams. His store is

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 575
located on Huguenot street, and his reliability and honorable dealing have
secured to him a good patronage.
In 1869 Mr. Davis was united in marriage to Miss Henrietta Palmer, of
New Rochelle, daughter of John Palmer, and they are now parents of three
children, — two sons and a daughter: George M., who is associated with his
father in business; and Harry F. and Edith M., at home. The family occu
pies a leading position in social circles and the members of the household
enjoy the hospitality of the best homes of New Rochelle, where intelligence
and true worth are taken as the passports into good society.
In his political views Mr. Davis is an earnest Republican and always
keeps well informed on the issues of the day. His fellow townsmen, appre
ciating his worth and ability, have called him to public office and he has
served as trustee of the village one term and village clerk for five years. He
is a member of Huguenot Lodge, F. & A. M. , and Flandreau Post, No. 509,
G. A. R. , Old Guard of New York city. In 1898 he made strenuous efforts
to enlist in the military service of this country against Spain, but his advanced
age prevented his acceptance as a private, and radical changes in military
tactics since the civil war prevented his taking a command. He started to
raise a company, but the government refused to accept raw recruits. He
always takes an active interest in all things pertaining to military affairs. He
is treasurer of the New Rochelle Building & Loan Association and is a man
of pronounced business ability who carries forward to successful completion
whatever he undertakes. For twenty-seven years he has been connected
with the fire department of New Rochelle, and probably has done more than
any other one man in perfecting the fire-alarm system. He was for a time fore
man of the Hook & Ladder Company and of the Huguenot Engine Company,
and for one year was chief engineer of the department. He is a public-spir
ited and progressive citizen who gives a loyal support to all measures for the
public good. His life is one commanding the highest regard, for his fidelity
to duty and honesty in business and his faithfulness to his friends have won
him unqualified confidence and good will.

M. FOLEY.

The proprietor of the Pocantico Hills Hotel, of Pocantico Hills, New
York, is a prominent hotel man of Westchester county, having been in busi
ness at his present place since 1891. The house is a well arranged hotel
containing sixteen rooms, and is situated in the midst of a beautiful lawn
covered with shade and ornamental trees and shrubs and flowers, making a
very picturesque scene. It stands opposite the depot, has a good bar, and
-has become headquarters for politicians, commercial travelers, tourists and

576 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
others stopping at Pocantico Hills on business or pleasure bent. The land
lord, Mr. Foley, is a man in the prime of life, of pleasing personality, frank,
genial and accommodating in manner, is well informed on subjects of general
interest, and the guest or traveler that tarries at his fireside is loath to leave
the place. He has had many years' experience in the hotel business, and it
is therefore not surprising that he is so successfully conducting his present
house. Like many of the hotel men of New York, Mr. Foley is a native of the
Emerald Isle, born in 1848, of worthy parents, and there he was reared and
educated until fifteen years of age, when he came to America, stopping first
in New York city. From there he came to Tarrytown, Westchester county,
and later was engaged in the hotel business in Yonkers, this state, and in
1891 came to Pocantico Hills. He was married at Yonkers to Miss Honora
McCarthy, who has been a true helpmeet to him, and nine children bless
their union: Hannah, Katty, Joseph, Mary, Jennie, Nellie, John, Tillie and
Honora. Mr. Foley exercises considerable influence in political affairs and takes
an active interest in the same, but votes independently, supporting the man
whom he believes best qualified to fill the office, regardless of party affilia
tions. For himself he cares nothing for the honors or emoluments of public
office, preferring to give his entire time and attention to his business interests.

WILLIS S. PAINE.

Willis S. Paine was born in Rochester, New York, on the ist of Janu
ary, 1848. His father, Nicholas E. Paine, was born in the state of New
Hampshire, and after attending Phillips Exeter Academy was admitted to the
bar upon attaining his majority. Shortly afterward he removed to the state
of Maine, and was appointed a member of the staff of Governor Fairchild,
with the rank of colonel. He married, at South Berwick, Maine, Abby M.
Sprague, who was a descendant of the ante-colonial Governors, Bradford and
Prence, of Massachusetts Bay. His brother, Robert Treat Paine, was for
many years one of the shining lights of the Boston bar. After marriage
Colonel Paine removed to the city of Rochester, New York, where he was
elected district attorney of Monroe county. He subsequently held the offices
of mayor and president of the board of education of that city. Twenty-five
years ago Colonel Paine bought the McKeel farm and a part of the Underhill
farm at Yorktown and laid out a town site, which with the advent of the rail
road became the locality now known as Yorktown Heights.
In 1885 Nicholas E. Paine and his wife Abby celebrated their golden
wedding in true New England style, surrounded by their children, relatives-

CVAywJL/

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 577
of the family and cherished friends. In 1887 he departed this life, holding
at the time of his death the presidency of the Dakota Railroad Company.
He left a daughter, Mrs. Wallace Darrow, and two sons. The elder son was
Oakman S. Paine, M. D., who served through the civil war with conspicuous.
gallantry and fidelity and was brevetted lieutenant-colonel and colonel for
meritorious services. At the time of his death, November 8, 1891, he was
the surgeon in chief of St. Elizabeth's Hospital in the city of New York.
A biography of Mr. Darrow and children appears on the following pages.
The younger son, Willis S. Paine, entered the Rochester Collegiate
Institute in the year 1862. When he graduated at this institution he was.
chosen valedictorian of his class. He continued his studies at the Rochester
University, graduating with honor in the class of 1868. Before receiving his
college diploma he became a law student in the office of Sanford E. Church,
afterward chief judge of the court of appeals. In 1868 his father removed
to New York city, and our young law student continued his studies in the
the offices of the late Charles A. Rapallo, also one of the judges of the court
of appeals. In the spring of 1869 Mr. Paine was admitted to the bar, and
for some time practiced his profession in the office of Judge Rapallo.
But another and very important field was soon to be opened to Mr.
Paine, into which he was well qualified to enter and where he has won his
highest laurels. In 1874, when the legislature passed a law authorizing the
bank superintendent to cause an annual examination to be made of the trust
companies of the state, Mr. Paine was appointed by the superintendent as
one of the three examiners. It was a work in which from the first he took
the deepest interest and showed the most careful and thorough research.
The examination soon resulted in the closing of three trust companies in the
city of New York, which owed depositors six million dollars'. These deposi
tors were subsequently paid in full, and the public press praised Mr. Paine
foi the successful accomplishment of this result. He also made the exami
nations of the same corporations the succeeding year.
In 1876 the doors of the Bond Street Savings Bank, one of the largest
institutions of the kind in this country, were closed by order of the court.
Mr. Paine's success as a lawyer and bank- examiner was such that on the
recommendation of the attorney-general and the bank superintendent he was
appointed by Judge Landon, at Schenectady, as receiver of the insolvent
concern. Upon assuming the duties of the trust he began an investigation of the
transactions of the bank from its beginning, and then decided to bring suits
against the trustees for losses incurred for certain acts which, while not made
with wrongful intent, were unauthorized by law. These suits were novel in
their character and were stoutly defended, but the result justified his theory,
37

578 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
inasmuch as the trustees paid him in settlement the sum of one hundred and
thirteen thousand, five hundred dollars. The court recognized the services of
Mr. Paine in that long and tedious warfare, in which so many nice legal points
were involved, by stating " that the duties of this trust have been administered
;'by the receiver with rare diligence, fidelity and discretion. " At the time of the
-failure of the bank a meeting of the depositors was held, and a committee
of their number was appointed to look after their interests. Before the pay
ment of the final dividend this committee met and passed a series of exceed
ingly laudatory resolutions referring to the manner in which the receivership
had been conducted, and had the same engrossed and presented to Mr. Paine.
So far as known this is the only instance of the kind in the history of these
insolvent institutions — oftentimes quite the opposite feeling existing on the
part of the creditors of such institutions toward the receivers.
Mr. Paine succeeded at the close of his receivership in paying the gen
eral creditors eighty-six and five-eighths per cent., while the preferred cred
itors were paid in full. The whole sum received and disbursed in the
^winding up of the affairs of the bank was nearly thirteen hundred thousand
'dollars. No other receivership of the twenty-three savings banks that failed
in New York city and vicinity during 1873 and subsequent years paid so
large a percentage: several paid less than twenty per cent. Upon his peti
tion his accounts were examined by referees or by attorney-general deputies
eight times, and each time the report presented to the court was of an
encomiastic character, and in the order of closing the receivership Mr. Paine
received "the thanks of the court for the faithful manner in which the duties
of the trust have been discharged. "
In 1880 the legislature passed an act providing for the appointment of
commissioners to make a compilation and revision of the laws of the state
affecting banks and banking. William .Dowd, the president of the Bank of
North America, and Mr. Paine, having been appointed by Governor Cornell
under this act, submitted a revision to the legislature in 1882, which was
then adopted. The legislature of the following year gave a vote of thanks
to Messrs. Paine and Dowd for their services. This was the first vote of
thanks given by that body since "the civil war. Both of the commissioners
served without the slightest pay, and expended less than one-half of the sum
appropriated by the legislature for their expenses; the balance now remains
to their credit in the state treasury.
Governor Cleveland, in April, 1883, nominated Mr. Paine as superin
tendent of the banking department of this state. The nomination was unani
mously and immediately confirmed by the senate. No office of its kind in
the United States has more varied responsibility than that of the position of
bank superintendent of the state of New York. The comptroller of the cur-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 579
rency has the supervision of banks of deposit and discount only, while the
former has, in addition to these, savings institutions, trust, mortgage and
safe deposit companies, building and accumulating fund associations, the total
resources of which aggregate over a thousand millions of dollars.
In the discharge of the duties pertaining to the office of superintendent
of the banking department, Mr. Paine displayed a most creditable executive
ability. His clear conception of what should constitute the practical work
ings of a correct system in the management of banks and other state moneyed
institutions, and his skill and persistence in enforcing these rules and regu
lations caused his name to become a high authority through the country in
this department. As a writer Mr. Paine has contributed much useful information, tending
to elucidate his favorite studies and investigations. His large work on
"Banks, Banking and Trust Companies," the preparation of which was a
difficult task, involving very arduous labor, is written in a masterly style —
lucid in arrangement and thoroughly exhaustive of its subject — and is recog
nized as the standard work in New York financial institutions of every char
acter. It has been commended by the press in high terms, especially the
action of the author in doing the work without the smallest pecuniary com
pensation, directly or indirectly. The propriety of this action, in view of
the fact that he was, when the book was published, at the head of the bank
ing department of the state, while manifest, indicates nevertheless a delicacy
not always found in public officials. The New York Times, in reviewing the
book, says that "it covers the ground so completely as to be a library of
reference. Everything bearing on the subjects treated, however remotely,
is incorporated, and the banker needs no other work of reference to acquaint
him with the requirements, the obligations, and the legal limitations of his
business. The historical portion of the work is well worthy of study, show
ing, as it does, the reasons drawn from experience for the conduct of banking
and other moneyed institutions. In making this compilation of the laws,
and in explaining the causes that procured their enactment, Mr. Paine has
subserved a good purpose. His work has been carefully and conscientiously
done, and it cannot but be of great service. " A fourth edition of this work
has been issued by Baker, Voorhis & Company. A treatise on the law regu
lating building associations has also been written by Mr. Paine, and is pub
lished by L. K. Strouse & Company.
Mr. Paine has also written largely for legal and financial magazines, and
all his literary efforts bear the mark of a scholarly hand.
In April, 1885, President Cleveland offered Mr. Paine the position of
sub-treasurer in the city of New York. This officer is the custodian of over
one hundred and eighty millions of dollars, and the action of the president

580 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
may be regarded as an unusually high compliment. In June, 1896, at its-
annual commencement, Manhattan College conferred upon him the degree
of Doctor of Laws.
On the 5th of April, 1888, Mr. Paine married Miss Ruby S. Tilden, the
daughter of the late Henry A. Tilden, of New Lebanon Springs, and a
niece of ex-Governor Samuel J. Tilden. She departed this life December
20, 1896. He was an early member of the Bar Association of the city of New
York, and has served upon some of its most prominent committees. He
was largely instrumental in having the legislature, in connection with the
transfers of titles to real estate in the city of New York, adopt the " block
system;" and the general law providing for the incorporation and regulation
of trust companies is wholly his work. He is also a member of the Tuxedo,
Commonwealth, Metropolitan, the National Arts and Phi Beta Kappa Clubs
of New York, and is the president of the Theta Delta Chi Graduate Asso
ciation. '
During the month of November, of the year 1889, Mr. Paine resigned
the bank superintendency, having held the office nearly twice as long as any
of his predecessors, to accept the position of president of the State Trust
Company, a corporation which had been organized with a capital of one
million dollars and with a surplus of five, hundred thousand dollars. This
corporation has been remarkably successful.
In the month of May, 1892, he resigned the presidency of the State
Trust Company for the purpose of taking a trip around the world. He sailed
during that month for Europe, and remained abroad about a year and a half.
Upon his return he was tendered, by Governor Flower, the position of colo
nel upon the latter's staff, which was accepted by Mr. Paine. Colonel
Paine subsequently became the first president of the Merchants Safe Deposit
Company, in New York city, which position he still holds. He is a director
in the American Surety Company, Metropolitan Savings Bank, State Trust
Company and other corporations.

WALLACE DARROW.

Wallace Darrow was born June 10, 1827, at Plymouth, Connecticut.
When a young man he moved to Rochester, New York, and with his-
brother established a large book and publishing business. He was a mem
ber of the city council of Rochester, and first lieutenant of a local battery of
the National Guard, and served as such when this organization was mustered
into the United States service during the Civil war. He was married Octo
ber 10, 1856, to Ellen L. Paine, daughter of Colonel Nicholas E. Paine.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 581
Three children were born as the result of this union, — Walter Nicholas Paine
Darrow, Ethel Abby Darrow and Lillian Sprague Darrow. About 1870
Wallace Darrow moved to New York with his family and engaged in the sur
gical-instrument business for about fifteen years, when he disposed of his
¦interest and moved to Yorktown in Westchester county, where he has since
resided, and for a number of years he was connected with the Putnam branch
of the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad. His grandfather was
Titus Darrow, a soldier of the Revolution and war of 18 12 from Connecticut,
and his great-grandfather was Elisha Blackman, who also did considerable
fighting in the Revolution and during the colonial wars previous.
Walter N. P. Darrow was born in Rochester, New York, February 18,
1863. He entered the College of the City of New York in 1879, and left
during his junior year to enter the United States Military Academy at West
Point. He was appointed by Waldo Hutchins, who was at that time the
member of congress from Westchester county. He graduated in 1886 with
a class standing of twelve in the largest class that was ever graduated at that
institution. He was appointed a second lieutenant in the Fourth United
States Artillery and served at several posts on the Atlantic coast, being two
years at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, where he graduated at the United States
Artillery School for officers. He resigned his commission October 26, 1891,
to engage in business in Columbus, Ohio, where he has since resided. He
was married September 23, 1890, to Miss Mary Neil, daughter of William A.
Neil of Columbus, Ohio. Since leaving the regular service he has served in
the National Guard of Ohio as captain of a light battery, lieutenant-colonel
of the Fourteenth Infantry, and as colonel of the First Regiment of Light
Artillery. He is a member of the Society of the War of 1812, Sons of the
American Revolution and the Loyal Legion.
Ethel Abby Darrow was born in New York city June 4, 1871, and died
there February 1, 1875.
Lillian Sprague Darrow was born at Yorktown November 8, 1876. She
was educated at Drew Seminary, Carmel, New York, and was married
November 4, 1897, to William Fields Beal, of Boston, Massachusetts, where
she has since resided. They have one child, a son, James Hamilton Beal,
born February 4, 1899. MICHAEL H. WHITE.
The proprietor of Echo Farm is the popular, genial and obliging col
lector for Harrison township, Westchester county. Though Mr. White is
one of the youngest of the county officials, none are more thorough, prompt
and faithful in the discharge of their manifold duties, and he is second to none

582 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
in his desire to see the best interests of his fellow citizens maintained. He is
now serving his second term in this position, and it is needless to say that he
is meeting the requirements of the office with credit to himself and friends,
for this is a fact generally known.
Mr. White comes from a good old Irish family who have been noted for
patriotism to native and adopted countries. His father, Thomas White, was
born in the beautiful Emerald Isle, in the city of Dublin, within the same
year in which Queen Victoria's useful and eventful life began. Mr. White
grew to manhood in his native land, and when the dreadful famine of 1849
came on he decided to come to America to make a home for himself and fam
ily. He was a poor man, and at first, as he had no friends nor influence, in
the United States, he took whatever employment came to hand, whereby he
might earn his honest daily bread. His first wages were but four dollars a
month and his board, but he soon was better paid and he persevered until
he became, in time, prosperous, as he certainly deserved to be. He bought
a farm in this county and is still living here, engaged in agricultural pursuits.
His wife, whom he married in Ireland, was likewise a native of Dublin.
She has been a loyal helpmate and is still living to share her husband's joys
and sorrows. They were the parents of six children, namely: Thomas, of
Rye township; Jennie, who died in 1882; Katie, wife of Thomas Knisley;
Julia, wife of J. E. Johnson, of New York city; Michael, subject of this sketch;
and John, of Rye township.
The birth of Michael H. White took place in Westchester county, Jan
uary 10, 1866. The farm which he cultivates is a valuable one, comprising
forty acres of land situated three miles from Port Chester. The land is
especially suitable for dairying, and, as the adjacent city markets furnish
good points for shipment of all dairy products, Mr. White decided a few
years ago to embark in the business. This move on his part was a fortunate
one for him and he has reaped a goodly harvest of golden shekels each year
since he embarked in the enterprise. He leases other farms and keeps a
large number of high-grade cows. Though he started business on a small
scale he has gradually increased it and is constantly branching out, with a
view to greater things in the future. All of the products of the Echo Farm
Dairy find a ready sale, the name being a guaranty of purity and excellence
of material and preparation. At the present time Mr. White owns twenty-
six cows, and, had he twice the number, could easily find customers for all
the milk, butter and cream he placed on sale.
Since he became a voter Mr. White has been an earnest adherent to the
platform of the Democratic party, and has done effective work in its behalf.
He takes great interest in educational matters and in the condition of the
roads and, in short, in all things which materially affect the comfort and

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 583
convenience of the public at large in this county. He received a good edu
cation and is thoroughly posted in current events and the general news of
the day. He takes the leading newspapers and in general information aims
to keep abreast of the times. His many sterling qualities of character have
brought to him the friendship and genuine esteem of all with whom he has
had business or social relations.

C. E. KENE.

In the learned professions naught availeth but individual merit. Strong
mentality, close application, comprehensive and accurate knowledge and
ability to apply the principles of law to the points in litigation, are the essen
tial qualifications of the successful attorney and counselor at law. The pos
session of these attributes has made Cornelius E. Kene one of the leading
practitioners of Westchester county and New York city.
Born in the city of Brooklyn in the year 1852, he is a son of John R.
and Ellen Jane (Newnan) Kene. During his early childhood his parents
removed to Westchester county, locating in Tuckahoe, town of East Chester,
where he pursued his education in the public schools until 1867. He afterward
studied in a private preparatory school in New York city, and subsequently con
tinued his education in Baltimore and in Ilchester, Maryland, entering the law
department of Columbia College in 1871. In May, 1873, he was graduated
in that institution, and in December of the same year was admitted to the
bar. He continued his studies for four years with the very prominent law
firm of Close & Robertson, of White Plains, Westchester county, and spent
the winters of 1876 and 1877 in the state legislature with Senator Robertson,
as clerk of the senate judiciary committee, at Albany, and as assistant to
Hon. Montgomery H. Throop, who was engaged in the work of preparing
the laws of New York, being chairman of the commission on the revision of
the statutes creating the code of civil procedure. All this tended to give Mr.
Kene a very broad and thorough understanding of jurisprudence, and thus
with an exceptionally thorough preparation he entered upon private practice.
In 1877 he became a member of the firm of Banks, Keogh & Kene, with
offices in New Rochelle and Portchester, New York. Since January 1879, he
has practiced alone, and has an extensive and distinctively representative clien
tage. He was recognized as one of the leading members of the Westchester
bar when in 1885 he opened an office in New York city. There he soon came
into prominence, for his marked ability won recognition in the favorable
opinions of the court in many litigated interests which he had in charge. He
has been counsel in a large number of important suits involving large amounts
and most intricate legal questions. In Westchester county he has been

584 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
elected police justice, civil justice and corporation counsel of New Rochelle,
where he retains his residence. He has in an eminent degree that rare abil
ity of saying in a convincing way the right thing at the right time. With a
knowledge of the fundamental principles of law, he combines a familiarity
with statutory law which makes him a formidable adversary in legal combat
and has gained him marked distinction.
In June, 1887, Mr. Kenewas united in marriage to Miss EmmaC. Ehr-
hart, of New York city, and they have two children, — Cornelius E. and Ju
lian. Theirs is a beautiful home, located on Mayflower avenue, in Huguenot
Park, on an elevated site which commands a fine view of the surrounding
country from Long Island Sound to the Palisades. The Kene household is
the center of a cultured society circle. Mr. Kene is a man of studious habits
and scholarly tastes. He speaks several modern languages, has a broad
acquaintance with the classics and is the author of poetical and prose pro
ductions. Master of the art of rhetoric, at once entertaining, logical and
convincing, he is popular with his audiences and has delivered a number of
interesting addresses.

E. FRANK HART.

E. Frank Plart is one of the substantial farmers of White Plains, West
chester county, and was born on the old family homestead in the town of
Greenburg, September 27, 1847. While the origin of the family in America
is not definitely known, the representatives of the name are probably
descended from Edward Hart, who, history tells us, was a selectman of
Flushing, Long Island, and reared a large family. He was imprisoned in
1657 because he would not expose the Quakers and deliver them to the
Dutch governor. Captain Jonathan Hart, one of the direct ancestors of our
subject, was a mariner. He married Hannah, daughter of John Budd, who
was a resident of Long Island prior to 1664. Captain Hart settled at Budd
Neck in 1685, and was a townsman of Rye in 1686. His son Monmouth
married Sarah Ogden, resided at Rye Neck, purchased land in White Plains
in 1712, and died in 1759 or 1761. He had three sons, Monmouth, James
and Joseph. The eldest died in 1786. By his wife, Rachel Hart, he had
the following children: Abraham, Hannah, Mary Ann, Rachel, Robert,
James and Jonathan. James Hart, the second son of Monmouth and Sarah
Hart, died in 1781, leaving three sons, James, Elisha and Jacob. The third
son, Joseph, is said to have met death by drowning. He was given land by
his father, who had purchased it of T. Merritt in 1740, and which had been
proved by will in 1761. PIis children were Eleizar, of Long Island; Mon
mouth and John, of Greenburg; Joseph, who resided at the Leggett place;

£ ^m^K ytQtvU'

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 585
Josephua T., who made his home at the Horton place; Isaac; Mrs. Eliza
beth Hatfield: Mrs. Sarah Purdy; Mrs. Deborah Merritt; and Mrs. Tamer
Horton. John Hart, the son of Joseph, owned what was afterward called the
Allen Mead place, in Greenburg, and his children were Stephen, Isaac,
William, Sarah, Eleizar, Andrew, Hannah and Patterson, and of this family,
Eleizar married Rhoda Tompkins, and their children are Elisha, Asbury and
John Hunter, the last named a resident of Hartsdale.
Monmouth Hart, born in 1752, was the great-grandfather of our sub
ject. He was married in 1778 to Mary Gedney and resided at Hartsdale.
Their children were Elizabeth, John, Cynthia, Elijah, Deborah, Joseph,
Peter and Monmouth. The last named married Julia Ann Tompkins, and
of their children, Joseph resides in the west, 'and Thomas and Lemuel reside
at Hartsdale. John, a son of Monmouth and Mary (Gedney) Hart, and the
grandfather of our subject, was born in 1781, and about 1805 married Phebe
Fisher, by whom he had the following children: Phebe, Dorathea, Maria,
Elijah Gedney, Elizabeth and Abigail Jane.
Elijah Gedney Hart, father of our subject, was born in the village of
Hartsdale, Westchester county, in 1817, and died in 1885. He was a prom
inent and successful farmer and general business man, and was highly
esteemed by all who knew him. In politics he was a stanch Democrat, and
in religious belief was a Presbyterian, contributing liberally to the support of
the church. In 1840 he was united in marriage to Miss Hanna Downing,
who was born in the city of New York in 1821, and died in Westchester
county in 1888. She was a daughter of Jordan and Elizabeth (Lord) Down
ing, and when a small child came with her parents to the town of Greenburg.
Her remains were laid to rest in the Rural cemetery at White Plains. To
Gedney and Hannah Hart were born five children: John Jay, born Novem
ber 20, 1 84 1, was married in 1866, in Salem, Nebraska, to Alvirdia Kinniison,
and now resides in Warsaw, Missouri; Josephine, born March 20, 1844, mar
ried Jacob C. Horton, and died September 9, 1869, leaving two children,
Cornelius J. and Jennie E. ; Elias Franklyn is the subject of this record;
Monmouth G., born December 3, 1850, was a prominent attorney and died
December 7, 1895; and Elizabeth, born July 18, 1855, is the wife of Thomas
Gibson, who resides in North street, White Plains, and they have five chil
dren, Alice, Ellen, James, Frank Hart and Fannie.
When a child E. Frank Hart attended the district schools and later
became a student in the White Plains Academy. The three years imme
diately following his school days were spent in Nebraska. Returning to his
native county, he engaged in farming, and in 1879 purchased the Cornelius
Horton farm, containing sixty-three acres, which is a part of the old Horton

586 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
homestead. He now has a well improved place upon which are three good
barns, a number of other substantial outbuildings and sheds and a handsome
residence of modern architecture. Everything about the place is character
ized by neatness and thrift and indicates the careful supervision of a pro
gressive and practical farmer.
In 1875, Mr. Hart was united in marriage to Miss Amelia McCord, a
daughter of Albert and Adelia McCord. She died nine years later, leaving a
daughter, who died at the age of eleven years. In 1886 Mr. Hart led to the
marriage altar Miss Sarah Shute, a daughter of James L. and Mary (Fowler)
Shute, of White Plains. She is a member of and earnest worker in the
Methodist Episcopal church, and is a most estimable lady. Mr. Hart is a com
municant of the First Presbyterian church, of White Plains, and is serving on
its board of trustees. In his political affiliations he is a Democrat and takes
an intelligent interest in the affairs of his party. He is ever ready to advance
any movement or measure for the betterment of the community, and is a val
ued citizen of White Plains.

MONMOUTH G. HART.

The subject of this memoir was the third son of Gedney and Hannah
(Downing) Hart, and was born December 3, 1850, in the town of Greenburg,
in a house now standing on Chatterton Hill road. During his boyhood his
parents removed to a farm on Central avenue, and there he spent the greater
part of his life. He pursued his education in the old brick school-house,
which is still standing, on the road between White Plains and Elmsford, and
also spent one term in Professor Moody's select school, at White Plains. At
sixteen years of age he put aside his text-books, and entered upon an inde
pendent business career by accepting a position as clerk in the dry-goods
store of E. B. Taylor, on Main street, Yonkers, where he remained for two
years, when, on account of failing health, he returned to the farm. He was
too ambitious to remain there for any great length of time, however, and
after a year he began studying law in the office of Charles S. Purdy, of
White Plains. In 1869 he entered the law department of Columbia College,
in which he pursued a two-years course, teaching in the district school in
Bronxville during the vacations of 1869 and 1870. He was graduated with
honor and admitted to the bar, but did not at once begin an independent
practice. Upon receiving his diploma he entered the office of Marshall &
Verplanck, prominent attorneys, and soon became their managing clerk,
attending to a large part of their litigated business. He was thus engaged
until 1875, when he opened an office of his own. He was a most diligent
and painstaking student, but in his early career it was thought by many that

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 587
he would not achieve great success in the profession on account of his retir
ing disposition. In manner he was very unobtrusive, shrinking from public
praise and avoiding everything that seemed to partake of the nature of osten
tation. Success, however, did come to him as the result of his methodical
habits and marked ability. He made it a rule of his professional career to
be at his office the same hour every day, to remain there for a certain length
of time, and to attend to such matters as might be entrusted to his manage
ment with thoroughness. His devotion to his clients' interests was proverbial,
and this, added to his comprehensive understanding of the principles of juris
prudence, contributed not a little to his success. Working on quietly and
patiently year after year, his practice steadily increased and he advanced in
public favor. He resided at the family homestead in the town of Greenburg
and there served as justice of the peace for two terms or eight years, until
1892, when he resigned. He had been the protector of his mother after the
father's death, and remained at the old home until Mrs. Hart also was called
away, when he removed to White Plains. He was also for a number of years
attorney for the town of Greenburg and a member of the town board. He
was by no means a politician in the sense of office-seeking, much preferring
to devote his time and attention to his profession, yet realized fully the
responsibility attaching to citizenship, and aided in nominating and elect
ing good men of the Democratic party, in whose principles he believed so
firmly. When a young man Monmouth Hart united with the Presbyterian church,
at White Plains, was ever active in its work, served as trustee for twenty-one
years and was also treasurer and elder of the church for a number of years.
He was a member of the Westchester County Historical Society and served
therein as secretary and treasurer. He was also prominent in the White
Plains Good Government Club, a director in the White Plains Bank, which
he aided in organizing, and a trustee in the Savings Bank, serving as attorney
of both financial institutions. His clientage was large and he was a safe
counselor, his judgment being sound and his conclusions correct. His main
practice was in real-estate law and in the surrogate court, but he was well
versed in the various departments of jurisprudence. In his particular lines
he stood very high, not only by reason of his eminent trustworthiness and
thoroughness but also for his marked ability. He was truly a good man,
noble-spirited and generous, — traits which were manifest in his treatment of
poor clients, whom he served as faithfully as those able to pay large fees. But
his ambition was greater than his strength, and his devotion to business
caused his health to fail. He frequently visited the south for the benefit of
his health, but died suddenly of pneumonia, December 7, 1895, just as he
was entering upon his forty-fifth year. He died with a firm faith in the

588 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Christian religion and his death was mourned by many friends who gathered
to pay their last tribute of respect as he was laid to rest in Rural cemetery, by
the side of his mother, to whom he was ever most devoted.

ISAAC H. VENN.

Of the industrial interests of Yonkers Isaac H. Venn is a prominent rep
resentative, and his enterprise and progressiveness make him a valued factor
in commercial circles. He is a native of Wilmington, Delaware, born March
26, 1856, and is of Welsh descent. His grandfather, William Venn, lived at
Newport, in Monmouthshire, Wales, and his occupation was that of a
cracker-maker. He took part in the charter riots of 1826, and was an influ
ential citizen of the community. He held membership in the Presbyterian
church, and died at the age of forty-eight years. His son, Cornelius H.
Venn, the father of our subject, was born in Wales, and when twenty-three
years of age came to America, locating in Wilmington, Delaware, where he
followed the baker's trade for forty years. He has given his political
support to the Republican party; socially, is connected with the Good Fel
lows Society, and in religious belief is a Presbyterian. He married Hannah
Hambleton and to them were born five children: Mrs. Elizabeth T. Mahon,
Richard T., Isaac H., Mrs. Mary J. Davis and David H. The father, who
was born January 1, 181 8, is still living, at the advanced age of eighty years,
but the mother passed away at the age of sixty-three years. She traced her
ancestry back to the early part of the seventeenth century. The family is
of Anglo-Saxon origin, and its representatives were among the earliest set
tlers of Chester and Bucks counties, Pennsylvania. In the latter lived James
Hambleton, a Quaker, and from him was descended Samuel Hambleton, the
grandfather of our subject and the son of the eighth John Hambleton. He
was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1785, and died March 24, 1851.
His wife, who bore the maiden name of Hannah Brown, was born May 7,
1788, and died September 9, 1833, after which Mr. Hambleton married
Sarah Walton. He was a farmer and nurseryman, and owned a farm in
Upper Oxford township, Bucks county, all his life. He belonged to the
Hicksite branch of the Quakers and was strongly opposed to all " ologies " and
"isms." His children, all born of the first marriage, were Joseph, Isaac,
John, Emil, Sarah, Rachel, Hannah and Samuel..
Isaac H. Venn attended the public schools of Wilmington, Delaware,
until twelve years of age, and then worked with his father in the bakery,
learning the trade in its various branches. At the age of seventeen, how
ever, he began learning the pattern-maker's trade with the firm of Hillis &

^

1

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. £89
Jones, of Wilmington, remaining in their employ from 1872 until 1876.
Later he crossed the Atlantic to Manchester, England, where he secured
employment with the firm of Horner & Barker, manufacturers of soda-
water machinery, ultimately becoming superintendent of their large plant, in
which capacity he served for two years and six months. Subsequently he
was employed for three months as assistant foreman in the pattern-making
department of the Meadow Hall Locomotive Works, and then took charge
of the plant of the Mitchell Wisbrodale Foundry Company, near Barnsley.
While abroad Mr. Venn visited various points of historic and modern
interest in Great Britain. He saw the famous Blarney stone of Ireland; the
various palaces, now old in story; Dunbarton castle, on the Clyde; the tower
of London, containing the relics of ancient, mediaeval and modern methods
of punishment and execution; Holyrood palace, in Scotland; the home of
John Knox, in England; Shakespeare's home, on the Avon; St. Paul's cathe-
deral, covering seven acres; Westminster Abbey; the two houses of parlia
ment; the Crystal Palace of London; and Cleopatra's Needle, the famous
Egyptian obelisk which was then being prepared for shipment to New York,
on the river Thames. On one occasion he was preparing to go to Australia,
but owing to the alarming condition of his mother's health he abandoned
the trip. Returning to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mr. Venn engaged in the
installment business in that city, and afterward was connected with the Vul
can Brass Works, having charge of the pattern department for two years. In
1 88 1 he took charge of the Charles Teal Pattern Works, in Philadelphia, and
in April, 1883, he came to Yonkers, New York, where he has since made his
home. Here he accepted the position of foreman of the pattern-making
department of the plant owned by Otis Brothers & Company, and has since
remained in charge, having control over eleven employes. His thorough
understanding of the business and his many years of experience render him
an expert in his chosen field of endeavor, and his skill and ability have con
tributed not a little to the success of the enterprise with which he has been
connected. His thorough reliability has won him the confidence of all with
whom he has been associated in business and his standing in the industrial
circles of Yonkers is indeed enviable.
In October, 1883, Mr. Venn was united in marriage to Miss Lydia J.
Broomall, a daughter of Nehemiah Broomall, of Delaware county, Pennsyl
vania, who was a cousin of Nehemiah Broomall, a miller in Brandywine, and
of Judge John M. Broomall, of Delaware county, Pennsylvania. Her father
held a number of local offices, and was a member of the Society of Friends.
His family numbered seven children: Mary, Thomas, Martha, Ellen, John,
Sarah and Jennie. Mr. Broomall died September 21, 1875, at the age of

590 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
seventy years, and his wife passed away December 28, 1891, at the age of
seventy-four years.
To Mr. and Mrs. Venn have been born four children: Edith, Viola,
Farla and Roland. The family is well known in the community and Mr.
Venn is quite prominent in the Masonic fraternity. He was initiated in
Nepperhan Lodge, No. 736, A. F. & A. M., of Yonkers, and is now a mem
ber of Rising Star Lodge, No. 450, of Yonkers. He joined the organization
in 1 89 1 and in 1893 was elected senior warden. The same year he became
a member of Terrace City Chapter, No. 177, R. A. M., and has filled its
various offices, being elected high priest in 1896 and again in 1897. In 1898
he was again chosen to that office, but refused to serve for a third term. In
1899 Mr. Venn was appointed grand master of the first veil of the grand
chapter of Royal Arch Masons of the state of New York. In 1893 he became
a member of the Commandery of Knights Templar, filled several offices
therein, and is now trustee.

CHARLES H. DODGE.

This enterprising agriculturist of New Castle township is the proprietor
of the Chappaqua Mountain farm, and his management of the place is
marked by the scientific knowledge and skill which characterizes the modern
farmer. He was born on his grandfather's homestead, May 25, 1840, and is
a son of Henry Dodge. His paternal grandparents were Thomas and Han
nah (Reynolds) Dodge, who reared six children, one son and five daughters,
namely: Henry, Mrs. Sarah Hammond, Mrs. Anna Birdsell, Mrs. Ann
Washburn, Mrs. Abbie Washburn and Mrs. Phoebe Washburn. Henry
Dodge, the father of our subject, was a carpenter and undertaker, and in the
latter occupation did quite an extensive business, digging the grave and mak
ing the coffin for eight dollars and up. He married Miss Rebecca Kipp,
a daughter of Benjamin and Phoebe Kipp, and the only child born of this
union was our subject. The father died at the age of fifty-four years, the
mother at the age of seventy-six. Both were Hicksite Quakers, and were
highly respected by all who knew them.
Upon the old homestead Charles H. Dodge early became familiar with
every department of farm work, and is to-day recognized as one of the most
thorough and skillful farmers of the community. His literary education was
obtained in the local schools. On the 4th of March, 1868, he wedded Miss
Mary L. Cronk, a daughter of James and Charity (Acker) Cronk, and grand
daughter of Henry and Amy (Dusenbury) Cronk. Her paternal grandfather
was a native of Holland, while her maternal grandfather, Wilbert Acker, was
the hero of Washington Irving's novel, " Wilbert's Roost," which place was

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 591
afterward the home of the famous novelist, the name being changed to Sun-
nyside. To James and Charity Cronk were born five children, of whom three
are still living: Willot A., a resident of Peekskill; Ezra J., of New Castle
township; and Mary L., wife of our subject. The two deceased are Leonard,
who was an officer in the Union army during the civil war and was killed in
the service, leaving a widow and one son, Frederick, now a resident of Tarry
town; and Robert, who died at Port Chester, leaving a widow and three chil
dren. The father of Mrs. Dodge died at the ripe old age of eighty-seven
years, and the mother at the age of eighty. In early life they were members
of the Methodist church, but later united with the Society of Friends. To
Mr. and Mrs. Dodge were born three children, namely: Henry, who mar
ried Millie Halsey and died August 10, 1893, at the age of twenty-four years;
Rebecca, who died May 5, 1894, at the age of twenty-one; and James, who
was born June 4, 1876, and is the only one now living. They have an
adopted daughter, a niece of Mrs. Dodge — Josephine R., daughter of Robert
-Cronk — who has entered into the affections of her foster parents and in some
respects fills the place of the loved ones they have lost. She has made her
home with them since two years of age. The family is one of prominence
in the community with whose interests they have long been identified, and it
is safe to say that none are held in higher esteem than Mr. and Mrs. Dodge.

GEORGE B. CLARK, M. D.
Dr. Clark is one of the younger but most able representatives of the
medical profession in Westchester county, having been successfully engaged in
practice at Armonk since the fall of 1894. He was born in Germantown, New
York, December 23, 1872, and is a son of Rev. G. B. and Eunice E. (Clear
water) Clark. The father, who has for thirty years been a member of the
Methodist Episcopal conference of New York, is also a native of this state
and the son of Robert Clark, a mechanic. To a limited extent the former
attended a seminary during his youth, but his education was mostly obtained
through his own unaided efforts and close application. Like all ministers
of his denomination, he has been located at various places and now has
charge of the congregation at Edenville, Orange county, New York. In his
family were three children, namely: Ida, who died in early life; George B.,
our subject; and Charles J., a civil engineer residing in Armonk.
During his boyhood and youth Dr. Clark accompanied his parents on
•their removal from place to place, his early education being secured in the
public schools. Later he attended the Hudson River Institute, where he
was graduated in the class of 1890. After spending six months as a clerk
in a drug store he entered the medical department of the Syracuse Univer-

592 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
sity, at Syracuse, New York, graduating there June 14, i894- The following
fall he came to Armonk and opened an office, having since been successfully
engaged in the general practice of medicine and surgery at that place. He
is the only physician in the village, and has established an excellent practice.
He has also practiced quite extensively in the Westchester county house,
and is a prominent member of the County Medical Society. He also belongs
to Syracuse Chapter, Beta Theta Phi, and the Junior Order of American
Mechanics. In politics he is a Republican, and for two years he has most
capably filled the office of town physician.
On the 1 8th of September, 1895, Dr. Clark married Miss Minnie Pal
mer, of Armonk, a daughter of Charles and Nancy (Finch) Palmer, and by
this union one child has been born: Charles George. The Doctor is a mem
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, while his wife holds membership in
the Congregational church, and socially they are people of prominence in
their community.
HENRY A. REYNOLDS.
Born in the town of Bedford, Westchester county, New York, June 17,
1833, Henry A. Reynolds was a son of Daniel C. and Sarah (Mead) Rey
nolds, both natives of this county. The former was born in the village of
Cross River, August 13, 1812, and died December 30, 1884; and the latter,
born February 22, 1812, in Bedford, died August 7, 1886. The paternal
grandfather, Nathaniel Reynolds, was born August 7, 1782, at Cross River,
and died near Kensico, March 13, 1874, when in his ninety-second year.
The great-grandfather, also named Nathaniel Reynolds, was born February
22, 1754, and died September 21, 1843. His wife Hannah was born March
25, 1759, and died April 11, 1846. His maternal grandfather was Zedrick
Mead and the grandmother, Nancy Knapp, both of whom were born in
Westchester county. Both branches of the family were of English origin.
Walter Mead was the first of the family to come to America, and he settled
at Salem, Massachusetts, whence a branch of the family moved to this
county. Henry A. Reynolds was the only son and surviving child of his parents.
An only sister, Nancy C. , married Casper G. Brower and at her death left
two daughters, Ida and Grace. Mr. Reynolds attended school at Mount
Pleasant, this state, and later at Peekskill Academy, after which he returned
to the farm, where he remained until he was twenty-one. Having shown an
aptitude for tools, he took up the trade of carpenter, at which he worked
about the home place, where he remained with his parents until their death.
Before their death he came into possession of the farm of fifty-five acres,
which he cultivated during life. It has long been in good condition and is

79£>rvAsj ^J^^^CCf/j^

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 593
adorned by a fine residence, while the barns and outbuildings have been in
keeping, and an air of general prosperity and comfort still pervades it.
Mr. Reynolds was united in matrimony, December 24, i860, to Miss
Harriet Dean Campbell, of Greenburg, the second daughter of Stephen and
Fannie (Sniffin) Campbell. To this union were born three children, — two
sons and a daughter, as follows: Fannie E., wife of C. Booth, of Perth
Amboy, New Jersey; Daniel C. and Herbert A.
Mr. Reynolds died February 8, 1899, and was buried at Kenisco ceme
tery, after a long period of sickness, although confined to his house but a
short time. He was an earnest Christian and attended the Reformed Pres
byterian church at Elmsford, New York, while in politics he was inde
pendent.
WILLIAM H. STOWE, M. D.
An eminent physician and surgeon now located at Cross River, West
chester county, New York, is Dr. Stowe, who was born in New Haven, Con
necticut, August 10, 1842, a son of Henry and Sarah (Lees) Stowe, and was
reared in his native place, preparing for college at General Russell's Colle
giate and Commercial Institute. He laid aside his text-books, however, in
September, 1861, and joined the boys in blue in the defense of his country
during the civil war. He enlisted in Company G, Sixth Connecticut Volun
teer Infantry, but in 1863 resigned his commission as lieutenant and until the
close of the war served in various departments, being in the pay department
when the war closed in 1865. While with his regiment he served in the south,
and was in various engagements along the southern coast.
After the war Dr. Stowe studied law for a time, and then engaged in
teaching in General Russell's Military School at New Haven, where he remained
from 1869 until 1888, conducting the school on his own account for the last
three years. For ten years he was also a member of the state military board
of Connecticut. While engaged in teaching he prepared to enter the med
ical profession, and in 1888 was granted the degree of M. D. by the medical
department of Yale College. For two years he engaged in practice at New
Haven, and spent three years in Pensylvania, but in 1894 came to his pres
ent location at Cross River, New York, where he has succeeded in building
up a large general practice. His thorough knowledge of medicine and his
skill in surgery have won for him the confidence of the people to such an
extent that, though comparatively a new-comer, his success is already an
assured fact. He holds membership in the American Medical Association,
the State Medical Society of Connecticut, and the Westchester County Med
ical Society. He is also connected with the Grand Army of the Republic,
and is a worthy member of the Presbyterian church.
38

594 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
In 1869 Dr. Stowe wedded Miss Ellen F. Read, who died May 29, 1892,
leavingfour children, namely: Sarah R., now the wife of Frank E. Weaver,
of Torrington, Connecticut, who is connected with the Eagle bicycle works at
Torrington; Eric L., also with the bicycle company; and William D. and
Dorothea O., at home.
MARTIN F. MULROONEY.
Martin F. Mulrooney has spent his entire life in Yonkers. He was born
on the 16th of July, 1867, being a son of Patrick and Mary (Corley) Mul
rooney. For thirty-five years the father resided in this city, and here he
died, in December, 1891, at the age of forty-eight years. He was a very
enthusiastic Democrat in his political affiliations and was a member of St.
Mary's Roman Catholic church. His wife died in July, 1886, at the age
of forty-three years.
On attaining the regulation age Martin Mulrooney entered the parochia
school of St. Mary's and then attended the public schools of his native city,
where he pursued his education until fourteen years of age, when he put
aside his text-books in order to learn the more difficult lessons in the schoo]
of experience. Since that time he has been dependent entirely upon his
own efforts and whatever success he has achieved is due entirely to his
industry and capable management. He was first employed in Froehlich's
stove factory, in Yonkers, where he remained two years. He completed his
apprenticeship at the moulder's trade in the employ of Otis Brothers & Com
pany and has since been connected with their extensive works, covering a
period of fifteen years. His long connection with that firm well indicates his
superior workmanship, his fidelity to duty and his thorough reliabity. He
is one of the most trusted employes in the foundry, and well merits the con
fidence reposed in him.
In his political views Mr. Mulrooney is a Democrat, and has always
taken a very active interest in politics, being a recognized leader in the ranks
of his party in this locality. He was a candidate for supervisor from the
second ward (now the fifth ward), and though defeated it was a defeat that
amounted almost to victory, for he succeeded in reducing the usual Repub
lican majority of four hundred and fifty votes to fourteen. At the following
election his opponent was again candidate for the office and received a major
ity of five hundred, so that the former election plainly indicates the personal
popularity of our subject and the confidence reposed in him by his fellow
townsmen. He is vice-chairman of the Democratic general committee of
Yonkers, has served as delegate to various county, congressional, judicial and
assembly conventions, and is the recognized leader of the Democratic forces
in his ward.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 595
Mr. Mulrooney takes an active interest in all that pertains to the prog
ress and upbuilding of his city, and is especially prominent in connection
with the fire department. He is a member of the Hudson Hose Company,
was twice foreman of the Otis Fire Brigade, and has represented the former
on the board of the fire department of the city of Yonkers. He has been one
of the most active and efficient members of the department, and has done
much for its advancement and proficiency.
In 1887 Mr. Mulrooney was united in marriage to Miss Annie S. Casey,
a daughter of Patrick Casey, of Newburg, New York, and later of Matteawan,
New York, and to them have been born three children: Frank, James and
Anna. The family are members of the St. Mary's Roman Catholic church
and Mr. Mulrooney belongs to the Knights of Columbus, the Foresters of
America and the Otis Mutual Aid Society.

ALBERT A. ULTCHT.

Practical men like the subject of this sketch are the only real builders of
the institutions of civilization; and Mr. Ultcht is not only to be classed among
the builders but even in the front rank of the builders, possibly the first one
in that rank in Mount Vernon. In both material and spiritual matters he has
been remarkably efficient.
Mr. Ultcht was born June 5, 1862, in Dutchess county, New York.
His father, Augustus S. Ultcht, was a native of Germany, served in the Saxon
wars and thereafter came to America. He was a man of good education and
natural ability, and located in the town of Stanford, Dutchess county, this
state, where he became extensively and successfully engaged in agricultural
pursuits and accumulated considerable property. In his politics he was in
general a Democrat, but an independent thinker and voter. In his religion
, he was a Lutheran in the Fatherland, but in this country was a member of
the Presbyterian church. He was born May 14, 1827, and died on his home
farm, in February, 1897, at the age of seventy years; and his wife, Augusta,
who was born October 21, 1828, departed this life February 26, 1876. They
had seven children: The first died in infancy, unnamed; Charles P., August,
Samuel, Albert A., Minnie, Henrietta Millus and Mary Cables.
Mr. Albert A. Ultcht was fourteen years of age when his mother died; he
afterward found employment on a farm until sixteen years old, when he
began to learn the mason's trade, serving a three-years apprenticeship; and
at this trade he was employed six years at Poughkeepsie, New York, and he
continued as a journeyman at the trade until 1889, when he became associ
ated with Frank G. Bruce, forming the firm of Bruce & Ultcht, contractors
and builders; but this partnership was terminated at the end of a year, and

596 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
since then Mr. Ultcht has operated alone. His offices are at No. 1 1 South-
Third avenue, Mount Vernon, New York. Although the building interest
has been rather dull in Mount Vernon for some time, Mr. Ultcht has all the
contracts he can handle, employing sometimes as many as seventy-five men.
He is careful, conservative and faithful to all promises, is industrious, ener
getic and wide-awake — indeed one of the most enterprising citizens of the city
of Mount Vernon.
Mr. Ultcht takes great interest in public affairs, in which he exerts a
powerful influence, in national affairs being a Democrat and in local interests
independent. He is now serving his second term as a member of the board
of aldermen, representing the first ward, to which office he was elected by
a majority larger than the total number of votes received by his opponent.
He is considered one of the most aggressive and important members of the
board — in fact, the leader. To the interests of his city he has devoted a
great deal of time and labor. He is an influential member of the Firemen's
Association, having served five years in the fire department of the city, and
is a member of the Firemen's Benevolent Association, and the East Side
Improvement Association. In the fraternal orders he holds membership in
Hiawatha Lodge, No. 434, F. & A. M. ; Einheit Lodge, No. 461, Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, and Guiding Star Lodge, No. 3, of the Encampment
of the latter order. He is a member of the Mount Vernon City Club, Mount
Vernon Bicycle Club, and an honorary member of the Board of Trade. In
religion he is a member of the Congregational church at Mount Vernon,
which was organized in 1895. For the house of worship of this denomination
he purchased the site and at his own risk and responsibility erected the build
ing, in 1897, and the church has already paid for it. He may therefore be
considered the leader in the interests of his church at Mount Vernon. He
is also a member of the Young Men's Christian Association.
June 21, 1884, is the date of Mr. Ultcht's union in matrimony with
Miss Elizabeth E. Terwilliger (daughter of William and Glorianna (Wy-
gant) Terwilliger, and they have two children, — William Albert and Floyd
Stanley. ALFRED LAWRENCE.
One of the most prominent residents of Tarrytown, New York, is Alfred
Lawrence, a brief biography of whom follows. Mr. Lawrence is a son of
John and Mary Lawrence, and was born in New York city, June 15, 1809.
There his grandfather lived and there his father, who was a lawyer and a
public man, was born, his death occurring in New Orleans, Louisiana, of
yellow fever. John and Mary Lawrence had but one child, our subject.
When his father died Alfred Lawrence was but a mere lad. He attended

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0/^M^C^W-£ <AoG

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 597
the old Duane street school, where many since eminent New Yorkers
received their primary education, and when he was old enough learned the
trade of horse-shoeing, at which he busied himself three years. Then he
went to boating between New York and Albany and became a captain, being
well known along the lower Hudson. For fifteen years he was thus employed
and then located at Tarrytown and engaged in marketing and the saloon
business. Later he became a popular hotel-keeper, and as such for nearly
half a century greeted those who came to Tarrytown.
Mr. Lawrence was an old-time Democrat, and, as events proved, a war
Democrat. He took an active interest in politics as a young man, and an
even more active interest in fighting fire. He had been a member of the
" Old Fourteenth" engine company of New York city, with headquarters at
Vesey and Church streets, and had done gallant service with "Old Number
One." He was the organizer of the fire department at Tarrytown, and his
experience in New York, — including that at the great fire which, on Decem
ber 1 6, 1835, burned out a block opening from Broadway to the East river, —
was useful in that work and in the active operations which naturally fol
lowed as occasion demanded. He gathered the original Phoenix Company
together and then, at his own expense, secured for "the boys" an engine
from Syracuse. It cost six hundred dollars, but he did not stop working and
giving until a suitable engine-house was erected. When the department was
reorganized, in 1861, he was elected its chief, and he held that office most
efficiently for many years, except while in military service in the south.
For several years he was chief of police at Tarrytown.
May 31, 1 86 1, Mr. Lawrence enlisted in Company H, Thirty-second
New York Volunteers, and his oldest son, Henry A. Lawrence, enlisted with
him. The regiment proceeded to Washington, thence to Alexandria, and
was soon at the front. At Bull Run, young Lawrence, who had been pro
moted to sergeant, was wounded and later perished by fire as he lay helpless
on the field! The fire company he had organized at Tarrytown formed the
nucleus of Company H and contributed thirty members to it. Mr. Lawrence
was made sergeant at the beginning. He was promoted to be second lieu
tenant June 12, 1862, and to the first lieutenancy of the company March 20,
1863. He was mustered out of service June 9, following. He was in the
Second Brigade, Fifth Division of the Army of Northern Virginia until Octo
ber 15, 1 86 1 ; in the Third Brigade, Fifth Division of the Army of the Poto
mac until May, 1862; in the Second Brigade, First Division, Sixth Corps of
the Army of the Potomac until May, 1863, — almost at the expiration of his
term of service. He participated in duty in the vicinity of Washington and
at Fairfax Court House, in the Blackburn's Ford affair, in the memorable
Bull Run fight, in the skirmish near Munson Hill and in that at Annandale,

598 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
in the Peninsula campaign, in the siege of Yorktown, in the expedition to
West Point and in the engagement at West Point, in the affairs at Barbours-
ville and Ethan's Landing, in the seven-days battles before Richmond, in the
engagements at Gaines' Mills, Gamett's and Golding's Farms, Savage Station,
White Oak Swamp, Malvern Hill, Bakersville, South Mountain, Antietam,
Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Mayer's Heights, Salem Church and inter
mediate points, doing soldiers' duty in camp, on the field of battle and on
many long and weary marches.
Mr. Lawrence is an active and enthusiastic G. A. R. man and was a
member of Acker Post, of Tarrytown, until it was disbanded, and since then
he has been a member of Kitching Post, of Yonkers. He has been for many
years identified with the Masonic order. He has in his posession a badge of
the Richmond, Virginia, chief of police which was taken off the coat of that
officer during the war at Morrisonville, near Richmond.
Mr. Lawrence was married, in August, 1841, to Emily Minnerly, of
Mount Pleasant, who died July 17, 1878, and who bore him the following
named children: Edward A., who was killed in the battle of the Wilderness;
Henry A., who is deceased; Louisa, wife of Wilson Acker, ticket agent for
the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, in New York
city; Peter, of Tarrytown, who married Rebecca Knapp, died June 5, 1899;
Sarah, wife of John McNally, postmaster of Sing Sing; Alfred, Jr., who died
at the age of fifteen; and George and Nellie, who died in infancy. August 5,
1885, Mr. Lawrence married Emeline (Cole) Lake, daughter of Jacob and
Aletta Cole, of Pleasant Valley, Dutchess county. Mr. Cole was a farmer
of prominence, and he died in 1852, aged sixty-one. By his present wife,
Mr. Lawrence has no children. Mrs. Lawrence's family is well known in
this part of the state. One of her sisters was Mrs. Euphemia Bishop; another
is Mrs. Susan Ann King, a widow; a third is Mrs. Mary Lake, of Yonkers.
By her marriage with Jeremiah Lake, deceased, Mrs. Lawrence has four
children: Emma, Mrs. William DeRevere, Mrs. Cornell and Mrs. Mollie
Beesmer. JAMES D. McCABE.
" The proper study of mankind is man," said Pope, and aside from this,
in its broader sense, what base of study and information have we? Genealog
ical research, then, has its value, — be it in the tracing of an obscure and
broken line or the following back of the course of a noble and illustrious
lineage whose men have been valorous, whose women of gentle refinement.
We of this end-of-the-century, democratic type cannot afford to scoff at or
hold in light esteem the bearing up of a 'scutcheon upon whose fair face
appears no sign of blot; and he should thus be the more honored who honors

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 599
a noble name and the memory of noble deeds. The lineage of the subject
of this review is one of the most distinguished and interesting order, and no
apology need be made in reverting to this in connection with the individual
accomplishments of the subject himself.
The paternal great-grandfather, James McCabe, was a native of Scot
land and served as a trooper under Prince William of Orange in a war
against the king of Ireland. John McCabe, the grandfather of our subject,
was born on the Emerald Isle at Tanderagee, county Armagh, where the
family lived until it was transplanted to American soil by James McCabe, the
father of James D., who established the old McCabe homestead in the town
of Scarsdale, Westchester county, New York. There he spent his remaining
days. He was united in marriage to Mary Donovan, who was born in this
country, where her maternal ancestors (the Kipps and Fishers) have resided
since the year 1630. Her father belonged to one of the distingnished families
of the Emerald Isle, whose ancestry has been traced back in Burk's History
of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland to the year 960, and the
line embraces earls and other members of the nobility. They owned a very
extensive estate in Ireland, and were possessors of much wealth. The great
grandfather of our subject was Edward Donovan, of the Bally more estate
near Dublin, Ireland, who wedded Mary Broughton, of Maidstone, Kent, Eng
land, whose mother was Mary Ogle, only daughter of Samuel Ogle, Esq. , a mem
ber of parliament for Berwick, England. He was also governor of the Mary
land colony from 1732 to 1733, from 1735 to 1742. One of the sons of
Edward and Mary Donovan was the Rev. George Ogle Donovan, who was
born in the city of Dublin and was educated at Kings College, Dublin, and
studied for the ministry of the Established Church of England, but afterward
left that church, became a Wesleyan preacher and traveled for seven years in
Ireland under a license from John Wesley. He then came to the United
States and took an active part in furthering the cause of Methodism in this
country, as a local preacher, and about 1797 he located at Jamaica, Long
Island. He married Mary Devereux, who was born in New York city, but
was of French descent. Her ancestors, De Evereux, removed from France
to England, on account of the religious persecution in the former land, and
they were married in Wexford, Ireland. Her father was Captain James
Devereux, a shipping merchant, who owned the vessels which he sailed
and their cargoes, and sailed under the British flag. His home at this time
was in New York city. He made voyages between Liverpool, New York and
West Indies. At the time of the American Revolution he was a loyalist and
was three times captured and held as a prisoner of war by the colonial troops.
One of the two daughters of George and Mary (Devereux) Donovan was
Mary, who became the wife of James McCabe. She was born May 2, 1799,

600 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
in Jamaica, Long Island, and died in the old home at Scarsdale, April 16,
1887. The other daughter was Phebe, who died a spinster.
The father of our subject passed away February 26, 1855, his wife long
surviving him. They were the parents of five children: Mary J., who died
November 7, 1892; James D. ; Phoebe A., who departed this life May 15,
1892; Ellen A., who resides with her brother at the old home; and George
D. died when an infant.
At the old family homestead in the town of Scarsdale, Westchester
county, James D. McCabe was born, December 16, 1826. He spent his
boyhood on the farm and was sent to the district school of the neighborhood,
where he acquired a fair English education. For many years he successfully
carried on agricultural pursuits, and though he has now retired from that
vocation he is still the owner of fifty acres of rich and valuable land. He
extended the field of his endeavors by becoming agent for several fire-insur
ance companies and for some years past has given his attention to the fire-
insurance business.
March 12, 1861, J. D. McCabe was united in marriage to Miss Sarah E.
Fish, only daughter of Nathaniel Fish. She died May 6, 1864, leaving
a son, Edward Devereux, who married Miss Madeline B. Kipp, a daughter
of George O. Kipp, and resides in Brooklyn.
In politics Mr. McCabe is a stanch Jeffersonian Democrat, firm in his
allegiance to the national principles of his party. For several years he was
justice of the peace and for some time was also assessor of the town of
Scarsdale. His time is now given to the management of his business and
property interests. His entire life has been spent in this locality, and that
the acquaintances of his youth are numbered among the friends of his man
hood stands in unmistakable evidence of an honorable career.

JOHN H. TREMPER.

For thirty-eight years John Henry Tremper has been connected with the
business of Yonkers, and he to-day occupies in commercial circles an honored
place accorded him by reason of his straightforward dealing, his enterprise-
and his diligence. A native of the Empire state, he was born in Clarkstown,
Rockland county, July 20, 1837, and is a son of Harmann and Eliza Ann
(Bell) Tremper. Although the history of the origin of the family is lost in
the remote regions of antiquity, the following record of the family to which
the paternal grandfather of our subject belonged is authentic; Christiana, the
eldest child, was born October 31, 1732, was baptized on the nth of Novem
ber following and married Ebenezer Wood; Anna Christine, born September
l3> 1 73 5, was followed by Margretje, born February 8, 1737; John Jacob,

Jrffi/l^ /Z? d/ t^yri/As*.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 601
born April 28, 1739; Elizabeth, born April 5, 1741; William, born July 13,
1743; Harmann, born September 15, 1745; John, born November 21, 1747;
and Johannas Jerry, born June 13, 1751. The paternal grandfather of our
subject was a farmer of Clarkstown, New York, and in his political views was
a Democrat. He had nine children: Rebecca, Sallie, Maggie, Elizabeth,
Mrs. Myder, Hance, Jacob, Peter and Harmann.
The last named, Harmann Tremper, was born at Clarkstown, New York,
December 25, 1784, and died March 5, 1861. Pie learned the weaver's trade
and followed that pursuit in connection with farming. He served his country'
in the war of 1812, and was afterward granted a pension in recognition of the
aid he rendered the nation. He was married to Eliza Ann Bell December 31,
1802, and to them were born nine children: Catherine, wife of Joseph Daniels;
George R. , who wedded Mary E. Town, Hannah Maria, wife of Harman Hoff
man, who was engaged in the ice business at Rockland Lake, New York, and
died March 12, 1889, at the age of fifty-nine years; Harvey, who died in
1848, at the age of sixteen years; Abraham, who died August 11, 1883, at the
age of forty-seven years; John H., of this review; Eliza Ann, wife of Ebenezer
Hazzard; Harriet, wife of John Rogers; and Emily, who died September 9,
1847- In the public schools of his native town John H. Tremper acquired his
education, but put aside his text-books whon fourteen years of age in order
to learn the carpenter's trade, which he followed for seventeen years. In
1 86 1 he came to Yonkers, where he engaged in carpentering for some years,
but for a quarter of a century he has dealt in ice, and has become one of the
leading merchants in his line in the city. He formerly owned a pond from
which he took the ice, but now deals in Hudson river ice. His trade con
stantly increasing, has demanded six wagons with which to deliver ice to his
patrons, and his business thus grew to large proportious. As his financial
resources have increased he has made judicious investments in real estate,
and is now the owner of considerable valuable property both improved and
and unimproved, including a fine residence.
On the 3rd of January, 1863, Mr. Tremper was united in marriage to
Miss Frances Tompkins, a daughter of William S. Tompkins, a celebrated
drum manufacturer, residing in Yonkers. Their union has been blessed with
five children: Fannie E., wife of John S. Hoyt, an official in the armory
at the Battery, in New York city, but a resident of Yonkers; George R. , who
married Gertrude King and is in the ice business in Yonkers; Louise T., Ella
B. and Mary A., at home.
Mr. Tremper gives his political support to the men and measures of the
Republican party, with which he has affiliated since attaining his majority.
He feels a deep interest in its success and keeps well informed on the issues

602 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
of the day, but has never sought office, preferring to devote his time
and energies to the management of his business interests. He is a man of
marked business and executive ability, and from the time when he started out
to learn carpentering, at the age of fourteen, he has steadily advanced, until
he now occupies a leading position in commercial circles in Yonkers. His
course has ever been characterized by strict adherence to duty and the right,
and he enjoys the public confidence in a high degree. The family attend the
Reformed church in Yonkers.

MICHAEL HENRY REAGAN.
This well known Democratic politician of Yonkers is a native of this
place, his birth having occurred in the old third ward, February 2, 1853.
His parents were Patrick and Johanna (Monahan) Reagan, the father a native
of county Kerry, Ireland. After his marriage he came to the United States,
and for years was the flagman and agent at Glenwood Station, this city, and
later was employed at the local gas-works plant. He was a Republican and
was a hero of the civil war, his life being offered up as a sacrifice to the land
of his adoption. He served in the Sixth New York Heavy Artillery, under
command of Captain Meyer, who was killed at the battle of the Wilderness.
Mr. Reagan was wounded in the ankle and was left for two days and two
nights on the battle-field, and while being conveyed to Richmond, as a
prisoner, died in the hands of his captors, his sufferings and exposure to the
elements having proved too much for even his strong constitution. He was
a brave soldier and had participated in numerous other engagements and
battles. Religiously, he was a Roman Catholic, belonging to St. Mary's
parish. His widow died in 1876, aged about forty-two years. Of their chil
dren, Ellen is the wife of Martin Coyne; Mary died when young; Arthur is the
next in order of birth; and Catherine Murphy and Margaret are deceased.
The subject of this sketch attended St. Mary's old and new parochial
schools in the city, and also went to the public grammar school No. 6. He
left his studies at an early age and commenced the struggle for a livelihood.
For some years he worked in a silk mill, and by the time he was sixteen
occupied the very responsible position of foreman of the spinning-room. He
was with the firm, W. B. Copcutt, for about five years in the capacity men
tioned, and gave general satisfaction. He mastered the trade of hat-finisher,
and has filled the place of superintendent of this special department with
several large concerns in Reading, Pennsylvania, continuing in that line of
business up to 1887. He then returned to this city, and on the site of the
old homestead built a substantial business block. Here he embarked in gen
eral merchandising, and carried a special line of sea food.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 603
For a quarter of a century Mr. Reagan has been a member of the
Ancient Order of Hibernians, and was prominently connected with the organ
ization of the Division No. 14, one of the strongest lodges in the county
to-day. He has been treasurer of the same since its organization, about ten
years ago. For two consecutive terms he was the chairman, and for a
period the treasurer, of a volunteer fire company, but has served out his time
and is now an honorary member and belongs to the Exempt Firemen's Asso
ciation. He is an active member of the Columbia Hook & Ladder Com
pany, No. 2. In the local Democratic ranks he has always been an
important factor since he arrived at his majority; has been a delegate to
various conventions, and is a member of the general committee of his party
hereabouts. In 1898 he was a candidate on the independent ticket for
alderman from the sixth ward, and won against a very strong Democratic
vote. There are thirteen hundred and fifty-six voters in this ward; twelve
hundred votes were polled, and of these he received a majority of fifty-six
votes. He is a memberof the Holy Name Society of St. Joseph's Catholic
church, and is a member of the church, as well.
In 1878 Mr. Reagan married Anna Bach, and of their eleven children
seven are living, namely: Margaret, Ellen, Michael, Mamie, Catherine,
Julia and Rose. This worthy couple have also adopted a son, John Murphy.

WILLIAM MORTON, Jr.
This prosperous business man of Croton, New York, has been a resident
of Croton all his life. He was born here November n, 1847, son of Will
iam and Eliza J. (Sherwood) Morton.
The Mortons have long been identified with Westchester county. Will
iam Morton, the father of our subject, was born in Somerstown, this county,
in 1 812, and was for forty years a freighter on the Hudson river, owning a
line of sailing craft that ran between Croton and New York city. He was
well known and highly respected here. He died in 1883, at the age of seven
ty-two years. His parents were William and Chloe Ann (Teed) Morton.
William Morton, the elder, was a farmer. He was born in the north of Ire
land, and came to America in 1780, locating in Westchester county, New
York. He married, in Somerstown, Miss Chloe Ann Teed, a native of New
York, and to them were born four children, namely: William, father of the
subject of this sketch; John, a resident of Brooklyn, New York, now eighty-
four years of age; George, who died at the age of twenty; and Chloe, who
died at the age of twenty-two. As far back as their history is traced the
family have been stanch Methodists. The grandfather of our subject built
a Methodist church at Mount Airy, New York. William and Eliza J. (Sher-

604 • WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
wood) Morton had nine children, namely: Chloe Ann, deceased wife of
Ebenezer Fowler; Eliza J., wife of Isenhort Flewellyn; George, a resident
of Peekskill, New York, successor to his father in the freighting business;
John, a resident of New York city, is by occupation a brickmaker; William,
whose name forms the heading of this article; Sherwood, a pilot, has his
residence at Croton; Frank, deceased; Maria L., wife of J. G. Miller, of
Sing Sing, New York; and Ella, widow of George W. Barmore.
After finishing his schooling Mr. William Morton engaged in boating
with his father on the Hudson river, and was thus occupied until he reached
his majority. He then entered the employ of Cyrus Frost, a merchant of
Croton, with whom he remained for two years, at the end of that time going
into business for himself, and entering upon a career that has proved a most
successful one. He began with a small stock of goods purchased with money
he had earned by his own efforts, and. with no aid he has pushed forward to
the marked success he has achieved. From time to time he has made valu
able investments with his surplus. He has bought property and erected a
number of dwellings in the town and in this way has he done much to pro
mote the growth of Croton. Politically he is an ardent Democrat, and a
number of local offices have been ably filled by him. Fraternally he affiliates
with the Improved Order of Red Men.
Mr. Morton was married in 1872 to Miss Elizabeth Grattan, daughter of
John and Mary Grattan, and their happy union has been blessed in the birth
of ten children, all now at home, namely: Alice, Grace, Frank, Elizabeth,
Minnie, Robert, Arthur, Albert, Gertrude and Esther. He and his family
are members of the Episcopal church, of which he is a vestryman.

JAMES F. MERRITT.

This well-known and highly esteemed citizen of Bedford township,
Westchester county, has accomplished a most satisfactory work as a farmer
and has succeeded in accumulating a valuable estate. He was born on the
20th of May, 1820, on the farm where he now resides, and is descended
from good old Revolutionary stock, his grandfather, John Merritt, also a
native of this county, having aided the colonies in their successful struggle
for independence. Both he and his wife, who bore the maiden name of
Sarah Miller, died in Westchester county. Their children were David,
Stephen, John and Ruth, now Mrs. Elliott Smith.
John Merritt, Jr., father of our subject, was born in Bedford township,
and on reaching manhood married Miss Hannah Gregory, daughter of Stephen
and Chloe Gregory, whose family also was represented in the Revolutionary
war.. Six children were born to John and Hannah Merritt, namely: Mrs.

&LslrtsU4

n^JiJiM^

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 605
Ruth A. Timberman; Mrs. Phoebe Newman; Chloe, wife of Colonel E.
Avery, a state officer; James F., our subject; and Norman and Caroline,
both deceased. The father, who was a farmer by occuption, a Democrat in
politics, and a Methodist in religious belief, died at the age of sixty-six years,
and his estimable wife passed away at the age of eighty-six.
James F. Merritt was reared to rural life, his education being obtained
in the public schools near his boyhood home. Throughout his business
career he has engaged in agricultural pursuits with marked success, and is
now the owner of several fine farms, known as the Newman, the Daniel
Bouton, the John Banks, and also a part of the Peter Miller farm and a part
of the Alva Miller farm, aggregating over four hundred acres, most of which
are under a high state of cultivation and well improved. In connection
with general farming he has been interested in stock-raising and the milk
business for forty-eight years, and in these branches of his business has also
met with success.
At the age of twenty-six, Mr. Merritt was united in marriage with Miss
Lucy A. Whitlock, a daughter of John B. and Rachel (Umsted) Whitlock,
of Whitlockville, and by this union two children have been born: John B.,
who married Phoebe Teed, and has one child, Ella Maud; and Ella, wife of
Isaac Turner, of Bedford township, this county. For over half a century
this worthy couple have traveled life's journey together, sharing with each
other its joys and sorrows, its adversity and prosperity, and now in their
declining years they are surrounded by a large circle of friends and acquaint
ances who esteem them highly for their genuine worth. He is an earnest
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in politics Mr. Merritt is a
Democrat; and she is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church.

REV. WILLIAM B. WALLER.
William Bradley Waller is one who has done much and done it well, —
wherein all honor lies. A man of ripe scholarship and marked executive
ability, his life has been consecrated to the cause of the Master and to the
uplifting of men. He has devoted himself without ceasing to the interests
of humanity and to the furtherance of all good works. His reputation is not
of a restricted order, and his power and influence in his holy office have been
exerted in a spirit of deepest human sympathy and tender solicitude.
Rev. Waller was born in Berwick, Pennsylvania, June 24, 1848, a son
of William Lindsley and Louisa (Bonham) Waller. His father was for forty
years a ruling elder in the New York Avenue Presbyterian church, of Wash
ington, D. C, in which city the son spent the greater part of his childhood
and youth. His preliminary education was supplemented by a course in

606 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Princeton College, in which institution he was graduated with the class of
1869. He afterward engaged in teaching for a year and then returning
to Princeton pursued a course in the Theological Seminary, in which he
was graduated in 1873. On the 19th of February of the following year
he was ordained to the ministry by the Presbytery of Philadelphia North;
and during his ministerial service of almost a quarter of a century he has
occupied but two regular pastorates. In 1876 he became pastor of the newly
organized Green Ridge Avenue Presbyterian church, in Scranton, Pennsyl
vania, where he remained until 1882, when he accepted a call from the First
Presbyterian church, of New Rochelle. Here he has remained continuously
since as the beloved pastor of that congregation. The church is one of the
oldest in the Empire state. It practically had its origin at the time of the
Huguenot landing in Echo bay, in 1687. Like the Pilgrim Fathers, who had
landed at Plymouth nearly seventy years before, they brought their church
with them fully organized, and on the first Sunday which they spent in the
the New World their pastor, Rev. David de Bonrepos, called his peo
ple about him in divine worship. Exiled from their beloved La Rochelle,
these French Protestants named the new town which they founded in Amer
ica after their old home. In 1689 they erected their house of worship near
the present site of the church, but it was destroyed by fire in 1723. Poverty
and other difficulties often deprived them of a preacher, but the little band
clung together and secured a regular legal incorporation February 22, 1808.
All this time they were commonly known as the "French church," the official
record of their incorporation naming them the " Presbyterian church of New
Rochelle, formerly known by the name of the French church." In the early
part of the century the work languished, but in 1846 took a new start and
from that time the success of the church has been assured.
Such, in brief, is the history of the church over which Mr. Waller was
called to preside in 1882. During his ministry it has been in a most pros
perous and flourishing condition. Its membership has been increased to four
hundred, and its field of usefulness has been greatly extended. In 1891 they
dismissed thirty-nine members to organize the Second Presbyterian church,
which had developed from a mission, which they had for some time con
ducted, known as the North street chapel. The First Presbyterian is now
one of the strongest churches in the suburban presbytery of Westchester.
Many of its members are New York business men, and their gifts, tastes and
standards are those of a city church.
That Mr. Waller has been their pastor sixteen years is evidence of his
substantial ability as preacher and pastor. At this point it would be almost
a redundancy to enter into any series of statements as showing our subject
to be a man of broad intelligence and genuine public spirit, for these have

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 607
been shadowed forth between the lines of this review. Strong in his indi
viduality, he never lacks the courage of his convictions, but there are, as
dominating elements in this individuality, a lively human sympathy and an
abiding charity, which, as taken in connection with the sterling integrity and
honor of his character, have naturally gained to Mr. Waller the respect and
confidence of men of all denominations.

MINOT CROFOOT KELLOGG.
The career of him whose name heads this review illustrates most forci
bly the possibilities that are open to a young man who possesses sterling
business qualifications. It proves that neither wealth nor social position nor
the assistance of influential friends is necessary to place him on the road to
success. It also proves that ambition, perseverance, steadfast purpose and
indefatigable industry, combined with sound business principles, will be
rewarded, and that true success follows individual effort only. Mr. Kellogg
has gained recognition and prestige as one of the influential and representa
tive business men residing in Mount Vernon, New York, and is to-day vice-
president of the Patterson Brothers Company of New York city.
He was born in New Canaan, Connecticut, December 17, 1834, a son of
Matthew and Electa (Crofoot) Kellogg. He traces his ancestry back to Dan
iel Kellogg, who was born in 1638, and was an early settler of Norwalk, Con
necticut, where he served as selectman in 1670 and died in 17 13. He had
a son, Samuel Kellogg, born in 1673, and the line continues through the lat-
ter's son, Gideon Kellogg, born in 1717. Isaac Kellogg, son of Gideon and
grandfather of Minot C. Kellogg, rendered able service to the cause of Ameri
can independence as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and his name appears
upon the pension rolls. Matthew Kellogg, the father, who was born Septem
ber 22, 1782, was a prosperous farmer of New Canaan, Connecticut, and
lived to the advanced age of ninety years.
Upon the homestead farm Minot Crofoot Kellogg was reared to man
hood, acquiring such an education as was then afforded by the town schools.
At the age of nineteen he went to New York city, where he entered the
employ of Patterson Brothers, hardware dealers, commencing as office-boy
and working his way forward, step by step, to the position of senior clerk,
and at length to an equal partnership in the business. In 1884 the concern
was incorporated under its present style and he was elected its vice-president.
He is president of the Co-operative Building Bank, of New York, a position
formerly occupied by the late Hon. James W. Wyatt, of Norwalk, and
among its directors are several prominent Connecticut men, including ex-Gov
ernor Lounsbury, and the present lieutenant-governor of New York, Hon

608 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Timothy L. Woodruff. Mr. Kellogg is also vice-president of the Bank of
Mount Vernon (New York), a director of the East Chester Savings Bank and.
of various other institutions, is one of the managers of the Mount Vernon
Hospital and president of the board of trustees of the First Methodist church
at that place. His business interests necessitated his removal from Con
necticut in 1874, and since that year he has resided in Mount Vernon, New
York. The moral and religious institutions of the community in which he
lives have in him an earnest and a liberal supporter, and the only organiza
tion in the metropolis with which he is said to affiliate is the Hardware Club.
He never acts except from honest motives, and in all his varied relations in
business affairs and in social life he has maintained a character and standing
that has impressed all with his sincere and manly purpose to treat others as
he would have others treat him. Politically, he is a Republican.
On the 24th of September, 1863, Mr. Kellogg was united in marriage
with Miss Emily E., daughter of Charles E. and Abigail Ann Disbrow, of
Norwalk, Connecticut, and to them were born two sons and two daughters,
of whom the latter survive: Mildred C. , the older, married Samuel W.
Bertine, October 24, 1893, and has one son, Edwin Wilbur, born August 1,
1897. The younger daughter, Cora L. , is now attending the Mount Vernon
high school. The wife and mother died February 8, 1889, and on January
7, 1891, Mr. Kellogg wedded Miss Mary L. Tallmadge, daughter of the late
William H. Tallmadge, of New Canaan, Connecticut. The family is very
prominent socially.
JOHN H. BRETT.
That class of citizens in whom utilitarian America takes the most pride
comprises the representative business men who are still carrying out all the
oldest maxims of industry, perseverance and integrity. Such a man is Mr.
Brett, who has humbly and faithfully added his share to the prosperity of
the country and earned for himself a good name. "Although no sculptured
marble may arise to his memory, nor engraved stone bear record of his deeds,
as to many unworthy kings and potentates, yet will a remembrance of him
last as long as the land he honors."
The name "Brett" is of German origin; but the immigrant ancestor of
our subject, his grandfather, Patrick Brett, came from Tipperary, Ireland, in
1850, locating at Albany, New York, where he resided until his death in 1872,
prior to which event he had been retired from active business for many years.
James Brett, the father of John, was a native of Ireland, a truckman by occu
pation, emigrated to America, landing at St. John, New Brunswick, in 1848,
soon afterward moved to Albany, New York, where he resided until 1851, when
he came to Mount Vernon, and here he engaged in trucking and teaming until

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 609
his death in 1872. He was an exemplary citizen, a Democrat in his political
faith, and in his religious faith an intelligent member of the Catholic church.
He was one of the founders of the local church (St. Matthew's) in Mount
Vernon, and he built the first church edifice for their worship. He married
Ann Harrington, and had the following named children: Patrick, deceased;
John H., our subject; Catherine; Patrick W. , Mary and James. The mother
of these children departed this life in December, 1876, at the age of forty-
one years. Mr. John H. Brett, whose name honors the introduction of this sketch,
was born August 4, 1854, at Mount Vernon, and left school at the age of
fourteen years to assist his father in business, and thus remained with him to
the time of his death: he was then eighteen years of age. Selling the teams
they had been using in their business, he became associated with Reynolds
Brothers in the grain and feed business, and remained with them two years;
next he was employed by Burr Davis & Son in the livery business for five
years; and finally, in 1892, he engaged in the grain business on his own
account, at Mount Vernon, in which he has since continued, with the success
that is due industry and integrity. His place of business is at 5 and 7 Pros
pect avenue.
Besides the daily routine of the work-a-day life by which he earns his
livelihood, he takes an interest in other business enterprises and in social,
religious and public affairs, being a director in the Mount Vernon Steamboat
Company, running boats between New York city and Mount Vernon; a mem
ber of the board of trade; formerly a member of the Nogan Hose Company
for eight years; a member of the order of Knights of St. John of Malta,
Ancient Order of Foresters, Exempt Firemen's Association, the Catholic
Benevolent Legion, Society of St. Vincent de Paul (charitable institution), of
the Mount Vernon City Club, Mount Vernon Gun Club and of the Turn-
verein (a singing society). In politics he is a leading and active Democrat,
and for a long time has served as the receiver of taxes for the city of Mount
Vernon. Early in the year 1884 he was united in marriage with Miss Margaret
Delaney, of Fordham, New York.

ROBERT F. WHITE.

Robert F. White is one of the prominent men of Purdy Station, where
he conducts a livery and store. He was born in Penryn, Cornwall, England,
December 8, 1850, and is the son of William Henry and Emma (Elliott)
White. His father went to Australia in 1854, where he died. He was a
mason and builder of skill. The wife and mother is now in her eighty-first
39

610 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
year and still resides in the home of her birth, Cornwall. She has had six
children, viz.: Daniel, of England; Reverend John, of Arvada, Colorado;
Mary, wife of Joseph Stephens, of Devonshire, England; Emma E., at
home with her mother; and Robert F. , our subject. The oldest son, William
H., is deceased.
Robert F. White graduated at the Wesleyan high school, and at the
age of twenty had also graduated at the Polytechnic School of Cornwall, as
engineer. He soon afterward came to this country and entered the employ
of John Roach, the famous shipbuilder of Philadelphia. Later he aban
doned this work to take up the work of the ministry, in the Methodist Epis
copal church, preaching in Greene and Schoharie counties, and for two years
in Westchester county. In 1884 he located in Purdy Station in his present
business, which is prospering even beyond his expectations.
In 1877 he was joined in matrimony to Miss Lola Josephine Smith, a
teacher from Charlotteville, Schoharie county, this state, and a daughter of
Henry Smith. They have five children: Anna, a highly successful and pop
ular teacher; Emma Lola, Robert Henry, George Furneaux and Harrold
Leslie. Mr. White has given invaluable aid to the Republicans of this
county, "stumping " a portion of the state for Harrison and also for Gov
ernor Morton. The issue discussed by him principally was the tariff, upon
which he is exceptionally well informed. He is a pleasant and forceful
speaker, bringing his audience into irresistible sympathy with the speaker,
and he is always sure of an appreciative hearing. He is now serving his
third term as justice of the peace, and has been on the school board eight
years. He has made two trips back to the mother country, — the first in
1884, and again in 1891. He is of a social disposition and has gathered a
large fund of pithy anecdotes which serve him a good purpose in election
eering.
SIVORI SELLECK.
Sivori Selleck, one of the old and respected citizens of Pound Ridge
township, Westchester county, was born in this locality May 25, 1855. His
father, Sands Selleck, was born in this county May 16, 18 16, and died Sep
tember 8, 1897. in addition to farming he was extensively engaged in the
manufacture of baskets, and stood foremost in that line of industry in this
portion of the state at that time. He was very active in the Republican party,
and for a number of terms was a selectman of his township. Both he and
his estimable wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. The
latter, whose maiden name was Betsey E. Austin, and who survives her hus
band, was born in 1822.
Thomas Selleck, the paternal grandfather of the subject of this narra-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 611
tive, was born in this county, and owned an extensive tract of land in Pound
Ridge township, this property having been in the family for several genera
tions, handed down from father to son. A portion of the estate — fifty acres —
is comprised within the sixty-two-acre farm now owned by Sivori Selleck.
Thomas Selleck was a stone-mason and contractor, and among other public
works constructed by him, which at the time were considered very important
and splendid specimens of skill and engineering, was the Holly's Pond dam,
in Stamford, Connecticut. He was a stanch Republican, and was an influ
ential member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His wife, whose name
before their marriage was Esther Jeames, was a native of the county, her
birth having occurred near the banks of the Hudson river.
Sivori Selleck is one of eight children, the others being as follows: George
B., who enlisted in the Thirteenth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry in the
civil war and died in 1862, in New Orleans, when but twenty-one years of
age, from fever contracted in the service; Ann Eliza, wife of Levi Brush, of
New Canaan, Connecticut; Adeline, wife of Loomis Schofield, of Pound
Ridge township; Emma G. , Mrs. Charles Brown, of New Canaan; Titus S.,
a mechanic and resident of this township; Hannah E., Mrs. John B. Weed,
of New Canaan; Sands, Jr., residing at Pound Ridge, this county; and
Francis S., a grocer of New Canaan.
When he had grown to manhood the subject of this article went to Ada,
Ohio, where he engaged in business for about one year, after which he
returned to his native county and purchased a tract of thirty acres in this
township. He dealt in ship timber in connection with his farming opera
tions for some three years. Then selling out, he went to Stamford, Con
necticut, where he made his home for some three years. In 1886 he came
back to the old homestead here, of which he became the owner by purchase.
He now is following in the footsteps of his father, cultivating the farm
and manufacturing baskets for the use of dealers in New York city.
His business in this line is a paying one and employment is afforded several
hands. From his early manhood he has been active in the ranks of the Repub
lican party, and has officiated in various minor positions of local importance.
He was excise commissioner for six years; for three consecutive terms has
been commissioner of highways and is now serving as secretary and treasurer
of the board. In 1897 he was appointed postmaster at Scott's Corners, and
is still acting in that capacity. At numerous conventions of his party he has
been present as a delegate, and at all times he has been an interested fac
tor in the success of the same. Fraternally, he is a member of the Odd Fel
lows society, belonging to Wooster Lodge, No. 37, of New Canaan, Connect
icut. He is also associated with Commodore Perry Council, No. 44, O. U.

612 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
A. M.; Oenoke Tent, K. O. T. M. ; Olive Branch Council, No. 8, Daughters
of Liberty, of New Canaan; and the Sons of Temperance. He has always
been an interested worker in the cause of total abstinence from intoxicating
liquor and tobacco.
He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, of Scott's Corners,
being a steward and trustee and having been district steward of the district
including Pound Ridge township. For a long time he has been an influential
worker in the Sunday-school cause and is now the superintendent of the
school which is carried on in connection with his home church. His wife
and daughter, also, are great workers in the church and Sunday-school,
and the latter, Miss Lula B., who has a special talent for music, presides
at the organ. The marriage of Mr. Selleck and Miss Sarah Macdonald,
daughter of Daniel and Mary (Warren) Macdonald, was solemnized October
9, 1889. Mrs. Selleck was born in Brooklyn, New York, March 1, 1862, and
by her marriage has become the mother of two children — Lulu B. and
George Thomas.
FRANK J. HOLLER.
Frank J. Holler, a popular and successful citizen of New Rochelle, is a
son of Lawrence and Louisa (Mangis) Holler, and was born in New Rochelle,
June 17, 1872. He was graduated from the public schools, and, after a
thorough commercial course at Packard's Business College, entered a large
wholesale house in New York city as bookkeeper. He made good progress
in the concern and severed his relations with it only when, at the age of nine
teen, he was called home to assume charge of his father's business, in conse
quence of the latter illness. He gradually took into his hands the entire man
agement of this important enterprise and has 'developed it far beyond the
expectations of its founder. It is an ice business and was established by the
elder Holler in 1858. The firm owns its plant, which is complete in every
respect, fully equipped in every way and equal to the demands of its growing
business. The capacity has been increased from time to time, and its present
manager has added to it materially by the purchase of new property. Mr.
Holler's success is the result largely of his own personal influence. He is a
genial and friendly man who is welcomed everywhere, and this is reinforced
by a capacity for affairs which would bring success to any project to which it
might be devoted.
Mr. Holler is a stanch Democrat, and wields a strong influence in
municipal affairs. As a heavy taxpayer, he is naturally interested in the
economical and honorable administration of all public offices. He has
served his fellow-citizens as inspector of elections, was elected auditor of
New Rochelle by a majority of 550 out of 1,296 votes, was triumphantly

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 613
elected alderman to represent the third ward, was delegate to the county
convention of his party in 1896, and has been otherwise prominent in the
management of the business of the city. So well and faithfully has he dis
charged every duty to the public, that he is uniformly regarded as a model
official. He has never sought office, and has never accepted it, except when
convinced that the interests of the community demanded such a concession
on his part. He was secretary of the Democratic county committee for three
years, is a member of the Democratic Club, and of the Knights of Columbus,
and was formerly a member of Huguenot Engine Company. He has been
a lifelong member of St. Gabriel's Catholic church. Toward every organi
zation with which he has been connected, he has always exercised a spirit of
helpfulness that has been more than liberal.
Lawrence Holler came, when six years old, from Germany with his
father and mother and the balance of their family, and located at New York,
where the family resided for eight years, and in 1846 came to New Rochelle,
where Lawrence Holler, Sr. , acquired considerable real estate, and the family
had a home in a substantial stone residence. This property descended in
part to Lawrence Holler, Jr., father of Frank J. Holler, and he has sold off
tracts of it as occasion has brought him opportunities for profitable trans
actions. He has always taken an interest in local matters, was commis
sioner of highways, and has held other offices. He is an exempt member of
Huguenot Engine Company, and has always been an influential Democrat
and a member of the Roman Catholic church. On May 29, 1867, he mar
ried Louisa Mangis, a daughter of Melchor and Anna Elizabeth (Witterman)
Mangis, and she bore him three sons and four daughters, as follows: Law
rence, who died aged one year; Catharine E., who died July 2, 1884; Henry,
and Amelia were twins, born March 10, 1871, and the former died July 17,
1871, and the latter died August 2, 1871; Frank J., our subject; Maria Wil-
helmina; and Anna Frances.
Three of Frank J. Holler's grandparents died at the age of eighty, and
his paternal grandfather at the age of ninety-one.

ELIAS BRYANT.

This honored veteran of the civil war and one of the most popular men
of Mount Pleasant township, Westchester county, was born on the 12th of
April, 1837, in Morris county, New Jersey, and is a worthy representative of
a good old family of that state. His ancestors are supposed to have come to
this country from Holland, and the family name was originally Brount. His
paternal grandfather, Elias Bryant, was a native of New Jersey and was an
expert blacksmith. He married a Miss Corwin, and both died in that state.

614 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Elias Bryant, Jr., our subject's father, was born in 1800, in New Jersey,
and throughout life followed the stone and brick mason's trade. He married
Miss Electa Meeker, a native of Morris county, and a representative of two
of the honored old families of that state, — the Meekers and Skinners, — eight
een of their members being soldiers of the Revolutionary war. Fannie
Meeker, an aunt of our subject, is still living, aged ninety-four years. The
children born to Elias and Electa Bryant were Isaac, who died at the age of
eighteen years; Jacob, a resident of Scranton, Pennsylvania; Phoebe, wife of
Lewis Sturges, of Tarrytown, New York; Amada B., of Tarrytown; Eveline,
deceased wife of James L. Minnerly; and Elias, our subject. The mother
died at the age of forty-six years, and the father was again married, having
by the second union two children: Van Cleave D., deceased; and Frederick,
a resident of West Virginia. The father was called to his final rest at the
age of seventy-one years. He was a Democrat in politics and a Presbyterian
in religious faith.
The subject of this review was reared and educated in his native state,
where he remained until coming to Tarrytown, Westchester county, in 1857.
Here he worked at the painter's trade until his enlistment in the Union army.
On the 7th of January, 1864, he joined the Seventh New York Heavy Artillery,
and with Grant's command participated in the battles of Spottsylvania, the
Wilderness, Cold Harbor and Petersburg. He was wounded in the left leg
by a gunshot and gangrene set in, necessitating the use of crutches for eleven
months, and for nine months was confined in a hospital at Washington, D. C,
being honorably discharged April 13, 1865. He was at Ford's theater on the
night of President Lincoln's assassination and witnessed the shooting by
Wilkes Booth.
On his return home Mr. Bryant resumed work at his trade, and was
also engaged in the insurance business for several years in connection with
farming. In 1867 he located upon his present farm, known as Maple Shade,
where he has a most beautiful rural home, the culture and artistic taste of its
occupants being reflected in its appointments, while a gracious hospitality
adds a charm to its material comforts. It is conveniently located only three
miles from Tarrytown and one mile from Pocantico Hills.
In 1867 Mr. Bryant was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Ryder,
a daughter of David and Julia (Van Cortland) Ryder. They have one son,
W. Irving, who was born, reared and educated in Westchester county, and
married Miss Margaret Reeves, a native of Tarrytown, and a daughter of
Rev. Reeves, who was a chaplain in the Confederate service during the civil
war. They have one child, a son, born January 15, 1899. In his political
affiliations Mr. Bryant is a Democrat, and he has been honored with several
local offices, including those of commissioner and collector. He is a pleasant,

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 615
genial gentleman, who makes many friends, and is an honored member of
Ward B. Burnett Post, No. 496, G. A. R.
The old home where they are now living was confiscated during the
Revolutionary war, and after that was bought by a Mr. Forshay, who
divided it between his sons. Schuyler Forshay was one of these. Major
Andre passed the old home just before he was captured.

FRANCIS J. STEVENS.

Mr. Stevens is a wide-awake, energetic business man, the present pro
prietor of the Boutonville Mills, and also owns and manages the old Stevens
homestead, on which he was born, November 13, 1858. His father, John
D. Stevens, and his grandfather, who also bore the name of John, were
both millers, and in following their chosen calling met with a fair degree of
success. The latter married Miss Polly Delavan, who was of French
descent, and both died in Westchester county. Here John D. Stevens grew
to manhood and learned the miller's trade of his father. He was twice
married, his first wife being by maiden name Harriet Scofield, by which
union there was one daughter, now Mrs. Harriet Mead, of Connecticut.
His second union was with Miss Frances Scofield, a daughter of Samuel
Scofield, and she died during the infancy of our subject. The father, who
was always a stanch supporter of the Democracy, departed this life October
J3> 1895, at the age of seventy-one years. During his boyhood and youth
Francis J. Stevens remained at home and early became familiar with the
milling business by aiding his father; and after the death of the latter he
took charge of the mill, which is one of the best in the county. He also
came into possession of the old homestead, a valuable and well improved
farm, which he is now successfully managing in connection with the mill.
His management of the estate is marked by the scientific knowledge and
skill which characterize the modern business man.
In 1884 Mr. Stevens was united in marriage with Miss Julia P. Grum-
mond, a daughter of Samuel and Angeline (Westcott) Grummond, and one
child blesses this union, Emma M. , who was born February 26, 1892. Mrs.
Stevens was born on the old Grummond homestead near Lake Wacabuc and
near the north and south line of Salem township. Her ancestry came to this
county many years ago. Her grandfather, Samuel Grummond, Sr. , carried
on business here for a number of years. He married Bethenia Denton, of
Greenwich, Connecticut. Her father died in 1894, and her mother is still
living, now seventy-five years of age, at Lewisboro. They had three chil
dren: Mary, Mrs. Alfred Hawley, deceased, of Salem Center; Bethenia, wife
of George Silkman, of Cross River; and Mrs. Stevens, the youngest. In poli-

616 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
tics her father was a Republican, and by occupation a stone-mason. In 1835
Samuel Grummond carried on a large business at the foot of Long Pond
mountain, on the south side, on the road leading from South Salem meeting
house to North Salem. Mr. Grummond died in 1834.
Mr. Stevens, the subject of this sketch, served as overseer of Pound
Ridge township for five years, and is recognized as one of the most useful
citizens of the community. His father also took a prominent part in public
affairs, serving as postmaster of Boutonville for several years and as com
missioner for some time. He was rather a large man, weighing one hundred
and eighty pounds, and was a genial, pleasant gentleman, who made many
friends.
JAMES A. HUNTINGTON.
James Arthur Huntington, a prominent young business man of New
Rochelle, is a son of James P. and Mary E. (Hudson) Huntington and was
born at New Rochelle, November 2, 1868. The family of Huntington is of
English origin.
Mr. Huntington's paternal grandfather, James Pitcher Huntington, a
native of New Rochelle, was a gentleman of the old school, a man of wealth
and influence, who served his country in the war of 18 12-14, was a justice
of the peace continuously for twenty-five or thirty years, and whose old
homestead, on the Boston turnpike at the intersection of Main street, was
one of the best known places round about New Rochelle. He had children
named: Jane, Ann, Mary, Grace, Thomas, Isaac, Lawrence D. and James P.
Lawrence D, Huntington lives on his father's place, where these children
were born, and is a well known broker, operating in Wall street, New York
city. He has been a member of the state assembly, was three times elected
president of the village of New Rochelle (1866-7, 1873-4, 1889-90), was
president of the New York State Fish Commission and is in a general way
active in public and political affairs.
James P. Huntington, father of James Arthur Huntington, was educated
in the public schools of New Rochelle and while yet young learned the trade
of wheelwright, for he inclined to mechanical rather than mercantile pur
suits, and wheelwrights almost invariably did well in those days, before cheap
factory wagons and carriages had been introduced. He went to California, —
was a real "Forty-niner," for it was in 1849 that he went, — but did not
remain long. Returning east, he located at Tarrytown, but thirty years ago
came back to New Rochelle. He was the owner of two sloops which did
quite a business in a local way between Harlem and New Rochelle until sup
planted by the superior transportation facilities of the era of railroads, and
he became popularly known as "Captain" Huntington. This later enter-

^/fe^^S^ -^7

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 617
prise absorbed his energies for ten or twelve years and it was quite a success.
He took an interest in the village fire department and became an exempt
member of Enterprise Hook and Ladder Company. He married Mary E.
Hudson; their children were as follows: Thomas, Jennie (Mrs. Alonzo
Guest), Grace and John (deceased), James Arthur and Mary E.
James Arthur Huntington was educated in the public schools of New
Rochelle and was duly graduated at the age of sixteen. He immediately
entered the service of the Fifth Avenue Bank, of New York city, and was for
six years one of its clerks and rose to the position of ladies' receiving teller.
He was offered and accepted the position of teller of the Bank of New
Rochelle and has held it for eight years.
He takes an intelligent and practically helpful interest in all public affairs
and is an active politician of pronounced Democratic proclivities. In 1898
he was nominated for the office of village trustee by his own party and
endorsed by the Republicans, and was elected by the united vote of the two
parties, which was an unequivocal tribute to his personal popularity. In
1899 he was nominated treasurer of New Rochelle and elected by a majority
of one hundred and fifty-three, running considerably ahead of his ticket. He
is a member of numerous popular societies and organizations, including the
Royal Arcanum and the New Rochelle Rowing Club. He has been active in
a business way in several directions and always usefully and successfully.
He was one of the organizers and is a director of the New Rochelle Savings
& Investment Association. He has been a delegate to a number of political
and other conventions, and his influence has always been potent for the
enhancement of the best interests of New Rochelle.
November 14, 1894, James A. Huntington married Miss Carrie Theo
dora Pine, daughter of Theodore Pine, and they have two sons, James Ken
neth and Willard Davenport. Theodore Pine was clerk of New Rochelle in
1866-8, and was register of Westchester county several terms, being a promi
nent Democrat. He died some years since, sincerely regretted by a large
circle of acquaintances, leaving two daughters and a son. His father, John
Pine, was also active politically in his day, and was a trustee of the village
of New Rochelle and served the public ably and faithfully in other official
positions. ALBERT S. JENKS.
One of the prominent builders of the city of Mount Vernon, in every
sense of the word, is the gentleman whose name honors the caption of this
article. He was born in New York city, in 1859, a son of Andrew M. and
Sarah A. (Kellam) Jenks. (The name "Jenks" is of Knickerbocker Dutch
origin. ) His paternal grandfather and other early ancestors were natives of

618 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
New England. His father was born in Armenia, New York, about 1827,.
received a common-school education, and was a carpenter and builder by
occupation, erecting many buildings of his own, for speculation, as well as
for others. At first he was in business in the south, and came to Dutchess
county, this state, and in 1882 to Mount Vernon, where he still resides and
where he has been engaged in contracting until recently.
In public affairs he has a wide influence, being an enthusiastic Democrat
and an efficient worker for the advancement of the principles of his party.
He has had nine children, as follows: Andrew M., Jr., Francis, Albert S.
(subject of this sketch), Julia P. Holmes, deceased, Sarah A. Harrocks, Alvira
Blair (widow), Mollie, Etta Hinkelbein, and Alonzo, who is deceased. Both
the parents are still living, the father at the age of seventy-one years and the
mother at the age of sixty-five.
The maternal grandfather of our subject and his mother were both of
English birth and reared on Long Island. His maternal great-grandfather
was from England, was engaged in speculative business at Babylon, on Long
Island, and made a great deal of money, owned a farm and much other val
uable property, raised considerable produce and was also a produce commis
sion merchant. Mr. Albert S. Jenks, our subject, received his education in the public
schools of Hyde Park, left school at the age of fourteen years, remaining with
his father a short time to learn the carpenter's trade, then worked as a jour
neyman for several years. Subsequently he was a keeper and foreman of
the stock-room in the stove-manufacturing department of Perry & Company,
at Sing Sing, New York, for two years. Afterward he was engaged again at
his trade for two years in the south, and then returned to Mount Vernon,
where he has since resided. In 1887 he became associated with Carl Will
iam Plume, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume, forming the firm
of Jenks & Plume, engaged in general building and contracting. They have
in their employment from thirty-five to forty men on an average, — sometimes
as many as sixty-five. In a single year they have done work amounting to a
hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Jenks is the bookkeeper, financier and execu
tive manager of the business, while Mr. Plume is the superintending architect.
They also speculate to some extent in real estate, buying lots, improving
them, building upon them and selling them, and in this business they have
been signally successful. They are indeed the leading carpenter contractors
in the city.
Mr. Jenks is also a lover of fine horses, having usually in his stables
some of the fastest horses to be seen on the boulevards of the city.
In public affairs he is an active and leading Democrat. For two years —
1892-3 — he was a member of the board of aldermen, and in the spring of

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 619
1 897 he was elected supervisor, in which position he is at present serving, with.
acceptability. His shrewd insight into the methods of human nature and
his reliability and integrity well qualify him for the heaviest responsibilities
of higher official station. He is a member of Hiawatha Lodge, No. 434, F.
& A. M. ; was president of the Mount Vernon Driving Club three years;.
attends the Universahst church, and was formerly a member of the old Eagle
Fire Company at Hyde Park.
December 18, 1891, he was united in matrimony with Miss Margaretta
Cannon, a daughter of Charles Cannon, and he has three children, — Ger
trude, Albert, Jr., and Floyd.

WILLIAM HUMPHREY SERGEANT.
This gentlemen, one of the live business men of Mount Vernon, was
born March 22, 1865, at Hull, Yorkshire, England, a son of George and Ann
(Carr) Sergeant. Thomas Sergeant, the grandfather of our subject, was a
native of Brigg, Lincolnshire, was a farmer and also a mason, taking con
tracts for building. He married a lady whose parents were engaged in
theatrical plays, and they left her in England on a tour to the United States,
and while thus separated from her parents she was married. George Ser
geant, the father of our subject, was born in Lincolnshire, England, and
during his active business life was a mason and builder, taking contracts and
doing an extensive amount of work. Both the parents are living, in England,.
the father at the age of seventy-one years and the mother about sixty-five.
He is a member of- the Episcopalian church. They have had ten children,
namely: Charles Thomas, Arthur Henry, George E., deceased, Betsey Jane,
Frederick J., William H., Charlotte Mary, Herbert, deceased, Ann, and
Sarah Hildred, also deceased.
The subject of this sketch was educated in the public schools of Hull,
and also at a private school there, and at the age of fourteen he left school
and began to learn the mason's trade, of his father, and followed it as a
journeyman for many years, both in England and in this country. He
arrived in America June 28, 1883 or 1884, locating in New York city, where
he was employed at his trade for six years. In 1 B91 he came to Mount Ver
non and continued to work as a journeyman for a time, and then engaged in
contracting for building on his own account, in 1895, in company with his
brother Arthur H., under the firm name of Sergeant Brothers, which rela
tion has since been continued. The scope of their business comprises all
kinds of building and masonry. Among the more important structures
erected by them are: The new city hall, known as the Lucas building, the

620 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
gas and water buildings, Lenox laundry and the electric-light station, besides
a hundred smaller buildings.
In his political principles Mr. Sergeant is a Republican, but he has never
been an office-seeker or a politician.
He was married October 3, 1895, to Miss Margaret Sharp, a daughter
of Robert Sharp, and they have three children, — Winifred R., Marguerite
I. and Jane Victoria. ROBERT C. ARCHER.
Robert Cromwell Archer, of New Rochelle, is a son of Benjamin and
Eliza (Cromwell) Archer, and was born in the town of West Farms, July 2,
1838. William Archer, his paternal grandfather, lived in Fordham, New
York, as did also his brother Samuel. His property descended to his two
sons. The Archers formerly owned much land now included in the city of
New York. William Archer married Sarah Berrien and they had eight chil
dren: Benjamin, Eliza Cromwell, Catharine St. John, Andrew D., William,
LaFayette, Mary Mapes and Rachel Mapes, all of whom are dead. He died
at the age of eighty-six, and his wife at the age of eighty-four.
Benjamin Archer was born in Fordham and began life there as a farm
er, remaining thus engaged for a number of years. The latter part of his
life was spent at Scarsdale, where he had one hundred and twenty-six acres
of valuable land. He belonged to the militia, was a member and elder and
a liberal supporter of the Reformed church and was a Democrat in politics,
being in every way an estimable and influential citizen. He married Eliza
Cromwell and had eight children who grew to maturity and one who died in
infancy, a brief record concerning them being as follows: William H., now
deceased; John Cromwell, who is a well-to-do farmer in Connecticut; Susan,
who married James Strong and lives at Stamford, Connecticut; Robert Crom
well; Benjamin Harrison, a resident of the town of Yonkers; Sarah, who did
not marry; Emily, who became the wife of Gilbert Britt; Fordham; and
Oliver Cromwell, who died at the age of four and a half years.
Robert Cromwell Archer was educated at public schools as chance
offered, for it was necessary for him to devote much of his time as a boy to
work on his father's farm, and he attended school mostly during the winter
months. After his father's death he continued farming and gave much atten
tion to dairying. In this connection he had one rather discouraging experi
ence. He had seventeen cows and all of them became ill with pleuro
pneumonia and were killed by order of the board of health of the state of
New York. The loss to Mr. Archer was a heavy one, but he looked upon it
philosophically and set himself resolutely to the task of repairing it. He

r.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 621
could not continue dairying, and thus turned his attention to fruit-growing
and market-gardening, in which he achieved a noteworthy success.
His interest in the public affairs of his town and of New Rochelle has
always been great, and he has been an influential factor in shaping the
course of local political events. He was commissioner of highways three
years, has several times been elected as a member of the board of education
and served as its chairman. His own early education he supplemented by a
thorough course of reading, but he believes in systematic education and has
an abiding faith in the public school as the greatest of all helps to civilization
and the advancement of the human race. For fourteen years he has been a
member of the vestry of St. John's church, Protestant Episcopal, and has
served two years as its junior warden and two terms as its senior warden.
He has been superintendent of the Sunday-school of this church for the
long period of seventeen years, for he believes that secular education should
go hand-in-hand with judicious religious instruction, and that a truly great
nation must grow in greatness spiritually as well as intellectually.
Mr. Archer was married in 1861 to Mary A. Van Wart, a daughter of
John and Deborah (Griffin) Van Wart, her father, who is now deceased,
having been at one time a well known contractor of Westchester county.
He was a descendant of Isaac Van Wart. Mr. and Mrs. Archer had four
children: Carrie, who married Charles W. Francis, a successful grocer of
New Rochelle, and has a daughter named Laura Naomi; Laura, who lives
with her parents; Lucy, of New Rochelle; and Eliza, wife of Frank Percy, a
leading milk dealer of New Rochelle. John Van Wart was twice married, —
first to Debora Griffin, mother of Mrs. Archer, and after her death to Julia
Schofield, of Connecticut. Mr. Archer's maternal grandfather, Oliver Crom
well, was born at Morrisiana, New York, and was a descendant of Oliver
Cromwell, of historic fame. He had children named Oliver, Richard, Jere
miah, John, Phoebe, Mary, Eliza and Robert. Eliza was Mr. Archer's
mother. Mrs. Mary A. (Van Wart) Archer died May 22, 1898. She was a con
sistent member of St. John's Episcopal church, Wilmot parish, at New Ro
chelle, and was esteemed and loved by all who knew her.

WILLIAM LAKE.

William Lake, a progressive business man of Yonkers, was born June
29, i860, in Poughkeepsie, New York, and comes from sturdy old New
England stock. His father, Charles Lake, was born at Danbury, Connecti
cut, in 18 1 8, and departed this life at the age of sixty-five years. He
was a resident of Poughkeepsie for many years, was a painter by trade, and.

622 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
met with success in his chosen field of labor. The mother of our subject
passed away in 1885. They were the parents of five children, namely:
Adson, Charles, William, Pierson and Minnie Ranson. All save Pierson
are residents of Yonkers at the present time.
William Lake obtained a liberal education in the public schools of his
native town, and when he was seventeen years of age he reached the goal of
his ambition at that time, for he was accepted as a cadet in the United
States Navy. September 8, 1877, he enlisted in the government service and
entered upon the four years of active work which this implied. He was
assigned to the Minnesota, on which he remained until the 2 ist of the follow
ing March, when he was drafted to serve on the United States dispatch boat,
Tallapoosa, and visited all of the navy yards on the Atlantic coast. Later,
he was on the Franklin for some time, at Norfolk, Virginia. The most
eventful part of his life in the navy was yet to come, for he was transferred
to the Ticonderoga, commanded by Commodore Shufeldt, which vessel sailed
under instructions of the United States commerce commission to visit many
of the important ports and countries of the world, particularly in Asia, for
the purpose of adjusting numerous small complications then existing, and to
further our commercial interests on distant shores. They sailed from Ports
mouth, New Hampshire, November 20, 1878, followed the coast of this
country as far south as Hampton Roads, and then headed for the western
shores of Africa, touching at Sierra Leone and Saint Paul de Loando, thence
going to St. Helena island, to Cape Town, past Madagascar and the
Comoro islands, and stopping at numerous ports in Turkey in Asia, Arabia,
Persia and India, and from Bombay sailing to Ceylon and the Islands in the
Indian ocean. Continuing this extended journey, the ship visited the Philip
pine islands, and made a special call at Manila, after which they crossed the
Pacific to Honolulu, in the Sandwich islands, and on the 8th of November,
1880, arrived in the harbor at San Francisco. After sustaining thorough
repairs at the Mare Island navy yards, the gallant ship once more started on her
long journey around the world, rounded Cape Horn, stopped at Rio Janeiro,
and reached New York city August 23, 1881. The brief notes given above
were culled from the extremely interesting and comprehensive diary which
Mr. Lake kept during his travels. In this journal are many valuable and
entertaining facts in regard to the customs and habits of the peoples of those
far-away countries, and outlines of the products and industries of the various
lands. The general style, amusing incident, and breezy commentary of the
observing and youthful traveler reflect great credit upon him as a writer and
keen and sympathetic member of the human family.
Though he had thoroughly enjoyed much of his novel experience in the
-navy, Mr. Lake was not averse to entering upon another sphere of action

SMwvm 0&a#e.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 623
at the expiration of his term of service. He next engaged in the carpenter
ing trade, and in 1885 he came to Yonkers. Here he has been occupied in
building and contracting for the past nine years, and has met with gratifying
success. During 1884-5 he was employed in the construction of water
.tanks and stations at various points between Buffalo and Poughkeepsie, along
the West Shore Railroad.
The marriage of Mr. Lake and Miss Mary Jane Burke, of Utica, New
York, was celebrated in February, 1884. They have four children, namely:
Charles, Mabel, Nathan and Hattie.
Though his father was a Republican, Mr. Lake is a strong Democrat, and
has acted on the general local committee of his party. At one time he was
the candidate for the office of supervisor, from his ward, the fifth, which is
the strongest Republican ward in the city, and as a matter of course he was
defeated. He is a member of the Carpenters' Union and of the Army &
Navy Veterans Association, and has hosts of sincere friends here and else
where.
ABRAM BARE.
New York is pre-eminently a dairy state, and her butter and cheese are
in demand, not only in all parts of our own land, but abroad as well. This
industry has assumed mammoth proportions in this state, and large quanti
ties of the dairy product is shipped annually to all parts of the country.
Probably in no state in the Union are so great pains taken as here to have
the surroundings of the dairy and its adjuncts what they should be. One of
these model dairies is to be found on the farm of Abram Bare, the gentleman
whose name appears at the head of this sketch, and in no part of Westchester
county can be found more complete or convenient arrangements for the care
of stock and milk than he has provided on his farm in the town of Greenburg,
this county. He has been engaged in this business for years and reduced it
to a system that seems hard to improve upon.
He is a son of William and Catherine (Acker) Bare, and was born Octo
ber 22, 1837, in the town of Greenburg, as were his parents and maternal
grandparents. His grandfather, Edward Bare, was a native of England who
came to this country before the war of the Revolution and did valiant service
in the struggle for independence. He was twice married, first to Miss Horn,
and secondly to Catherine Bond, who belonged to one of the old New Jersey
families. William Bare, the father, was born in the town of Greenburg in
1787, was a prominent and substantial farmer of that time, and died in 1856.
His wife, nee Catherine Acker, was a native of the same place as was her
father, Abraham Acker, who was here reared to manhood and settled upon
.a farm at Hall's Corners. To William and Catherine Bare were born four

624 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
children, viz.: Margaret, wife of John Buckhout, of Greenburg; Isaac H.,
who died in 1895; Susan, wife of John Acker; and Abram, our subject.
Abram Bare spent the greater portion of his childhood in Hall's Corners,
where he was a student of the district school until his fifteenth year. After
that time he worked on his father's farm until he was twenty-one, when he
began for himself in the field of husbandry. During his twenty-eighth year
he was united in marriage to Miss Phoebe Ann McFadden, a daughter of
John and Ophelia (Hustes) McFadden, the former an early settler of the
town of Greenburg and the latter a native of Mt. Pleasant. They have eight
children, viz.: Edward I., of Yonkers; Sidney, of White Plains; Mary,
wife of Norman Lander; Hattie, wife of William Uptegrove; and Florence,
Abraham, Howard and William, all at home. After his marriage Mr. Bare
settled upon the homestead of his father-in-law, John McFadden, and there
has since conducted a general farming and dairying business. In 1876 he
purchased the farm he now owns and operates. This farm consists of one
hundred and eighty acres of land under a high state of cultivation, and he
has still further added to its attractive appearance by the erection of large,
commodious hay and cow barns, which are of modern construction and
enable him to care for his herd of fifty or eighty-five cows with the least pos
sible trouble. He has a model dairy, the finest in the town. Mr. Bare is a
Republican and has served one term as school trustee. He is a man of ster
ling character and occupies a high place in the regards of his neighbors.

LEMUEL MONMOUTH HART.
Mr. Hart is a retired farmer of Hartsdale, New York, in which state he
was born in December, 1830, in the town of Greenburg, Westchester county,
on the old Hart homestead. The family were originally from England, and
the first settlement made by any of them in this country was on Long Island,
whence they moved to Westchester county, to what afterward became the
town of Greenburg. The great-grandfather, Joseph Hart, settled on a por
tion of the grant of land which extended from the Harlem to the Croton
river, the same having been originally owned by Frederick Phillips. After
the Revolution this land was confiscated and sold to the squatters who had
the first right to it. The maternal great-grandfather had also settled on a
part of this grant of land. Monmouth Hart married, and his death occurred
in 1832. Among his children was Monmouth Hart, the grandfather of our
subject, who was born .in Westchester county and was a pioneer farmer.
He had a family of eight children. One of them, Monmouth, the father of
our subject, born and reared on the old homestead, married Julia Ann Tomp
kins, a daughter of Thomas Tompkins, who belongs to one of Westchester's

C^&^^^V fl>L ePt&uiJ-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 625
oldest families. She departed this life in 1893, leaving a wide circle of friends
to mourn her loss. The father followed the occupation of a farmer, and was
a very prosperous one. He was a Democrat in his political beliefs, but never
suffered his name to appear in connection with candidacy for any office,
although for a number of years he was captain of the state militia, to which
he was deeply attached. His death occurred in 1845. He was a member of
and liberal'contributor to the Reformed church. Three sons were left to bat
tle with the world, — Joseph F. , who is a resident of Illinois; and Thomas T..
and Lemuel M., of Hartsdale.
Lemuel M. Hart was reared on his father's farm, learning well the
routine of farm work. He received a good common-school education, and
later attended a private school. He was about fifteen years old when his
father died, and he at once took charge of the business, managing it most
successfully with his brother Thomas, until 1894, when they disposed of the
homestead and retired to Hartsdale. His success in farming is due largely
to the fact that he worked intelligently and adopted modern methods when
they were of actual service to him. His industry and thrift have enabled
him to retire from the active duties of life and spend its evening in a manner
more suited to advancing age.

HENRY SAMPSON CLARKE.
"Honesty," says Bovee, "is said to be the first step toward greatness;
but the proverb fails to state the case strong enough: honesty is not only the
first step toward greatness, it is greatness itself." A reputation for honesty
leads to a good position, and this may be said to be at least one step toward
the desired goal of life. From almost every sketch in this work we can draw
some lessons of business, or of encouragement, or of noble aspiration; and
with these motives we present a brief outline of the life career of Mr. Clarke,
who is a teller in the Lincoln National Bank of New York city and the presi
dent of the village of New Rochelle.
Mr. Clarke is a native of New York city, born in April, 1862, the son
of Hugh and Margaret (Sampson) Clarke. His father also was a native of
that city, grew to manhood there and was sergeant of the New York police
department, with which he was connected for a period of thirty-five years.
He died in 1896, in his fifty-eighth year. In politics he was a pronounced
Democrat. Our subject's mother, also a native of New York city, was a
daughter of Henry Sampson, who was a native of England.
Mr. H. S. Clarke was reared in New York city, receiving his early
education in the public schools, and he commenced his business career in the
capacity of a clerk in a law office; next he was employed in a marine-insur-
40

626 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
ance office; and in 1882 he entered the service of the Lincoln National Bank
as paying teller, which responsible position he has ably filled to the pres
ent time. In state and national matters he is a stanch Republican, and in local
matters independent. He has served as trustee of the school district and as
secretary of the board of education of New Rochelle for seven years; was also
secretary of the school board for some time, and in 1892 was elected presi
dent of the village for the term of two years, and by re-election is still
serving. In 1882 he was united in marriage with Miss Lizzie M. Oxner, a daugh
ter of John D. Oxner, who was the president of the Houston, West Street &
Pavonia Ferry Railroad Company, of New York city. Mr. and Mrs. Clarke
have three children, — Mabel C, Mariette and John Oxner. The fine resi
dence of the family at 123 Woodland avenue, New Rochelle, was built in
1897, and is located in a fine residence district. The former home was at
the corner of Elm street and Leland avenue. In fraternal matters Mr.
Clarke is a member of Huguenot Lodge, No. 46, F. & A. M., and in religion
both himself and wife are members of Trinity Episcopal church in New
Rochelle.

CARL WILHELM PLUME.
This estimable citizen of Mount Vernon was born May 13, 1857, in
Goeritz, Germany, a son of Martin Frederick and Mary (Schmidt) Plume,
his father having been a farmer by occupation. He received his education
in the public schools of his native land, leaving them at the age of fifteen to
iearn the cabinet-maker's trade. He was three years in the German army,
as a member of the Sixty-sixth Infantry Regiment. He emigrated to Amer
ica in 1883, arriving June nth, and continued to work at his trade and at
carpentering in Norfolk, Virginia. In 1885 he came to Mount Vernon and
was employed as a journeyman at his trade until some time in 1887. when
he engaged in the business of contracting and building in partnership with
Albert S. Jenks (see sketch of this gentleman), forming the firm of Jenks &
Plume. This company erected the post-office building and the electric-light
works, and over a hundred other structures in and about the city, employ
ing on average about fifty men; and they now have on hand contracts aggre
gating thirty thousand dollars; but they also build many houses of their own
for sale on speculation. Mr. Jenks is the office manager, while Mr. Plume
is the superintending architect.
In his political principles Mr. Plume is a Democrat, and he is a member
of Hiawatha Lodge, No. 434, F. &A. M., of Golden Rod Council, No. 1316,
Royal Arcanum, and of the Knights of Malta, of Mount Vernon.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 627
February 22, 1886, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Treto,
daughter of John Treto, of Germany, and they have had five sons, — William,
Albert V., George, Henry and Frederick. The last two are deceased. The
family attend the Lutheran church, of which Mr. Plume is a member.

FRANK P. COXE.

The well known town clerk of Harrison township, and a prominent
grocer of Harrison station, Mr. Frank P. Coxe, has a rather remarkable
record, as he started out to make his own way in the world at the age of
nine years. The spirit of self-help is the source of all genuine worth in the
individual, and is the means of bringing to man success when he has no
advantages of wealth or influence to aid him. It illustrates in no uncertain
manner what it is possible to accomplish when perseverance and determina
tion form the keynote of a man's life. Depending on his own resources,
looking for no outside aid or support, he has risen from comparative obscur
ity to a place of prominence both in the commercial and political world.
Mr. Coxe was born in New York city, July 4, i860, amid the booming
of cannons and the noise of fire-crackers on our great national holiday. His
father, Christopher Coxe, who was a contractor and builder by occupation,
was of English extraction and of good old Quaker stock, while his mother,
who bore the maiden name of Margaret Agatha Fitz, was of Irish and Ger
man descent. As previously stated, our subject began earning his own live
lihood at the age of nine years, and his educational privileges were therefore
limited; but by practical experience in the business world he has become a
well-informed man, especially on the leading questions and issues of the day.
He was interested in railroading for a time, was collector for a business firm,
and later was in the grocery and real-estate business in New York. He was
always faithful to his employers' interests, and his services gave the utmost
satisfaction to all concerned. Since 1892 he has been a resident of West
chester county, and successfully carried on business as a grocer at Harrison,
where he soon succeeded in building up a good trade.
At the age of twenty-four years Mr. Coxe was united in marriage with
Miss Jennie Seymour, of New York city, where she was reared and educated,
and they have become the parents of three children, namely: Walter, Frank
and Bertha. Mr. Coxe is one of the most progressive and enterprising citizens of his
community, and gives a liberal support to all measures which he believes
calculated to prove of public benefit. He was one of the promoters and
organizers of the Harrison Fire Company, was one of those who called its
first meetings, and from the beginning has been officially connected with the

628 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
company; has been an efficient member of the school board, and emphasizes
the necessity of improving the highways. Being careful and methodical in
his way of doing business, he is now serving his third term as town clerk of
Harrison township, the duties of which position he discharges with credit to
himself and to the entire satisfaction of the general public. Politically he is
a stalwart Democrat, and, though loyal to his party, at local elections he
always supports the man whom he believes best qualified to fill the office,
regardless of party ties. Socially he is a member of the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows.
THOMAS BREWER.
Thomas Brewer is one of the leading citizens of the village of Mamaro
neck. For many years he was prominently connected with its business
interest, but is now living retired in the enjoyment of the fruits of his former
toil. He was born on the 12th of April, 1832, in St. Columb, Cornwall,
England, his parents being Thomas and Mary (Tink) Brewer. His father
was an agriculturist and Thomas spent his early boyhood days upon the
home farm, but while still quite young was apprenticed to the saddlery and
harness-making trade, serving for the regular term of seven years. During
that time he thoroughly mastered the business in every detail and became a
proficient workman. At the age of twenty-one he was married and imme
diately afterward came to America, making the voyage on a sailing vessel
which reached its destination after seven weeks spent upon the briny deep.
Mr. Brewer located in New Rochelle, New York, his place of settlement
being influenced by the fact that it was the home of an old acquaintance,
Joseph Harvey. There he engaged in the manufacture of harness and sad
dlery for a number of years, and in 1854 came to Mamaroneck, where he
carried on business along the same line for thirty years. Success attended
his enterprise and well directed efforts, and his patronage constantly increas
ing he derived from his business an excellent income. He is now living
retired, save that he is financially interested in the Union Savings Bank, and
holds the office of vice-president in that institution.
In his political affiliations Mr. Brewer has always been a stalwart Repub
lican and takes an active interest in local politics, but has never been an
aspirant for office. For nineteen years he has been a member of the Royal
Arcanum and in business and social circles he is held in the highest regard.
He married Miss Ann Grigg, who was born and reared in Cornwall, England,
and departed this life January 6, 1894.
Reuben G. Brewer, their only child, was born in New Rochelle, New
York, on the 22d of July, 1853. He acquired his literary education in the
schools of Westchester county and supplemented it by a commercial course

^ \ QJW^A>-e^>i —

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 629
in Bryant & Stratton's Business College, of New York city. At the time he
completed his education, George I. Seney was president of the Metropolitan
Bank, of New York. Going to Mr. Brewer's father, he told him he wished
to take his son into the bank, and thus it was that at the age of sixteen years
Reuben G. Brewer entered upon his career as a banker. His determination
to master the business, his fidelity and efficiency, won him promotion to the
rank of assistant teller, in which capacity he was serving at the time of the
failure of the bank, in 1883. He then secured a position as bookkeeper in
the Pacific Bank, at No. 470 Broadway, New York, where he remained until
1887, when he returned to his old home in Mamaroneck and became one of
the organizers of the Union Savings Bank, of which he was made treasurer.
In 1 89 1 he aided in the organization of the Mamaroneck Bank and has con
tinuously filled the position of cashier, in addition to his duties as treasurer
in the other bank. Long years of experience have given him a thorough
understanding of the banking business, and his ability in the management of
such institutions is unsurpassed in this section of the state. Other industries
have also been benefited by his skillful direction and sound judgment, and
he is now connected with the firm of Foshay & Brewer, the leading dealers
in lumber, coal and hardware in the village.
In 1877 Mr. Brewer was united in marriage to Miss Irene E. Delanoy,
of Mamaroneck, and they have five children: Reuben P., who is now book
keeper and assistant teller in his father's bank; Nellie, Winnifred, Irene and
Elizabeth, all living at their pleasant parental home.
Mr. Brewer exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and
measures of the Republican party, and does all in his power to promote the
growth and insure the success of his party in this locality. He has served as
treasurer of the village and of the public-school fund of Mamaroneck, and has
held the same office in the Methodist Episcopal church. He has discharged
these official duties with the same thoroughness and fidelity that have char
acterized all his business transactions, and at all times he is found true and
faithful to every trust reposed in him.

JOHN REEDY.
The genial and popular station agent at Pocantico Hills, Westchester
county, was born March 26, 1852, in Kingston, Middlesex county, New Jer
sey, and is a son of John and Margaret (Reidener) Reedy. The father was
of Irish parentage and was a railroad man by occupation. The boyhood and
youth of our subject was passed in his native state and in New York, and his
education was received in the public schools. In early life he learned teleg
raphy and soon became a good operator. He held a responsible position with

630 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
the elevated railway in New York city for about twelve years before coming
to Pocantico Hills, where he has made his home since 1887, and has served
as station agent to the entire satisfaction of the railroad company.
In 1878 Mr. Reedy was united in marriage with Miss Ella McCarthy, by
whom he has had nine children, but five died either in infancy or early child
hood. Those still living are Margaret, John, William and Leo. Mr. Reedy
is a man just in the prime of life, weighing two hundred and fifty pounds, and
reminds one very much of the Hon. Thomas Reed in physique and appear
ance. By his ability as a railroad man he has gained the good will and esteem
of his employers, and by his affable and jovial manner has won the high
regard and friendship of those with whom he has come in contact either in
business, social or political life. As a business man he is careful and methodi
cal, and duties entrusted to his care have been discharged with the utmost
promptness and fidelity. His fellow citizens, recognizing his worth and
ability, have called him to public office, and he has served as tax-collector in
his school district for five years. In 1888 he was appointed postmaster of
Pocantico under President Cleveland, served also under President Harrison,
and one year under McKinley.

MERWIN SNIFFIN.

The gentleman whose name we place at the head of this review is
classed with the leading merchants of White Plains, Westchester county,
New York. In this county he was born and reared and here several genera
tions of the family have lived and died. The Sniffins are of English and
Scotch descent. Representatives of the family came over to America at an
early period in the history of this country and established their home in this
county shortly after the removal of the Indians from this place. Here Ben
jamin Sniffin and Harris Sniffin, the grandfather and father of our subject,
were born, the latter being a native of the town of Middle Patent, and by
occupation a farmer and merchant. For many years he was engaged in
business in Greenburg, where he was well and favorably known, and where
he died, in 1849. His wife, the mother of our subject, was, before marriage,
Miss Phoebe Brundage. She was born in the town of Mount Pleasant, this
county, and died in 1870, in her fifty-eighth year. Her father, Robert
Brundage, was a native of the same county, and died here in 1832. Harris
and Phcebe Sniffin had eight children, — four sons and four daughters. Three
of the sons are business men of White Plains.
Merwin Sniffin was born in Greenburg, New York, May 13, 1834, and
was reared chiefly in the town of Greenburg. Leaving school at the age of

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 631
sixteen to assist his father in the store, he early acquired a knowledge of
business and men. After some years spent in his father's store he engaged
in business on his own account, opening up a stock of boots and shoes in
White Plains, and continuing in business there until the outbreak of the
civil war. Disposing of his business interests, Mr. Sniffin enlisted, in 1862, in Com
pany B, One Hundred and Thirty-fifth New York Volunteer Infantry, under
Colonel William H. Morris and Captain E. W. Andrews. This regiment
belonged to the Third Brigade, Third Division and Fifth Army Corps, and
was commanded by General Warren. Mr. Sniffin with his command par
ticipated in a number of battles and small engagements and was in active
duty until the close of the war. Among the prominent actions in which he
took part were those of Antietam, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Petersburg
and Cedar creek. His whole service was characterized by faithfulness and
true bravery, and at the close of the war he was honorably discharged.
Returning to his home in White Plains in 1865, he has since resided
here. The first year he was employed in work at the carpenter's trade; in
1867 he engaged in the grocery business, on the principal street of the town,
where he soon by his courtesy and honorable business methods built up a
good trade, and where he has since , continued to do a prosperous business,
and to-day he ranks with the leading and most successful merchants of White
Plains. In 1870 Mr. Sniffin married Miss Phoebe Martin, of Fordam, New York,
daughter of Cornelius Martin. Their union has been blessed in the birth of
one daughter, now the wife of F. W. Clark, of Mount Vernon. By his
second marriage Mr. Sniffin has two daughters, Mabel and Clara, both attend
ing school. Like most veterans cf the late war, Mr. Sniffin is identified with that popu
lar organization, the G. A. R. , and has a membership in Cromwell Post. Also
he is a member of White Plains Lodge, No. 473, F. & A. M., and in his polit
ical views he has .always harmonized with the Republican party.

WILLIAM H. A. HORSFALL.
From most of the biographical material in this volume we draw lessons
of ambition, industry, perseverance, integrity, etc., " for the young;" but in
this instance we find a young man who in due time learned the lessons and
has been improving by them from the very earliest practicable period to the
present, and is pushing the older members of his profession hard and fast
before him.
This young man was born January 22, 1871, in New York city, a son of

¦632 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
John Henry and Julia (Lane) Horsfall. He received his education in the
public schools of that city and subsequently pursued a course of scientific
study under a private tutor for three years. Next, preparing himself for a
high position as an architect, he completed a course of special training in
the office of an architect and finally a special course in Pratt's Archi
tectural Institute. For the practice of his profession he first located at
Mount Vernon and operated here for three years, and the next three years
he followed the charms of his chosen art in New York city for the Suburban
Finance and Construction Company. Meanwhile he continued his office at
Mount Vernon; but, owing to the pressure of his rapidly growing practice here
at Mount Vernon he has since confined himself to this place, in October, 1894,
opening spacious offices at 2 and 4 Park avenue. In his work so far he has
been chiefly engaged upon private residences. Among the more important
public buildings which he has designed and built are the City Club building,
the police headquarters, the Valentine storage house and St. Francis' church,
Roman Catholic, in New York city, besides Henry Cannon's residence at
Irvington and his own handsome country seat. During the short time he has
been engaged in business in Mount Vernon he has planned and built one hun
dred and fifty houses, having as many as fifteen on hand at a time. He
employs three assistants as draughtsmen at the office. He is a rising young
man, and the brightest period of his life is still before him.
Socially he is very popular. He has served in the Eleventh Separate
Company (military) of Mount Vernon, and he is a member of the Episcopal
church. November 6, 1895, he was married to Miss Alice Porter, of Lenox, Mas
sachusetts, a daughter of George Porter, of Revolutionary stock.

MICHAEL J. MARTIN.

The efficient assessor of Mount Pleasant township, and a prominent ma
son and contractor residing in North Tarrytown, Michael J. Martin was born
on the 28th of September, 1854, on the same street where he now lives, a
son of poor but worthy parents, both natives of the Emerald Isle. The fa
ther, Daniel Martin, was a teamster and remained in Ireland until 1846,
when he came to the United States, with the hope of bettering his financial
condition. At the old Matt street Catholic church, of New York city, he was
united in marriage with Bridget McCaley, who made him a good wife and
who is now living with our subject, at the age of seventy-six years, but the
father's death occurred in 1869.
Eight sons were born to this worthy couple, Michael J. Martin being the
sixth in order of birth. At the age of fourteen he took up silk-spinning and

SofttLLyU

a^u^n^

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 633
was thus employed for three years. Following this he was for two years en
gaged in the butcher business with Henry Fischer, after which he was, for two
years, in the same business for himself. He then removed to New York
city, locating in the old ninth ward, with whose political interests he was
identified for some years, during which time he voted for John Kelley for
governor. He also carried on business there as a butcher. In 1880 he re
turned to his native town and, after clerking for a time, embarked in his pres
ent business as a mason and contractor.
On the 7th of February, 1880, at the old cathedral on Matt street, New
York city, where his parents were wedded many years previous, Mr. Martin
led to the marriage altar Miss Lucy Fairbrother, who was born, reared and
educated in that city, a daughter of Isaac and Sophia Fairbrother. Of the
five children born of this union, Daniel Richard and Joseph are still living,
while three died when young: Mary, Agnes and Lucy.
Mr. Martin has always taken an active and prominent part in political
affairs and is one of the most prominent and influential members of the
Democracy in North Tarrytown and Mount Pleasant township, being a zeal
ous worker for his party's interests. As a delegate to numerous conventions
he has rendered his party effective service, was instrumental in nominating
Ralph Baker and John Gibney, and worked earnestly for their election, and
also supported Isaac Turner in the fall of 1898. He keeps well posted on
the leading questions and issues of the day, and is therefore well able to vote
intelligently on every measure that comes up. He has most ably served his
fellow citizens in the capacity of assessor of Mount Pleasant township and
took an active part in the great assessor's case against John D. and William
Rockefeller, which attracted so much attention all over the United States.
Mr. Martin has also served on the board of health, has been chief and treas
urer of the fire department, and was a member and first assistant engineer of
the old hook and ladder company, with which he was officially connected for
many years. He was one of the charter members of Court Fremont, No.
258, Ancient Order of Foresters of America, at Tarrytown; served as treas
urer for that court, and also as chief ranger, being elected to the latter office
three times in succession. In all the relations of life he has been found true
to every trust reposed in him, and he has a host of warm friends throughout
his native county. J. ALBERT MAHLSTEDT.
Mr. Mahlstedt is president of the J. A. Mahlstedt Lumber & Coal Com
pany, of New Rochelle, New York, and has demonstrated the true meaning
of the word success as the full accomplishment of an honorable purpose.
Energy, close application, perseverance and good management, — these are

634 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
the elements which have entered into his business career and crowned his
efforts with prosperity.
Mr. Mahlstedt was born in New York city, in 1853, a son of J. A. and
Margaret (Meyer) Mahlstedt, both natives of Germany. The father was
born in the village of Laste, in September, 1830, and was a son of Jacob and
Margaret (Bell) Mahlstedt. In 1849 J. A. Mahlstedt, Sr., emigrated with
his family to the United States, embarking upon a sailing vessel, and as the
winds were favorable they made the voyage in twenty-seven days. Arriving
in New York city, he located there and made that place his home until 1853,
when he came to New Rochelle, Westchester county. Here he engaged in
general mercantile business for a time, and in connection with it he became
interested in the ice business, which he continued to follow after disposing of
his stock of goods, building up a large and profitable trade. When he retired
from the ice business, he was succeeded by his son, J. Albert, who is to-day
carrying on a large wholesale business as dealer in ice, the lumber and coal
business being largely retail. The lumber and coal sheds are the most exten
sive in the place, and are arranged for both security and convenience. He
still conducts a large wholesale ice business, employing large bodies of men
and teams in harvesting the ice. He is one of the most energetic and pro
gressive business men of New Rochelle. His brother, George W Mahl
stedt, is secretary and treasurer of the J. A. Mahlstedt Lumber & Coal
Company. In 1884 was celebrated the marriage of J. Albert Mahlstedt and Miss
Margaret L. Holler, of Mount Vernon, New York, in which place she was
born and reared, being a daughter of John P. Holler, a highly respected citi
zen of Mount Vernon. Mr. and Mrs. Mahlstedt now have a family of five
children, four sons and one daughter, namely: J. Albert, John F., Henry
G., Robert A. and Margaret L. The elegant home of the family is located
on the old Porter homestead, and is noted for its hospitality and good cheer.
Mr. Mahlstedt takes an active part in all matters of interest to his vil
lage, and has most acceptably served as treasurer of New Rochelle for four
terms; trustee and treasurer of the Union free schools, of upper New
Rochelle. He has also been connected with the fire department for many
years, being a member of Enterprise Hook & Ladder Company nineteen
years, and treasurer of the same for twelve years. He is treasurer of the
public schools of New Rochelle, and president of the Standard Improvement
Company, which since its organization has been incorporated under the state
laws of New York. He was one of the organizers of the board of trade of
New Rochelle, and is treasurer of the same. The village has no more enter
prising or public-spirited citizen, — one willing to aid every object for the
good of the community.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 635

ELBERT T. BAILEY.

This well-known real-estate dealer and insurance agent of Mount Kisco,
New York, eminently deserves classification among the purely self-made men
who have distinguished themselves for their ability to master the opposing
forces of life and to wrest from fate a large measure of success and an hon
orable name.
He was born in Sing Sing, New York, and is a son of Benjamin Bailey,
also a native of Westchester county, where his early life was spent. He
published a newspaper at Sing Sing for several years and later became a
noted criminal lawyer, enjoying a large practice in Putnam and adjoining
counties and being remarkably successful in his trial of cases. He made his
home in Carmel, Putnam county, but also had an office in New York city.
He represented that county in the state legislature for three years, always
took an active and influential part in political affairs, and at one time was the
Democratic candidate for congress from his district, but was defeated. He
was one of the incorporators of the New York & Harlem Railroad and
served as attorney of the same for several years. He died at the age of
sixty-two years. His father was also a native of Westchester county. Our
subject's mother, who was an active and prominent member of the Methodist
church, was in her maidenhood Miss Calista Wilson, of this county, and died
at about the age of sixty-three. Of her four children two died while young,
and our subject is the older of the two now living. William F is now a
distinguished citizen of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and has served as supreme-
court judge of that state for the past six years. During the civil war he
entered the service as private but was soon detailed as private secretary to
General Sedgwick. In Westchester county he raised a company, which was
mustered into the United States service as Company K, Ninety-fifth New
York Infantry, and he served as captain of the same.
The boyhood and youth of Elbert T. Bailey was principally passed at
Carmel, Putnam county, where he attended both public and private schools,
and later became a student in the seminary at North Salem, Westchester
county. At the opening of the Civil war, however, he laid aside his school-
books and entered the Union service with his brother, as orderly sergeant,
but shortly afterward was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant and
served as such until discharged on account of physical disability. For two
months he lay in a hospital, ill with diphtheria and typhoid fever, and then
was taken home by his father. Among his most cherished possessions is a
sword presented him by the citizens of Carmel. On his recovery he accepted
a position as operator at New York city for the Western Union Telegraph
Company, with which he remained for a couple of years, and was then

636 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
appointed agent at Hillsdale, Columbia county, New York, being located
there for about three years. At the end of that time he came as agent to
Mount Kisco and most acceptably filled that position for a quarter of a cent
ury, or until 1893, when he resigned. In the meantime he had become
interested in the real-estate and insurance business, which now claims a con
siderable degree of his attention. In company with D. Waldron Bailey, he
has also engaged in the manufacture of yellow-pine, poplar and locust lum
ber at Elkin, North Carolina, since 1895, and that enterprise also is proving
very profitable. In 1894 he was appointed by the supreme court, one of the
commissioners to appraise the condemned property of the water way between
Brewster's and Croton Falls on Croton river, which supplies New York city
with water, and is still filling that responsible position with credit and ability.
Mr. Bailey married Miss Josephine Holmes, of Mount Kisco, a daughter
of Joseph Holmes, also a native of Westchester county, and they have be
come the parents of four children: W. Frank, who is engaged in the real-
estate and insurance business with his father, and is also an expert witness
for the city of New York on condemned real-estate; D. Waldron, who is
with his father in the lumber business in North Carolina; Jennie B., at home;
and George L. T. , who is engaged in mercantile business in North Carolina.
Politically, Mr. Bailey is a stanch and active Democrat, who ranks
among the most honored counselors of his party, and his opinions and advice
are continually sought on questions of the greatest importance to the city.
He was a member of the board of education and president of the same for
several years; has been president of the village three or four years; and rep
resented the town of Bedford as county committeeman for several years.
Fraternally he is a charter member of Kisco Lodge, No. 708, F. & A. M.,
and was one of the organizers and is now an honored member of Stewart
Hart Post, G. A. R. , of which he was the first commander, an office he con
tinued to fill for several years.

GEORGE L. MILLER.

"Earn thy reward; the gods give naught to sloth," said the sage Epi-
charmus, and the truth of the admonition has been verified in human affairs
in all the ages which have rolled their course since his day. The subject to
whose life history we now direct attention has, by ceaseless toil and endeavor,
attained a marked success in business affairs, has gained the respect and con
fidence of men, and is recognized as one of the distinctively representative
citizens of White Plains. For many years he has been prominently identi
fied with its building interests and has thus become known as an important
factor in industrial circles in Westchester county.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 637"
Mr. Miller was born in White Plains, January 6, 1849, and belongs to one
of the old families of the county, long connected with its history. The family
is of German origin and in colonial days was founded in America. The great
grandfather of our subject was Robert Miller, who married Annie Fisher, and-
after the battle of White Plains their home was used as the headquarters of
General Washington for sometime. Mrs. Miller was a very devout Method
ist and her home was the place of entertainment for all the Methodist minis
ters that visited the neighborhood. Many of the meetings of that denomi
nation were also held in her house. Elijah Miller, the grandfather of our sub
ject, was born in Westchester county and was a farmer by occupation. He
married his cousin, Lettie Miller, and they became the parents of Leonard
Miller, father of George L. He was born in the town of White Plains,
Westchester county, in 1810, became a contractor and builder and erected
many of the substantial residences in the county-seat and surrounding coun
try. He was one of the organizers of the Central Bank of Westchester
county, of which he was made president, serving in that responsible position
for some time, and continuing to act as a member of the directorate up to
the time of his death, which occurred in May, 1884. His wife bore the
maiden name of Eliza Jane Renoud, and was born in Rye, Westchester
county, in 18 17. Her father was Stephen Renoud, whose father was a de
scendant of the French Huguenots, and located in Westchester county, near
New Rochelle. The former was twice married, his first wife being a Miss
Travis, by whom he had one daughter. His second wife was Martha Purdy
and by this marriage he had three children, a son and two daughters.
George L. Miller, the well-known contractor and builder of White
Plains, spent his boyhood and youth in this city, and acquired his education
in its public schools. In 1869 he began to learn the carpenter's trade with
his father, and after he had mastered the business he did considerable work
along that line in Rockland and Orange counties, New York. Returning to
White Plains, he became a manager of his father's business, — an association
that was maintained until 1876, when our subject began contracting and
building on his own account. A good measure of success has attended his
indefatigable and well-directed efforts. He has taken contracts for the
erection of many of the best residences in White Plains and vicinity, as well
as business houses, churches and public buildings. His fidelity to the terms
of a contract, excellent workmanship and honorable dealings have brought to
him a very liberal patronage, and on all sides stand evidences of his handi
work and skill.
In October, 1876, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Miller and Miss
Esther A. Coles, of Greenburg, Westchester county, the second daughter of
James and Esther (Van Wart) Coles. She was born in this county,, where

,638 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
she also spent her girlhood and school days. Her grandfather was Robert
Coles, a son of James Coles. Her maternal grandfather was Isaac Van
Wart, a Revolutionary soldier, who valiantly fought for the independence of
the nation, being one of the party which captured Major Andre. Mr. and
Mrs. Miller have one child, a daughter, Lena Adelle. Their home is one of
the substantial residences on Broadway, situated in the midst of a pretty
lawn and attractive surroundings. In politics Mr. Miller affiliates with the
Republicans and takes considerable interest in local and county politics. He
is now serving as trustee of White Plains and is progressive and public-
spirited in the discharge of his duties. He is loyal as a citizen, honorable in
business, and popular among a large circle of friends.

MATTHEW J. HALL, M. D.
Dr. M. J. Hall, a successful practitioner of medicine in Mamaroneck, has
started out upon a long and brilliant career of responsibility, awkward duties
and disagreeable works of charity; but he has the talent, the physical ability
and the disposition to acquit himself well.
The Doctor is a native of New Bedford, Massachusetts, born April 10,
1864, and at that place was brought up and educated in the public elementary
and high schools. He began the study of medicine under a thorough physi
cian, Dr. B. C. Howland, and at the age of eighteen years was matriculated
at the New York Homeopathic Medical College, of New York city, and after
three years of arduous study received the diploma of the institution. After
filling the position of resident physician at what is now the Flower Hospital
a year, he came, in 1886, to Mamaroneck, since which time he has been
engaged exclusively and continuously in the practice of his chosen profession.
He has been health officer for seven years; is a member of the county, state
and national medical societies, of the Hahnemannian Association and the
Hahnemannian Society of New York.
The Doctor was united in marriage with Miss Leila J. Foshay, a daughter
of John F. Foshay, Esq., and they have two children — Marjorie and How
land, — the latter being named in honor of his father's medical preceptor.
The Doctor is a member of the Masonic order, Apawamis Lodge, No.
800; a member of the I. O. O. F., Alert Lodge, No. 752; of Sheldrake Coun
cil, No. 264, Royal Arcanum; of Hawthorne Commandery of the Golden
Cross; is the medical examiner for the Metropolitan Mutual Life and the
Prudential Life Insurance Companies, and for the Catholic Benevolent Legion.
His religious views may be known from the fact that he is a consistent mem
ber of the Congregational church.
In conclusion we may say a few words with reference to the Doctor's

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 639
genealogy. The Hall family can trace their ancestry back to the year 912.
Two hundred years ago the name was spelled Halle. In the family there
have been many attorneys and physicians. William Marshall Hall, the father
of our subject, was a native of New Bedford, Massachusetts, was superin
tendent of the cordage company there for thirty years, and died at the age of
sixty-four years. Enlisting in the war for the Union, he jpined the Sixth
Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry; but when his regiment had reached Balti
more on its way to the front the war closed. Mr. Hall was an active Repub
lican, and a zealous and intelligent member of the Congregational church.
He married Miss Margaret Thompson, of New Bedford, who is still living,
being now seventy-two years of age. She also is a sincere and consistent
member of the Congregational church. Her father, John Thompson, was
also a native of Massachusetts, and of an old, well known and highly respected
family of the Bay state. William Hall, grandfather of the Doctor, was a
native of Edinboro, Scotland, and was educated at the noted university there,
of which institution he was secretary for several years.

FRED. E. TOMPKINS.

This highly esteemed citizen, engaged in farming and dairying near White
Plains, was born in the town of Greenburg, Westchester county, April 15,
1864, the eldest son of Sylvester G. and Harriet E. Tompkins. His mother
was a daughter of Andrew Tompkins, and his father was born in the town of
Greenburg, on the old Tompkins homestead, in December, 1837, the son of
Gilbert Tompkins, who also was a native of the same town. The paternal
great-grandfather of our subject was Thomas Tompkins. Sylvester and
Harriet E. Tompkins were the parents of three children: Fred. E. , our sub
ject; Eva E., who became the wife of Joseph H. Lewis, Jr., of White
Plains; and Chester W.
Mr. Tompkins, whose name heads this brief sketch, was reared to agri
cultural pursuits on his father's farm and educated at the district school.
He was about thirty- three years of age when his father died, and he thereupon
took charge of the place. His mother, surviving, is a resident of the home
stead. The forty-three acres of which it consists are in a good state of culti
vation and furnished with good buildings.
In his political views Mr. Tompkins is a Republican. He has served as
tax collector for a number of years, faithful to his trust and rendering satis-_
faction to the authorities for the manner in which he has accomplished his
duties. In religion he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal
church. October 13, 1886, he was united in matrimony with Miss Myra T.

640 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Shelley, a native of Greenburg town and a daughter of Clark and Elizabeth
(Sniffin) Shelley, of Unionville, in the town of Mount Pleasant. Mr. and
Mrs. Tompkins have one daughter, named Hazel M.

PETER J. MITCHELL.
Closely connected with the business interests of Yonkers, New York,
and ranking as one of its leading citizens, we find the subject of this sketch,
Peter J. Mitchell.
Mr. Mitchell is a native of Yonkers, born January 9, 1862, and is a son
of Thomas and Mary (Quinn) Mitchell. He received his education in St.
Mary's parochial school and in the public schools, and at the age of fourteen
years left school to make his own way in the world. He was first employed
as clerk in a paint store, where he remained only a short time, after which
he learned the trade of hatter in the establishment of Baldwin & Flagg,
Yonkers. This business occupied his time up to 1877, when he entered the
employ of his brother, Michael F. Mitchell, in the hotel of which he is at
present proprietor. He remained with his' brother until 1886, when he
opened an establishment of his own on Ravine avenue, known as the Glen-
wood House. This he conducted for three years and a half. In 1890 he
bought of his brother the Warburton Hotel, which he has since successfully
conducted. Both in the hotel business and in the various other enterprises
with which he. is connected he has met with marked success. Mr. Mitchell
is a director of the Yonkers Brewery; a member of the executive committee
of the Warburton Hall Association; vice-president of the Yonkers Bowling
Association; a stockholder in the banks of Yonkers, as well as the Gas Com
pany and the District Telegraph Messenger Company; member of the Yon
kers and Corinthian Yacht Clubs and the A. B. C. Bowling Club. He is
also prominently identified with the fire department of Yonkers.
In June, 1883, Mr. Mitchell became a member of Protection Engine
Company No. 1; in August of that year was made its treasurer, and in 1884
its foreman, and he has been a representative of this company for twelve
years. He was elected state delegate to the conventions held at Lockport,
New York, in 1886; Schenectady, in 1887; and Binghamton, in 1898. As a
delegate to Lockport, in 1886, he took up the fight which resulted in the
election, at Binghamton, in 1898, of the city of Yonkers as the state con
vention city for 1899. Mr. Mitchell has kept up a ceaseless fight in the inter
est of Yonkers, and it is due to his tireless efforts that this town will the
present year enjoy the pleasure of entertaining the state convention. From
time to time Mr. Mitchell has served on various important committees. He
was on the topic committee in 1897, and was made a member of the auditing.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 641
committee in 1898-9. He was president of the finance committee until suc
ceeded by Mayor Sutherland, when he was made first vice-president of the
Firemen's Convention Committee, which position he is filling at present. He
was the president of the Yonkers Athletic Association during 1895 and 1896.
Mr. Mitchell is a member of St. Mary's Roman Catholic church. He is
a splendid example of the self-made man, and stands deservedly high in both
business and social circles.

JOSEPH H. HUFF.

Joseph H. Huff, the genial proprietor of the Huff Hotel at Pleasantville,
New York, was born on the 17th of October, 1854, in Hunterdon county,
near Little York, New Jersey, a son of Jacob and Jane (Halk) Huff. The
father, who belonged to an old and highly respected family of that state, was
a cabinet-maker by trade.
During his boyhood and youth Joseph H. Huff pursued his studies in the
common schools of New Jersey. On starting out in life for himself he worked
as a mechanic on public works in New York for a while, and then became
interested in the hotel business. It was in 1889 and 1890 that his present
hotel at Pleasantville was erected, it being a fine three-story structure
with a well lighted basement, and it has become a great favorite with the
traveling public, for he is a model landlord, jovial, popular and obliging.
On the 20th of August, 1890, Mr. Huff was united in marriage with Miss
Kate Noyes, daughter of George Noyes, and to them has been born one son,
William H. Mr. Huff uses his right of franchise in the support of the Demo
cratic party, and takes an active and commendable interest in public affairs.
He is now serving as town commissioner of highways. For three terms he
was the treasurer of the board of highway commissioners. He is a mem
ber of the fire department, of which he was the organizer and its first chief.
He also belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

FRANKLIN P. PERKINS.

The manager of the extensive business of the Hotchkiss Beef Company
at Port Chester, Mr. Franklin P. Perkins, is a capable business man and a
representative citizen who is entitled to mention as such in this volume. He
was born March 28, 1855, at Litchfield, Connecticut, where he grew up and
obtained his education in the public schools. At the age of nine years he left
home to live with an aunt on a farm, and there he learned the heavy duties
pertaining to agricultural life, and continued therein until nineteen years of
age, when he was employed in a butcher shop in Litchfield and Naugatuck,

41

642 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Connecticut, and he continued thus engaged for twelve years. Two years of
this time he also ran a shop for himself. Next, for a time he was employed
in a wholesale beef house for Mr. Hotchkiss in Yonkers, and finally came to
Port Chester, where for a year he conducted business on his own account,
and then, in 1894, he sold his shop to take his present position, where his
responsibilities are heavy, as the house is a large one and doing an extensive
business, handling about two car-loads of meat each week and furnishing the
neighboring towns with choice meats.
In his political views Mr. Perkins is a Democrat, but he prefers to
devote his energies to private business rather than take any part in the per
sonalities of politics.
In matrimony he was united with Miss Elsie H. Scott, of Goshen, Con
necticut, and they have two daughters.

PAULDING AND REQUA HOUSES.
There are several old houses in Tarrytown that have a history going
back to the Revolutionary war, and some of them even far beyond it. The
most famous of these probably is known as the Paulding house. It is a
frame building, situated on Water street, and almost within a stone's throw
of the cove, which there sets in from the river. It is not more than three
minutes walk from the Hudson River Railroad depot. The track of the road
is quite near it, and the house is plainly visible from the car windows, but
is now very much dilapidated, — in fact, in a half tumble-down condition,
with the floors rotted away, the rooms damp and deserted, the green moss
growing on the roof, which consists of three layers of shingles, the lower
most being of cedar, the one put on upon the top of the other, as, after
long intervals, there was occasion to make repairs.
No one would imagine from looking at the house and its surroundings
now that it had ever been the seat of elegant culture and refinement, where
distinguished men and lovely women met and enjoyed the pleasures of a
brilliant social life. Yet here it was that James Kirke Paulding, so eminent
in the ranks of early American authorship, the intimate friend and literary
collaborator of Washington Irving, and secretary of the navy under Presi
dent Van Buren, lived from the close of the Revolution until the year 1800,
when he removed to New York city. And from this house it was that Wash
ington Irving, then a very young man, and a guest in the Paulding family,
went for half a day of boating on the river, and rowed down to Wolfert's
Roost, where, going ashore, and loitering along the slopes and in the glen,
the tranquil beauty and sweet attractiveness of the place so deeply impressed
him that he then first conceived the idea, which he long afterward carried

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 643
•out, of buying it as a home for himself. Mr. Irving made this statement in
a conversation with the late Mrs. Benson Ferris, in the presence of her son,
Mr. Benson Ferris, Jr., president of the Westchester County Savings Bank,
who distinctly remembers it, and communicated the fact to the writer. The
garden and grounds around the Paulding house are said to have been always
kept in the best of tasteful order, and the place altogether to have presented
every feature of a bright and beautiful home. But it has had its day and
served its purpose, and all tokens now indicate that decay will soon lay the
old mansion in the dust.
Just north of it, on the corner of the street leading down to the cove,
is the old house owned and occupied in those early days by Judge Isaac
Requa, long since passed away. That, too, was a place of home comfort
and happiness, almost as well kept and as attractive as the Paulding place
adjoining. But that also, like its long-time neighbor, must soon yield to the
inevitable law. BENONI PLATT.
This gentleman, who is the manager of the search department of the
Westchester county branch of the Lawyers' Title Insurance Company, with
office at White Plains, was born in the town of Scarsdale, this county, in
August, 1857, the son of Lewis C. Platt and Laura (Popham) Platt, of
Scarsdale. (See sketch of Lewis C. Platt.)
Mr. Platt was educated in the public school, graduating at the White
Plains high school, and commenced his business career as an assistant clerk
in the surrogate's office, under Owen T. Coffen, and continued there for
eight years, and then for nine years was deputy county clerk, under the
Hon. John Digney. In January, 1896, he took charge of the search depart
ment of the Westchester county branch of the Lawyers' Title Insurance Com
pany at White Plains, which position he is now filling, with satisfaction to
his employers, who are equally interested in satisfying the public.
He is a member of Hebron Lodge, No. 229, Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, and is unmarried.

A REVOLUTIONARY REMINISCENCE.
In an interview with the Rev. Alexander Van Wart, in his home at
Pleasantville, on June 15, 1885, he gave to the writer, among other recitals,
the following: His mother's maiden name was Rachel Storms, and her house was just
down the hill toward the west of the "Four Corners," on the Tarrytown
road. His maternal uncle, Nicholas Storms, lived there at the same time.

644 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Looking up toward the east one day he saw a military company manoeuver-
ing at the Four Corners, on the top of the hill, near Young's house, and,
supposing them to be Americans, he mounted his horse, and rode up to learn
the news. He did not discover until he was right in front of them that they
were British troops out on a scouting and foraging expedition. It was too
late to retreat, for they saw him, and so, putting on a bold face, he rode up
and inquired of them what was the news. They ordered him to dismount,
took him prisoner and kept his horse. His sister, Rachel Storms, afterward
the wife of Isaac Van Wart, one of the captors of Andre, was sent to beg for
her brother's release. She did so, and to such good purpose that one of
the soldiers said to the others, "Oh, she must be his sweetheart. Let's give
him up." And they did. She was sent back a second time, to beg for a
cow they had taken, and then, too, she gained her request.
Mr. Van Wart, after speaking of the fact that his father had sold the
farm given to him by congress, in Putnam county, and had purchased the
Young place, at the Four Corners, described the somewhat elevated sandy
field just north of the corners, on the east side of the Unionville road, as
the place where some thirteen American and three British soldiers, who fell
in the fight at Young's house, were buried, and, he added, "I have plowed
many a furrow over the graves of those who were there killed."

ISAAC R. TRIPP.

Mr. Tripp, who is the efficient justice of the peace of North Castle town
ship and one of the most prosperous agriculturists of the locality, was born
April n, 1856, on the farm which he still occupies. This old homestead
has been in the possession of the family since 1825, when it was purchased by
his grandfather, Isaac Tripp. He was born in 1792, about one mile from
that place, in the same township, and was a son of Benjamin and Abigail
(Birdsall) Tripp. The birth of Benjamin Tripp also occurred upon that
farm, where his father, Anthony Tripp, had located when this section was
almost an unbroken wilderness. The last named was a native of Wales,
and on coming to this country he first located in Rhode Island, and
throughout life he engaged in farming. His son Benjamin was likewise a
farmer and was a member of the Society of Friends. He died at the age
of sixty, but his wife had reached the advanced age of ninety-eight years at
the time of her death. Their son Isaac, our subject's grandfather, was both
a farmer and mechanic. He erected a sawmill, which he successfully oper
ated, and also engaged in coopering and chair-making, being quite well-to-
do at the time of his death, though he started out in life for himself empty-
handed. He never aspired to official honors, but was reserved in manner

^Y \yAs£jfa^/p

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 645
and domestic in taste. He departed this life at the age of ninety-one, and
his wife at the age of eighty-nine. In their family were two children: John,
the father of our subject; and Mary, now the widow of Walter Sutton and a
resident of Bedford Station.
John Tripp has throughout life engaged in farming and stock-raising,
and has also operated the old sawmill erected by his father. He is recog
nized as one of the best and most reliable citizens of his community, his
course having ever been such as to command the confidence and respect of
all with whom he has come in contact. In politics he was first a Whig and
is now a Republican. He married Miss Cornelia Reynolds, who died in
i860, leaving two children, our subject being the older. Stephen R., born
March 29, 1858, is now a resident of San Francisco, California, and is en
gaged in business in connection with the electric railroad works. The father
is still living, at the age of seventy years.
Isaac R. Tripp was reared and educated in his native township and has
always followed agricultural pursuits, owning and operating one of the best
farms in his part of the county. It comprises one hundred and ten acres,
which he has under a high state of cultivation and which is improved with
excellent buildings. On the ist of January, 1878, he was united in mar
riage to Miss Josephine Hobby, who was born in Banksville, North Castle
township, this county, and is a daughter of George and Deborah A. (Mead)
Hobby. To them have been born four children, namely: John H., Cor
nelia D., Alice and Annie. The parents are members of the Methodist
Episcopal church and are numbered among the county's most worthy and
respected citizens. For seven years Mr. Tripp has most acceptably served
as justice of the peace, and socially he is identified with the Junior Order of
American Mechanics.
HENRY ROSSITER WORTHINGTON.
The Worthington Memorial chapel, a fine stone building, was erected in
1883, as a memorial to the late Henry Rossiter Worthington, by his widowed
wife. It is built on a portion of the somewhat extensive landed property
which Mr. Worthington owned in the Nepperhan valley at the time of his
decease. His mortal remains lie in a vault under the chancel. It is a taste
ful structure, and is said to have cost altogether about twenty thousand
dollars. The building itself and the grounds adjoining, together with the
inclosure, are kept in excellent order, which must involve, in addition, a con
siderable expense.
The following tribute to the memory of Mr. Worthington is from the
transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for the year
1881, he having been vice-president of the organization:

646 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
The wide and profound expressions of regret at the sudden decease of Mr. Worthington
among his professional acquaintances and in the great circles of his friends were first, and
largely, an expression of personal bereavement. He had earned a high place as an ingenious
inventor and a successful engineer, and his work will leave an indelible impression upon pro
fessional practice, but the influence and the traditions of him as a man and a friend will outlive
generations of engineers.
The foundation of this mingled esteem and affection was his intense and abiding love of
the truth. The foundation was built upon by scientific methods, and the structure was adorned
by personal graces and accomplishments. The love of truth that came from a high-minded
ancestry was nurtured by his professional pursuits, for his profession, unlike some other pro
fessions — and this is their misfortune, not their fault — has an inevitable criterion, and that is
the truth. This sentiment — for it grew in him from a conviction to a sentiment — not only con
trolled his professional and private conduct, but it stimulated in him an honest skepticism
regarding those beliefs in general which have come down to us with no higher authority than
that they are an inheritance. He was a willing and valiant assailant of "humbug" in every
form, and, nobler than this, he was the patient iconoclast who dispelled the phantoms in the
mind of many an inventor, and who saved many a plodding experimenter — not in applied
science only — from impending disaster. He was also endowed with a grand humanity which
practice perfected. Nor were his friends, so called, the sole beneficiaries; only a long and inti
mate fellowship with him has discovered many of his private charities, and half of them will
probably never be known.
These attributes found apt and eloquent expi ession in his scholarly culture and brilliancy,
in his spontaneous and perennial wit. As the patient, but not generally impassioned, advocate
of truth, or as the exposer of a fallacy or an imposture by analysis, by analogy, by ridicule, he
had few equals. And, to crown all, was his overflowing good-fellowship, — with all his serious
thoughts and moods, his love of humor and mirth, of intimate talks with groups of friends,
rambling from grave to gay, when all his truth and his kind and, withal, fantastic inspirations
would grow into bloom. It was an education to hear him talk when the subject was large
enough to move him.
The time is not ripe to analyze Mr. Worthington's contributions to the engineering
specialty, in which he did not claim, but in which he was assigned, by general consent, the
highest place. Mr. Worthington was undoubtedly the first proposer and constructor of the
direct steam pump. The duplex system in pumping-engines— one engine actuating the steam
valves of the other, causing a pause of the pistons at the end of the stroke, so that the water
valves can seat themselves quietly, and preserve a uniform water pressure, this being a vast
improvement on the Cornish engine— is generally admitted to be one of the most ingenious and
effective, and certainly one of the most largely applied, advances in modern engineering.
Mr. Worthington was chiefly known as a hydraulic engineer, but apart from this specialty,
his experimental and practical contributions to other departments of engineering, such as canal
steam navigation, compound engines, instruments of precision and machinery tools, would
entitle him to a high position in the profession.
Mr. Worthington was born December 17, 1.817, and died December 17, 1880. His ances
tors in America were sprung from Sir Nicholas Worthington, of Worthington, England, who
died at Naseby, for King Charles, and they came to America in 1649.
It would be interesting to trace the history of this family, especially the grand old father,
Asa Worthington. A minute review of the life of Henry Rossiter Worthington, with its multi
tudinous benefactions of invention, of counsel, of entertainment, would also be pleasing and
instructive, but this is not the time nor the place.
His mortal remains lie on the edge of the old rocks which geologists call the primal con
tinent, and every following cycle furnishes some stone to lay on his grave. So his immortal
remains illustrate every phase of progress, from Silurian instinct— to live — to the last formula
of civilization — to let live.
Mr. Worthington was born in the city of New York, but his parents soon after removed to

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 647
Brooklyn, where they continued to reside for many years. His father, Asa Worthington, at one
period held the position of consul at Lima, South America, which appointment he retained for
a number of years. He was, at the time, connected with the business firm of Wetmore, Chaun
cey, Cryder & Company, who had an establishment house in Lima.
Mr. Wbrthington's wife was Miss Newton, daughter of the late Commodore John T. New
ton, United States Navy. She, with four children, survived him, — Amelia Stuart (wife of T.
Whiteside Rae, civil engineer, formerly connected with the United States Navy); Henry Eraser;
Sarah Newton (wife of William Lanman Bull, a banker in Wall street), and Charles Campbell
(who succeeded his father as an hydraulic engineer in the business which he founded).
The mortal remains of Mr. Worthington were laid to rest in the Memorial chapel built by
his widow, at Nepperhan valley, near Irvington.

ISAAC MONMOUTH HUNT.
A prominent agriculturist of White Plains, Westchester county, New
York, Isaac M. Hunt is a son of Thomas and Harriet (Guion) Hunt, and
was born in New York city, May 27, 1837. John Hunt, the great-great
grandfather of our subject, was born in Shropshire, England, in 1707, and in
1725, when but eighteen years old, came to America and settled in Hacken-
sack, New Jersey, and from there moved to the town of Greenburg, in
Westchester county, New York, which at that time was a part of Philips
Manor. He married Aletha Hunt, who was born in 171 1. They were the
parents of five daughters and four sons. The great-grandfather, Thomas
Hunt, married a lady whose maiden name was Sarah Sloate. Isaac Hunt,
the grandfather, was born in Putnam county, New York, in 1771, and lived
in the town of Greenburg. He married Susanna Purdy, of White Plains,
New York, a daughter of Jacob Purdy, of that place.
Thomas Hunt, the father, was born in the town of Greenburg in 1798,
and was for many years a merchant in the city of New York, although he
made his home in his native township until his death, which occurredin 1882.
He was a devoted member of the Baptist church and a faithful worker in that
body. He was united in matrimony to Miss Harriet Guion, a daughter of
Monmouth and Anna (Lyons) Guion. The family trace their ancestry back to
the time of the persecution of the Christians in 1682, when so many of the
French Huguenots came to this country to escape this persecution. Among
the number was the founder of the Guion family in America. Harriet
Guion Hunt was born in New York in 1798, and died in 1883, at a good old
age. She left the following children: Susan A., wife of James Elliott;
Benjamin G., who died in 1887; Thomas P.; Harriet E., spinster; and
Isaac M., our subject.
Isaac M. Hunt received his primary education in the district schools,
and then attended a select school taught by an Episcopalian clergyman, the
Rev. Augustus Striker. He then returned to the farm, and, having a natural

648 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
as well as acquired aptitude for agriculture, he still resides there and has
acquired a considerable property. His two sisters make their home with
him on the old homestead, among lifelong friends. He is a pronounced
Democrat and has served as assessor of the town of Greenburg for fifteen
years. He was a school trustee for one term. He is kindly by nature,
treasures few resentments, and is ever ready to do a favor, while in every
transaction he is honest, upright, and honorable to a fault. He is a man of
commanding presence and amiable and engaging manners, and his extreme
popularity in the community is but a natural sequence.

HON. EDWIN W. FISKE.

The name of this gentleman is one which has figured conspicuously on
the pages of Mount Vernon's history during the last ten years. By reason of
his strong mentality, engaging personality and recognized ability, he has
become a leader in public thought and action, and is now at the head of the
municipal government, administering the affairs of the city with marked
loyalty to its best interests.
Mr. Fiske was born in Shamokin, Pennsylvania, on the 17th of July,
1861, and is a son of Samuel and Amanda (Stoddard) Fiske. The father
wasa native of Massachusetts, descending from good, old Puritan ancestry. His
father was Samuel Fiske, also a native of the Bay state, the original Ameri
can home of the Pilgrims. The mother of our subject was a native of Penn
sylvania. In the public schools of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Edwin W.
Fiske acquired his education, and at the age of eighteen entered upon his
business career, by beginning an apprenticeship to learn the process of man
ufacturing Bessemer steel in the work of the Pennsylvania Steel Company,
at Steelton, Pennsylvania. From that place he removed to New York city,
where for more than fifteen years he has now successfully engaged in busi
ness as a dealer in steam and hot-water heaters, supplying these to large
buildings on contract. He is energetic, enterprising and capable, and his
sagacity and well managed interests have brought to him a very handsome
competence. Mr. Fiske makes his home in Mount Vernon, where he located about
1885, and since that time he has been an important factor in the public inter
ests of the town. In 1S89 and 1890 he served the old second ward as a
member of the board of village trustees, and in 1893 he was elected alderman
from the present second ward against a strong competitor. While serving
in that capacity he was chairman of the committee on streets and sidewalks,
and in that capacity did much toward improving the streets and avenues. In
1894 he was the unanimous choice of the Democratic party for the office of

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 649
mayor, and is now at the head of the city government. His administration
is both progressive and practical, and while he favors every movement tend
ing toward the welfare and improvement of the city, at the same time he
brings to bear upon all new measures introduced the calm, unbiased judg
ment of a reliable and sagacious business man. He is unfaltering in support
of the principles of his party, and his information concerning the political
issues of the day is comprehensive and accurate. In other ways Mr. Fiske
has also been connected with the public affairs at Mount Vernon. Soon
after- his arrival here he became connected with Steamer Company No. 3, of
the city fire department, and soon was made its foreman. That office he
filled for three years with credit to himself and satisfaction to all, when he
was elected chief of the fire department. For four years he filled the latter
office and did much toward securing better equipment, better discipline and
better service in every way. He is also interested in social as well as polit
ical matters, and has been a member of the executive committee of the Inter
national Association of Fire Engineers of the World. He has been president
and treasurer of the Firemen's Benevolent Association of this city; is a mem
ber of Hiawatha Lodge, F. & A. M. ; Mount Vernon Chapter, R. A. M. ;
Bethlehem Commandery, K. T. ; Mecca Shrine, of New York city; Lodge No.
1, B. P O. E. , of New York city; Sons of the Revolution of New York State,
and Golden Rod Council, Royal Arcanum.
Mr. Fiske was united in marriage to Miss Anna E. Smith, daughter of
the late Henry C. Smith, the first president of the People's Bank, of Mount
Vernon, and a prominent citizen. They now have three children, two sons
and a daughter. Their position in the highest society is assured, and they
enjoy the hospitality of the best homes in Mount Vernon. Mr. Fiske is a
man whose business career conforms to the strictest ethics of commercial
life; whose public career has been marked by the most unquestioned fidelity
to duty, and whose private life commands the respect of all, while his cordial,
genial manner renders him a pleasant companion and has made him very
popular among all classes.
S. R. SHEAR.
S. R. Shear is a son of Clark A. and Lucretia Shear. He was born in
•Orwell, New York, and lived there until five years of age. He afterward
lived with his parents in Boylston and Richland, Oswego county, and West
Camden, Oneida county. At the age of twelve years he was taken by his
uncle, Wallace E. Shear, of Stittsville, Oneida county, and lived with him
for several years, in that time receiving an academic education at the Hol
land Patent Union School, after which he returned to Oswego county and

650 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
taught school two winters at Ricard. He completed his education at the
Oswego Normal School, and then became principal of the Orwell village
school, and later principal of school No. 8, Mexico village. In 1890 he be
came principal of the Pulaski graded schools, holding that position for two
years. In September, 1892, when the Pulaski Academy and graded schools
were consolidated, he assumed control of the entire system. Under his man
agement the enrollment in the academic department increased from thirty
to one hundred and fifty, and the teaching force from seven to twelve. In
1897 he resigned his position as principal of the Pulaski Union School and
Academy, to accept the superintendency of the White Plains public schools,
a position which he now holds.
He was married in 1889, to Miss Nettie Reynolds, of Orwell, and they
have one daughter, Rose Elizabeth, born June 27, 1891. Mr. Shear is a
Royal Arch Mason, a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and
an active member of the Sons of Veterans, having been captain of A. S.
Warren Camp, No. 105, for two years.

SOLOMON MEAD.

The Mead family went originally from Somersetshire, or Devonshire,
into county Essex, England, during the reign of King Henry VI (A. D.
1422), and first settled at Elmdon. There seems to have been eight distinct
families of the name in England, known by their respective coats-of-arms,
four having the pelican and four the trefoil as their heraldic design. A num
ber of distinguished individuals were numbered among these English fami
lies; among others, Rev. Matthew Mead, a celebrated non-conformist divine
in the reign of Charles I, and his son, Dr. Richard, who was appointed physi
cian in ordinary to King George II, and who first practiced inoculation in
England. The name is spelled both with and without the final "e." The
Earl of Clan- William line always used the " e. " That family is of Irish
extraction, and is the one from which the Meades of Virginia are derived.
In England the spelling was variable.
The family in this country, at least that portion which settled in Fair
field county, Connecticut, preserved the tradition that two brothers came
over from England, and that one stopped at the eastward, while the other
came to " Horse-neck " (Greenwich), Connecticut. The tradition is possibly
correct, as a Gabriel Mead and David Mead settled in Lexington, Massachu
setts. Gabriel was born in 1587 and died in 1666, aged seventy-nine. A
son, Israel, was born in 1639, and there were several daughters. David was
possibly also a son of Gabriel, though he does not seem to be mentioned in
the will. The first record of any Mead in Fairfield county, Connecticut, is

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 651
the following in Stamford town records: " December 7, 1641, William Mayd
received from the town of Stamford a house, lot and five acres of land."
The date, 1641, agrees with the Lexington dates and seems to bear out
the tradition of the family as mentioned. This William is the ancestor of
the Fairfield county Meads. We have record of three children, though there
were probably four. A son who died about 1657 is noted in Huntington's
History of Stamford.
The three children of William of whom we have record are Joseph, born
1630, died 1690; Martha, married John Richardson, of Stamford; and John,
the ancestor of the Greenwich Meads. Both Joseph and John were settled
for a time at Hempstead, Long Island, but they afterward removed to Fair
field county and located there. John purchased land of Richard Crab, and
the deed is dated October 26, 1660. The descendants of William are prac
tically innumerable.
The Westchester county branch was established in the town of Lewis
boro (then South Salem), about the year 1776, by Colonel Enoch Mead, a
brother of Major-General Ebenezer Mead, of Greenwich, Connecticut.
Colonel Mead married, at the age of twenty, Miss Jemima Mead, daughter of
Caleb Mead, of Greenwich, who was in her twentieth year. He and his
young bride made a journey of exploration up into Massachusetts on horse
back, but returned and settled on a ridge traversed by the New York and
Albany post-road, about half a mile south of Lake Waccabuc. Here he
built a log house, in which he was still living when the war of the Revolution
broke out, and in which was born his oldest son, Colonel Solomon Mead,
but from which he soon removed to the house, still standing, which is owned
and occupied by his descendants. Colonel Enoch Mead was a man of great
energy and ability, and his wife, who long survived him, was a woman of
heroic resolution and indomitable courage. Many traditions are preserved
in the family of their patriotic and self-sacrificing devotion to the national
cause and of the risks they ran, — of the swift horse which had to be kept in
the cellar; of the repulse of a band of marauding cowboys by the youthful
matron alone, except for an infant child and a negro slave boy; and of the
flight of the little household into the woods at the. rumored approach of the
enemy. Colonel Enoch Mead served at one time on the staff of his brother,
the general, but managed, while the war was still in progress, to get his new
house built for his young wife. Here their family of nine children were
born, six of them living to a good old age, and the other three dying in child
hood and early youth. Here the oldest son, Colonel Solomon, died in 1870,
at the great age of ninety-two years, The place is now known as Elmdon.
Colonel Solomon was, like his father, a man of uncommon ability, and
through his long life his services were in constant demand as a friendly ad-

652 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
viser and arbitrator. He also married very young, wedding, at the age of
twenty, Miss Eunice Gilbert, aged nineteen. The oldest son of this youth
ful couple, Jacob Gilbert Mead, died at his place, a few hundred yards to the
northward, in 1884, at the advanced age of eighty-four. Colonel Solomon,
as were his parents and a number of his children, was buried in the family
burying-ground, about one-quarter of a mile south of his former residence.
The eastern boundary of the farm was formerly that of Cortlandt Manor,
— the so-called twenty mile line, which divided it from Connecticut, — and
the rude monument erected by the commissioners in 1734, to mark an angle
of the line, is still standing in the stone wall of which it forms a part.
The second son, Alfred (or as he always, for some unaccountable reason,
-spelled it, Alphred), was established a little way down the road, and before
many years eight comfortable houses in succession, on as many flourishing
farms, were occupied by members of the family, all bearing the family name,
so that the road became known as Mead street. The first minister of the
Presbyterian church in South Salem was Parson Solomon Mead, who was an
uncle of Colonel Enoch Mead. He was settled May 19, 1752, and remained
in charge until shortly before his death, in 18 12, at the age of eighty-six. He
was very eccentric and grew more so as age increased upon him. Many
amusing stories have been told of his peculiarities. He lies buried in the
cemetery at South Salem, and a neat tombstone marks his resting place.

MILTON C. PALMER.

An attorney at law of Sing Sing, and now serving as police justice of
the village, Mr. Palmer is well known as a successful educator through
eleven years of faithful and efficient service. Although he has recently
retired from teaching, his work will not readily be forgotten by the many who
have been helped by him along the steep, and sometimes weary, path of
knowledge. Mr. Palmer was born in Sing Sing, April 29, 1862, and is a son of Rich
ard and Charlotte (Lawrence) Palmer. The mother is now deceased, but
the father is still living, and makes his home in Sing Sing. Prior to the war
of the Rebellion he was engaged in business in New York city, but later gave
his attention to farming, and is now living retired. The family is of English
origin, and was founded in this country, in 1638, by three brothers, James,
William and John, who came from England and located near Stonington,
Connecticut. In 1695 William removed to Westchester county, New York,
and took up his residence near New Rochelle. It is from him that our sub
ject is descended. The next in direct line to our subject was Henry Palmer,
a farmer, who was the father of Richard Palmer, a man of prominence, and

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 653
of considerable wealth, for those days. He held a number of town offices.
The latter's son, Richard R. Palmer, was the grandfather of our subject.
He was one of the leading and influential citizens of Sing Sing, held many
local offices of honor and trust, was a man of upright, Christian character,
and held conspicuous place in a large circle of friends and acquaintances.
Milton C. Palmer is the third in order of birth in a family of nine chil
dren. The family is identified with the First Baptist church, and is quite
prominent. Mr. Palmer, of this review, was principally reared in this state, but
spent one year, from 1872 to 1873, in Maine. He attended the public
schools of Sing Sing, and graduated, in 1877, at the head of his class. Thus
prepared for college, he entered Cornell University in the fall of 1877, and
graduated from that noted institution, in 1881, with the degree of B. S.,
being the youngest in his class. He at once commenced teaching school,
and in 1884, after a successful examination in New York, was granted a
state teacher's life certificate. Pie successfully taught in the public schools
of Westchester county until 1889, when he established, at Sing Sing, what
was known as Palmer's Collegiate and Business School. In the fall of 1892
he entered the Columbia Law School, and was graduated therefrom with the
degree of LL. B., in 1895, but before his graduation he was admitted to the
bar on May 15, 1894. He has since been successfully engaged in the prac
tice of the law at Sing Sing, and on the 19th of March, 1896, was elected
police justice, which office he is now filling in a most creditable manner.
On the 23d of December, 1891, Mr. Palmer married Miss Eliza D. Vail,
a daughter of William and Phcebe B. (Palmer) Vail, in whose family were
two children, the younger being Indiana, now the wife of T. H. Calam, of
Sing Sing. They belong to one of the oldest, most highly respected and
prominent families of Westchester county. The father, who is now deceased,
was a worthy representative of the Vail family, which was founded in this
county about the beginning of the seventeenth century by Samuel Vail. His
ancestors were from England and the name was formerly spelled Veale and.
Vaile. Thomas, the son of Samuel, is considered the head of the family in
Westchester county. He was a member of the Friends church and was one
of a family of ten children, one of whom was John Vail, the father of Thomas,
who had a family of four children: John, William, Elizabeth and Ann. The
second son, William, is the father of Mrs. Palmer.
Politically Mr. Palmer is a stanch supporter of the Republican party,
and as acting chairman of the Republican town committee for two years he
rendered it effective service. Socially he is a prominent member of the Sing
Sing Yacht Club, the Point Senasqua Rod & Reel Club, the Westchester
County Bar Association, and the Cornell Club, of New York city, while relig-

654 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
iously he is one of the leading members of the Baptist church of Sing Sing,
takes an active part in all church and Sunday-school work, and for two years
was president of the Young Men's Christian Association.

WILLIAM PATERSON VAN RENSSELAER.
Mr. Van Rensselaer was the second son of the patroon, Stephen Van
Rensselaer, of Albany, and was born March 6, 1805. His mother was a
daughter of Judge William Paterson, of New Jersey. After graduating at
Yale College, in 1824, he was commissioned aid-de-camp to Governor De-
Witt Clinton, with the title of colonel, which post he soon relinquished, and
from 1826 spent four years in Europe, traveling extensively and pursuing legal
studies in Edinburg.
Upon his return he entered the office of Peter A. Jay, then a well known
lawyer of New York. For a number of years afterward he resided in Albany
and Rensselaer county, but the last twenty years of his life were spent at his
home at Manursing island, near Rye, Westchester county. He died in New
York, November 13, 1872.
He inherited from his distinguished father many noted characteristics.
Conspicuous among these was a true simplicity. Free from all pretension
and eminently unselfish, he found his happiness in a life of retirement and in
unobtrusive but earnest endeavors to do good. A genuine sympathy with
works of Christian benevolence was another inherited trait: He was an
attentive observer of the great and philanthropic movements of the day and
a most liberal supporter of every worthy cause whose claims were brought to
his notice. A man of noble impulses and clear convictions, he was no less decided
in the rebuke of injustice and iniquity than in the approval of that which was
good. The uprightness and elevation, the kindliness and generosity of his
nature, his fine intellectual gifts and high culture, and with all an unaffected
humility, the fruit of true religion, made him the marked example of a Chris
tian gentleman.
WILLIAM N. SLATER.
Numbered among the progressive, enterprising business men of Harri
son is the subject of this sketch. Though he has been here but a few
years, dating from February, 1894, he has succeeded in building up a large
and flourishing business and has made a truly enviable reputation for upright
ness, justice and courteous treatment of all with whom he has entered into
financial relations.
The Slaters have long been considered representative citizens of West-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 655
-Chester county and none are more thoroughly respected and esteemed. The
father and grandfather of our subject both bore the Christian name of Abra
ham. The father is now retired from active business cares, having amassed
a comfortable fortune by years of honest, industrious toil in his chosen voca
tion of building and contracting. He married Eva E. Schmaling, a native
of Rye township, and she has been a true helpmate to him, sharing his joys
and sorrows and aiding him with her loving womanly sympathy and cheer.
They became the parents of five children, but two of the number are
deceased. Abraham H. is engaged in business with the subject of this arti
cle, and the only sister, Mary G. , is at home.
The birth of W. N. Slater occurred in this county, March i, 1872, and
here he grew to man's estate, receiving an excellent public-school education
at an academy, where he pursued an advanced course of study. He was
initiated into the mysteries of business life long before attaining his majority,
and he is now a dealer in lumber, lime, cement, brick, and, in short, almost
everything needed in the construction of a house or other building, and keeps
a full line of hardware, paints, oils, etc., in addition to which he runs a
feed, grain and hay store. He carries a very large and well selected stock,
and strives to please his customers as to price and quality of goods. In
manner he is genial and obliging and his word is always to be depended upon
to the letter. In political matters he sides with the Democratic party, but
he has given little attention to politics, as his business affairs have thus far
engrossed his whole time.
Upon the 24th of September, 1896, Mr. Slater was united in marriage
with Miss Sarah B. Haight, a daughter of Thomas A. Haight, an old and
respected citizen of Round Hill, Connecticut. Mrs. Slater is a lady of good
education and attainments and is a member of the Episcopal church. She
takes great interest in religious and charitable enterprises and is aided by her
husband in her many benevolent enterprises. They have an attractive
home, where their hosts of friends delight to congregate.

GEORGE GRAB, Jr.

The genial and popular proprietor of the Central Hotel, and also owner
of the New Rochelle Bottling Works, of New Rochelle, New York, is one of
the most enterprising, energetic and successful business men of this com
munity. He is a native of Germany, born in Baden, December 18, 1861,
and is a son of John and Susan (Saber) Grab, also natives of Baden. The
father was a general business man, of sound judgment and good executive
ability, and carried on operations in Germany until 1892, when he emigrated
to America and located in New Rochelle, where he spent the remainder of

656 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
his days in retirement, dying here August 13, 1897, at the age of sixty-five
years. His wife, who survives him, is still living in New Rochelle, and is in
her sixty-seventh year.
George Grab, Jr., was educated in Germany, being admitted to school
at the age of six years and continuing his studies until he attained his
fifteenth year, after which he was variously employed in his native land. It
was in 1880 that he came to the United States, landing at the port of New
York, and from that city he came at once to New Rochelle, where he soon
afterward entered the employ of Becker & Sons, and later of Christian
Becker, manufacturer of fine scales, and with him he remained for seven
years. He then embarked in business on his own account, opening a gro
cery store on Oak street, and also handling beer. In 1890 he purchased the
Central Hotel, at No. 17 North street, New Rochelle, which he has since
conducted in a most successful manner, making his place a favorite resort
with the traveling public. In 1889 he also became agent for the Stevenson
Brewing Company, New York city, which responsible position he still holds,
and in 1897 he purchased the entire interest of the New Rochelle Bottling
Company, and in that branch of his business also is meeting with excellent
success. In 1884 Mr. Grab was united in marriage to Miss Caroline Clarius, of
New York city, and they now have two interesting children, a son and
daughter, — Peter C. and Mamie. Politically Mr. Grab is a stanch Demo
crat, and is now rendering his party efficient service as secretary of the
Democratic town committee. Fraternally he is a member of Frederick
Hielig Lodge, No. 329, I. O. O. F., and has also been a member of the
Enterprise Hook & Ladder Company for the past fifteen years, serving as its
secretary for several years, and being the second oldest member of the com
pany now living.
JUDGE STEPHEN A. MARSHALL.
This honored resident of Port Chester was born April 18, 1837, in Green
wich, Connecticut, in which place also his father, Gilbert Marshall, was born,
November 3, 1809. The latter devoted his life to the shoe business, coming
in 1859 to Port Chester, where he spent the remainder of his life, his death
occurring in 1892, when he had arrived at the age of eighty-three years. He
was a Republican but not publicly active in political matters, and in religion
he was a Methodist, being active and efficient in church work, filling about
all the lay office's in the society. He had seven children, viz. : Ann M. ,
wife of David S. Betts, of Port Chester; Stephen A.; Joseph H., bookkeeper
and confidential man at the Russell, Birdsall & Word Bolt & Nut Works;
Leslie G., of Port Chester; Abraham F., of Greenwich, Connecticut; Caro-

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WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 657
line M., now Mrs. Charles Riddle, of New York; and Sarah E., who married
Charles Joy and is living in New Haven, Connecticut. The eldest is now
sixty-three years of age and the youngest forty-nine, and all are married and
have families.
Stephen Marshall, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was also a
native of Greenwich, Connecticut, where he passed all his life, his occupation
being mainly that of running a market sloop between Greenwich and New
York. He died in 1837, at the age of fifty-one years. Mr. Gilbert Marshall
married Miss Deborah Hoyt, a daughter of Joseph and Thankful (Benedict)
Hoyt, and she died at the age of sixty-four years. She also was a member of
the Methodist Episcopal church.
Mr. Stephen A. Marshall, whose name heads this brief sketch, remained
at his parental home attending the public schools until fourteen years of age,
when he began clerking in a grocery in Greenwich, and continued there till
August 11, 1853, when he came to Port Chester and was clerk in a dry-goods
store for Samuel Kelley and Johnston A. Deal for about six years. Next he was
engaged in the bakery business until 1864, when he sold out. Being elected
overseer of the poor in 1862, he served in that office three years. Next he
was appointed by Governor Horatio Seymour as a recruiting officer for West
chester county to enlist soldiers for the army, and in this service he went to
Washington, D. C, in June, 1864, and remained there until the following
May, after the war was ended. While he was recruiting officer he paid out
a sum between eight and nine hundred thousand dollars.
After the war he returned to Port Chester and engaged in the wholesale
cigar and tobacco trade, selling mostly to merchants in this county, and fol
lowed this business for five years. In 1870 he was appointed under-sheriff
by Sheriff Brundige, and served in that office for three years; for the subse
quent three years he was out of business; in 1874 Mr. Brundige was again
elected sheriff and Mr. Marshall was again appointed deputy by him and
served during his term of office, and also in the same capacity under Sheriff
James C. Courter, and one term under Sheriff Stephen D. Horton, two terms
under Sheriff Duffy, and one term under Sheriff Schumer, — so that altogether
Mr. Marshall was deputy sheriff for a period of twenty-one years. In 1888
he was performing the duties of his office as deputy sheriff, when he was
appointed justice of the peace at Port Chester, ever since which time he has
held the office. He has a judicial mind, and the community appreciate his
painstaking care and impartial fidelity. In his view of national policies he is
a Democrat, and has been active in the interests of his party ever since he
became of age. From 1869 to 1879 he was one of the trustees of the village
of Port Chester, and during the latter year he was elected president of the
village and served one term. Next he was clerk of the village for five years.
42

658 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
In matrimony Judge Marshall was united with Miss Jane Leonard, who
died January 27, 1899, and they had three children: Charles A., now a pat
tern-maker at the Birdsall & Word Bolt and Nut Works; Stephen Leonard,
deputy postmaster at Port Chester; and Emily J.

HALCYON SKINNER.

Yonkers resembles other cities in that some of its citizens, by reason of
political influence, or wealth, or fluency of speech, have attained prominence
for a brief time, and then have been forgotten. Among those whose distinc
tion is deserved, and not short-lived, is Halcyon Skinner. He came to
Yonkers in 1865, an unassuming stranger, neither wealthy nor college-bred,
in dress plain, in manners quiet, in disposition retiring, a man of more
thought than words; and those who met the unpretentious stranger did not
know that his labors here would prove such an important factor as they have
become in promoting the growth and prosperity of the town, and making it
famous at home and abroad as a center of one of the largest carpet industries
in the world; nor did they know that his great ability as an inventor would
materially increase the wealth of the country. Mr. Alexander Smith, his
friend and employer, appreciated his talent, and on more than one occasion,
notably when Messrs. A. T. Stewart & Company endeavored to secure his
services, he made such arrangements with him that Mr. Skinner remained
with him.
The annals of Yonkers would be incomplete without a record of Mr.
Skinner's contributions of original thought to its development. His father,
Joseph Skinner, of New England, was an inventor and natural mechanic,
whose tastes turned him away from farming, to which he had been bred, and
influenced him to engage in mechanical pursuits. Halcyon Skinner's early
education was obtained in a log-cabin district school in Ohio, and subse
quently, when the family moved to Massachusetts, he attended school at
Stockbridge during several winters, working in summer for the neighboring
farmers, or for his father in the shop. His father's success in devising and
constructing machines for rapidly and efficiently forming the various parts of
violins, led him to the construction of a large machine for cutting veneers,
and one of his father's large machines for veneer-cutting was in use for some
years in Mr. Copcutt's mill, at West Farms, New York. In 1838 the family
moved to West Farms, where the father became foreman for Mr. Copcutt,
and the son worked with him in the mill. When the mill was destroyed by
fire, in 1845, Plalcyon Skinner found work as a carpenter. He was then
twenty-one years old. In 1849, when Mr. Skinner was about twenty-five

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 659
years of age, Alexander Smith, who was owner of a small carpet factory at
West Farms, and who knew something about his mechanical skill, had a
conversation with him about a new method of dyeing yarns, in which he and
an assistant were interested. The carpet factory was not then in operation,
but Mr. Smith and Mr. John G. McNair were engaged in devising and con
structing some apparatus for parti-coloring yarns for ingrain carpets. Mr.
Smith desired Mr. Skinner to aid them. The object was to so dye different
parts of a skein of yarn that when woven into the fabric each color would
appear in its proper place in the design. If this could be accomplished the
striped appearance, which was a great objection in ingrain carpets, would be
avoided. The process required reels of a particular form and a special reel
ing machine, also an appartus for immersing parts of the skein in the dye
liquor accurately to a measured depth. Mr. Skinner overcame the difficulty
with which the experimenters had met, and devised a reeling machine and dip
ping apparatus which proved to be efficient. A factory was built for manu
facturing the new style of carpet on a large scale, and Mr. Skinner became
the general mechanic of the factory. When his connection with the Alex
ander Smith & Sons Carpet Company terminated, in November, 1889, he
had rendered Mr. Smith and his business successors a service of forty years.
Only those familiar with the history of carpet manufacture in the United
States and abroad can begin to' realize what Mr. Skinner accomplished.
The carpet industry as he left it widely differed from what it was when he
became connected with it.
In 1855, when Mr. Smith spoke to him about the possibility of construct
ing a loom for weaving Axminster carpet, that fabric was woven by a slow
and costly process of hand weaving. It seems that no attempt had ever been
made to weave it in any other way. Mr. Skinner at that time knew little or
nothing about power looms of any kind, and had not even seen a power loom
in operation for many years. His tools were few, as were the conveniences
with which he had to work. The invention of the Axminster loom was the
beginning of a new period in the art of carpet-weaving, because it first made
possible the production of this high-grade fabric by automatic machinery.
One operative with the new loom could easily produce as many yards per day
as seven or eight could produce by the best previously known method. The
weaving of tapestry ingrain by power was also considered to be impossible,
until Mr. Skinner devised machinery by which the work was efficiently done.
When looms for weaving tapestry Brussels were brought to Yonkers from
England and proved defective, Mr. Skinner designed a loom so superior that
eventually the number of yards of carpet produced by it was double the num
ber manufactured by the imported loom in the same time. The English
looms were sold for half what they cost to make room for the improved ones.

660 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
When the English yarn-printing machines accompanying the looms were
found unsatisfactory, Mr. Skinner designed a new machine as much superior
to the old one as the new loom was to the imported loom. The printing
machines from England were broken up.
In 1874 he received from A. T. Stewart & Company an offer of a much
larger salary than he was receiving from the Smith Company, to enter their
service and take supervision of the mechanical department of the various fact
ories which they controlled. After careful consideration he decided to remain
in Yonkers, and made an engagement with Mr. Smith for a term of years.
Immediately after the engagement Mr. Smith broached to him the subject of
getting up a power loom for weaving moquette carpets. Mr. Skinner gave
his attention to the matter and made some experiments, but as much of his
time was taken up with planning buildings and other matters, it was sev
eral years before much progress was made. In 1877 a patent was obtained
and half a dozen looms were built. Two of these were sent to England and
France, where several concerns were licensed to build and operate looms
under the patents which had been obtained in those countries, and he spent
a number of months there attending to the construction and starting of them.
In 1879 forty looms were built and put in operation by the Smith Company.
From that time the manufacture of moquette carpets increased as experience
and skill were acquired in operating the looms, and various improvements in
details were made, until one operator attending two looms can weave from
twenty-five to thirty times as much in a given time as could be woven by one
working by the best methods known previous to the invention of the moquette
power-loom. These and other very important inventions did not engross all
Mr. Skinner's attention. Much of his time was occupied in oversight of the
general mechanical work of the large factory, and in planning and superin
tending the construction of the new buildings which the expanding business
required. Having reserved the right to use in looms for weaving body-Brussels
carpets the improvements which he had made in tapestry looms, Mr. Skinner,
in 1 88 1, designed for the Bigelow Carpet Company, of Clinton, Massachusetts,
a loom for weaving that class of goods. He prepared working drawings, and
a loom was built at the works of the company, which proved so successful
that all the looms put in operation after that lime were constructed after his
plans in preference to those previously designed by Mr. E. B. Bigelow, the
original inventor of the power looms for weaving body-Brussels carpets. Mr.
Skinner's rights in the subjoined list of patents were assigned to Mr. Alexan
der Smith, or to the Alexander Smith & Sons Carpet Company:
1. Axminster loom; 2, Improvements on Axminster loom; 3, Improve
ments on ingrain loom; 4, Improved tapestry loom; 5, moquette loom; 6,
Improvements on moquette loom; 7, moquette fabric (4 shot); 8, moquette

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 661
fabric (3 shot and 2 shot); 9, improved chenille carpet loom; 10, chenille (or
" fur ") loom.
When Mr. Skinner began working for Mr. Alexander Smith, in 1849,
the establishment consisted of one small wooden building, containing nine
teen hand-looms for weaving ingrain carpet. The looms were not then in
operation, but when in full work would turn out about one hundred and sev
enty-five yards per day, making about a wagon load to be sent to New York
each week. The looms were all in use in the spring of 1850, when the new
method of dyeing had proved a success. When Mr. Skinner left, in 1889,
after a service of forty years, there was a series of large brick buildings, with
floor room to the extent of about three acres, all of which had been planned
by Mr. Skinner and erected under his supervision. These buildings contained
at that date nearly eight hundred power-looms, the more important and valu
able of which Mr. Skinner had invented and designed, and the remainder
of which he had so greatly improved that the production of each one of them
equaled that of two of those used previous to his improvements. About
thirty-five hundred operatives were employed in the various departments, and
the actual production of all kinds reached 9,217,000 yards per year. In
1892, three years later, the production had increased to 40,000 yards per
day, of which 15,000 yards were moquette, amounting to 4,500,000 yards
per year of that kind of carpet. In 1895 the number of looms of all kinds
had reached 930.
To show more fully the importance and value of the invention of the
moquette loom, it may be said that the production above mentioned (15,000
yards per day) would yield to the owners of the patents a royalty of twenty
cents per yard, amounting to nine hundred thousand dollars for the year,
besides a still larger amount in profits to the manufacturer. In addition to
this, the Hartford Carpet Company, in this country, and several companies
in England and France, were paying large amounts in royalties. The most
important result of the inventions of the moquette loom and auxiliary
machinery for preparing the materials is the reduction in the price of this
very desirable style of carpet from three or three and a half dollars per yard
to considerably less than one dollar, thus bringing it within the reach of all
who care to have a carpet of any kind. This difference in price, taking the
quality produced by the Smith Company alone (say 15,000 yards per day),
represents a saving to the consumer of nearly twelve million dollars a year.
The quantity produced by other companies would greatly increase this amount.
Notwithstanding the small cost of manufacturing this fabric, which was never
produced in this country before the invention of the loom, the daily wages of
the operatives are more than double those of the workers under former
methods. These statements help one to realize what Mr. Skinner has done

662 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
for Yonkers and for the country. Since leaving the Smith Carpet Company,
he has been engaged a considerable part of his time in designing and con
structing a new moquette loom, which has shown a capacity for greatly in
creased production and greater economy of material. Having no inter.est
in the royalties or profits derived from his former patents, he is at the pres
ent time, at the age of seventy-two years, with the co-operation of a few
friends, making preparations for manufacturing carpets in the mill near Nep-
perhan avenue, and at the east end of the Glen.
Mr. Halcyon Skinner's two sons are both inventors. In 1879 Charles
E. Skinner, who had worked with his father in constructing and putting in
operation the Axminster loom, and afterward on the moquette loom, studied
out some devices by which he thought moquette goods could be woven in a
way different from that in which the original loom operated. Not being a
practical weaver, he associated with himself Mr. Eugene Tymeson, who had
started many of the moquette looms at the Smith works, and was an expert
at that work. An experimental loom was built which gave good results, and
a patent was obtained. Arrangements were made by which the patent, with
several others afterward obtained, were transferred to the Smith Moquette
Loom Company, for the consideration of one hundred thousand dollars in
stock. Unfortunately for him the company did not prove a success and the
stock proved to be of no value, the property being transferred to the Alex
ander Smith & Sons Carpet Company. His improvements were not put in
operation as a whole, but some of them were applied to the original mo
quette loom, with the result of a considerable increase in production.
About 1 88 1 Mr. Halcyon Skinner's second son, Albert L. Skinner, who
had been working for several years in the machine shop connected with the
Smith Works, a considerable part of the time on looms, thought he could
do something in the way of inventing a moquette loom. His ideas were
quite novel and gave promise of good results if properly carried out. He
made drawings of some devices embodying his ideas, and obtained a patent
for the same. He made arrangements with the Bigelow Carpet Company,
of Clinton, Massachusetts, and built a loom, which was put in operation at
their works. It proved very successful, and a large number of the looms
were built and have been profitably operated by the company ever since.

ROBERT A. REYNOLDS.

Bedford township, Westchester county, New York, includes among its
intelligent and prosperous citizens the subject of this sketch, Robert A.
Reynolds, whose post-office address is Katonah. He was born at the old
Reynolds homestead, where he now resides, July 26, 1844.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 663
As far back at the Reynolds family can trace their history they have been
New Yorkers. The grandparents of Robert A. were Joseph and Anna (Fuller)
Reynolds, and their family was composed of ten children, seven sons and
three daughters, of whom the eldest, Lewis, died in March, 1898, at the age
of eighty-six years. The others in order of birth were named as follows:
Aniza, Horace, Mary Ann, John L. , William, Phoebe Jane, Joseph E., Sarah
E. and Hiram B.; and of these Aniza, William and Joseph E. are deceased.
Their son John L. , who was the father of Robert A., was born August 30,
18 19, in Bedford township, Westchester county. To him and his wife were
born nine children, of whom the following are still living: W. Henry, Frances
Totton, Robert A., Abigail, Cassius J., John S. and George McClellan.
Robert A. Reynolds was reared on his father's farm and has always made
his home on it with the exception of the three years he spent in the army.
Soon after the civil war was inaugurated his youthful ambition and his strong
patriotism led him to offer his services to the union, and as a member of the
Fourth New York Heavy Artillery he went to the front. He was in the
battle of Petersburg, after being with Grant in the Wilderness and around
Spottsylvania Court House. Returning home October 20, 1864, at the close
of three years' service, he resumed work on the farm, and has been engaged
in agricultural pursuits ever since.
Politically, Mr. Reynolds support the man he deems best fitted for the
office rather than holding strictly to party lines, and is what is termed an
independent. Socially, he is identified with McKeel Post, No. 120, G. A. R.
Mrs. Reynolds is a member of the Presbyterian church.

HENRY G. V. DeHART, M. D.
For a period of twenty-five years, Dr. DeHart has been identified with
the medical profession of Westchester county, New York, and since 1888 has
resided at White Plains. Dr. Henry Garrett Voorhees DeHart is a native of
New York city. He was born February 1, 1849, and traces his ancestry
back to the early settlement of this country when three brothers by the name
of DeHart emigrated from France, their native land, to America. On the
voyage over they formed the acquaintance of a Holland woman by the name
of Van Arsdalen, whom one of the brothers, the ancestor of our subject, mar
ried, the newly wedded couple settling on the southern part of Long Island,
the other brothers finding homes in different localities. The grandfather and
father of Dr. De Hart, Uriah and Henry De Hart respectively, were born in
New Jersey, the latter on Ten Mile Run, Middlesex county{ September 11,
1812. He was in his earlier life a school-teacher, but abandoned that pro
fession for the mercantile business, in which he was engaged successfully for

661 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
a period of forty years. He died in 1889. The Doctor's mother was before
marriage Miss Cordelia Newton. She was born in Middlesex county, New
Jersey, November 6, 1814, daughter of William Newton, an 1 Englishman,
who came to this country about the time of the Revolutionary war. She
died in November, 1896.
The first five years of his life the subject of our sketch passed in his nat
ive city. Then he moved with his parents to Kingston, near Princeton, New
Jersey, and while there he attended the Lawrenceville Classical and Com
mercial High School. From the latter place he moved with his parents to
New Brunswick, New Jersey, where he entered Rutger's College in the year
1867, pursuing his studies in that institution until 1869. He then began the
study of medicine under the preceplcrship of Harry R. Baldwin, M. D., of
New Brunswick, New Jersey, and eventually matriculated at the College of
Physicians and Surgeons in New York city, where he completed the course
and graduated in 1873. That same year he located at Pleasantville, West
chester county, where for fifteen years he was engaged in the practice of his
profession, and whence he came, in 1888, to White Plains. During the ten
years of his residence here he has enjoyed a large and lucrative practice, and
such has been his manner of life that it has won him the confidence and high
esteem of all who have required his services or have in anyway come in con
tact with him.
Dr. DeHart was married May 19, 1875, to Miss Maggie A. Winship, of
Pleasantville, New York, daughter of Henry and Almira Winship, the latter
a lineal descendant of John Alden, of Plymouth notoriety. The Doctor and
his wife have six children, five sons and one daughter, namely: William
Oscar, Clarence, Chester Hartranft, Henry Harold, Frederick Alden and
Alice Elaine. The eldest son, William Oscar, is a resident of New York
city. The Doctor is a member of White Plains Lodge, No. 473, F. & A. M.,
and of the Order of Chosen Friends and the Order of Foresters, in White
Plains. Also he is a member of Westchester County Medical Society, and is
examining surgeon for the Provident Life Insurance Society of New York.

CHARLES F. VALENTINE.
A representative of one of the prominent old families of Westchester
county, founded here in colonial days, Charles F. Valentine was born at the
old homestead on what was known as the old " King's Bridge road " but is
now Trenchard avenue, Yonkers, December 30, 183 1. His grandfather,
James Valentine, was born in the house which was used by General Wash
ington as his headquarters during the campaign of White Plains and in which

Ufaa/ii tyW/ett/Me.

nStf/wpaei 'tyJa/endme.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. .665
the plans were made that resulted in forcing the British to evacuate New
York. Removing to a farm near Bronxville, James Valentine there became
the owner of two hundred and ninety acres of land, whereon he died in 1816,
at the age of fifty years. In politics he was a Democrat, and in religious
faith an Episcopalian, belonging to St. John's church. He married Elizabeth
Warner, and to them were born the following children, besides the father of
Charles F. : Elizabeth, who became the wife of George Briggs; Harriet,
wife of Shadrack Taylor; Ann; Charlotte, who married Archer Martin; Sarah,
wife of Royal Tefft; Nathaniel; Charles and Susan.
Staats Valentine, the father of our subject, was born September 22,
1800, on the old family homestead near Bronxville, and made farming his
life work. He purchased sixty acres of land bordering Trenchard avenue,
Yonkers, — the place where his son Ja.mes now resides, — and there spent his
remaining days. He was a fife major of a company of home guards, and was
a member of St. John's Episcopal church. He died May 4, 1872, and his
wife, who bore the maiden name of Abigail Lawrence, was born January 21,
1803, and died November 8, 1884, at the age of eighty-two years. They
had a family of six children: Delia, deceased; James L. ; Charles F. ; Ed
ward, deceased; Abraham Warner, who has also passed away; and Emily,
wife of Benjamin Thompson, of Mount Vernon.
In the public schools of Yonkers Charles F. Valentine acquired his
education, subsequently learned the carpenter's trade and then engaged in
contracting and building in New York city. He made his home at No. 443
East Eighty-eighth street, New York, and was prominently identified with
the building interests there for thirty years, or until 1890. He erected many
substantial residences and did an extensive and profitable business, acquiring
a handsome competence. In 1896 he removed to Yonkers and erected his
present residence upon the old homestead tract, part of which is still owned
by Charles F. and James L. Valentine. Since returning to Yonkers he has
devoted himself to the management of his real-estate interests, and has also
taken contracts for the erection of some substantial structures in the city.
His business career has been characterized by untiring diligence, by progress
ive methods and honorable dealing, and has brought very satisfactory
financial returns.
Mr. Valentine has been three times married. He first married Emma
Reeves, who died July 12, 1865, at the age of twenty-four years. In March,
1867, he wedded Isabella Gray and to them were born three children, but
all are now deceased. His present wife was formerly Mrs. Edith Bowne,
and their marriage was celebrated June 12, 1887.
In his political views Mr. Valentine is a stalwart Republican and took
an active part in furthering the cause of his party in the old twenty-second

666, WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
assembly district of New York. He did much campaign work and public
speaking in a local way and has always kept well informed on the issues of
the day, so that he has ever been able to give an intelligent support to the
party principles. He has always been especially alert in defeating the plans
of those who sought office merely for personal considerations, and given his
aid to those whom he believed would prove valuable and trustworthy public
servants. He never sought or accepted office himself, his labors being solely
for the advancement of political principles which he believed would promote
the general welfare. In religious belief he is a Methodist, his membership
being in a church of that denomination in New York city.

JAMES L. VALENTINE.

The subject of this review, who is living at the old family homestead in
Yonkers, was born on the farm near Tuckahoe, where his grandfather resided,
December 24, 1829, and he received his educational discipline in the public
schools. When a youth he went with the family to his present home on
Trenchard avenue, which has been his place of abode continuously since.
He has since been engaged in farming, and in connection with his brother,
Charles F. , retains an interest in the old homestead. They have sold a
small portion of this for building sites, and have recently divided more of it
into town lots. It is a valuable property, which has greatly increased in
value with the growth and development of the city.
Mr. Valentine is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal church. He served
his term in the general muster, and is a supporter of the Republican party.
He is a bachelor, is a man of most sterling characteristics, and is progressive
and enterprising, having maintained a lively interest in all that concerns the
welfare of the community. In temperament and manner he is cordial and
genial, and he is held in high esteem in the community where his long and.
useful life has been passed.

FREDERICK C. HAVEMEYER.
Frederick C. Havemeyer, the longest surviving son of his father's family,
was born in the city of New York in 1807. At the age of nine years he
entered the classical school conducted by Joseph Nelson, a very popular
instructor familiarly known as the blind teacher. In 1821 he entered Colum
bia College, where he remained till the completion of the sophomore year,
obtaining that mental discipline and classical knowledge which so largely
assisted him in mercantile life. His father and uncle had previously estab
lished a sugar refinery, under the name of W. & F. C. Havemeyer, in Van-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 667
dam street, New York. This establishment he entered as an apprentice and
was formally introduced as such to his uncle by his father. Having obtained
a thorough knowledge of the business, he formed a partnership with his
cousin, William F. Havemeyer, afterward mayor of New York, which con
tinued till 1842, when both retired from business, and was succeeded by their
brothers, Albert and Diederick. Possessing, at the age of twenty, sufficient
skill and knowledge to conduct the business of a refinery, during all the
years of this co-partnership he worked with his men in every branch of the
business, from passing coal to the furnaces to the highest duties of refining,
becoming an expert in every department; and this experience gave him
immense advantage when, at a future day, under systems not then discov
ered, it was his destiny to re-enter a business which he then supposed he had
left forever. His father died in 1841, and then for ten years Mr. Havemeyer devoted
himself to the care of his own and his father's estates. During these years
he made a tour of pleasure and observation through the United States, and
also traveled in Europe. In 1855 he again engaged in active business in
Williamsburg, then a suburb of Brooklyn, and the business then established
was continued with greatly increased facilities. So greatly did it grow that
the capacity of refining was increased five hundred tons of raw sugar a day,
and four thousand barrels of refined sugar were turned out every twenty-four
hours. The consumption of coal was one hundred tons per day, while two
hundred men were employed, and the steam engines represented twenty-two-
hundred horse power. Throughout the whole establishment everything was
conducted in the most systematic manner, and a practical man visiting the
establishment was immediately impressed with the magnificient engineering
everywhere present,- — the arrangement of the machinery, the closeness of
the connections and arrangements for the cheap and easy handling of the
immense amount of material daily used. There were seventeen steam
engines, many of them of large capacity, and all of modern construction.
In 1861 the firm was composed of Frederick C. Havemeyer, his son.
George and Dwight Townsend, under the firm name of Havemeyer & Com
pany. George Havemeyer was killed by an accident before the close of the
year. He was a young man of brilliant promise and his death was a severe
blow to his father's family. Subsequently Mr. Havemeyer admitted his son,
Theodore A., and his son-in-law, J. Lawrence Elder, as partners, and the
firm name became Havemeyers & Elder. F. C. , Theodore A. and H. O.
Havemeyer and Charles H. Senff then constituted the firm.
In January, 1882, the principal buildings of the refinery were destroyed
by fire. A new and more capacious refinery was soon after erected upon an
adjoining site.

668 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Mr. Havemeyer married Sarah L. Osborne, and their children were
Frederick, George W. (deceased), Theodore A., Thomas J., Harry O., Mary
(wife of J. Lawrence Elder), Catharine (wife of L. J. Belloni, Jr.) and Sarah
L. (wife of Frederick Jackson).

DR. ROBERT A. FONES.

Dr. Robert A. Fones, of Yonkers, New York, is a son of Christopher
and Sarah A. (Marigold) Fones and was born at Demorestville, Ontario, Can
ada, January 4, 1853. His family name denotes his French origin. On
both his father's side and his mother's he is a descendant of French Hugue
nots. His paternal great-grandfather was an exile to England during the reign
of Louis XIV and afterward became an officer in the English navy. On his
retirement he was given a tract of land, embracing fifteen hundred acres, in
the state of Rhode Island, where the old town of Wickford now stands. His
son Daniel, the grandfather, and Christopher, the father of Robert, were
born on the ancestral acres and the latter married Sarah A. Marigold, of
South Carolinian lineage, also a descendant of French Huguenots.
Christopher Fones was born in 1808 and after acquiring an education
became. an architect and builder and operated for some years at Marigold's
Point, Ontario, Canada, having emigrated there, and there he was married.
He became extensively known as a contractor and builder and died in 1875,
aged sixty-seven. His wife, who still lives, having passed her eightieth year,
bore him eleven children, as follows : Dr. Civilian Fones, a prominent
dentist and ex-mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut; Daniel, who died in infancy;
Dr. A. E. Fones, also a dentist, living at Bridgeport, Connecticut; Augusta,
who married Samuel McDonald, a real-estate and insurance agent of Bloom
field, Canada; Sarah G. , who married Wilbur Parrott, a lawyer of Philadel
phia, Pennsylvania; Calista, who died at the age of twenty; John H. Fones,
a contractor and builder, of Oakland, California; Dr. Robert A. Fones; Dr.
Charles Fones, a dentist of New York city; Maggie Fones, and Jacob Fones,
deceased. Dr. Robert A. Fones was graduated in 1875, and took the faculty prize
as honor man of his class. He studied dental surgery under the preceptor-
ship of his brother, Dr. Civilian Fones, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and
began the practice of his profession in Yonkers in 1877. He returned to
Bridgeport in 1879, and in 1882 again located in Yonkers for a short time.
After a year spent in practice in California, he came back to Yonkers, where
he has built up a large and successful practice and enjoys the distinction of
being the oldest dentist in the city. His standing in his profession is very
high and he is a member of various professional organizations, including the

'.$!^tac&fcr.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 669
Connecticut Valley Dental Association. He has always taken a deep inter
est in athletics and is a member of the Palisade Boat Club, one of the popu
lar local yacht clubs, and the Yonkers Bicycle Club. As a citizen he has
been as progressive as he has been professionally, and every worthy move
ment for the public good has had his hearty and generous co-operation. He
has for some years been identified with the Yonkers Board of Trade and has
taken an active part in the work which has been carried on by that body.
Dr. Fones was married, March 31, 1898, to Miss Isadora Lynt, a daugh
ter of Peter B. and Laura Lynt, of Ardsley, this county.

STEPHEN W. SMITH.

This gentleman is a well-known contractor and builder of White Plains,
New York, of whose skill many notable examples are to be seen at various
points in this region. Thoroughly reliable in all things, the quality of his
work is a convincing test of his own personal worth, and the same admirable
trait is shown in his conscientious discharge of the duties of different posi
tions of trust and responsibility to which he has been chosen in business and
political life.
A native of Westchester county, Mr. Smith was born in Harrison, Octo
ber 13, 1834, and is a son of Thomas Smith, also a native of this county,
who was a farmer by occupation and a. son of Joseph Smith. The father
died when our subject was only four years old, leaving a widow and seven
children in rather limited circumstances. The mother, who bore the maiden
name of Freelove Lonsbury, was born in Newburg, New York, on the Hud
son river, and was a daughter of Isaac Lonsbury. There were eight children
in the family, who lived to years of maturity, namely: Eliza Ann, now
deceased, who was the wife of John Hendrickson; Daniel S., a resident of
White Plains; Mary; Henry L. ; Phebe, wife of W. P. Hamell, of White
Plains; Stephen W. , of this sketch; and Thomas L., who died in his twenty-
first year. The first sixteen years of his life Stephen W. Smith spent in Harrison,
New York, where he attended the town school. He then came to White
Plains to learn the carpenter's trade with his brother-in-law, George Smith,
and after serving a four-years apprenticeship he traveled as a journeyman,
working at his trade in this way for several years. He then started in busi
ness on his own account as a contractor and builder, and has since erected
many of the best houses at White Plains and also buildings in adjacent
townships. Mr. Smith was one of the organizers of the building and loan association
of White Plains, and has also been one of its directors since 1888. For four

670 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
years he was chief of the fire department at that place, which also he was
instrumental in organizing; is a trustee of the Home Savings Bank of White
Plains, and in January, 1898, he was elected commissioner of highways. He
has always taken an active and prominent part in every enterprise calculated
to prove of public good. Socially he is a leading member of White Plains
Lodge, No. 473, F. & A. M., having become identified with that order in
1863. In politics he is a stanch Democrat, and has held several minor
offices. He is now a school trustee at White Plains; has been a member of
the school board for six years; assessor of the village for eight years; village
trustee four years, and collector of taxes for two years.
In 1857 Mr. Smith married Miss Sarah E. See, of New York city, the
eldest daughter of Ervin and Susanna See, in whose family were four chil
dren, — one son and three daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have three chil
dren: Stephen C. , the eldest, now in partnership with his father, was mar
ried December 29, 1885, to Miss Hattie E. Eggleston, and has had two
children: Hattie Pearl, who died at the age of thirteen months, and Stephen
E., born May 1, 1889; Albert H., the second son of Mr. Smith, was born
January 26, 1866, and was married April 25, 1888, to Louise Johns, and
they have one child, Albert Irving, now aged nine years; and Gertrude F. ,
the only daughter, is now the wife of William H. Ford and resides in White
Plains. Our subject and his wife have a pleasant home at No. 35 Lexing
ton avenue, White Plains, where they delight to entertain their many friends

JOHN JAY.

John Jay, sixth son of Peter Jay, was born December 12, 174-5, spent his
boyhood at Rye and New Rochelle, and was admitted to the bar in 1768.
On April 28, 1774, he married Sarah, daughter of William Livingston, after
ward governor of New Jersey. He soon took a foremost position in the poli
tics of the country and was prominent in the debates of the first and second
continental congresses. In 1779 he was appointed chief justice of the state
of New York. In 1778 he was elected president of congress. In 1779 he
was sent as minister to Spain, and thence, in 1780, went to Paris as commis
sioner to assist in the negotiation of a treaty of peace with Great Britain.
He returned to New York in 1784, after an absence of five years, and was
received with tokens of esteem and admiration. December 21, 1784, he was
appointed by congress secretary for foreign affairs, and held the office for five
years. He was one of the contributors to "The Federalist." In 1789 he
was appointed chief justice of the United States, — an office which he was the
the first to fill. In 1794 he was sent as special minister to London, upon a
delicate and most important mission, relating to difficulties growing out of

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 671
unsettled boundaries and certain commercial complications. He discharged
this duty with great ability, and upon his return to America, in 1795, was
elected by a large majority governor of the state of New York. At the end of
three years he was re-elected, and at the expiration of a second term was solic
ited to become a candidate for election a third time. But he had determined
to renounce public life, and though nominated again, in 1800, to the office of
chief justice of the United States, declined the honor and retired to his
paternal estate, at Bedford, a property which was a part of the Van Cortlandt
estate, and which his father had acquired by marriage to Mary, a daughter
of Jacobus Van Cortlandt. There for twenty-eight years he lived a peaceful
and honored life. In 1827 he was seized with severe illness, and, after two
years of weakness and suffering, was struck with palsy, May 14, 1829, and
died three days afterward. He was buried in the family cemetery at Rye.
His public reputation as a patriot and statesman of the Revolution was sec
ond only to that of Washington, and his private character as a man and a
Christian is singularly free from stain or blemish.
John Clarkson Jay, M. D. , eldest son of Peter Augustus Jay, was born
September 11, 1808, and married Laura, daughter of Nathaniel Prime. He
was the proprietor of the estate at Rye, and was the well known representa
tive of the family in Westchester county. After a thorough preparation in
schools, among which were those of the blind teacher, Mr. Nelson, and the
McCulloch school at Morristown, New York, he entered Columbia College,
at which he graduated, together with the late secretary of state, Hamilton
Fish, and many other distinguished men, in the class of 1827. In 1831 he
took his degree as M. D. He was a deep student of natural history, espe
cially of conchology, and the valuable collection of shells formerly in his
possession, which is now in the New York Museum of Natural History, hav
ing been purchased by Miss Wolf and presented to that institution by her, in
memory of her father, has the reputation of being the finest in the country.
On this branch Dr. Jay wrote several pamphlets, among which are the fol
lowing: Catalogue of Recent Shells, etc.; New York, 1835, 8vo., pp. 56;
Description of New and Rare Shells, with four plates; New York, 1836, 2d
ed., pp. 78; A Catalogue, etc., together with a Description of New and Rare
Species; New York, pp. 125, 4to., ten plates. The article on shells in the
narrative of Commodore Perry's expedition to Japan, is also by him. He
was connected with many prominent literary and social organizations both in
Westchester county and in the city of New York, where he spent much of his
time. He was for many years a trustee of Columbia College, and at two
different periods served as trustee of the College of Physicians and Surgeons
of the City of New York. He was one of the founders and at one time
recording secretary of the New York Yacht Club, the annals of which will

672 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
show the lively interest which he took in its management and general affairs.
The records of the New York Lyceum of Natural History, now known as the
New York Academy of Natural Sciences, will exhibit the interest manifested
by him in that most useful organization.
Dr. Jay was an Episcopalian, and was connected for many years with
Christ Church at Rye, of which he was warden. He was well known
throughout Westchester county, where he was so long greatly appreciated for
his social and literary qualities.
These and many other illustrious names have adorned the history of the
Jay family in America, the members of which have ever been faithful to their
country, faithful to their religion and faithful to themselves. Their residence
there has added luster to Westchester county, and their noble influence will
be remembered while American history continues to be read.

INGERSOLL F. KNOWLTON.
Ingersoll F. Knowlton, one of the representative and highly esteemed
citizens of North Castle township, where he is successfully engaged in agri
cultural pursuits and milling, has been a resident of Westchester county, New
York, since 1863, and has been prominently identified with its best interests.
He is a native of Connecticut, born in Fairfield county, December 7, 1840,
and belongs to one of the most distinguished families of early colonial days,
several of its members being prominent officers in the Indian and Revolu
tionary wars. These include his great-grandfather, Colonel Daniel Knowl
ton, who saved the life of General Putnam in 1757 during the French and
Indian war, and his great-uncle, Colonel Thomas Knowlton, whose statue
adorns the grounds of the state capitol at Hartford, Connecticut. Our sub
ject's parents were Rev. Farnham and Sarah (Ingersoll) Knowlton, the latter
a daughter of Simon Ingersoll, and the children born to this worthy couple
were, in order of birth: Sarah, deceased; Miner N., who served with distinc
tion as a major in the civil war and is now a resident of Chicago; George;
Ingersoll F. ; and Mrs. Emily Hoyt. The mother died in 1853, and after
long surviving her the father passed away in 1880.
The subject of this review received his education at the Literary Institute
at Suffield, Connecticut, and for a time he successfully followed the teach
er's profession. November 17, 1862, he was appointed an assistant engineer
by the Hon. Gideon Welles, then secretary of the United States Navy. Mr.
Knowlton was in the memorable engagement of Admiral Farragut in Mobile
bay, where the Confederate ram Atlanta was captured, and the United States
iron-clad Tecumseh was sunk by a torpedo of the enemy.
At the close of the war he resigned his position. He now resides in-

yh^-^U^r^ ^ ff^o^r^^f^o

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 673
Armonk, Westchester county, on his own estate, on which is still standing
the small house in which Major Andre was held a prisoner one night, after
his capture with dispatches from Benedict Arnold.
In 1863 Mr. Knowlton married Miss Carrie S. Carpenter, a daughter of
Jacob B. and Hannah (Sands) Carpenter, and by this union he had three
children: Sarah; and J. Everett and Jacob C. , both of whom died at the
age of thirty years. The wife and mother was called to her final rest in
1867, and Mr. Knowlton was again married, February 13, 1872, his second
union being with Miss Hannah Carpenter, a daughter of Rees Carpenter, a
prominent citizen of Westchester county. She traces her ancestry back to
Richard Carpenter, who lived and died in Amesbury, Wiltshire, England.
William, his son, came to America previously to 1636 and settled in Rhode
Island, with Roger Williams. Joseph, son of William, removed to Long
Island and bought a tract of land of the Indians near Glen Cove. Nathaniel,
son of Joseph, married Tamer Coles and removed to North Castle, near
Armonk. His son, Timothy, was the first white child born in this county,
which so pleased the Indians that they gave it one hundred acres of land in
Byram valley. He married Phebe Coles. Timothy's son, also named Tim
othy, married Hannah Ferris, a daughter of John Ferris, of Bedford. His
son, William, remained on the homestead and married Deborah Cocks, in
1788, and their son, Rees, was born in 1789, and married Miss Sarah Bow-
ron, a daughter of William and Mary (Story) Bowron, and they became the
parents of five children, namely: Jacob, who died at the age of fifty-eight
years; David, a resident of New Castle, this county; Phebe, deceased wife of
I. H. Hoag; Freelove, who was the second wife of I. G. Hoag, and died in
1893; and Hannah, wife of our subject. The father of these children, one
of the leading and highly respected citizens of his community, died at the
ripe old age of eighty-two years. He was a member of the Society of
Friends, a Republican in politics, and served as supervisor of his township
for many years. Mr. Knowlton and his family are also identified with the
Society of Friends, and have the esteem and confidence of all who know
them.
LEWIS C. POPHAM.
Lewis C. Popham, youngest child of William Sherbrook Popham, was
born on the old homestead in Scarsdale, April 15, 1833. Receiving his edu
cation at the well-known school of Rev. Dr. Harris, at White Plains, he
joined his father in business, and in due time succeeded to it and the family
estate. Besides carrying on his large business interests in New York city, he
has been for the last sixteen years justice of the peace of the town of Scars
dale. He is of an exceedingly social disposition and justly reckoned among
43

674 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
the most popular citizens of Westchester county. He married Annie J.,
daughter of Alexander Flemming, of Bellows Falls, Vermont. Their chil
dren are Emma A. (wife of Cornelius B. Fish), Alice H., Annie F. , Alex
ander F. and Louise C.
Mr. Popham still resides in the old homestead, which was built by his
grandfather, Major Popham, in 1783. It adjoins the Morris property and is
rich in its collection of antiques, bric-a-brac and old paintings. A portion of
the tea-set presented to Major Popham by General Washington is still in
possession of the family.
SAMUEL W. PALMER.
Samuel W. Palmer, an honored citizen of Armonk, North Castle town
ship, and one of the brave defenders of the Union during the trying days of
the civil war, is a native of Westchester county, born in North Castle, August
8, 1838, and is a son of Samuel R. and Eliza (Wykoff) Palmer, representa
tives of old and prominent families of this region. His parents and grand
parents were also natives of this county, and his maternal grandfather was a
soldier of the Revolutionary war. The father, who was a blacksmith by
trade, died in 1844, at the early age of thirty-eight years, and the mother
departed this life, in i860, at the age of fifty-seven. Both were earnest,
consistent Christian people, the former a member of the Friends' church, the
latter of the Reformed church. In their family were four sons, who reached
years of maturity, and three were among the " boys in blue" in the war of
the Rebellion. Besides our subject, the others were John, who was wounded
in the service, and is now a resident of Connecticut; Henry, who was cor
poral in the First New York Mounted Rifles; and Charles, who died in 1894.
Samuel W. Palmer grew to manhood in his native township and acquired
his education in its public schools. During his youth he also learned the shoe
maker's trade, which he successfully followed for many years. In Septem
ber, 1862, however, he laid aside all personal interests and enlisted in Com
pany I, First New York Mounted Rifles, under command of Captain Thomas
Farrgraves and Colonel Dodge. The regiment was assigned to the Army of
the James, and was under General Benjamin F. Butler for a time. They
participated in many battles and skirmishes of note, were in the siege of
Suffolk, and were in several fights with General Mosby's troopers and bush
whackers. Although he entered the service as private, Mr. Palmer was pro
moted by gallant conduct to the rank of corporal, and later as sergeant, of
Company I. The war being over, and his services no longer needed, he was
honorably discharged at City Point, Virginia, in December, 1865, and was
paid off and mustered out at Albany, New York.
Mr. Palmer has been twice married, his first wife being Jane Tucker,

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 675
and after her death he wedded Clarissa Demorest. Politically he is an ardent
Republican, and socially is an honored member of Cromwell Post, No. 466,
G. A. R. , of White Plains; Mount Kisco Lodge, No. 708, F. & A. M. ; and
Hebron Lodge, No. 229, I. O. O. F., of White Plains. Both he and his wife
are leading members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Armonk, of which
he is one of the trustees, and they take quite an active and prominent part
in all church work. His loyalty as a citizen and his devotion to his coun
try's interests have ever been among his marked characteristics, and the com
munity is fortunate that numbers him among its citizens.

LOCKWOOD REYNOLDS.

Lockwood Reynolds, of Croton Lake, Somers township, Westchester
county, New York, was born on the old homestead, January 15, 1854, and is
of Puritan stock, tracing his ancestry back to their arrival in this country on
the Mayflower. His immediate progenitors were Lockwood Reynolds, Sr. ,
his father, and James Reynolds, his grandfather. His father was a native of
this county, born in Salem, October 14, 1804, and died at the age of seventy-
seven years, November 3, 1881. His wife, Hester Ann, nee Baker, was born
in Somers, this county, August 31, 1807, and died August 23, 1886. They
both passed away on the old homestead farm.
Lockwood Reynolds, of this sketch, grew to manhood on this farm, and
attended the public schools. October 24, 1871, he was united in wedlock, to
Miss Mariah Dunscomb, a native of Flushing, Long Island, and a student in
Bedford Academy. She is a daughter of Garrett and Catherine K. (Brooks)
Dunscomb and a granddaughter of Edward and Mary (Abell) Dunscomb, of
England. Garrett and Catherine Dunscomb were residents of Croton Lake,
where he was an iron merchant and died at the age of fifty-two years, June
23, 1869. His wife died August 14, 1852, at the age of thirty years. He
was a Republican in his political affiliations. To Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds
have been born five children, as follows: Elizabeth D., who lives with her
parents; Josephine M., the wife of Edward B. Kear; Melville, Florence A,
and Charles H. The family are communicants of the Methodist Episcopal
church, while in politics Mr. Reynolds is a Republican.

DAVID J. ROBERTS, M. D.
The gentleman to whose life history we call attention at this point in
this series of biographical sketches, Dr. David J. Roberts, of New Rochelle,
is a good representative of the medical profession in the " Empire state."
Dr. Roberts is a native of New York, born in Waterville, Oneida county,

676 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
October 4, 1856, in which county his father and mother, Thomas and Sarah
(Jones) Roberts, were born. The Roberts family trace their origin to
England. Several generations, however, have been residents of America.
Thomas Roberts, the father of our subject, was for many years a miller at
Waterville. On his mother's side Dr. Roberts is of Welsh descent and his
mother was a daughter of Elias Jones.
In his native town Dr. Roberts spent his youthful days and received
his early education in its public schools, completing his studies in the
Waterville Academy in 1876 and graduating. Choosing the medical pro
fession for his life work, he entered upon his studies for the same in the
office of Dr. W.W. Blackner, of Brooklyn, New York, and subsequently be
came a student in the New York Homeopathic Hospital College, at which
institution he graduated with the class of 1886. Afterward he spent one year
in Ward's Island Hospital, where he still further prepared himself for his
professional duties. At the end of that year he engaged in a general practice
in New York city, but remained there only a short time and in 1887 came to
New Rochelle, where he has since conducted a successful practice, his genial,
sympathetic manner together with his skill as a physician having brought
him into favor with all who have required his services, and be has the confi
dence and respect of all who know him.
Dr. Roberts is identified with numerous fraternal organizations, and is
a member of the American Institute of Homeopathy; New York State Society,
of which in 1897 he was vice-president; the Westchester County Medical
Society, of which he was president in 1897; New York Pathological Society;
National Society of Therapeutics; Hahnemannian, of which he is vice-presi
dent; president of the Chiron Club of Physicians; and the Metropolitan Hos
pital Alumni Association, of which he is treasurer.

JOHN F. HUNTER, M. D.
Dr. John F. Hunter, the leading physician of Mamaroneck, was born
March 16, 1865, in this village. His father, Francis Hunter, is a native of
France, was a lieutenant in the army of that country, and came to America
when a young man, settling in New Rochelle, New York, and later here at
Mamaroneck, where he died May 30, 1898. He married Catharine Mulli
gan, who is a native of county Monaghan, Ireland, and is now sixty-three
years of age.
Dr. Hunter, their only child, grew up and was educated in his native
village, attending the public schools and St. John's College, at Fordham,
New York. At the age of nineteen he was matriculated at the Bellevue
Hospital Medical College, in New York city, made himself conscientiously

t/ r/^^<^^;

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WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 677
thorough in the prescribed three-years curriculum of the institution, and
graduated in 1889. Added to this, he also studied for two years in the
Northwestern Dispensary, and was assistant surgeon under Dr. George
Thompson, professor of diseases of women, and an eminent practitioner of
general surgery. Then he opened an office in New York city and zealously
followed his profession for two years, enjoying a splendid practice. Over
work, however, brought upon him a weakened condition, which compelled
him to leave the city, in 1891, when he chose Mamaroneck for his new and
more healthful residence, and since then he has been engaged in continuous
practice, in partnership with Dr. Joseph Hoffman until his death, June
20, 1892. In politics the Doctor is a stanch and active Democrat, both in town and
county, but has never been willing to accept office. He is a member of
Apawamos Lodge, No. 800, F. & A. M. ; of Golden Cross Lodge, I. O. O. F.,
and of the orders of Red Men and Foresters; and in religion he is a member
of the Catholic church. This large-hearted, broad-minded, genial and whole-
souled man is very popular, and, we repeat, the leading physician of
Mamaroneck. He was united in marriage with Miss Madeline Baron, of New York, and
they have one daughter, whom they have named Jessie.

CHARLES E. HARTSHORN.
One of the prominent citizens of Yonkers for the past eight years has
been the gentleman whose name forms the heading of this biography. He
built and owns a handsome residence at Belvidere place, it having been con
structed after plans drawn up by himself. He is a Republican and takes an
aggressive part in local affairs, especially in such as pertain to the improve-
ment-of his own section of the city. Many important changes for the better
in the condition of streets, sewers, etc., have been made through the persist
ent efforts of Mr. Hartshorn and a few other leading citizens, banded
together under the name of the Yonkers Improvement Association, which
society was founded largely through his influence. At the same time he is
chairman of the executive committee of the South Yonkers Improvement
Association. Always a worker in the party of his choice, he has often been
sent as a delegate to various nominating committees, and at present he is a
member of the executive committee of his ward.
Charles Edward Hartshorn, Sr., was born in Ulster county, New York,
August 12, 18 17. For over thirty years he was extensively engaged in the
manufacture of various appliances and supplies for fire departments, includ
ing engines, trucks, ladders, etc. He is the inventor and patentee of the

678 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
extension ladder, with endless chain, now in use in all civilized countries in
the world. Many other devices which have been in general use for years in
the fire departments of cities, here and abroad, were patented by him, and
for a long period he supplied New York city with all of its equipment in this
line. The Hartshorn horse truck, which supplanted the old-style hand
truck, was also his idea. His place of business was at 119-121 Walker
street, New York city. Formerly he was an active Democratic partisan, but
though he was often urged to accept public office he persistently refused
such honor. He was solicited to become a candidate for alderman, and just
prior to the election of the mayor he was tendered the candidacy for the
legislature, and, as usual, he refused both. For years an active Odd Fellow,
he lived to be the oldest living past master of Manhattan Lodge, No. 62.
This lodge, one of the oldest in the state of New York, was organized in
1824. A member of the Knights of St. John, he had the honor of wearing
the Red Chapter colors of that order. After 1873 he was retired from active
business, and until a short time before his death, when his daughter was
married, he resided in Brooklyn, and after that he lived with her in Peekskill,
New York. In religious work, as in everything in which he was interested,
he was very prominent and zealous. For years he was identified with the
Methodist Episcopal church, and occupied about all the official positions of
the local society. He married, in 1845, Mary Jane Munday, and in 1895
they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. Of their ten children all
but the eldest-born, Mary Elizabeth, who died in infancy, lived to mature
years. Emma is the wife of Matthew J. Le Fever, a wholesale meat dealer
in Peekskill; William A., deceased, was connected with the Park National
Bank of New York city; Samuel L., deceased, was employed in the Sixth
National Bank in the same city; Katie I., whose death occurred in 1895,
was the wife of Oran J. Lederer, of Peekskill; Frank O. is the proprietor of
Washington Market in Yonkers; Anna is the wife of William H. Ingham, of
this city, who is employed by a large piano house of New York city; David
O. is the next in order of birth, and Ida is the wife of Stephen A. Peene, of
the Yonkers Steam Laundry.
Charles Edward Hartshorn, Jr., was born December 1, 1846, in New
York city, and until he was sixteen years old he attended the public schools
and academies of that place. He was in business with his father until 1872,
when he opened a dry-goods and house-furnishing establishment at Nos. 250
and 252 Carroll street. Here he made a specialty of equipping institutions
with beds and bedding, clothing, etc., and continued in this line for some
three or four years, after which he commenced importing needles and
scissors, notions, etc., and gave his attention to this branch of business for
nine or ten years. Since that he has been occupied as before, in the furnish-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 679
ing of supplies to institutions of various kinds, and in the taking of contracts
for the repair and construction of public buildings. His business is not
merely local, but has often extended into adjacent counties. In addition to
his regular line he has been awarded contracts for furnishing supplies to the
navy, and has met with marked success in his enterprises. He is a member
of Manhattan Lodge, of New York city, the one with which his father has
been so long associated, and he is a member of the Lowerre Hose Company
of Yonkers. Religiously, he is a member of the Reformed church.
The marriage of C. E. Hartshorn, Jr., and Miss Harriet E. Smith, of
New York city, was solemnized on the 16th of October, 1872. Mrs. Harts
horn's father, Jeremiah H. Smith, was engaged in the crockery and queens-
ware business in the metropolis for a number of ye'ars. The only child of
Mr. and Mrs. Hartshorn is Prescott Barker, a traveling salesman and a most
exemplary young man in every respect. Judging by what he has already
achieved his future is one of great promise, and his parents have just occa
sion to be proud of him.
CHARLES HENRY HEINSOHN.
A very energetic and successful business man and a patriotic citizen is
the subject of this record, he being a resident of Mount Vernon, Westches
ter county. For seventeen years he has been a trusted employee of the
Carroll Box & Lumber Company, one of the largest lumber concerns and ex
porters of greater New York, rising from a position as office-boy to a place
which is as responsible as any in the business. Since October, 1891, he has
been connected with the Mount Vernon fire department, of which, in July,
1898, he was appointed chief. His first service was for the Washington
Engine Company, with which he continued for several years, being its sec
retary for four years, at the end of which period he was elected to the posi
tion of second assistant chief of the city fire department. Subsequently, the
Fire Commissioners appointed him to the place of first assistant chief, and
his next promotion was to the responsible office he now holds, with great
credit. The department, which is one of volunteers, comprises two hundred
and eighty members, divided into nine companies. They have one steam
engine, two hand engines and all the latest equipments in general commonly
employed. The Mount Vernon fire department is the best volunteer depart
ment in the state. A large share of praise is accorded Chief Heinsohn for
the energetic, practical methods he employs and advocates, and his devotion
to his duties, which are not light. The state reports show that the fire losses
of this town within recent years has been but eight per cent, of the value of
property involved, which speaks well for the efficiency of our volunteer fire
department and its able officers.

680 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
The Heinsohns are primarily from Hanover, Germany, but the father of
our subject, Carsten Henry Heinsohn, was born in Hanover and came to this
country from London when a lad of twelve years. He became a resident of
New York city and for eight or ten years was engaged in the grocery busi
ness at the corner of Thirty-seventh street and Eighth avenue. Later he
embarked in the confectionery trade, but during his last years he was retired
and lived in Hoboken, New Jersey. His death occurred December 5, 1874,
when he was fifty-eight years of age. His widow, whose girlhood name was
Christina Beck, is still living. Mr. Heinsohn was a Republican in politics
and in religion was a Lutheran. In his family were two daughters, — Mrs. J.
B. Lotz and Mrs. William Schmidt. The latter is the wife of the president
of the Stock Brewery of San Francisco, and one of their sons married a
daughter of Senator Perkins, of California. William, the eldest son of C.
H. Heinsohn, Sr. , is in partnership with his brother, Richard, in the hard
ware business in Mount Vernon, the firm being known as that of Heinsohn
Brothers. The birth of Charles H. Heinsohn took place in New York city, July
22, 1863. He graduated from the public schools of the metropolis in 1877,
and for the following three years was employed in a jewelry-manufacturing
business. He then studied law for one year, under Henry W. Gould, sec
retary of the Richmond Land Company, and in 1881 entered the employ of
the Carroll Box & Lumber Company, with whom he has since continued,
working upward by rapid promotions, from errand boy to tally clerk, shipping
clerk (in which capacity he served for eight years), superintendent of the
yards and outside salesman and superintendent. At no time did he ever re
quest a better position or an increase in salary, but his genuine worth to the
firm and his manifest ability brought their reward in the esteem of the com
pany and in material recognition thereof. Among his other financial inter
ests, he is a member of the New York & Suburban Building & Loan Associa
tion. In fraternal circles Mr. Heinsohn is deservedly popular. He is fond of
athletics, particularly of bowling, at which he is an expert. He belongs to
various local clubs and is connected with the Hiawatha Lodge of the F. &
A. M. ; Zetland Chapter, R. A. M., and Exempt Firemen's Association, of
New York, etc. Politically, he is a stanch Republican, as was his father be
fore him.
JOHN EMBREE.
One of the old families of Westchester county is represented by the gen
tleman whose name heads this sketch. His grandfather Embree came here
from England at an early period and engaged in agricultural pursuits in this

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WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 681
county as long as he lived. Of his three sons, Lewis, John and Samuel, the
latter, born at West Farms, Westchester county, was the father of John
'Embree, of whom we write. He was a life-long farmer, and for years owned
a valuable homestead comprising one hundred acres, it being situated, in
part, within the present limits of the city of Yonkers, in the seventh ward.
During the war of 1812 he was called into service and was ready for action
whenever he should be required. He was a Whig, politically, and in religious
faith was an Episcopalian. Death came to him as the result of falling from
a wagon, his injuries being severe and terminating fatally. The death of his
wife, whose maiden name was Catherine Garrison, took place when she was
in her sixty-first year. They were the parents of ten children, namely:
Stephen, James, Mary Blount, Isaac, John, Robert, William, Emmanuel,
Elizabeth Leeds and Susan Reed.
John Embree was born in Yonkers, November 6, 1821, and attended the
district schools of this city. Having gained a liberal education, he devoted
his time to farming and remained with his father until he was twenty-eight
years of age. Then entering a different line of business entirely, he built
Main, Orchard, Washington and many other important streets in Yonkers,
and up to 1870 was associated with his brother Robert as a partner. From
the year mentioned until some time in 1 871, he was again occupied
in agricultural pursuits at Yorktown, Westchester county, after which he
established his present grocery. He bought and built his present store prop
erty and has since successfully conducted a grocery business, in which his son
Ethelbert B. is now associated with him. Also, for fifteen years he has been
a director of the People's Savings Bank of Yonkers. By excellent practical
methods and general reliability he has won the confidence of all who know
him, and his warmest friends are numbered among his customers of years'
standing. Formerly he was identified with the Democratic party, but he is
now somewhat independent of party lines, choosing to give his allegiance to
the men and platform which most nearly express his views at the time of
election. Religiously, he is a consistent Christian, a member of the First
Methodist Episcopal church of Yonkers.
On the 6th of November, 1848, Mr. Embree married Miss Sarah Roake,
a daughter of Joseph Roake, who was a farmer and carpenter of Yorktown,
Westchester county, and who is still living, being now in the ninety-third year
of his age. The three children of Mr. and Mrs. Embree are Joseph R., who
is carrying on a successful livery business in this city; Ethelbert B., who is in
the grocery business with his father; and Kate L., wife of William B. Lull, a
jeweler in New York city, but whose home is in Yonkers. Mrs. Embree is
now sixty-seven years of age, and, with her husband, is entering upon a peace-

682 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
ful, contented old age, blessed in the thought of the good that has been
accomplished through their united, unostentatious efforts to benefit and help
their fellow-men. JAMES SLADE.
A representative citizen and leading business man of Yonkers for a
period of nearly forty years is James Slade, superintendent of the Yonkers
Gas Company, one of the largest and most flourishing concerns of the kind
in the state of New York. He is also extensively interested in real estate, —
business and residence property, — and has done much toward the upbuilding
and beautifying of the city.
Born December 22, 1836, James Slade is a son of George and Catherine
(Vincent) Slade. Bath, Somersetshire, England, was the place of his birth,
and in that section of the British isles several generations of his ancestors
resided. George Slade, whose occupation in life was that of a forester and
sawyer, lived and died in Somersetshire, as did also his father, Jesse Slade.
To the union of our subject's parents six children were born, namely: George,
Elizabeth, Eliza, James, Stephen and Edward. The father died at the age
of forty-four years, and the mother lived to attain her sixty-fifth year. Three
of the sons and one daughter came to the United States.
Having completed his common-school education, James Slade took a
position as a clerk in a store, and in 1855 came to this country. After
clerking for three years in the city of New York, he removed to Lynchburg,
Virginia, and finally, in i860, he became a permanent resident of Yonkers,
and the same year witnessed his first connection with the Yonkers Gas Com
pany. The output of the gas plant at that time was from thirty to thirty-
five thousand cubic feet a day, whereas, at present nine hundred thousand
feet a day are produced. Employment is given to a large number of men,
frequently being over one hundred at one time. Business is rapidly increas
ing, and gas is being used more and more for fuel, on account of its conven
ience and cheapness, it being furnished to the consumer at one dollar and
thirty-five cents a thousand feet, while formerly the rate paid was five dollars
and seventy-five cents a thousand. The gas plant is modern and well equipped
in every particular and is valued at one million and a quarter of dollars.
The company has absorbed three other competing ones, — the Westchester
Gas Company, the'Municipal Gas Company, and the Strong Fuel Gas Com
pany, and continues to use their holders. The company supplies Spuyten
Duyvil, Mount St. Vincent, Kingsbridge, Woodlawn, Riverdale, Yonkers,
and points as far north as Hastings. For fifteen or sixteen years Mr. Slade
has been one of the directors in the gas company, being among the longest
on the board, in fact, having served longer than all save one, Robert P.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 683
Getty. The other directors are William Warburton Scrugham, president,
Harold Brown, Henry K. Bangs, Alfred Jones, William Robinson, Alexander
Smith Cochran, and Samuel D. Babcock. The offices of the company are
at the corner of Wells street and North Broadway.
To the excellent business management and careful personal supervision
of James Slade much of the success which the Yonkers Gas Company enjoys
must be attributed. He is an able financier and has made investments, on
his own account, in real estate, tenements, business property and residences
in this city and elsewhere, and with few exceptions he has made a distinct
success of his undertakings. Socially he is a member of the Knights of Hon
or. Politically he is a stanch Republican, and in local affairs votes for the
man whom he considers best qualified for any office. In religious faith he is
an Episcopalian, but he attends the Baptist church.
In 1864 Mr. Slade married Miss Mary Nolan, and they have four sons,
of whom they have reason to be proud. Richmond E. is superintendent of
the Gas & Electric Company at White Plains, New York. He is a graduate
of Columbia College, married a Miss Wiggins and has two children. Clif
ford L. , the second son, is superintendent of the gas and electric light plant
at Port Chester, New York. Foster O, a graduate of Cornell College, and
a mechanical engineer, now in the employ of James R. Floyd's Sons, mechan
ical engineers and contractors, of New York city. Harvey is now attending
Columbia College, is in the school of arts, and is a member of the class of
I899- 
JAMES BROWN ODELL.
Thirty years ago this well and favorably known merchant of Yonkers
embarked in the grocery business here, and during this period the volume of
his trade has increased until it is now equaled by few houses in this line in
Westchester county. Industry and strict attention to business rarely fail to
bring success in some degree, but additional qualities, almost amounting to
genius, seem essential to great prosperity, and certainly Mr. Odell possesses
marked ability as a financier. While he has devoted his time and energies
to the building up and management of his large business, he has never failed
in his duties as a citizen. During the war of the Rebellion he served in the
Union army as a member of Company H, Seventeenth New York militia.
Politically he supports the Republican platform, and is quite active in the
advancement of the interests of his party. In Grand Army circles he is well
known and deservedly popular, his membership having been with Fremont
Post, No. 590.
The Odells are old and honored residents of Westchester county.
Joshua Odell, the great-great-grandfather of James B. Odell, of this sketch,

684 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
was born November 4, 1707, and his wife, Sarah, was born August 2, 17 13.
Their son, born May 2, 1733, was christened Joshua. His home was on a
farm now comprised in Mount Hope cemetery, then called the Odell farm, and
there he resided until death. He married Mary Vincent and their children were
John, Abraham, Joseph, James, Isaac, Daniel, SarahTuttle, and Abigail Under
hill. The father was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and later espoused
the principles of the old Democratic party. His son James, the grandfather
of our subject, was born in the town of Greenburg, on the ancestral home
stead (Mount Hope cemetery) December 13, 1775. Following in the foot
steps of his patriotic father, he tendered his services in the second war with
Great Britain, and was for a short time in the American army, as a private.
He owned a small farm in the town of Greenburg, and was a weaver by
trade. In 1809 he built a house for his family upon his property, which
domicile is still standing, and, at the end of the ninety years intervening, is
in a fair state of preservation. Mr. Odell was not only a farmer but was
also a weaver of cloth and blankets, and was quite skillful in that trade.
Very active in religious enterprise, he was one of the founders of the First
Presbyterian church of Dobbs Ferry. For his wife he chose Elizabeth Odell,
who, though having the same surname, came from another branch of the
family. Their children were as follows: Mary McKenny, born August 23,
1800; Isaac, October 28, 1802; Daniel, August 21, 1804; Ann Foster, March
16, 1807; Benjamin, February 26, 1809; Lawrence, June 20, 1812; Eliza,
August 7, 1814; Susan Wood, December 12, 1816; Jane, November 26, 1819;
Caroline Keeler, August 24, 1822; and Harriet A. Keeler, July 13, 1827.
Eliza died unmarried, and of the entire family only Mrs. Jane Wilsea survives.
The parents of James B. Odell were Isaac and Bertha"(Corwin) Odell,
the former a native of the town of Greenburg, this county, and the latter of
Long Island. The father was born October 28, 1802, and spent his whole
life in the vicinity of his birthplace. He was a carpenter by trade, and was
quite successful as a business man. He was summoned to the silent land in
1842, when just at the prime of life, and was buried in the cemetery at Dobbs
Ferry. In religious creed he was a Presbyterian, as was his father before
him, and in political faith he, too, was a Democrat. His widow survived
him for more than half a century, her demise occurring in 1895, when she
was in her eighty-third year. Their five children were Mary A.; James B.;
John F., deceased; William H.; and Caroline, who died at the age of eight
years. Mary A. is the wife of Leonard W. Elliott, for thirty years
a member of the New York police force, and now retired and a resi
dent of Yonkers. William H., also a citizen of this place, is an expert
mechanical engineer, and is a member of the American Society of Civil
Engineers.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 685
James Brown Odell was educated in the public schools of the town of
Greenburg, and served an apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade, which
calling he followed for about ten years. Then for three years he operated an
engine in a machine shop, and in 1868, in company with Henry B. Jones, he
started in the grocery business in Yonkers. At the expiration of four years
Mr. Odell purchased his partner's interest in the business, and soon after
ward became associated with John J. Littebrandt, formerly one of his clerks.
The firm have ever since carried on the business under the style of Odell &
Littebrandt. They now employ seven clerks and keep constantly in requi
sition five delivery wagons. From small proportions their trade, exclusively
retail in character, has grown until the annual transactions have reached an
average aggregate of one hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Odell is a member
of the Yonkers board of trade and is the executor of the Barnes estate, the
property of the late Reuben Barnes, father of his wife. For a score of years
he has been one of the trustees of the First Methodist Episcopal church of
Yonkers, and has long held membership in this congregation.
The first marriage of Mr. Odell was solemnized November 5, 1859, when
Mary A., daughter of Leander Hodges, became his bride. She died May 19,
1864, aged twenty-four years. They became the parents of two children, —
George F., to whom individual reference is made elsewhere in this work;
and Ada King, who died May 2, 1864, aged two and one-half years. Mrs.
Odell's maternal grandfather, Stephen Battison, was born in 1740, and
resided at Georgetown, Connecticut. He was aide-de-camp on the staff of
a general during the war of the Revolution. His wife lived to attain
remarkable longevity, her death occurring when she had reached the
venerable age of ninety-nine years. Leander Hodges was born in George
town, Connecticut, and came to Yonkers in the '40s. Here he became quite
influential and prominent in business, political and church circles. For some
time he represented the second ward as alderman in the city council. Very
zealous and devoted in the cause of religion, he was prominently identified
with the First Methodist Episcopal church of this city, and, having prepared
himself for the ministry, he was enabled to wield a distinct and valuable
influence as a local preacher and exhorter. He married Sarah Burt and they
became the parents of two children, — Mary A., who became the wife of Mr.
Odell, and George J.
On the 1 8th of October, 1870, James B. Odell consummated a second
marriage, being then united to Miss Martha Barnes, daughter of Reuben and
Mary (Hodge) Barnes, of Yonkers. Her father was one of the honored and
prominent citizens of Yonkers for many years, having located here in 1852.
To him and his wife more detailed consideration is given on other pages of
this compilation. Mrs. Odell entered into eternal rest on the 21st of June,

686 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
1894, leaving two daughters, — Gertrude Wilhelmina, who was a successful
teacher in the public schools of Yonkers, and who was married April 20,
1899, to Mr. B. Eugene Sperry, of Ridgefield, Connecticut; and Mary L. ,
who still remains at the paternal home, on Hawthorne avenue.

CHARLES R. CRISFIELD.
Among the representative business men of Yonkers, New York, is found
the subject of this sketch, Charles R. Crisfield, who dates his birth at this
place December 7, 1840, and is a son of English parents, John and Martha
(Beale) Crisfield.
About 1830 John Crisfield, accompanied by his wife and two children,
emigrated to this country, making the voyage in a sailing vessel and being
seven weeks on the sea. Landing in New York city, he took up his abode
there and began life in the New World as a dry-goods peddler. Later he
opened a store in New York and in connection with it ran a wagon, selling
goods throughout the adjacent part of Westchester county. His location
was first on Canal street and later in Harlem, and at length he came to Yonk
ers and engaged in the hotel business, opening the Squangum House on
North Broadway, where William Welsh's store is now situated. He was
subsequently engaged in the dry-goods business at Saugerties, New York,
and later he returned to Yonkers, and on a tract of twenty-three acres,
which he had previously purchased, opposite Caryl station, for one thousand
dollars, he built a residence. The taxes upon this property at that time
were only four dollars and eighty cents. Afterward he sold thirteen acres to
Mr. St. Vincent, for seven hundred dollars per acre, and in 1898 the heirs
disposed of the remainder of the property, ten acres, for sixty thousand dol
lars; and, as showing the increase in the valuation of this property, it may
be stated that that year the taxes were six hundred dollars. After his return
to Yonkers, Mr. Crisfield engaged in the grocery business, opposite the Man
sion House, and next to St. Joseph's Plospital, where he continued "for
eighteen or twenty years, after which he retired, Pie was a Democrat and a
man of local prominence. For twenty-four years he served as justice of the
peace at Yonkers. A member of St. John's Episcopal church, active and
influential, he served in various official capacities, filling the offices of deacon,
elder, etc. Fraternally, he was identified with the I. O. O. F. He died
June 1, 1880, at the age of eighty-two years; his wife, in 1879, at the age of
seventy-six years. They were the parents of eleven children, namely: John,
deceased; Eliza, wife of Robert Lawrence, of Yonkers, deceased; the next
two in order of birth died in infancy; Mary Ann, widow of Martin B.
Demorest, a carpenter of Nyack, New Jersey; Martha J., wife of John J.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 687
Banty, a carpenter of Deland, Florida; George H., who is in the real-estate
business at Yonkers, married Susan Van Tassel; T. W., who resides in
Irvington, is engaged in the livery business there and is clerk of the town;
Emily V., wife of William Read, resides at Nyack, New Jersey; Charles R. ,
whose name graces this sketch; and Jessie, wife of James B. Strang, a
retired farmer of Stamford, Connecticut.
Charles R. Crisfield was educated in the public schools of his native
town. At the age of seventeen he left school and began learning the
butcher's business, working with his brother John, with whom he remained
five years. After this he engaged in business on his own account, at the old
home place opposite Caryl, where he remained twelve years, at the end of
which time, in 1878, he purchased his present place and built his market,
barn, etc., and here he has since been successfully engaged in the butcher busi
ness. Adjacent to his residence he owns a number of lots, sixteen in all
which have grown very valuable. His is one of the oldest established
markets in Yonkers, and he enjoys a large trade at Riverdale as well as
Yonkers, his business requiring two wagons.
Mr. Crisfield is independent in his political views, and has never sought
or held office, his own private affairs demanding the whole of his time and
attention. He was once a member of Hope Hook & Ladder Company. He
worships. with the Reformed church, of which he is a consistent member.
Mr. Crisfield was married April 22, 1880, to Miss Antoinette Radford, a
daughter of Thomas Radford, and they have five children, viz. : Walter R. ,
Richard W. , Louis R., Delia and Charles B.

AUGUSTUS VAN CORTLANDT.
Augustus Van Cortlandt, the second son in his father's family, married
for his first wife Miss Cuyler, and after her decease Miss Catherine Barclay,
of Santa Cruz, West Indies. His children were James Van Cortlandt, born
March 3, 1736, and died April 1, 1781; Helen, born January 4, 1768, and
married James Morris, of Morrisania (whose son, Augustus Frederick Morris,
assumed the name of Van Cortlandt, and inherited from his grandfather a
part of his estate in Lower Yonkers) ; and Anna, born January 18, 1766, who
married Henry White, son of Henry White and Eva Van Cortlandt.
For many years prior to the Revolution, Augustus Van Cortlandt was
clerk of the common council of New York city, and to his unflinching loyalty
to his trust, as well as to his king, is due the preservation of the city records
of New York; for of his own motion and on his own responsibility, in 1775,
he placed them in chests in a vault built at his own expense, in his own

WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
garden, "made," as he informed the provincial congress, "for that purpose
of stone and brick, well arched and exceedingly dry," and kept them until
after the peace of 1783.
FREDERICK E. WEEKS.
This is an age in which the young man is prominent, and the young man
is always prominent during and after war; and all things have combined to
give him precedence in America in these last years of the nineteenth century.
Young men who, like Frederick E. Weeks, of Tarrytown, were coming to the
front professionally and otherwise before the war began and gave their coun
try faithful service during its progress, returned to receive such substantial
reward as a patriotic people like to accord to them who risk their lives in
their defense.
Frederick E. Weeks was born at Sleepy Hollow, Mount Pleasant town
ship, Westchester county, New York, October 4, 1870, a son of Abel and
Elmira F. (Miller) Weeks. His father, a well-known florist of Tarrytown, is
a man who commands the highest respect. His mother died in 1881.
Abraham Weeks, father of Abel and grandfather of Frederick E. Weeks,
was in his day prominent in this part of the state; and the same may
be said of our subject's maternal grandfather, Ira C. Miller. Both families
are old in America, and representatives in the lines reaching down to Fred
erick E. Weeks have lived in Bedford and Mount Pleasant townships during
many successive generations. Those by the name of Weeks in Westchester
county are descended from old Holland stock, while those by the name of
Miller in this line are from an ancient English family. Abel and Elmira F.
(Miller) Weeks had four children, named Frederick E., Mary E. , Charles J.
and Hester A.
Frederick E. Weeks acquired his primary education at Poccacio Hill
and Sleepy Hollow and in the public schools at New Brighton and Stapleton,
Staten island. He was graduated at the North Tarrytown public school in
1888. Later he read law under the preceptorship of E. T. Lovett, and
afterward under that of W. H. H. Ely, at Tarrytown. He took the degree
of Bachelor of Laws from the New York University Law School in May,
1895, was admitted to the bar the same year, and entered upon the practice
of his profession at Tarrytown. He is a member of the Westchester County
Bar Association. In 1896 he was appointed assistant district attorney of
Westchester county by District Attorney George C. Andrews. He has filled
that responsible position with great ability since, except while absent in the
United States army in active service in the Cuban war. He enlisted in
Company C, Seventy-first Regiment National Guard of New York, October
9, 1897, and was mustered into the United States service as a corporal in

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 689
Company C, Seventy-first Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry. He
served through the Cuban campaign with the Fifth Army Corps and was
mustered out of the service November 15, 1898.
He participated in engagements at La Guisamis and San Juan, and in
all the arduous service around Santiago. Decembers, 1888, he was appointed
by Governor Black, assistant adjutant-general on the governor's staff of the
state of New York, with the rank as lieutenant-colonel. He resigned the
office of assistant district attorney April 29, 1898, to go to war, and was-
re-appointed to the same office by District Attorney Andrews, January 1,.
1899. Mr. Weeks is a member of the Society of the Army of Santiago de Cuba
and of the Old Guard of New York City, and fraternally, of Solomon's Lodge,
No. 196, Free and Accepted Masons, of Tarrytown, and of Irving Chapter,
No. 268, Royal Arch Masons, of Tarrytown; also he is connected with the
Westchester Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Tarry
town, and he is foreman of the Conqueror Hook and Ladder Company, of
Tarrytown. Charles J. Weeks, second son of Abel and Elmira (Miller) Weeks, at the
age of twenty-one did gallant service as a private in Company C, Seventy-
first Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry, and received a gunshot wound
before Santiago, July 1, 1898, while taking part in a charge by which a part
of a battery was saved to the American cause. He recovered from his injur
ies and is living at Tarrytown.
Politically, Mr. Weeks is a Republican, as was his father before him.

GEORGE FISCHER.

One of Yonkers' most prominent German residents is George Fischer,
who was born at Marienthal on the Rhine, Germany, January 9, 1854, and
came with his parents to the United States when he was twelve years old.
His grandfather, Christian Fischer, was a keeper of vineyards and a maker
of some of those pure wines which sustained the fame of his country in the
wine markets of the world in his time. He had seven children, two of whom
came with George Fischer's father and his wife and children to the New
World. Christian Fischer, Jr., father of George Fischer, located in Yonkers
soon after his arrival in New York (1864), and lived there the remainder of
his life, which terminated in 1897, after he had celebrated his seventy-
seventh birthday. He was an active and useful citizen and was frequently
elected to public office, and served with success and greatly to the satisfac
tion of his townsmen as commissioner of highways in his native country. By
44

690 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
trade he was an engineer. In his youth he had served in the German army,
and thus he acquired a liking for military affairs, which influenced him to
become a member of the local militia, of which for many years he was a
member. He was a member of Yonkers Teutonic Turnverein, the Brother
hood of Engineers and of other popular organizations, and sustained a life
long relation with the Catholic church. He had nine children: George and
William, deceased; George, whose name appears above and who will receive
further mention below; William; Anna, who married William Katt, of Yonk
ers; Lena, who married Augustus Nitch; Lizzie, who married George Zipp;
and Frederick. George Fischer was -educated in the public schools of Yonkers. At the
age of fifteen he left school to learn the butcher's trade, in which he was
-employed for some years. Later he studied engineering, but finally he
turned his attention to hotel-keeping. His connection for several years with
the City Hall hotel, of Yonkers, is well known. For several seasons he
managed the Alpine and Excelsior excursion grounds, and later the Sawmill
River Park. Since then he has conducted the Nepera Park hotel and carried
on an extensive bottling business.
Politically, Mr. Fischer is a Democrat, and he is an active, practical
worker in public affairs, who wields a recognized influence in his ward and
throughout the city generally. He has been sent as a delegate to the county
and assembly conventions and is an active member of his ward committee.
He was a candidate for alderman in 1897 to represent the seventh ward, but
the tide of election went against him and could not have been stemmed
under governing circumstances. He has been a member of the Yonkers fire
department for twenty-three years, and was several times foreman of Moun
taineer Engine Company, now Nepera Hose Company, No. 11. He was a
member of the committee of one hundred citizens which visited Rochester in
1899. He is a Red Man (Algonquin Tribe, No. 288), a member of Alsatia
Lodge, and is identified with other popular organizations.
December 25, 1874, he married Maggie Harding, who has borne him
children as follows: Christian T. , Fred (deceased), William (deceased),
Elizabeth, Mary M., Frederick, Bertha and Julia.

DAVID FARRINGTON.

David Farrington was born in the city of New York, December 25,
1834, received his education in the public schools of that city, but left
his studies ere he had completed the full term in order to begin an apprentice
ship in the engraving business. He was employed in this manner for six
years, and five years longer as a journeyman, learning every detail of the art.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 691
Subsequently he was connected with the jewelry house of Ball, Black &
Company as an engraver, for ten years. His ability and genuine talent
becoming recognized, he was offered a good position with the American
Bank Note Company, and has continued with this one firm for the long period
of thirty years. In 1871 he purchased the property at No. 326 South Fourth
avenue, Mount Vernon, where his home has been ever since, and he was one
of the first to locate in this section of the city. With his business associates
and fellow citizens he is deservedly popular, and every one has a good word
for him. Fraternally he belongs to Hiawathia Lodge, F. & A. M., and to
Mount Vernon Chapter, R. A. M. Politically, he cast his first vote for John
C. Fremont, and has always been a loyal Republican.
For twenty years Mr. Farrington served as a member of the Clinton
Hook & Ladder Company, and he is still an honorary member of that asso
ciation; is a charter member and one of the founders of the Exempt Fire
men's Association, and is now serving as one of the fire commissoners of the
place, having been appointed to the office by Mayor Edson Lewis, in 1895,
for a term of three years; and he was also treasurer of the board at the
expiration of his first term. May 15, 1898, he was re-appointed, for another
term of three years, by Mayor Edwin W. Fiske, and received the unanimous
approval of the Democratic adminstration, and is now president of the board.
When the project of the Mount Vernon water-works was started he was one
of the active workers and stockholders in the company at its formation, and
he is now a member and a trustee of the Home Building & Loan Association
of Mount Vernon.
May 15, 1 86 1, Mr. Farrington married Miss Anna Luyster, a daughter
of Albert Luyster, an old citizen of the metropolis. For sixty years Mr.
Luyster kept a butcher's stall in Washington market, New York. Four chil
dren blessed this marriage, namely: Amy A., Elbert L. , Ada A. and Elmer.
Mr. Farrington was married a second time, wedding Miss AnnieMakeon, of
New York, and by this marriage there is one child, named Clinton.
The Farringtons lived in this locality long before this town was dreamed
of, and the paternal grandfather of our subject owned a large farm in the
township of Eastchester, now within the borough of Mount Vernon. His
family comprised the following children: John, Thomas, Washington, David
and Hettie. David, the father of the subject of this article, was born in
1796, in the old family residence which stood until a few years ago at
the corner of Lincoln and North Fourth avenues, in this town. David
Farrington spent nearly all his life in New York city, and at one time held a
position as superintendent of street-cleaning there. He was a volunteer in
the war of 18 12, and in his political views he was a Democrat. His death
took place in Brooklyn, where he had lived for a few years, his age being

692 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
ninety-three. He was twice married, his first union being with Caroline
Reynolds, the mother of our subject. Of their six children — Anne Maria,
Eliza, Francis, David, Amanda and Emma, only two survive, — David, the
subject of this sketch, and Emma.

REV. CHARLES ELMER ALLISON, D. D.
There is scarcely a man or boy in Yonkers who is not more or less.
acquainted with the genial personality of Dr. Allison. To the majority he is
known as one of the most fluent and humorous after-dinner speakers in the
city, whilst to the more serious-minded he is esteemed as the zealous evan
gelical pastor or as the grave and learned historian. He is equally respected
by all classes, and no one could pose more successfully as " the man of many
friends." The history of the Allison family in Europe and the United States by
the Hon. Leonard Allison Morrison, D. D., contains biographies of the
Orange county Allisons, and records that the subject of this sketch is a
descendant in the sixth generation of Joseph Allison, probably a Scotchman
or of Scotch descent, who resided at Southold, Long Island, in 1721, and
migrated to Goshen, Orange county, about 1725 or 1726, having purchased
lands designated as the Allison tract in the Wanayanda patent. On his
maternal side the Rev. Dr. Allison is in the eighth generation from Edward
Elmer, a Puritan who emigrated from England to Boston, Massachusetts, in
1632, twelve years after the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers, and who emi
grated, in 1635 or 1636, with the Rev. Thomas Hooker and his congregation
to Hartford, Connecticut, as original proprietors of that city. One of Dr.
Allison's ancestors was General William Allison, an officer of the American
Revolution, who, as a colonel, commanded the Orange county troops at the
battle of Fort Montgomery. One of the officers in command of the king's
forces at that battle was the son-in-law of the Hon. Frederick Philipse, who,
in the eighteenth century, was proprietor of the Manor of Philipseburgh and
lived in the Manor Hall of Yonkers. General Allison was a member of the
provincial convention of New York from 1775 to 1777, and state senator for
the terms 1783-6.
The following from a recent issue of Church Tidings, edited and pub
lished in Connecticut by the Rev. Arthur Requa:
" Mr. Allison was the second son of Isaac W. and Teresa A. Allison,
and was born at Slate Hill, Orange county, New York. His college prepar
atory school was Chester Academy, and he was graduated from Hamilton
College in the class of '70. He was one of the six Clark prize orators of that
class. He was graduated from Union Theological Seminary in 1874. Mr..

Charles E. Allison.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 693
Allison was licensed by the presbytery of Hudson, and ordained by West
chester presbytery, April 30, 1879, — the day when Dayspring was first
enrolled as a church.
" Mr. Allison came to this enterprise from his seminary in 1873, at first
coming up on Saturday and returning each Monday. When organized, Day-
spring had ninety-four members; in 1897 the enrollment was four hundred
and thirty-six. The Dayspring Sabbath-school has likewise grown from sixty
to four hundred and twenty-five members. Nearly twenty-six years of such
active service is an unusual record in these days. As senior pastor of the
city, he recently succeeded Dr. Cole as president of the Yonkers Clerical
Association. "Mr. Allison published, in 1889, 'Historical Sketch of Hamilton Col
lege,' and in 1896 was published his memorable ' History of Yonkers.'
" Mr. Allison is the genial story-teller, ready wit and popular after-dinner
speaker of the city of Yonkers. What fraternity, banquet or society supper
is complete without him?
" He is an indefatigable worker, a sympathizing pastor, a lover of chil
dren, a strong, impressive preacher and an all-around friend. His parish
includes the people of every church, and he is equally the friend of the wealthy
and poor. He is a stanch friend of temperance. Hre was moderator of the
presbytery in 1886. The new Dayspring church is a fitting monument to his
personal impress upon the city of Yonkers. "

THOMAS J. CALLAN.
The marked business and executive ability of Thomas Joseph Callan
enables him to fill a responsible and important position in the commercial
circles of Yonkers, and his bravery and loyalty enabled him to win fame in
the military history of our country; but, whether on the field of battle, in his
place of business or in the walks of public and private life, he is ever true to
duty and by his straightforward course has commanded the respect and con
fidence of his fellow men.
Mr. Callan was born in county Louth, Ireland, July 13, 1853, and is a
son of Peter and Ann (Hackett) Callan. His paternal grandfather, Thomas
Callan, was a farmer and weaver, and lived to the advanced age of ninety-
eight years. His maternal grandfather, Peter Hackett, was a government
official during the greater part of his life, serving in the public-land depart
ment, at Stevenson, Ireland. Several of his sons were in the military serv
ice of their country, and another, Rev. Dean Richard Hackett, was professor
of sciences, metaphysics and Gregorian chants in Maynooth College, Dublin,

694 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Ireland. Peter Callan, the father of our subject, was also a native of the
Emerald Isle, acquired a college education and prepared for the priesthood.
Abandoning the idea of entering the church, however, he married Ann
Hackett and came to the United States, landing in New York city in 1854.
Previous to his emigration he had followed agricultural pursuits, but after his
arrival in America he turned his attention to the coasting trade, operating in
the vicinity of New York city and making his home at Greenpoint, Long
Island. Two years later he brought his family to this country. Subse
quently he resided in Newark, New Jersey, where he was engaged in the
leather business. He died in the Orange valley, in Essex county, New Jer
sey, at the age of seventy-eight years, and his wife passed away at the age
of seventy-six. Their children are as follows: Patrick, who served as alder
man in Newark and as deputy state labor inspector of New Jersey, is a
veteran of the civil war and belongs to Garfield Post, No. 4, G. A. R. , at
Newark. Rev. William M. R., who died in February, 1898, at the age of
fifty-eight years, was a priest of the Roman Catholic church and had charge
of the church of Our Lady of the Valley, in the Orange valley, for twenty-
five years. His remains were laid to rest in the cemetery of the Holy Sep
ulchre, and there on Sunday, September 25, 1898, with appropriate cere
monies, a handsome monument, erected to his memory, was unveiled by his
parishioners, September 25, 1898. Mary, the next of the family, is the wife
of Thomas Degman, a citizen of Newark, New Jersey. Ann Callan, the
next child, died on the day she proposed entering a convent. Jane was a
sister of charity, having entered a convent when fourteen years of age and
being there known as Sister Mary Joachim. She died in St. Mary's convent
in Hoboken, New Jersey, at the age of thirty-three years. Thomas Joseph
is the next of the family; and the youngest was Richard, who died in infancy.
During his infancy Thomas J. Callan was brought by his parents to the
New World, and acquired his education in St. Patrick's Brothers' school at
Newark, New Jersey. At an early age he left his parents' home and started
out to make his own way in the world. He first learned and followed the
undertaking business and subsequently engaged in the grocery trade, but in
1876 he put aside the pursuits of civil life and entered the military service of
his country, enlisting at Boston, Massachusetts, as a member of the Seventh
United States Cavalry. With other members of that command he was trans
ported to Shreveport, Louisiana, and placed under Major Bell for training
and discipline. As soon as they were ready for service they were transferred
to the command of Captain McDougal and sent to Fort Lincoln, Dakota, to
quell the Indian uprising and hostilities in Montana, on the Big Horn river.
They arrived at Fort Lincoln on the 10th of May, and after being delayed
for a few days by the severe weather they broke camp, at five o'clock on the

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 695
morning of May 17th, there being about six hundred men and officers in the
command. General Custer and several of the officers were accompanied by
their wives as far as Big Heart river, where they first went into camp, and
there many a farewell was exchanged which proved to be a final one, for the
husbands marched forward to one of the most fearful engagements that have
ever occurred in the history of our Indian warfare, and the death rate was
most terrible. They continued on their way, with various exciting and thrill
ing experiences and all the attendant hardships incident to one of the most
perilous and difficult marches recorded in the annals of the west. On the
1 6th of June they arrived at Powder river, where they went into camp and
soon afterward entered upon the celebrated campaign of the Little Big Horn.
Mr. Callan passed through the entire campaign, under command first of Gen
eral Custer and then of Colonel Reno and Captain McDougal. The march
ing column was under command of Brigadier-General A. H. Terry and was
composed of the Seventh Cavalry, in charge of Lieutenant-Colonel George C.
Custer, a battalion of infantry, the Seventh Infantry, one company of the
Sixth Infantry, a battery of Gatling guns, forty-five scouts, guides and inter
preters. The total was. fifty officers, nine hundred and sixty-eight enlisted
men, one hundred and ninety civilian employes, and one thousand, six hun
dred and ninety-four horses and mules.
Reaching Powder river on the 7th of June, Major Reno, of the Seventh
Cavalry, was dispatched with six companies, on scouting duty. They pro
ceeded up the Powder river, thence to the Rosebud and back to the mouth
of Tongue river. General Terry went by boat up the Yellowstone river to
the mouth of the Tongue, and there met General Custer, after which they
were joined by seven companies of the Seventh Cavalry, and also a detach
ment of the Second Cavalry and Fifth Infantry under Major Gibbons.
Major Reno having found a scouting party of Indians, reported to Brigadier-
General Terry that he had met the Indians and that they outnumbered the
white men fifteen to one. He decided that it was unwise to attack the
enemy under such disadvantages and reported to General Terry asking for
reinforcements. The scouting party, of which Mr. Callan was a member,
made a forced march of two days and two nights on their return trip, and
reported. On the 22d of June General Terry ordered General Custer to take
command of the Seventh Cavalry and provided him with a number of mules
and some Gatling guns, but the latter General Custer declined to take with
him. He then proceeded with his command and pack train up the Rosebud
river to the headwaters of the Little Big Horn river. General Terry had
ordered Major Gibbons to take four troops of cavalry and pack mules and
proceed up the west bank of the Yellowstone, and cross the stream at the
fording above the mouth of the Big Horn river. General Terry himself

696 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
remained in command of all the infantry and proceeded by boat up the
Yellowstone and Big Horn rivers as far as the latter was navigable, and met
the other detachments at the valley of the Little Big Horn river. It was
upon reaching this point that he learned of the sad fate of General Custer
and his men. The General, having made forced marches, met the enemy
two days ahead of the designated time and in the attack his command was
entirely annihilated and the brave commander also lost his life.
Mr. Callan was with the forces under Major Reno, on June 25 and 26,
and, with his company, was for two days and two nights under the enemy's
fire. The command was ordered to fall back to the hills, where, on the first day,
and two hours after its opening of the engagement by Major Reno's command,
they were met by Major Bentien and his battalion. They then decided to
go to the rescue of General Custer, and they held their position until the
arrival of Generals Terry and Gibbons, on the 27th, when they learned of
General Custer's defeat. Mr. Callan was presented with a medal of honor
by congress for voluntarily aiding his wounded comrades and supplying them
with water, which he secured at great peril to himself.
While Mr. Callan and four of his comrades went to secure water, some
of their party were wounded by the rifle balls of the enemy. Mr. Callan and
his comrades, however, located where the Indians had concealed themselves,
and after Mr. Callan and his comrades had returned to the skirmish line of
the troops, and had given the hospital steward their canteens, which they
had filled with water, Mr. Callan and bis comrades again took their places in
the line of battle. Their journey, which they had made to secure the water,
was fraught with peril, they having made the distance of more than a quarter
of a mile outside of their own skirmish line, and through the lines of the
enemy. Mr. Callan and his comrades had carefully located the Indians, who
had concealed themselves in the foliage of a tree, from which point they had
a clear control over the only route by which the troops could secure any
water; and when the command was given to charge upon the enemy, to drive
them back from approaching too close to the wounded troops, and after their
return from the charge, Mr. Callan and his comrades turned their attention
to the tree where the Indians had concealed themselves, and soon one by
one the redskins were seen to drop lifeless from his perch in the tree, and
thus the way to the river to secure water for the troops was made clear; and
it may also be added that Mr. Callan contributed no small part in the accom
plishment of this fearful task.
The medal which he received in recognition of his bravery and kindness
to his comrades consists of a bronze star suspended from a bronze bar. On
the reverse side is inscribed the following:

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 697
The Congress to
Private Thomas J. Callan,
Troop B, 7th Cavalry,
For Gallantry at
Little Big Horn, Montana,
June 25-26,
1876.
The following letter accompanied the medal:
War Department, Adjutant General's Office,
Washington D. C, Nov. 3, 1896.
Mr. Thomas J. Callan, Yonkers, N. Y.:
Sir: — By direction of the Assistant Secretary of War, I enclose herewith a medal of honor
awarded to you for gallantry at the battle of Little Big Horn, Montana, June 25-26, 1876, while
serving as a private of Troop B, Seventh United States Cavalry. The records show that you
volunteered and succeeded in obtaining water for the wounded of the command, and was con
spicuous for good conduct in assisting to drive the Indians from the trees in the bottom while
the men attempted to get water. Very respectfully, J. S. Babcock,
Ass't Adjt. General.
The medal he received was one of two thousand which had been granted
by the war department up to 1896. Mr. Callan is now an honorary member
of John C. Fremont Post, No. 590, G. A. R. , at Yonkers, which he fre
quently entertains with stories and reminiscences of his five years' service in
the Seventh Cavalry and the Custer massacre or battle of the Big Horn.
After serving seven years in the United States Army Mr. Callan returned
to the east in 1880, and, after one year spent in the leather business, re
moved to Yonkers, in 1881, to accept the position of manager for the Great
Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, which responsible position he has since
filled, being to-day in control of the largest business of the kind in West
chester county. In business affairs he shows great discretion, and displays
great energy and enterprise, and his well directed efforts have brought him
gratifying success.
Mr. Callan has been twice married. He first wedded Mary T. Matthews,
of Newark, New Jersey, June 18, 1882, but she died a year and a half later,
leaving him with an infant son, William, who died at the age of three years.
His present wife was formerly Miss Mary J. Nolan, of Orange Valley, a
¦daughter of Thomas and Mary (Colloton) Nolan. Their marriage was con
summated January 11, 1886, and they have one child, Mary Joachim.
Socially Mr. Callan is connected with the Montgomery Club, the Order of
Red Men, Shalamuck Tribe, No. 355, and the Ancient Order of Hibernians.
He also belongs to St. Peter's Roman Catholic church and the Catholic

698 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Benevolent Legion, and Yonkers Council, No. 300. He gives his political
support to the Democratic party, and keeps well informed on the issues of
the day and actively identified with political and other public interests of
importance. As a business man he bears an unassailable reputation and at
all times and in all relations of life he is as true to his duty as when he fought
for the interests of the nation against the red men upon the western plains.

HON. CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW.
Mr. Depew, distinguished as a lawyer and statesman, was born at Peek-
skill, April 23, 1834. His ancestry was of Huguenot families, from which
have sprung so many noble men to make immortal names in history. His
family were early settled at Peekskill, where his father, Isaac Depew, resided
on the farm which had been the home of his ancestors for two hundred
years. His early years were spent on the old homestead, and his education
was finished at Yale, College, where he graduated in 1856. Resolved to enter
the legal profession, he studied law under Hon. William Nelson, was admitted
to the bar in 1858, and commenced practice in his native town.
His natural ability, sound knowledge of the law and great oratorical
talent caused his rapid advancement. In his youth he took part in politics,
was a delegate to the Republican state convention in 1858, and a distinguished
and effective speaker in the campaign of i860. In every presidential contest
from that time to the present, his speeches have been listened to by thou
sands of his fellow citizens, and his opinions have never failed to attract
attention and command respect. At the beginning of the war he was adju
tant of the Eighteenth Regiment of New York Volunteers, and served three
months. In 1861 he was elected a member of the assembly, and re-elected
in 1862. His legislative career, which was marked with great ability, pre
pared the way for a still higher position, and in 1863 he was elected secre
tary of state. He received, but declined, the appointment of commissioner
of immigration, but served for one year as tax commissioner for the city of
New York. In 1866 he received from President Johnson the appointment of
minister to Japan, — a position which he resigned after holding the commis
sion for one month. He was appointed one of the commissioners of the new
capitol at Albany in 1871. The Liberal Republican party gave Mr. Depew
the nomination for governor in 1872; but he, together with the rest of the
ticket, failed of election. During the controversy which led to the resigna
tion of Hon. Roscoe Conkling as United States senator, Mr. Depew was one
of the most prominent among the candidates proposed as his successor, but
withdrew his name in the interests of harmony. He was appointed one of
the regents of the University in 1877, a position which he still retains. For

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 699
several years he was vice-president and general counsel for the New York
Central & Hudson River Railroad company, and afterward was president of
the same, — a position which furnished ample scope for his abilities.
Among the prominent orators of the day, there are few who have been
more frequently called upon to deliver addresses upon occasions of public
importance. A speech delivered in the legislature, in 1862, upon the subject
of state finances, has been considered one of his best efforts, and attracted wide
attention. On the 4th of July, 1876, he delivered the centennial oration at
Sing Sing, and made a brilliant address at Kingston on July 30, 1877, the
anniversary of the formation of the state government. On September 23,
1880, he addressed a large assembly at Tarrytown, in commemoration of the
capture of Major Andre, and he was the orator of the day upon the occasion
of unveiling the statue of Alexander Hamilton in Central Park. At the
election of a United States senator, in 1885, he was tendered the nomination
by all divisions of the Republican party, but declined to be considered a can
didate, and the choice fell upon Hon. William M. Evarts.
In 1899 Mr. Depew was elected a United States senator, and this choice
of the New York legislature elicited words of hearty commendation from the
entire press of the state, with very few exceptions, irrespective of party lines.
In 1 87 1 he married Miss Elise, daughter of William Hageman, Esq.,
of New York, and has one son, who bears his father's name.

JACOB H. DALTON.
Located four miles and a half distant from the town of Peekskill, New
York, is found the delightful country home of Mr. Jacob H. Dalton. His
farm comprises seventy acres of fine land, well cultivated, and his commo
dious and attractive residence, beautifully located on an elevation and sur
rounded by shade and ornamental trees, commands a magnificent view of the
surrounding country. The owner of this place is one of the prominent citi
zens of his locality.
He was born in Yorktown, Westchester county, New York, January 15,
1862, the son of Samuel Dalton and grandson of James Dalton. The Dal-
tons trace their origin to the Scotch-Irish. Samuel Dalton married Miss
Ella Field McCord, a daughter of Jacob R. and Phebe (Field) McCord, and
she died when her only child, Jacob H., the subject of this sketch, was a
babe five months old. The father was subsequently married to Miss Cath
erine Richey, daughter of Elihu Richey, of Cortlandt township, Westchester
county, New York. The mother of our subject was a representative of the
old McCord family of which mention is made on other pages of this work.
The Field family mentioned traces lineage back to English origin, the line of

700 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
descent being traced from John Field, who was a resident of Horton Parish,
of Bradford, England, in the year 1572.
The subject of this sketch received his early education in the public
schools and later attended the Peekskill Academy. On reaching manhood he
engaged in farming on his own account, and as the result of his push and
energy is meeting with a fair degree of success.
He was united in marriage, October 31, 1888, to Miss Ida Travis, a
native of New York city and a daughter of David Travis, deceased. David
Travis was born in Putnam county, New York, and was twice married. For
his first wife he married Miss Cornelia Gilbert, of Putnam county, and for his
second wife he wedded Miss Jane Oakley, a native of Peekskill, New York,
and a daughter of James and Mary (Gilbert) Oakley. Mrs. Dalton is the
eldest daughter by the second marriage. Mr. Travis died in 1892 and Mrs.
Travis is a resident of New York city. Mr. and Mrs. Dalton have two chil
dren: Florence May, born May 25, 1890, and Virginia Field, born October
20, 1892. Mrs. Dalton is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, at Shrub
Oak, New York.

WILLIAM J. HORTON.
On the 24th of August, 1898, there passed away, at his home in York-
town township, Westchester county, New York, one of that county's best
and most highly respected citizens, William James Horton. His honesty,
integrity, gentleness and purity were a constant source of inspiration to his
loving family and friends, and few men have left an example more to be
desired than he.
Mr. Horton was born in Yorktown township, December 10, 1828, a son
of Frost and Phoebe (Tompkins) Horton. In early childhood he removed
with his parents to Peekskill, where he attended first the public schools and
later the Peekskill academy, and after attending the latter institution for
some time he entered college at North Adams, Massachusetts. Upon his
return home he remained in Peekskill for a time, filling a position in his
father's office, but after his marriage took up the occupation of farming in
Yorktown township, in which undertaking he met with more than ordinary
success. On the 8th of January, 1851, Mr. Horton was united in marriage with
Miss Leah B. Carpenter, a daughter of William and Winnifred S. (Carpen
ter) Carpenter, and by this union there were three children, namely: Wright,
who married Phoebe Weeks; Thomas V., who married Elizabeth Ireland; and
Georgine H., now Mrs. Frank A. Weed. (More extended mention of the

N^r

<V\j\rOJV-

cr^^\)

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 701
Horton family is given in the sketch of Dr. Stephen F. Horton, on another
page of this work.)
Mr. Horton was progressive and enterprising, and took an active interest
in the welfare of the community. Politically he was a stanch Democrat and
served his party in the office of commissioner of highways for a number of
years, and also filled the office of township supervisor for several terms. He
was a liberal contributor to church and charitable enterprises, and while
not an avowed member of the Episcopal church he served for a number of
years as one of its vestrymen. In his religious principles he held to the
doctrines laid down by the Quakers, or Society of Friends. In his life-span
of seventy years he accomplished much, and he left behind him an honorable
record, well worthy of perpetuation. He was a man of the highest charac
ter, and those who were most intimately associated with him speak in unquali
fied terms of his sterling integrity, his honor in business and his fidelity to all
the duties of public and private life. He was faithful to his country and to
his friends, and in his home was an exemplary husband and father. His
death occasioned the deepest regret throughout the community, and West
chester county thereby lost one of its most valued citizens. Mrs. Horton is
an estimable lady of many sterling qualities, and has a large circle of friends
in the community.
GRIFFITH JOHN.
It will assuredly prove not uninteresting to observe in the series of bio
graphical sketches appearing in this volume the varying nationality, origin
and early environment of men who have made their way to positions of
prominence and success. In no better way can we gain a conception of the
diverse elements which have entered into our social, professional and com
mercial life, and which to the future American type will impart features
which cannot be conjectured at the present time. We have had an American
type in the past; we shall have a distinctly national character in the future,
but, for the present, amalgamation of the various elements is proceeding, and
the final result is yet remote. No unimportant element in the formation of
this national type is that furnished by the little rock-ribbed country of Wales,
which country was the original home of the ancestors of Griffith John. The
sterling elements of that race are shown in his character, and their persever
ance and adaptability find an exponent in his successful career.
Although of Welsh ancestry, Griffith John is a native of China, his birth
having occurred in Shanghai, on the nth of January, 1856. His parents
were Griffith and Margaret (Griffiths) John. His paternal grandfather, who
also bore the name of Griffith John, was a native of Swansea, Wales, and
was connected with the manufacturing interests of that country. His son and.

702 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
namesake was also born in Swansea, and is now a missionary at Hankow,
where he has been located for forty-three years. He was educated in Brecon
College, of Wales, and Bedford College, England, and, having prepared for
the ministry, determined to devote his life to missionary work. Accordingly
he went at once to the orient, — sent out by the London Missionary Society,
— and now for forty-four years he has labored to spread the gospel among
the heathen people of the great Confucian empire. He married Margaret
Griffiths, a daughter of Rev. David Griffiths, who was born in Wales, and
educated in one of the seminaries of that country. He prepared for the min
istry and then went to the missionary field of Madagascar, where he remained
for many years. When the queen of that land attempted to massacre all the
Christians his life was threatened, for his concealing and protecting the con
verts, so he was compelled to return to England, and one of his labors after
reaching that country was the translation of the Bible into the Madagascar
language. At the age of seventy years he retired to private life and died in
Wales. He married Miss Mary Griffiths, in Wales, and she accompanied him
on his missionary tour. Returning then to Great Britain, her death occurred
in her native land, at the advanced age of ninety-one years. Among their
children, five or six in number, was Mrs. John, mother of our subject. She,
too, aided her husband in his noble work among the not Christianized people
of the orient, and her death occurred in Singapore, in the Malay peninsula,
in 1873. By her marriage she became the mother of six children, three of
whom are living, namely: Dr. David John, a resident of Yonkers; Mrs.
Mary Sparhan, whose husband was sent out by the London Missionary Society
and is now in Hankow, China; and Griffith, of this review.
The last named, now one of the most prominent citizens of Yonkers,
New York, was born in Shanghai and was educated in a boarding school in
Blackheath, England, where continued his studies until seventeen years of
age. In order to attain the mastery of the principles and practices of mechan
ical engineering he then spent six years in the Siemens Steel Works, in
Swansea, Wales, in the pattern-making and machine department and the
drawing offices. During that time he became very expert in the work, and
on leaving that large industrial establishment he entered the ship-building
yards of the Palmer Ship Building Company, of Jarrow, England. There he
remained seven months and then went to sea, as assistant engineer on a mer
chant vessel, in order to gain practical experience. For several months he
was thus employed, plying between Liverpool and New Orleans, and subse
quently he entered the consulting engineer's office, in London, for the pur
pose of perfecting his knowledge of marine engineering, in which he had
become especially interested. There he remained for a year, enjoying par
ticular advantages in the line of his chosen profession. By most thorough

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 703
-and comprehensive training, both theoretical and practical, he was fitted for
the most expert mechanical work of all descriptions.
In 1 88 1 Mr. John came to the United States and accepted a position as
draftsman with R. Hoe & Company, printing-press manufacturers, of New
York city. For six years he occupied that responsible position and then
came to Yonkers, in 1887, to accept the position of draftsman with Otis
Brothers & Company, thus serving until 1892, when he went to Boston to
become superintendent of the Whittier Machine Company, with which he
was connected until 1896, when he returned to Yonkers. Since that time
he has occupied the responsible position of superintendent of the extensive
industrial interests of Otis Brothers & Company, — the most important place
in all their service. He has under his control twelve foremen and between
three and four hundred employes. His administration of the extensive affairs
of the company indicates managerial ability of the highest order. Added to
this is a most comprehensive -and expert knowledge of the working of ma
chinery and the natural laws which govern it. He is just toward the workmen,
and at all times alert in conserving the best interests of his company with
which he is so closely allied. Tireless energy, keen perception, honesty of
purpose, a genius for devising and executing the right thing at the right time,
joined to every-day common sense, are his chief characteristics in business.
With all his great practical force of character, Mr. John has the faculty
of placing all at ease by the courtesy and frankness of his manner, being in
truth a gentleman and a universal favorite. Of course opportunity brings
this side of his nature forward more frequently in social circles and in his
home. He was married in April, 1883, to Miss Ida E. Paynter, a daughter
of Isaac E. Paynter, of New York city, and they have had two children, Griffith
Paynter and Bessie Edith. The family attend the First Presbyterian
church, and enjoy the hospitality of the best homes of Yonkers.

JAMES H. LANDER.
Mr. Lander is one of the most energetic and enterprising citizens of
Greenburg township, Westchester county, New York, and has served in the
capacity of commissioner of highways since 1890. He was born in the
town in which he now resides, on May 25, 1863, being a son of Henry S.
and Annie (Williams) Lander, both of whom were born in England. His
father, Henry Lander, was born in the village of Swanage, Dorsetshire, Eng
land, where he received a good common-school education and grew to man
hood, learning the trade of a stone-cutter. In 1855 he emigrated to America,
coming to New York state and purchasing a farm in the town of Greenburg,
Westchester county. On this land he established a factory for the manu-

704 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
facture of bone-dust and fertilizer, and also made a kind of grease which he
sold for lubricating purposes. He soon built up a good business and the
output of his factory finds a ready sale among the surrounding farmers,
bringing him a neat income. He was united in marriage to Miss Annie Will
iams, who was born in London. England, and came to America with her
parents, who first made their home on Long Island, and later settled in the
town of Greenburg, this county, where she met and married Mr. Lander.
James H. Lander received as good an education as could be obtained in
the common schools. He also assisted his father about the farm work and
in the factory. In 1890 he was elected commissioner of highways, and so
acceptably were the duties of the office discharged that he has held the office
continuously since, being re-elected in 1893 and 1896; his present term will
expire in 1900. He received a most flattering vote, his majorities ranging
from one hundred and seventy-six to four hundred and twenty in a strong
Democratic township. He owns one farm of thirty-one acres, which is in
a good state of cultivation, and supplied with good, commodious buildings.
Besides this farm, which is always kept in first-class condition, he also owns
another farm, of about seventy acres, located near the Westchester county
fair grounds, and upon this place are fine new buildings and other substantial
improvements. He also owns several other small pieces of property in the
town of Greenburg, and in addition to his farming operations does an exten
sive business in grading streets and highways, making excavations, etc.
When twenty-one years of age, he chose as the partner of life's vicissi
tudes Miss Ada McFadden, of the town of Greenburg, whose father was
James McFadden, and whose great-grandfather emigrated to this country
from Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Lander are the proud parents of nine children:
Florence, Howard, Clarence, James, Frank, Irvin, Walter, Bessie and
Everett. Mr. Lander is a Republican, and in 1891 was elected to the
office of school trustee, serving three years. He is a member of Diamond.
Lodge, 555, F. & A. M., at Dobbs Ferry, and the Spring Valley Lodge,
I. O. O. F. He is a man of sound judgment and marked ability, and
stands well in the community.

ALBERT. S. LEVINESS.

Mr. Leviness, a retired farmer living at Hartsdale, was born in the
town of Greenburg, Westchester county, December 7, 1826, the second son
of Jonathan and Charlotte (Underhill) Leviness. His father was born in the
same town, in 1800, was a farmer in early life, a prominent citizen, a mem
ber and trustee of the Dutch Reformed church and a man of great force of
character; he died in 1886. His father, Joseph Leviness, was also a native-

psUvi^x.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 705
of Westchester county, married Elizabeth Sherwood, and had five sons who
married and had children. The mother of our subject was the daughter
of Gilbert Underhill, who married a Miss Hart and had thirteen children,
— nine daughters and four sons. William Underhill, father of Gilbert, mar
ried Ann Underhill and by occupation was a farmer.
Albert S. Leviness was reared principally on the farm and received a
good common-school education, going to school during the winter terms.
In his twentieth year he married and settled on a rented farm for four years,
after which he purchased a farm of thirty acres -of Benjamin T. Underhill,.
and continued in successful general farming until 1895, when he disposed of
his place and retired from active life, attending only to the financial features
of what business may remain on his hands.
He was first married to Dorcas Tomkins, of Greenburg, a daughter of
James and Mary Tompkins, born in that town January 2, 1826. The chil
dren by this marriage were: James T. ; Mary E., wife of Eugene Sherwood,.
a son of John Sherwood, residing in New Canaan, Connecticut; and Jay
Hart, who resides in Greenburg township. Mrs. Leviness died in 1893, and
for his second wife Mr. Leviness married, October 4, 1894, Mrs. Harriet
Mead, widow of Amos Mead, her maiden name having been Dusenbury, as
she was the daughter of Jacob and Jane (Underhill) .Dusenbury. By her first
marriage her children were Allen and Henry.
Mr. and Mrs. Leviness are members of the Dutch Reformed church.
In politics he is independent, In public office he has served as school trus
tee and roadmaster. He has now passed his seventy-second birthday, is
hale and hearty and in the possession of all his faculties. He has always
been an industrious citizen and* good manager, accumulating a handsome
amount of property to enjoy in his declining years.

WILLIAM C. LAWRENCE.
In viewing the mass of mankind in the varied occupations of life the
conclusion is forced upon the observer that in the vast majority of cases men
have sought employment not in the line of their peculiar fitness but in that
where caprice or circumstances has placed them, thus explaining the reason
of the failure of ninety-five per cent, of those who enter commercial and pro
fessional circles. Mr. Lawrence, however, has a strongly developed com
mercial instinct, and therefore in his business life, which lies along that line,
he has prospered. The qualities which insure success — perseverance, indus
try and capable management — are his, and they have been strengthened by
wise use through the years of an honorable and active business career.
Mr. Lawrence was born May 6, i860, in the village of Ardsley, where
45

706 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
he now makes his home, and is a son of Daniel and Hannah T. (Southan;
Lawrence. His paternal grandparents were William and Hannah (Vincent)
Lawrence, and the former was born in the town of Greenburg, Westchester
county, where he followed the trade of blacksmithing in his early life, aban
doning it in later years in order to devote his energies to farming, which con
tinued to be his vocation until his life labors were ended in death, about
1880. The maternal grandfather of our subject, C. T. Southan, was of
English birth and came to this country in 1832. He established a meat
market at Dobbs Ferry, in 1835, and for forty years carried on business, —
until 1875, — when he sold out to his son-in-law, Daniel Lawrence, and James
E. Southan. He resided in Ardsley, but carried on business at Dobbs
Ferry. Daniel Lawrence, father of our subject, was likewise a native of the
town of Greenburg, Westchester county, born August 19, 1829. He learned
the butcher's trade under the direction of C. T. Southan, in whose employ
he remained for twenty years, when he formed a partnership with James E.
Southan and purchased the business. After three years the partnership was
dissolved by mutual consent. Mr. Lawrence continued the business alone
for fifteen years, at the end of which time he was succeeded by his son,
William. He then retired to private life, enjoying the rest made possible by
his long years of former toil. He now resides in Ardsley, and is one of the
directors of the Dobbs Ferry Bank, with which he has been connected in
that capacity since its organization. He has long been regarded as one of
the most prominent and influential citizens of Ardsley, has taken an active
part in its affairs, and was the first president of the village, having served in
that capacity for two years. He was for twelve years school trustee, is now
school treasurer, and was appointed by Governor Black as state loan com
missioner for Westchester county. In his political affiliations he has always
been a Republican, and stanchly advocates the principles of his party. In
1858 he married Miss Hannah T. Southan, a daughter of Cornelius T.
and Mary E. (Edwards) Southan, and their only child is the subject of
this review. William C. Lawrence acquired his preliminary education in the public
schools of Ardsley, and spent one year in the high school of Yonkers. On
laying aside his text-books he entered his father's employ, was his assistant
for several years, and when the latter retired from business became his suc
cessor as proprietor of the leading meat market in Dobbs Ferry. He has
also established a market at Ardsley, and is now enjoying a very large and
constantly increasing business. He has great energy, and his well directed
and honorable efforts have brought to him a handsome competence. His
reputation for reliable dealing is most enviable, and he occupies a high

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 707
position in business circles. He is a man of resourceful ability, however,
and his efforts have been by no means confined to one line. He is secretary
and treasurer of the Ardsley Ice Company and a director of the Dobbs Ferry
Savings Bank. His sound judgment in business matters renders his service
and counsel valuable, and insures the success of any undertaking with which
he is connected.
On the 7th of November, 1883, Mr. Lawrence was united in marriage
to Miss Ella J. Ward, a daughter of William and Helen Ward, of Williams
Bridge. They have one child, Ralph Howard, now a student in the Yonkers
schools. Mr. Lawrence is a public-spirited citizen, and he quickly notes any
measure or movement intended for the public good, forwarding the work by
his aid and influence. He was president of the Ardsley Hose Company for
two years, is a member of Diamond Lodge, No. 555, A. F. & A. M., of
Dobbs Ferry, is president of the Lyceum, and is a valued representative of
the Irvington Pastime Club. In his political views he has always been a
stalwart Republican, exercising his right of franchise in support of the men
and measures of the Republican party. He takes an active interest in both
local and state politics and has frequently been chosen delegate to the county,
district and state conventions of his party. He has been receiver of taxes
for the town of Greenburg for one term and is president of the board of
health of Ardsley, but the honors or emoluments of political office have had
no great attraction for him, as he prefers to devote his energies to his busi
ness interests, in which he has met with signal success. He is a recognized
factor in commercial, political and social circles, and his genial manner ren
ders him very popular with all.

PELHAM L. McCLELLAN.
It is an important duty to honor and perpetuate as far as is possible the
memory of an eminent citizen, — one who has conferred honor and dignity
upon society. As a successful lawyer Mr. McClellan was for many years
prominently identified with the affairs of Westchester county. Admitted to
the 'bar, he at once entered upon practice, and from the beginning was
unusually prosperous in every respect. The success that he attained was due
to his own efforts and merits. The possession of advantage is no guaranty
whatever of professional success. This comes not of itself, nor can it be
secured without integrity, ability and industry. Those qualities he possessed
to an eminent degree, and he was faithful to every interest committed to his
charge. Throughout his whole life, whatsoever his' hand found to do,
whether in his profession, his official duties, or in any other sphere, he did
with all his might and with a deep sense of conscientious obligation.

708 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Mr. McClellan was born in 1832, and was a son of Hon. William
McClellan, of New Rochelle. After attending the public schools of that place
he entered the collegiate institute of William Bryson, from which he was
graduated with honor. Soon afterward he commenced reading law in the
office of his father, and was admitted to the bar in 1854. The same year he
came to Mount Vernon and entered actively upon the practice of his profes
sion, with his main office at that place and an additional one in New York
city. He became at once a prominent figure in local affairs, — was chosen
clerk of the young village, and for a period of ten years served in the dual
capacity as clerk and attorney. When the duties had grown to a larger vol
ume he was made corporation counsel, and he served his neighbors in that
sphere at different periods for about fifteen years. For four consecutive years
he was supervisor of the town of East Chester, and in 1862 was elected dis
trict attorney of Westchester county.
Politically Mr. McClellan was a Democrat of strong convictions; his
devotion to his party was unswerving, and for years his service as an orator
was in demand. In all campaigns of his day he made speeches throughout
the county, and older citizens speak admiringly of his forcible and convincing
arguments. He was a man of high intellectuality, broad human sympathies
and tolerance, imbued with fine sensibilities and clearly defined principles.
Honor and integrity were synonymous with his name, and he enjoyed the
respect, confidence and high regard of all who knew him.
Mr. McClellan married Miss Sarah A. Ferden, who survives him, and to
them were born two sons: William Wallace, now a resident of Albuquerque,
New Mexico, and the founder of the Mount Vernon (New York) Argus; and
Clarence S., who is a prominent citizen of Mount Vernon, and who is presi
dent of the People's Bank and a director of several other corporations.

THADDEUS K. GREEN.

Thaddeus K. Green, the well known and popular proprietor of the
Katonah Hotel, at Katonah, New York, and a successful and enterprising
business man, is a native of Westchester county, born in Newcastle town
ship, July 16, 1859. His parents were Alsoph and Hester A. Green. His
father, whose death occurred March 24, 1884, was for many years one of
the prominent representatives of the business interests of the county. Early
in life he was connected with a cotton mill, later was proprietor of a hotel
and prior to his death became interested in dealing in real estate. Upright
and honorable in all his transactions he easily won the confidence and friend
ship of all with whom he came in contact, and no man in the community
was held in higher regard or more richly deserves the esteem of his fellow

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 709
townsmen. He was a man of fine personal appearance, weighing about two
hundred pounds. Politically, he was connected with the Republican party,
and socially he affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His
wife, now a widow, is a most estimable lady who proved to him a valuable
helpmeet. Thaddeus K. Green pursued his education for a time in the Claverick
Institute and is a graduate of the Williston Academy of Eastham, Massachu
setts. He received his business training in New York city, and on returning
to Westchester county became interested in the hotel business in Katonah.
Being frank and genial in manner and having an extended acquaintance in
the state, he soon secured a liberal patronage and is now one of the most
popular hotel proprietors in this section. In company with Dr. Carpenter,
of Katonah, he is also extensively engaged in the real-estate business, and in
this venture he is also meeting with excellent success.
In 1880 Mr. Green wedded Miss Ida M. Sturges, a lady of culture and
refinement, and a daughter of McFarland Sturges. They now have one son,
Alsoph, a lad of fifteen years. Mr. Green is a prominent Mason and in his
life exemplifies the ennobling principles of the fraternity. He belongs to
the blue lodge, chapter and commandery, and is also a Noble of Mecca
Temple of the Mystic Shrine. In politics he is a stalwart Democrat, and in
1895 was the candidate of his party for representative to the state legislature.
He made a strong canvass and ran about seven hundred votes ahead of his
ticket, but like the other candidates of the party was defeated, his opponent
being James W. Hunter, of Peekskill. He has always taken an active
interest in political affairs, and is a recognized leader in the ranks of
the Democracy, and a member of the Democratic Club of the city of New
York, yet is popular with all parties, his genuine worth winning him the
friendship and esteem of all with whom he is brought in contact.

JEREMIAH T. LOCKWOOD.
Deeds of valor and of heroism have been the theme of story and of
song from the earliest ages, -and tales of battle have stirred the blood and fired
the ambition of many a youth. When the United States was engaged in
civil war and the country needed the support of all her loyal sons, the sub
ject of this review, then a boy in years, went to the front as a defender of
the stars and stripes. Thoughout his life he has manifested the same
loyalty to his duties of citizenship and is equally firm in his defense of a
principle in which he believes, so that at all times and in all places he com
mands the respect and confidence of those with whom he is associated.

710 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Mr. Lockwood is a native of New England, his birth having occurred
in New Canaan, Connecticut, in 1846. On the paternal side he is descended
from good old Revolutionary stock, and on the maternal side from the
French Huguenots who sought homes and liberty of conscience in America.
The founder of the Lockwood family in the New World was Robert Lock-
wood, who located in Watertown, Massachuetts, in 1630. His son, Lieu
tenant Jonathan Lockwood, served as a member of the Connecticut legisla
ture, and was also a member of the committee appointed to determine the
Connecticut and New York boundary line. Joseph and James Lockwood
were prominent actors in events which form the colonial and Revolutionary
history of the country, and Jacob Lockwood served in the war of 18 12: so
that there has been no lack of patriotic devotion to the country in days both
of peace and strife. The parents of our subject were Jeremiah T. and Jane
(Sheragon) Lockwood, and the latter was of Holland descent.
Jeremiah T. Lockwood, Jr., the subject of this sketch, spent his boy
hood days in his native town and in New York city. He acquired a good
practical English education in the common schools, and at the time the civil
war was inaugurated he was living with his parents in Westchester county.
Fired with the spirit of patriotism and loyalty, all through the summer of
1862 he endeavored to obtain the consent of his parents to his enlistment.
They, however, opposed him. They already had one son at the front, and
believed this one was too young and small for field service. " Wait," they
counseled; but while he was waiting the country was having a hard struggle
to preserve the Union intact, and this lad of sixteen summers could not con
tent himself at home. Accordingly, on the 28th of August, 1862, having
been sent by his father to New York to pay an insurance policy, he stepped
into a recruiting office and enrolled his name among the defenders of the
Union. Returning home, he informed his parents of the step he had taken,
and though they wished he. had done otherwise, they assisted him to prepare
to go to the front, and a week after his enlistment he was assigned to Com
pany A, Fourth New York Heavy Artillery, at Fort Franklin, Maryland, in
the defense of Washington.
The headquarters of the regiment at that time were at Fort Ethan Allen,
Virginia. In December, 1862, Mr. Lockwood went with his company to
Fort Marcy, Virginia, where he remained until March, 1864. During his
entire service in the army he was always found at his post of duty, ready for
any task that might be assigned to him, with the exception of the time which
he spent in the hospital after being wounded, and during a short furlough,
which was granted him on account of his injuries. He was in all the battles
in which his company engaged from the Wilderness to Petersburg. At the
latter place he received what was nearly a fatal wound. He was in the front

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 711
of the army on the 18th of June, 1864. At daybreak his company charged
through a cornfield and captured one line of works. They then advanced
out upon the plank road, where they remained until twenty minutes after
eleven, when the order came to charge upon the last works. Together they
dashed forward in the second charge. Lockwood was a little in advance,
and had gone about fifty feet from the works, when he was struck by a bullet,
which entered his right side between the second and third ribs, and, passing
through the body, came out below the shoulder-blade. The line advanced
beyond him, and finally the order came to fall back. As it was obeyed, two
of his comrades helped him up and carried him into the works. Upon
this spot Fort Hell, opposite Fort Damnation, was afterward built. Mr.
Lockwood was later taken to the Carver United States General Hospital,
where he remained until the end of the war.
On leaving home his mother had given him a Testament, which he car
ried in his inner pocket, and which is still in his possession,- — stained with
the blood which flowed from his wound on the day of the attack before Peters
burg. On the 28th of August, 1865, just three years after his enlistment, he
received an honorable discharge, the war having ended, and his term having
expired. He may justly be proud of his army record, as it is that of a brave
and loyal soldier-boy, whose fearlessness and fidelity equaled that of many a
veteran of twice his years. One of his most cherished mementoes is a letter
from his old commander, General Hancock, dated February 25, 1879, writ
ten in response to a request for the General's photograph. The General sent
two, and said:
They are the best I have. One was taken in 1864',— about January. I was not then per
fectly well; very thin. I had not recovered from my wound of Gettysburg, the previous July
3d. The second was taken in 1866, when I did not take quite so much exercise as during the
war. I was then stationed in Baltimore, Maryland. I am very glad to comply with your wish.
I always have a warm place in my breast for men who served under and with me.
I am very truly yours,
Winfield Scott Hancock.
At the close of the war Mr. Lockwood returned to the pursuits of civil
life, and he has been quite successful in his business ventures. Until 1880
he was engaged in the furniture and undertaking business with Hoyt Broth
ers, at Katonah, New York, and now has a fine establishment of his own in
White Plains, New York. He is one of the leading undertakers of West
chester county, and is president of the Undertakers' Association of West
chester, Putnam and Rockland counties. His business career is character
ized by the strictest integrity and straightforward dealing, and by his well
directed efforts he has acquired a comfortable competence.
Mr. Lockwood was united in marriage, in 1888, to Miss Louisa Carpen
ter, daughter of Franklin and Helen (Roberts) Carpenter, the former a

712 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
native of Vermont and the latter of Connecticut. Mrs. Lockwood was born
in Tiffin, Ohio, and by her marriage she has one son, Richard C.
In his social relations Mr. Lockwood is connected with McKeel Post,
No. 1 20, G. A. R., of Katonah, New York. He was appointed by Governor
Black a member of the board of managers of the State Reformatory for
Women, at Bedford, New York, in 1898, but has never otherwise held office,
preferring to devote his energies to his business. He is a valued and
esteemed citizen of White Plains, prominent in business, and of sterling
worth of character.
EDMUND SCHOLLDERFER, M. D.
Among the leading members of the medical profession of Westchester
county is numbered this gentleman, whose practice in Yorktown Heights
extends over a period of about fifteen years. He is a great student, pos
sesses a fine medical library and devotes much of his leisure time to research
and reading along the line of his chosen work. Of genial manner and pleas
ing address, he impresses a new acquaintance favorably from the start and
his friends are legion. He takes deep interest in everything pertaining to
medical science and keeps fully abreast of modern methods of treatment of
disease. A loyal adherent of the Republican party principles, he has never
aspired to public honors, but does his duty as a citizen and voter. Socially,
he is identified with Cortlandt Lodge, No. 34, F. & A. M., of Peekshill.
A son of Leonard and Mary Elizabeth (Fisher) Schollderfer, both natives
of Germany, the Doctor was born in Westchester county, December 31, 1855.
His father died some years ago, in 1877, but the mother is still living, her
home being in Yorktown. They were the parents of four sons and four
daughters, two of whom have been summoned to the silent land. They
are: George, who married Ella Miller and resides at Highland Station,
Putnam county, New York; Emily, Mrs. William Maguire, also of Highland;
Christina, Mrs. John Denike, also a resident of that place; Charlotte, Mrs.
Arthur Smith, of Peekskill, this state; Leonard, who resides at Mount Kisco;
and Henry and Elizabeth, deceased.
After completing his common-school education the Doctor attended the
Peekskill Military Academy for some time, and about 1878 took up the study
of medicine, under the guidance of Dr. John K. Tilden, of Peekskill, New
York, for one year, and next was under the tuition of Ambrose L. Ranny,
the uncle of Professor A. L. Loomis, of New York city. He then pur
sued a regular course of lectures and studies in the New York Med
ical University and was duly graduated with the degree of Doctor of
Medicine, in 1881. For two or more years he practiced in Peekskill, and
then removed to his present home. Here he has gained an excellent reputa-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 713
tion as a family physician and finds his time pretty fully occupied in attend
ing to his numerous patients. He stands well with his medical brethren and
is a member of the Westchester County Medical Society He is a mem
ber of the Methodist church and is an active worker in its varied branches
of usefulness. He is an officer in the congregation and is zealous in forward
ing the best interests of the church. February 21, 1889, he married Mrs.
Marietta Tompkins, a widow, a daughter of John B. Tompkins, but death
claimed her upon the 10th of March, 1891.

ISAAC R. LOUNSBERRY.

Every nation must have its heroes, but it is to its quiet, level-headed,
honest-hearted citizens that any nation must owe its permanent supremacy.
There is as much heroism in work as in war. The quality of intellect that
can direct a battle to a victorious issue might not be equal to the prolonged
strain of a fight for commercial success. Integrity is the chief store in the
foundation of every really successful business career, and the writer who
records such success may work to better purpose than he knows. Isaac R.
Lounsberry, a prominent and respected citizen of Yorktown, Westchester
county, was a man whose sound common sense and able and vigorous man
agement of his affairs were important factors in his success, and his
undoubted integrity of character gave him an honorable position among his
fellow men.
Mr. Lounsberry was born on the old family homestead in Yorktown
township, where his great-grandfather, Henry Lounsberry, a native of New
York city, located probably before the close of the eighteenth century.
Henry Lounsberry was a patriot soldier and risked his life in the Revolution
ary war in the service of the colonies. His son, Henry Lounsberry, grand
father of Isaac R. Lounsberry, was born on the homestead in Yorktown
township. He married Miss Jean Covert, a representative of an old and
prominent family of Welsh descent, and they became the parents of six chil
dren, the youngest, Henry, Jr., being the father of Isaac R. The mother of
these children lived to the advanced age of ninety-one years, and both she
and her husband were sincere and faithful members of the Methodist Episco
pal church. Henry Lounsberry, Jr., Isaac R. Lounsberry's father, was born and
reared on the old Lounsberry place in Yorktown township, and lived sixty-
nine years. He, too, held membership in the Methodist Episcopal church,
and he was a life-long adherent to the principles of the Democratic party.
When only nineteen he married Miss Catherine Quereau, a daughter of Elias
Quereau. Mr. Quereau also was a native of Westchester county. He mar-

714 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
ried Charity Rhodes, a daughter of Isaac Rhodes, once a man of prominence
here. To Henry and Catherine (Quereau) Lounsberry were born five chil
dren, the eldest living son being Isaac R. , the subject of this sketch.
On the old homestead Isaac R. Lounsberry passed his early life like most
farmer boys, attending the local schools and aiding in the work of the farm.
When only thirteen years old he helped put up the first telegraph wires
between New York and Jersey City, and by the time he reached the age of
fifteen he had saved one hundred and fifty dollars, with which sum he pur
chased a meat market at Sing Sing, which he managed successfully for six
years. In 1867 he disposed of valuable real-estate interests in that city and
established a clothing business there which he conducted for some time. In
1872 he embarked in the ice business; Subsequently he again engaged in the
clothing trade in Sing Sing and continued in it for twenty years, building up
a large trade and gaining an enviable reputation as a progressive and reliable
merchant. In 1896 he purchased the home farm, making many improve
ments, and there he passed the remainder of his life, which terminated Octo
ber 6, 1898.
Mr. Lounsberry was married April 12, 1863, to Miss Abbie J. Haight,
daughter of James E. Haight, of Yorktown,, who survives him. To them
were born five children: Sarah, wife of Nelson Laraway, of Catskill, New
York, who has one child, named Hope; Catharine; Ida, widow of Henry
Palmer and mother of three children, named Mildred, Amy and Eunice; Jen
nie C. ; and Isaac R. , Jr., who married Florence Irene Walker, of Sing Sing,
and has a son named Isaac R., the third of the name in the family and of the
third generation in direct descent.
The success of Mr. Lounsberry was won fairly and openly, always in gen
erous competition. It came to him because he inspired confidence in men,
and they trusted him and dealt with him because they knew that whatever
he offered for their consideration was honest and worth whatever price he
put on it. His success was the result, too, of good judgment, of wise plans
well made and judiciously carried out, and of diligence in business and tire
less and exacting devotion to every interest demanding his attention. In his
political affiliations Mr. Lounsberry was a Democrat, and his influence in the
councils of his party was considerable. He was averse to accepting public
office, but was several times chosen to local offices of responsibility, including
those of trustee, town clerk and assessor. While he was not a member, he
was an avowed adherent, of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Popular as was Mr. Lounsberry in the business, political and social
world, it was in his private relations that he shone brightest, and placed
others under the greatest obligations. Those who really knew the man knew
that he was not only a good and loyal citizen, but also a sympathetic and help-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 715
ful neighbor and a faithful and reliable friend. It was in the home circle
that he was at his best, and there he is mourned most deeply. He was a
kind and loving husband and indulgent father. To him home was a sacred
place, and his affection warmed everything within its walls. There was noth
ing that he thought too good for it, and it was his delight to supply it with
every comfort and luxury at his command.

IRA McKEEL.

The well known and popular postmaster of Purdy Station, Westchester
county, is Ira McKeel, who has for many years been prominently identified
with its commercial interests. He embarked in business at that place on a
small scale, but steadily and honorably worked his way upward until he
attained a fair degree of prosperity, and won the confidence and respect of
all with whom he came in contact, either in business or social life.
A native of Westchester county, Mr. McKeel was born in East Chester
township, April 26, 1846, and is a son of Michael McKeel, Jr., whose birth
also occurred in this county, as did also the birth of the latter's father,
Michael McKeel, Sr. , who was of German descent. Michael McKeel, Jr.,
wedded Sarah Schotts, a native of this county, and they became the parents
of five children, namely: Oscar, Mrs. Josephine Buckhout, Mrs. Sarah
Tompkins, Michael (deceased), and Ira, our subject. The father was a mem
ber of the Society of Friends, and was a Democrat in politics. He died at
the age of fifty-five years, and the mother departed this life at Pleasantville,
this county, at the age of ninety years.
Ira McKeel was reared on the home farm and was educated in the
public schools of the neighborhood and the Jonesville Academy. He began
his business career as a clerk in the store of W. E. Schotts, of Mamaroneck,
this county, and later became a partner in the business. In 1867 he opened
a small store at Purdy Station, which he successfully conducted for thirty
years, building up an excellent trade by fair and honorable dealing. He has
always been a stanch supporter of the men and measures of the Democratic
party, and for six years he has served as postmaster at Purdy Station, to the
entire satisfaction of the many patrons of the office. Religiously he and his
family are members of the Methodist church.
At the age of twenty-one years Mr. McKeel was married to Miss Mary
D. Flewellyn, at Mount Kisco, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Purdy)
Flewellyn, and to them were born three children: Clara, now the wife of N.
H. Miner, a merchant of Purdy Station; Mortimer, who is now at Yorktown,
this county; and Niles, who is also at Yorktown, engaged in the mercantile
business.

716 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

CHARLES E. YOUNG, M. D.
Dr. Young, of White Plains, New York, was born in Brooklyn, New
York, August 27, 1858. He traces his ancestral history back to the year
1573, when Edmund Greenleaf was born in England. His maternal grand
father, Moses Greenleaf, entered the Revolutionary army at the age of seven
teen, as lieutenant, became captain in 1776, and served throughout the war.
His grandfather, Elisha White Young, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and
was one of the pioneers of western New York. As an architect, many of the
public buildings of Mayville, Chautauqua county, and vicinity, are monuments
to his memory. The Doctor's father, Elisha Scott Young, — like himself a
self-made man, — was a successful New York city lawyer.
His mother is the daughter of the Rev. Jonathan Greenleaf, D. D., who
founded the Franklin Avenue Presbyterian church, of Brooklyn, New York,
after he was fifty years of age, and subsequently was its pastor for twenty-two
years. She is also a niece of Hon. Simon Greenleaf, who was professor of
law at Harvard University, and author of " Greenleaf on Evidence;" is also a
great-granddaughter of the Rev. Jonathan Parsons, D. D., of Newburyport,
Massachusetts, at whose house that prince of preachers, George Whitefield,
died, and the remains of both men now rest side by side under the old South
¦church, over which Jonathan Parsons was pastor. Connection with these
illustrious New England families relates Dr. Young to the poets Whittier and
Longfellow and to a long line of distinguished ancestry.
Dr. Charles Elisha Young was left fatherless at the age of five years, and
the family was later in dependent circumstances, owing to the mismanage
ment of his father's valuable estate. A part of his early education was
obtained in public school No. 12, Brooklyn, and at Nyack, New York; and at
the age of fifteen he engaged as an errand boy in New York city, at a salary
of three dollars per week. Feeling the necessity of further education, after
drifting about in various menial positions he devoted his spare time to the
study of preliminaries, using as an aid the evening sessions of the Brooklyn
public schools, and in September, 1877, entered the Massachusetts Agricult
ural College, where, after two years of special study, he determined to fol
low the lead of his ancestry and enter professional life. Early in 1879 he
commenced the study of medicine, under the direction of Dr. Charles S.
Cahoon, of Lyndon, Vermont, doing chores for his board, and in March, 1880,
having been awarded a scholarship, commenced his first course of lectures in
the medical department of the University of Vermont, at Burlington. The
following September found him in New York city, an almost total stranger,
with very limited resources. He matriculated in the medical department of
the University of the City of New York, from which he graduated March 7,

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 717
1882, and immediately entered upon the practice of medicine in that city. He
soon acquired a large and lucrative practice, and is well and favorably known
in the profession.
Dr. Young was elected a Resident Fellow of the New York Academy of
Medicine March 1, 1888; a member of the New York Physicians' Mutual Aid
Association, March 13, 1888; and a member of the Medical Society of the
County of New York, March 24, 1890. He was appointed to the staff of
attending physicians to the Northeastern Dispensary, December 13, 1883,
and also served on the staff of attending physicians to the New York Found
ling Asylum during the summer of 1885. Dr. Young early became expert in
the fields of obstetrics, gynecology and paediatrics, and has written articles
upon subjects in these lines, and has made various contributions to the sub
ject of medical charity, and has written other papers both within and outside
of the field of medicine.
Continuing in the religious belief of his fathers, Dr. Young was ordained
to the office of deacon in the Central Presbyterian church, of New York city,
December 13, 1885, and served as secretary of the board until he 'removed
his residence to White Plains, September 7, 1893, his removal here being
largely on account of the health of his family.
Of late years Dr. Young has devoted most of his time to the study and
treatment of chronic diseases, retaining a city office for the treatment of cases
in this special field.
Dr. Young is the present noble grand of Hebron Lodge, No. 229, of
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and regent of White Plains Council,
No. 1762, Royal Arcanum. He is also medical examiner for several life and
accident insurance companies. He has been instrumental in the education of
several young men and women. For his scientific attainments the Massa
chusetts Agricultural College conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor of
Science, and he is now president of the Massachusetts Agricultural College
Club of New York. He is also a member of Alpha Chapter of the Phi Sigma
Kappa fraternity.
Dr. Young married Miss Carrie T. Dinnis, New York city, September
13, 1888. They have one child, Florence Greenleaf Young.

DANIEL MAPES.

Southold, Long Island, is one of the oldest English towns in the state,
having been settled in the fall of 1640. Among the earliest of the settlers
was Thomas Mapes, of English descent, the ancestor of the many families of
the name found in various portions of the country. Thomas Mapes was not
only one of the pioneers in Southold, but was also interested in the settle-

718 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
ment of the town of Brookhaven, Long Island, and had a share in the vari
ous divisions of land in that town. He married Sarah, daughter of William
Purrier, also among the first settlers of Southold. In 1683 Thomas Mapes
was made freeman of the colony of Connecticut, of which Southold was a
part at that time. He was taxed for two hundred and forty-four pounds,
which shows him to have been a man of means. He went to Brookhaven in
in 1655, but returned to Southold in 1657, and died therein 1686. He pos
sessed much land in Southold and one part, known as " Mapes' Neck," was
owned by his descendants for three generations. He left nine children, —
Thomas, William, Jabez, Jonathan, Abigail (wife of John Terrell), Sarah
(wife of William Coleman), Mary (wife of Barnabas WTines); Noami, and
Rebecca (wife of Thomas Young, son of Rev. John Young, the first minister
of Southold). These children have a large number of descendants. Jonathan, the
fourth son, was born in 1671 and died in 1747. He married Hester Horton
in 1696 and had two sons, — Jonathan and Benjamin.
Jonathan was the father of John Mapes, born March 10, 1766, and mar-
Tied Julia Ann Wood, January 24, 1793. Their children were: Samuel, born
June 19, 1794, who has no living descendants; Anna, born December 7, 1796,
-who died unmarried; Daniel, the subject of this sketch, born February 23,
1800; John, born September 10, 1802, who had two daughters, Charlotte and
Caroline;. Leonard, born November 16, 1804; Benjamin, born March 24,
1 8 10 (he left three children: Cornelia, wife of Theodore Fitch, Emily, wife
of Frederick Strang, and Charles, who married Clara Masters); James, born
October 7, 1812, married Rachel Archer and had four children, — Leonard,
John A., Emily and Anna. John Mapes, the father of this family, died in
1836, and his wife died in 1840.
After the death of the parents, Daniel Mapes and his sister Anna, owing
to their age and great decision of character, became the acknowledged heads
of the family, and by their industry, perseverance and integrity exerted a very
salutary influence in the community in which they resided. In early life
Daniel engaged in mercantile pursuits in the village of West Farms, and for
half a century was one of the most prominent and successful business men in
the southern portion of the county, amassing a large fortune, which he dis
pensed in the latter years of his life in acts of benevolence and charity, mak
ing liberal contributions to the educational institutions of the Reformed church
at New Brunswick, New Jersey, Cornell University and the Syrian College
at Beyroot. From his early youth he was noted for strictly temperate
habits, to which he attributed his uninterrupted good health for more than
four-score years.
He was for many years a useful and honored member of the Reformed

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 719
church at West Farms and manifested his attachment to it by his liberal con
tributions to its support. On the 20th of January, 1884, he fell asleep in
Christ, full of years, riches and honors, and was buried in Woodlawn
cemetery.

LEVI W. FLAGG.

Dr. Levi Wells Flagg was born in West Hartford, Connecticut, Febru
ary 14, 18 17. After receiving a thorough primary education he became a
student of Yale College, where he graduated in 1839. Among his class
mates were Charles Astor Bristed and John Sherman, of New York; Rev.
Francis Wharton and Hon. H. L. Dawes, of Massachusetts; ex-Governor
Hall, of Missouri; Professor J. D. Whitney, of California, the eminent chem
ist and geologist; and others who became distinguished.
After graduating, he went south and spent three years in teaching in St.
Francisville, Louisiana. Returning to his native place, in 1842, he studied
medicine for a year with Dr. Pinckney W. Ellsworth. At the expiration of
that time, removing to New York city, he entered the office of Professor
Willard Parker, with whom he remained two years. In 1847 he graduated
at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and in the following year estab
lished himself in Yonkers as a physician of the "regular" school. Shortly
afterward he was induced to investigate homeopathy, the result being a con
viction, as he said, of its superiority over the old system of practice. He at
once became its strong advocate and the pioneer practitioner in the country.
His success in introducing the new system was most marked; he grew rapidly
in favor with the community, acquiring wealth and a pre-eminent position
among the physicians of the locality. Notwithstanding his change of pro
fessional faith, the relations between himself and his old teacher, Professor
Parker, greatly to the honor of the latter, ever continued of the most friendly
character. Dr. Flagg avoided politics entirely, and never held any public office
of a political character. He always devoted himself wholly to his profes
sion, in which he was a zealous and untiring worker, a portion of a year spent
in Europe, and a short time in Mexico, being almost the only relaxation he
allowed himself between the commencement of his practice and his death, on
May 15, 1884, When, in 1865, the Westchester County Homeopathic
Medical Society was organized, he was elected its president, and held that
office for three years. He was also a member of the American Institute of
Homeopathy. Dr. Flagg was married, on May 17, 1848, to Charlotte Whitman, of
Hartford, Connecticut, and they had eight children, five of whom survived

720 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
him: Howard W., Marietta W., Lucy W., George A. and Robert N. Flagg,
M. D., who succeeded to the practice of his father.
It is with great pleasure that we present our readers with the above
brief sketch of one of the most popular and successful physicians, as well
as most useful and upright citizens, that it has ever been the good fortune
of Westchester county to possess. Dr. Flagg came to Yonkers when the
village was in its infancy, and for thirty-six years he watched its develop
ment and growth. No one was or could be better known than he. By his
steadfast integrity, his professional ability and his genial and winning manner
he won for himself the respect of the business community, an extensive and
lucrative practice and a high social standing. His death not only created
a vacancy beside the family hearth, but was also a loss to the city and county
in which he lived.
WILLIAM H. BELL.
The name forming the caption of this sketch is a household appellation
in the village of Pleasantville and town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester
county, New York. Indeed, perhaps no man in the town is better known
than William H. Bell. For more than two-score years he has been interested
officially in its educational matters, having served as school trustee and presi
dent of the school board twenty-one years, and in every way he has had at heart
the highest welfare of its people.
Mr. Bell was born October 5, 1837, in the town of North Castle, a son
John and Mary E. (Slagle) Bell. His father was a native of England and
his mother of New York state. Both are deceased. He was a carpenter by
trade. Of their ten children only four are now living. William H., our
subject, had no other educational advantages than those afforded by the pub
lic schools, and those only for a few months. On reaching manhood he
chose the occupation of shoemaking, which he had learned when a boy and-
which he has followed mostly ever since. He has been a resident of Pleas
antville ever since 1853, interested in the public welfare of the community.
In shoe-manufacturing he has employed as many as seventy hands at a time,
being the leader in this line at Pleasantville. Having learned his trade when
in youth, he was twenty-six years of age when he established his business in
Pleasantville, in 1863.
In 1897 the village was incorporated, and he became its first president,
and he is still a member of its board of trustees, and he has filled other
important local offices. He has also served as delegate to several conven
tions. The duties of his public positions he has ever taken pride in execut
ing faithfully. He was formerly a Democrat in his views of national policy,
but he is now a Prohibitionist.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 721
Mr. Bell was married November 20, 1861, to Miss Phoebe Palmer Far
rington, the daughter of George W. and Susan E. (Clark) Farrington, and
they have had five children, namely: Charles F., George W- , William H.,
Jr., Frank and Hattie. For the past twenty-five years their home has been
on the Bedford road, where they enjoy life on their handsome property. Mr.
and Mrs. Bell are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Pleasant
ville. Mr. Bell served on the board of trustees of his church for over twenty-
five years, as treasurer for twenty years, and is at present a steward, which
office he has held for many years.

ALEXANDER SMITH.

The notoriety of this gentleman is connected mainly with the founding
of the great carpet mills at Yonkers. As the threads are woven and inter
woven in the fabrics manufactured at the great Alexander Smith & Sons'
Carpet Mills, so the threads of the history of its founder are woven and inter
woven in the history of this enormous industry. Since its inauguration in
this city, it has not only been making carpets: it has also been making Yon
kers. Employing as it does to-day about four thousand operatives, it serves
to maintain and support almost one-third of the entire population of the city.
Certainly the founder of such an enterprise is worthy of the enduring affec
tion and honor of all the citizens of the Terrace City.
Alexander Smith was born near Trenton, New Jersey, October 14, 18 18.
His father, Nathaniel Smith, was a farmer, and his early years were spent
" close to nature's heart," where he gained a rugged constitution and acquired
that energy and perseverance which characterized all his efforts in after life.
When he was sixteen years of age his father moved to West Farms, New
York, where he opened a small country store, and here the boy had his first
experience in mercantile pursuits. For nine years he worked with his father,
becoming during that time postmaster and colonel of the local militia. In
1845, having watched with the interest of an inventive mind the small carpet
factory at West Farms, owned by James W Mitchell, then employing
twenty-five hand looms, he purchased the property and turned all his energy
and interest to the development of this infant industry. At first the enter
prise did not prove a success, and after operating the factory for several
years he closed its doors and went to Schenectady, where he remained for six
months as superintendent of a similar institution. Returning to West Farms
he reopened his factory, experimenting with looms for the manufacture of
tapestry ingrain carpets, for which he secured patents. These carpets were
the principal product of the mill for a number of years. He carried on busi
ness in a modest way until the breaking out of the rebellion in 1861.

46

722 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
It is interesting to note here the development of the Axminster loom,
which was ultimately to give the firm a world-wide reputation. Its unfore
seen, undreamed-of beginning was due to the meeting, during the winter of
1849-50, of Halcyon Skinner and Mr. Smith. Mr. Skinner had become
known to Mr. Smith as a skillful artisan, and the carpet manufacturer
applied to the young carpenter for aid in designing and making the machin
ery. In 1856 Mr. Skinner obtained a patent conjointly with Mr. Smith, and
an experimental loom was constructed. Changes and improvements were
made at frequent intervals, and in i860 a quite complete and satisfactory
loom was in operation. From this time on constant improvements were
effected until, in 1871, Mr. Smith conceived the idea of inventing a power
loom for weaving moquette carpets, thus producing a fabric equal to
Axminster and costing considerably less. With the aid of Mr. Skinner this
was accomplished, and the large moquette mill on Nepperhan avenue stands
to commemorate this successful venture.
The following, taken from an old journal, will indicate the early develop
ment and promise of the factory at West Farms: "One could scarcely
expect to find in the village of West Farms an incipient rival, in carpet-
making, to the imperial French carpet factory of the Savonnerie, or of the
Gobelins. It is nevertheless true. Alexander Smith, of that place, exhibits
a power loom for weaving tufted pile carpeting similar to that now produced
by hand and called Axminster or Wilton. This factory makes twenty-five
yards of carpet a day, or two yards an hour. " In striking contrast with
these figures is the present output of nearly forty-two thousand yards per
day, or twelve million yards per annum. But the experience at West Farms
was not one of unbroken prosperity; indeed, had it not been for the indomit
able perseverance and pluck of the young manufacturer through these early
years of misfortune, the enterprise must have failed. At the breaking out of
the war he sustained large losses in the south, causing temporary financial
embarrassment, from which, however, he quickly recovered.
In 1862, at a time when everything seemed to presage success, a fire
destroyed his entire plant, the only thing saved being the American flag that
was preserved to wave over one of the largest of America's industries. Mr.
Smith immediately rebuilt and again set himself to the task of perfecting the
loom for tufted carpets, the model of which had been completely destroyed
by the fire. Only two years elapsed before another conflagration swept away
his second factory, destroying the loom, now almost perfect, over which
years of labor had been spent! He said of these first twelve years of his
experience, so full of trial and adversity, of anxiety and patient affort, that
they were spent in bringing this second invention to the state which he could
rely on for future success. "Tried by fire," he stood the test, and out of

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 723
the trial came the strong, firm, undaunted man, who could fashion and plan
an enterprise which was to be the grandest of its kind on the western hemis
phere. '.'Wise men ne'er sit and wail their losses." Alexander Smith was
one of those sagacious men who are "better made by ill." It was this last
fire of 1864 that resulted in his moving his interests from West Farms to
Yonkers. "Ill blows the wind that profits no one." Thus it is that, as a
result of the twin disasters at the place where he had first ventured his fort
unes, he determined to transfer the operations of his business interests to
Yonkers. In 1864 he purchased the property which comprises part of that
formerly occupied by the Waring Hat Factory. This was the beginning of
an enterprise which was destined to bring more of the laboring classes to
this community, and to maintain more than any other work established here
has accomplished. Nearly thirty-two years have elapsed since its inception.
Further on will be found a sketch showing the development of the different
mills, together with statistics relating to their production and proportions.
We return again to the career of Mr. Smith. He was married when
quite young to Miss Jane Baldwin, daughter of Major Ebenezer Baldwin, who
was a well known resident of Yonkers. He had two children, who are still
residents of Yonkers, — Warren B. Smith, who succeeded his father as presi
dent of the carpet company, and Eva S., now the wife of William F. Cochran.
He married, a second time, a Miss Thomas, of Baltimore, Maryland.
Mr. Smith was the first president of St. John's Hospital, and was also a
member of the board of education. With the great cares which his large
business interests laid upon him, he was ever sensible of and responsive to
the call which his duty as a citizen involved. He took an active, personal
interest in matters pertaining to the city's welfare. He was a stanch Repub
lican, and was a candidate for mayor of the city in 1874, but was defeated by
his Democratic opponent, Joseph Masten, by a small majority. In 1878, he
was nominated by his party for congressman from his district, and after a
vigorous personal campaign, was elected by a very large majority. It was
the crowning recognition of his talents and ability tendered by those who had
known him most intimately for years, but it was the crowning which was
bestowed at the goal of a life successful beyond measure, filled to the full
with activity, honored and beloved by all who had the good fortune to know
him, for he died on the eve of his election November 5, 1878, at the age of
sixty. The suddenness of his death at a time when he was apparently about
to enter upon a new and larger field of usefulness caused the most wide
spread disappointment and sorrow. The loss of no citizen of Yonkers has
been more deeply and sincerely mourned than that of Alexander Smith. On
the day of his funeral, by unanimous argeement, all the stores were closed
and the flags all over the city hanging at half-mast betokened the passing

724 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
away of one of Yonkers' most distinguished citizens. A few days after his
death a memorial service was held at Washburn (now Music) . hall, when
addresses were delivered expressive of the love and sympathy of the people.
No words could more fittingly conclude the sketch of Mr. Smith's life than
those uttered by William Allen Butler on that occasion. He said: " When
we stand by the bier, or near the bier, of such a man as we mourn to
night, we reassure ourselves, we take courage, we reassert the supremacy of
conscience in the sphere of the human relations, and we take satisfaction
and solace in the memory of the good and benevolent actions which belonged
to such a life, which death cannot destroy and which smell sweet and
blossom in the dust."
The Alexander Smith & Sons' Carpet Company's Mills of to-day deserve
here an extended notice. The carpets manufactured by the Alexander Smith
& Sons' Carpet Company, are divided into two classes, viz.: Tapestry Brus
sels and tapestry velvets, and moquette or Axminster, the two latter being
practically the same weave and embracing the grades known as Savonnerie,
ne plus ultra and nonpareil, — the variation in closeness of texture and the
quality of the woolen yarns used being the essential difference. The tapestry
goods require for their production the joint efforts of three distinct mills,
which are known by the names of the worsted spinning-mill, printing-mill or
"drum " room, and the setting, weaving and finishing departments, common
ly known in Yonkers as the tapestry mill.
The worsted mill is located on the Sawmill river road, close to the Oak
land cemetery's main entrance, on the east side of the Nepperhan river.
This plant consists of one main structure of brick, three stories and base
ment, five hundred by fifty-three feet; a two-story picker room, seventy-four
by fifty feet, and two separate systems for wool washing and drying contained
in buildings of one and two stories, one hundred and thirty by eighty feet
and one hundred and twenty by one hundred, exclusive of boiler and engine
rooms. This mill is devoted entirely to the production of worsted yarns for
carpet purposes and has a daily product of fourteen thousand pounds of
what is known in the trade as lis and 12s yarn. The wool used is derived
entirely from foreign shores, and is known as carpet combing, is long in
staple and is coarser than anything produced in the United States. Donskois
from Russia, Scotch fleece, Chinas and Cordovas from South America are
the main descriptions used. The principal machinery in use at this mill is
described as follows: Fifty-two sets two-cylinder cards, twenty-three Noble
combs, one hundred and twenty spinning frames, sixty-five twisting frames,
and all the necessary subsidiary machinery, comprising pickers, washers, dry
ers, etc., necessary to operate the above. There are four boilers and two
engines, with a joint capacity of one thousand horse power. The superin-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 725
tendent in charge is William H. Wolfe, and the number of hands employed
is six hundred and thirteen.
The next mill to be considered is the print mill, which takes the worst
ed yarn and applies the colors to it. This mill is situated opposite the worst
ed mill, on the western bank of the Nepperhan river. It is a two-story brick
building, five hundred and sixteen by one hundred and ten feet, containing
eighty-five pairs of drums or cylinders, on which the yarn is printed, after
being thoroughly scoured and bleached. After being steamed and dried the
yarn is then ready for the final processes, and is sent to the tapestry, setting
and weaving mill. One engine and four boilers are in use at this mill, and
there are employed six hundred and seven hands. William Webb is in general
charge of the printing, and William McKim of the color-mixing department.
The tapestry weaving mill comes next, and is the plant around which
clusters whatever sentiment or romance there may be associated with so ma
terial a matter as carpet-making, as this was the nucleus from which has
sprung the present immense works. It is situated on the corner of Palisade
avenue and Elm street. The original " wooden " building is still intact. It
was bought by Alexander Smith, after leaving West Farms, in 1865; and to
it he afterward added fifty feet. The product of the mill at that time could
be removed daily by a single-horse wagon, while now about five hundred rolls
of carpeting are daily forwarded to New York from this mill alone. The old
building is two hundred and one by thirty-one feet, three stories and base
ment, and it is still in active use for the dressing of warps, for carpenter
shops, etc., and it is looked upon with a feeling somewhat akin to reverence;
but it is inevitable that some day it will have to give place to a more modern
structure. There is a large machine-shop adjoining the main engine-rooms, in
which are employed mechanics who look after repairs directly connected
with the machinery pertaining to this plant. This mill has the largest num
ber of employees on its pay-roll, the latest count giving one thousand, six
hundred and forty hands. Reuben Borland is the present superintendent of
the moquette mill. A unique feature of the mill is the yarn-conveyor, which
takes the dyed yarn from the store-house directly to the top floor of the main
building by means of an endless chain and carrier. There are used at this
mill weekly sixty thousand pounds jute yarn, twenty-five thousand pounds
cotton yarn and thirty-one thousand pounds woolen yarn.
The following are a few miscellaneous facts in connection with the mills
as a whole: There are ninety tons of bituminous coal consumed daily, and
by an ingenious device attached to the boiler grates the smoke is consumed.
The employees are paid weekly on every Friday. The raw and finished
goods handled daily weigh two hundred tons. The entire buildings owned

726 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
by the company have been protected from fire by automatic sprinkling
devices; and, in addition, there are four fire pumps of great capacity in case
the city water should fail. Some idea of the extent of these works may be
gathered from the fact that there are twenty-five acres of floor space in the
mills as a whole.
Among the names of those who have been prominent in the service of
the company, some of whom are dead, should be mentioned: Halcyon Skin
ner, John T. Bell, F. T. Holder, John A. Dowe, Thomas Wigley, William
McKim, Hiram F. Lord, George Borland, Eugene Tymeson, John Crowther,
John H. Coyne, William H. Wolfe, George Moshier, E. C. Clark, Harold
Brown, Richard Edie, Jr., William Heatherington, Walter Thomas, Henry
Parton, David Paton, Henry J. Laragh, George Stengel and John Crawford.
There are still in the employ of the company three or four hands who started
in with Alexander Smith the first year he came to Yonkers.
The company give their employes a Saturday half-day holiday every
summer during the months of June, July and August, and allow them their
full wages for the time lost. The total number of hands employed is four
thousand and one hundred.' A large number of the adult male employes
own their own homes, and, as the mills have run almost steadily for the past
twenty years, the hands are kept more uniformly employed than are those of
competing concerns. The last serious stoppage was in the panic year, 1893,
when the mills were closed five months, and this resulted in great depression
and suffering in the city of Yonkers.
The moquette fabrics made by the company have been exported quite
freely during the past four years, through the general selling agents, W. & J.
Sloane, of New York city, who have opened an office and established a per
manent representative in London. In connection with the recent coronation
services of the czar of Russia, it should be mentioned that two thousand five
hundred yards of the company's goods were laid in the palace at Moscow,
and this has recently been followed up by orders for several patterns for the
private rooms of the empress of Russia.
Upon the death of Alexander Smith, Warren B. Smith, his only son,
was elected president (resigning the office of treasurer), in January, 1879,
which office he held until January 1, 1894, when he resigned. Mr. Smith is
a practical carpet man in every respect, as he applied himself to acquiring
his knowledge by going into many of the mill departments and working as
any other employe might. The present magnitude and success of the works
are largely due to his energy and push. Mr. Smith is also largely interested
in real estate in Yonkers. During the last three years he has devoted much
time to traveling. His home is still in Yonkers, and his residence is beauti
fully located at Hillcrest.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 727

NATHANIEL CUTLER.
One of the leading agriculturists of North Castle township, Westchester
county, and an honored veteran of the civil war, is Nathaniel Cutler, who
was born December 21, 1844, in that township, being a representative of
one of the county's old and highly respected families-of English origin. His
grandfather, John Cutler, was likewise a native of the county, and here both
he and his wife died and were buried.
Nathaniel Cutler, Sr., father of our subject, spent his entire life in
Westchester county, as a farmer, and in early manhood he married Sarah
Ann Weeks, who was born in the town of Somers, and who was likewise a
representative of one of the old families of the county, being a daughter of
William and Rachel Weeks. Nine children were born of this union: John,
who died at the age of twenty-one years; Cornelius and Mrs. Ama Ferguson,
both residents of Mount Kisco; Cyrus, of Golden Bridge, this county;
George Washington, of Dutchess county, New York; Stephen and Julia,
both deceased; Nathaniel, our subject; and Araminta, who died at the age of
nineteen years. Three of the sons were among the boys in blue during the
civil war and valiantly fought for the preservation of the Union on many a
southern battle-field. They were Cyrus, George W. and Nathaniel, — all
members of the Fifth New York Heavy Artillery, — and the second was ser
geant of his company, while our subject served as corporal. The mother of
these children died at the age of seventy and the father at the age of eighty
years. Both were consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church
and were highly esteemed by all who knew them, and he was identified with
the Democratic party.
Nathaniel Cutler, whose name introduces this sketch, grew to manhood
on the home farm, aiding in its work and attending the local schools. He
was still in his 'teens when he entered the military service of his country, and
was stationed most of the time in Virginia, being honorably discharged at
Harper's Ferry and paid off at Albany, New York, after which he returned
home. On the 28th of December, 1870, he was united in marriage with Miss
Martha Ida Sutton, who was born, reared and educated at Claverack, New
York, and also belongs to one of the old and well known families of the
county. At an early day two 'brothers, Joseph and John Sutton, left their
home at Sutton Court, England, and came to the New World, and from the
former, who settled in Westchester county, Mrs. Cutler is descended. In
religious faith they were Friends. James Sutton, Sr. , the son of Joseph,
was born in a log cabin on the old homestead in this county, and was the
father of Walter Sutton, Mrs. Cutler's grandfather, who also was born on the

728 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
old homestead and was twice married, — first to Martha Tatten and secondly
to Phoebe Dickinson. James T. Sutton, Mrs. Cutler's father, first opened
his eyes to the light on the Sutton homestead, and on reaching man's estate
he married his second cousin, Phoebe Sutton, a daughter of William Sutton,
who was a brother of James Sutton, Sr. , and a son of Joseph Sutton, the
pioneer. William Sutton married Charlotte Hunt, a daughter of Josiah and
Lydia (Palmer) Hunt, relatives of Lord Effingham, of England. To James
T. and Phcebe Sutton were born two children, Mrs. Martha Ida Cutler being
the older. The son, William Edward Sutton, now a resident of Seattle,
Washington, was reared and educated in Westchester county, and was a suc
cessful teacher here for a time, but has made his home in the west for sev
eral years. He married Eva Acker, a daughter of Benjamin Acker. James
T. Sutton, who was a farmer by occupation and a Democrat in politics, died
at the age of seventy-nine years, honored and respected by all who knew him.
His estimable wife, who was a member of the Society of Friends, departed
this life at the age of seventy-two.
To Mr. and Mrs. Cutler have been born two sons: Walter Sutton, a
surveyor and engineer residing at home, and William Edward, a carpenter,
also at home. The fine farm belonging to this worthy couple comprises
seventy-two acres of valuable land, most of which is under a high state of
cultivation and well improved with good buildings, and there is also an
excellent orchard of six acres upon the place. This pleasant home is con
veniently located in New Castle township, about two miles from Mount
Kisco. Politically, Mr. Cutler is identified with the Republican party, and
socially affiliates with Stuart Hart Post, G. A. R. , of Mount Kisco, of which
he is a charter member. With his wife and son, William E., he holds mem
bership in the Methodist Episcopal church, and the family occupy a position
of prominence in the social life of the community. Public-spirited and enter
prising, they give their support to all worthy objects calculated to advance
the moral, intellectual or material welfare of their town and county, and they
are held in high regard by all who know them.

WILLIAM V. MOLLOY.

Since attaining his majority Mr. Molloy has been a potent factor in pub
lic affairs in Westchester county. He was long recognized as one of the
leading business men, and as a public official has demonstrated his loyalty to
the best interests of the community by his faithful service. He was a mem
ber of the well known firm of Molloy Brothers, general contractors, until
about 1895, and is now serving as sheriff of the county.
Mr. Molloy was born in Fleetwood, now a part of Mount Vernon, New

>^£^^^

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 729
York, in 1856, and when four months old was taken by his parents to a farm
near New Rochelle, where he was reared to manhood. His strong force of
character, natural bravery and resolution have naturally made him a leader
of men, and when only twenty years of age he became the head of an organ
ized vigilance committee that broke up a gang of burglars in New Rochelle.
Later he was at the head of the Glen Island detective force, and in many
other matters of moment his opinions and example carried great weight.
Throughout his business career he was identified with works of public
improvement and progress, being engaged in the construction of railroads and
sewer systems. The firm of Molloy Brothers took large contracts in those
lines of building, and their excellent workmanship and well known reliability
secured them a liberal and lucrative patronage. They took the contract for
laying the sewers in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, also in New Rochelle, and did
a large amount of work on the arches spanning the New York, New Haven
& Hartford Railroad, at New Rochelle. They made the excavation and did
all of the work for the Rochelle Park for the Manhattan Life Insurance Com
pany, at New Rochelle; took the contract for laying the mains of the water
works in Westchester; did all the work at the Country Club grounds, and laid
the water mains in New Rochelle. They also executed contracts on many
other public works, employing only competent workmen, and by their per
sonal oversight were assured that the work was thoroughly and carefully
done; In matters of business William V. Molloy is a man of great energy,
push and enterprise, and as a result of his executive ability and careful man
agement has won a gratifying success.
His attention has been divided between his private business interests
and his public duties, and in both commercial and political circles he is
widely known. He was one of the company who acted as escort to James
G. Blaine when the Maine statesman made a tour through the country while
a candidate for the presidency. In 1884 he was elected excise commissioner
and held that office for three years. During the last year of his service he
was also assessor of the town of New Rochelle, to which office he was elected
in 1886 for a three-years term. He discharged his duties with such marked
ability that he was re-elected in 1889, but in 1890 he was elected supervisor.
Again he held two offices at the same time, but soon he resigned his position
as assessor; yet, before the expiration of his term as supervisor, to which he
was re-elected in 1891, he was appointed and entered upon the duties of post
master. In the fall of 1891 he was unanimously nominated at the Repub
lican convention for representative of the Westchester district in the general
assembly, his opponent being ex-Congressman Ryan, of Port Chester. He
was at that time laying the sewers of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, under con
tract, and in consequence, not being able to enter the campaign, was obliged

730 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
to decline the nomination. In 1892 he was the Republican nominee for
county register, but though defeated in the Cleveland tidal wave by William
J. Graney, of Dobbs Ferry, he ran several hundred votes ahead of his ticket.
During his service as postmaster, to which office he was appointed by Presi
dent Harrison, in February, 1893, he developed the free-delivery system,
which had been established by his immediate predecessor. To him is due
the excellent service which the town now enjoys. His time expired in Feb
ruary, 1897, but President Cleveland allowed him to hold over twenty days
before appointing his successor, Charles H. McQuirk. The senate failing to
confirm this appointment, President McKinley re-appointed Mr. Molloy for a
four-years term, beginning in May, 1897. In November of that year he was
the Republican candidate for sheriff of Westchester county and was elected
over J. J. Broderick, of Yonkers, by a majority of seven hundred and twenty-
eight votes. With the exception of the coroner he was the only man elected
on the ticket, a fact which indicates his personal popularity and the high
regard and confidence reposed in him. He entered upon the. duties of that
office and sent in his resignation as postmaster of New Rochelle, but the
government failed to release him until May, 1898, so that he was again hold
ing two offices at the same time. He is now acceptably serving as sheriff,
and temporarily resides in White Plains, although he still regards New
Rochelle as his home.
Mr. Molloy has ever been most prompt and faithful in the discharge
of his official duties, and this has won him the commendation of men of all
parties. For three years he served as a member of the Republican com
mittee of Westchester county, and his sagacity and managerial ability con
tributed not a little to the strength of his party. At the World's Columbian
Exposition in Chicago, in 1893, Mr. Molloy was chosen as a member of the
committee on agriculture and cereals. He is a man of splendid business
ability and large capacity in the management of extensive and varied interests,
and thus has been enabled to carry on contracting successfully, and at the
same time take an active part in public affairs. During the last three years,
however, he has not followed contracting. Personally he is a man of fine
physique, tall and well proportioned. His gentlemanly appearance, pleasant
face and modest manners have won him hundreds of friends, and his acquaint
ance is widely extended in the east.

NORTON P. OTIS.

Norton Prentiss Otis was born in Halifax, Vermont, March 18, 1840, a
son of Elisha G. and Susan A. (Houghton) Otis. His father died in 1861,
and his mother February 25, 1842. He received his early training and edu-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 731
cation at the public schools in Halifax, Vermont, Albany, New York, and
Hudson City, New Jersey, at which places his father resided at different
times, and on the removal of the family to Yonkers he completed his studies
at district school No. 2, of this city. At eighteen years of age he entered his
father's elevator business, then in its infancy. Upon the incorporation of
Otis Brothers & Company, in 1867, he became treasurer, and for the suc
ceeding ten years traveled for the concern throughout the United States and
Canada, introducing passenger and freight elevators.
In 1877 he married Miss Lizzie A. Fahs, of York, Pennsylvania, a most
estimable and accomplished lady. They have seven children, — Charles
Edwin, Sidney, Arthur Houghton, Norton Prentiss, Katherine Lois, Ruth
Adelaide and James Russell Lowell.
Mr. Otis has always been actively interested in the religious, social and
political life of Yonkers, and has filled with honor many offices of distinction
in these several departments, and is identified with several of the' philan
thropic institutions of the city. For years he has been vice-president of St.
John's Riverside Hospital, and president of the Charity Organization Society.
All that concerns the welfare of Yonkers concerns Mr. Otis, and he has
always been ready to serve the city of which he is an honored resident.
Politically he is a Republican, and has always sustained the party and
its principles. In the spring of 1880 he was nominated for mayor and
elected by a large majority. During his administration many important and
valuable changes were made in the various departments of the city. The
fire department was reorganized, the system of public-school management
was changed and greatly advanced in efficiency (Mr. Otis appointing the first
school board under the consolidated system), the water-works were largely
augmented by the introduction of new and improved machinery, and with all
these improvements, brought about under his practical business administra
tion, when he retired from office the city's debt had been decreased more
than seventy-five thousand dollars! In the fall of 1883 he was elected to the
state assembly, in a district overwhelmingly Democratic. While in the state
legislature he was the author of many important measures, among which
were those relating to the reduction of exorbitant rates of fare on state rail
roads, giving towns the power to regulate or refuse admission to excursion
parties, making only physicians eligible to the office of coroner, etc. The
latter bill, however, failed to pass at that time, on account of constitutional
objections. Since then the constitution has been amended and the essential
elements of that bill are now the law of the state. In local politics, Mr.
Otis is a recognized leader of opinion among the best elements of society.
One of the most prominent citizens of Yonkers said of him recently: "Mr.
Otis is one of the most sagacious and honorable men that we have to-day in

732 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
our city. Whatever office he is elected to, he dignifies and discharges its
duties with the utmost skill, reflecting credit upon himself and adding
materially to the prosperity and comfort of the community he serves; dis
countenancing everything that savors of political trickery and corruption, he
is pre-eminently qualified to serve his country in any capacity. " This just
criticism of the man is fully confirmed by his past record both in official and
private life.
But Mr. Otis is not only a factor in the political and religious life of the
community; he is also a highly respected and valued member of its society.
He is a close student and keeps in touch with the best thought of the day.
A Christian gentleman, a cultured member of society, a wise and successful
business man, — he stands as a representative citizen, honored and respected
by the whole community.
In 1890, upon the retirement of his brother from business, he was
elected president of Otis Brothers & Company, which position he still holds.
In giving a brief account of the Otis Brothers & Company's Elevator
Works, we may first state that the company are the foremost builders of
passenger and freight elevators in the world. It would not be possible to
give a history of the great industry without mentioning the founder.
Elisha Graves Otis, who was the youngest of the six children of Stephen
Otis, and was born August 13, 181 1, was the inventor of the modern eleva
tor, which has done so much for modern city life and development. Young
Otis lived on his father's farm at Halifax, Vermont, until the age of nineteen,
when he left for Troy, New York. In the latter city he resided five years
and was engaged in various building operations. On June 2, 1834, he was
married to Susan A. Houghton, of Halifax. She was the mother of his two
sons, Charles R. and Norton P. Otis, and died February 25, 1842. In 1838
Mr. Otis returned to Vermont and engaged for a time in the manufacture of
wagons and carriages. He continued in this occupation until 1845. His
second wife was Mrs. Betsey A. Boyd, whom he married in August, 1846. A
little later he removed to Albany and assumed the charge of the construction
of machinery in a large manufacturing establishment. Four years later he
withdrew from this employment in order to establish works of his own, but
was compelled eventually to give up this undertaking. We next find him
holding the position of mechanical superintendent of a furniture manufactory
at Hudson City, New Jersey. In 1852, this establishment was removed to
Yonkers. Mr. Otis had charge, as organizer and mechanical superintendent, of
what was called the bedstead factory (foot of Vark street, subsequently occu
pied by the New York Plow Company), and also superintended the erection
of a part of the buildings at Yonkers. It was during this later work that the

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 733
idea of the elevator occurred to him. The story of his invention has been
told as follows: During the building and equipment of this factory it became
necessary to construct an elevator for use on the premises, during the erec
tion of which Mr. Otis developed some original devices, the most important
of which was one for preventing the fall of the platform in case of the break
ing of the lifting rope. The machine attracted the attention of some New
York manufacturers, and soon afterward he secured several orders for eleva
tors to go to that city. This was the beginning of the elevator business. So
successful was Mr. Otis in the manufacture and the constant improvement
of his new machine that he was obliged to withdraw from the Bedstead
Manufacturing Company and confine himself entirely to the construction of
elevators. He exhibited his new elevator at the Crystal Palace, London, in
1851, where he attracted considerable attention by running the elevator car
to a considerable height while standing upon it and then cutting the rope.
The car did not fall, and by thus demonstrating his own confidence in the
usefulness of the invention, orders for the machines rapidly increased. Be
fore the year of his death (1861), he had built up an extensive business and
the Otis elevator had become well known. In addition to his original inven
tion, he constantly made improvements in the construction of the elevator,
and was also the inventor of many important mechanical devices. In per
sonal character Mr. Otis was a man of great worth and integrity. He was
a member of the First Methodist Episcopal church of this city and was also a
strong anti-slavery and temperance man. From 1854 to 1858 from five to
fifteen men were employed, and the foreman was Charles R. Otis, his eldest
son. About 1859 or i860, Mr. Elisha G. Otis designed, constructed and pat
ented an independent engine capable of high speed, to raise or lower the
platform or car. This hoisting engine marked the beginning of the system
of steam elevators. In i860 and 1861 Charles R. Otis invented and patented
many important improvements. After the death of Elisha G. Otis in 1861,
the Otis Brothers — Charles R. and Norton P. — formed a partnership for the
continuance of the business. The beginning of the civil war stimulated trade
in war materials, and elevators came into demand for various business houses.
Attention to business was required, and both brothers gave close attention to
the developing industry. Charles R. Otis worked throughout the day, and
sometimes during the entire night. Both sons made many inventions and
improvements. Norton P. Otis spent much of his time visiting towns and
cities throughout the country introducing the elevator.
In 1864 J. M. Alvord had become a partner, and the company was
known as Otis Brothers & Company. In 1867 Mr. Alvord sold his interest
to the Otis Brothers, after which a stock company was formed. Charles R.

734 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Otis was made president, Norton P. Otis, treasurer, and N. H. Stockwell,
secretary. Mr. Stockwell resigned the same year, and J. L. Hubbard became
secretary. The manufactory, at the corners of Woodworth, Wells and Ra
vine avenues, has been occupied since 1868. In 1872 business had increased
to such an extent that during that year it amounted to three hundred and
ninety-three thousand dollars. After the company was incorporated the busi-
iness continued to increase rapidly until, in 1882, it was established on a
basis of over six hundred thousand dollars, and rapidly increasing. In June,
1882, the brothers retired, selling their interest to a syndicate of capitalists.
Later on the control returned to them again, and Charles R. was made presi
dent, which position he held until 1890, when he retired, and since then his
brother, Norton P. Otis, has been the president of the company. The offi
cers of the company at the present time are: President, Norton P. Otis;
vice president and secretary, Abraham G. Mills; and treasurer and general
manager, William Delavan Baldwin.
Employment is given in this city to about five hundred men, and there
is a constructing force of about one hundred and fifty constantly engaged in
setting up elevators throughout the country. They have recently perfected
an electric elevator. The company has adopted, and made part of its sys
tem, an electric motor, invented by the late Rudolph Eickemeyer, of this
city. Its valuable features are that it starts and stops with the car, thus
economizing power, and it is perfectly under the control of the operator.
The Otis elevators in use in New York city carry daily over four hundred
thousand passengers. These elevators are also used in the Eiffel tower at
Paris, Washington monument (D. C. ), Niagara Falls tower, the great trestle
used by the Hudson County Railroad at Weehawken, New Jersey, and were
used in the great manufactures and liberal arts building at the World's -Fair
of 1893 at Chicago. They are also in use in every city of America, every
large city in Europe, and in South America and Australia, and quite a num
ber in Egypt and China. The Otis Elevating Railroad in the Catskills,
which carries passengers up an incline seven thousand feet in length in ten
minutes, saving a journey by stage of four hours' duration, and the Prospect
Mountain Inclined Railway at Lake George, were built by this company.

WILLIAM H. HYLER.

A well known druggist and one of the prominent and representative busi
ness men of Port Chester is William H. Hyler, who is a native of New York
city, where he was born January 6, 1846, a son of Adonijah Hyler, who spent
his entire life in the metropolis as an extensive contractor and builder. The
father also owned a large lumber-yard and a sash and blind factory on 125th

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 735
street, and met with a well merited success in his undertakings, continuing
to be actively engaged in business until a short time before his death, which
occurred when he was eighty-six years of age. He was truly a self-made
man, for he began life for himself without capital or the aid of influential
friends, and he not only gained a handsome competence, but by his upright
and honorable career won the confidence and high regard of all with whom
he came in contact. The Hyler family was founded in America by three
brothers, natives of Germany, among whom was the great-grandfather of our
subject. The grandfather was born in New York city, but when a young
man he removed to Albany, New York, and there engaged in agricultural
pursuits until his death. Our subject's mother was Catherine Ann Paris, of
New York, who died at the age of sixty-seven years, leaving one son and
six daughters. She was a prominent and faithful member of the Methodist
church. Reared in New York, William H. Hyler began his education in the 125th
street public school, and later attended Patterson's private academy. Soon
after leaving the latter institution he began clerking in a tea broker's office,
where he remained until after the outbreak of the civil war. In February,
1862, he enlisted as landsman private in the United States Navy, and the
vessel to which he was assigned formed a part of the Atlantic squadron, but
it afterward went to the Pacific coast and was given up as lost. Before his
term expired Mr. Hyler was discharged on account of physical disability
caused by exposure, but after remaining at home a short time he re-enlisted,
December 5, 1864, in the One Hundred and Fifty-ninth New York Volunteer
Infantry, as private, and was sent to Hart Island. He was on specialty duty
in taking soldiers to the field and bringing back rebel prisoners for two or
three months, and then rejoined his regiment, going from Washington, D.
C, to Virginia. At the close of the war he was mustered out at Augusta,
Georgia, and returned home.
Mr. Hyler then entered Packard's Business College, where he was gradu
ated in the same class as General E. A. McAlpin, late assistant adjutant-gen
eral of the state of New York. In 1867 Mr. Hyler went to Bridgeport, Con
necticut, where he clerked for some time in the drug store of his brother-in-
law, C. G. Pendleton, and then attended the College of Pharmacy, New
York, graduating at that institution in 1869, after which he accepted a posi
tion in the drug store of George C. Close, of Brooklyn, who was president of
the college. Coming to Port Chester in 1872, Mr. Huyler has made his home
here continuously since, and previously to 1876 engaged in the drug business
in the old building now occupied by William J. Foster's ice-cream factory.
For a short time he engaged in business in the store occupied by John Reid,
but removed to the Centennial building on its completion, April 1, 1876, and

736 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
has since carried on operations there with most gratifying success, building
up a large and lucrative trade.
Mr. Hyler married Miss Carrie E. Sniffin, of Port Chester, and to them
were born two children: Carrie Frances, now the wife of W. D. Lippincott;
and E. Agnes, at home.
In 1873 Mr. Hyler joined the Harry Howard Hook & Ladder Company,
and was honored by his comrades by an election as assistant foreman, serv
ing in that capacity for two years, and later as foreman for three, years. He
also joined Company I, Twenty-seventh Regiment, National Guards, State of
New York, and was elected first lieutenant, being commissioned by Governor
S. J. Tilden. On the resignation of Captain Charles J. Chatfield he was
made commanding officer and served as such for two years. He had com
mand of the company at the time of the great railroad riots, as Captain
Chatfield was unable to leave the village. Politically he is a stanch Repub
lican, and for four years most acceptably served as postmaster at Port Ches
ter, under Harrison's administration. In 1878 he was elected coroner, and
so satisfactorily did he perform the duties of that office that he was elected
for a second term three years later. He became a member of Charles Law
rence Post, G. A. R., on its organization, served as its commander several
terms, has been honored by an appointment on the staff of the department
commander, and now holds the position of post quartermaster. He also
belongs to Mamaro Lodge, F. & A. M. ; Wappannoco Tribe, I. O. R. M. ;
Court Poningoe, O. F. A. ; Port Chester Council, R. A. ; and the Firemen's
Benevolent Fund Association. For six years he has served as school director,
has been vestryman of St. Peter's church several years, and at present is one
of the trustees of the Free Library and Reading Room, and also one of the
trustees of public lands. It will thus be seen that he has been prominently
identified with public affairs in the village, and he has always been found
true and faithful to every trust reposed in him.

J. CLARENCE SMITH.

J. Clarence Smith, an enterprising young business man of Mount Ver
non, Westchester county, resides at No. 98 West Lincoln avenue. He was
born in Orange county, New York, in the village of Mount Hope, October
24, 1863, his parents being William and Margeret (Niver) Smith. Jesse
Smith, the paternal grandfather of our subject, lived on Long Island in his
early life and followed the occupation of farming, as had his father, Wessel
Smith, before him. Jesse Smith served in the war of 1812, and was after
ward granted a pension. When about twenty-five years of age, and unmar
ried, he went to the vicinity of Mount Hope and taught school for several

^&<os<£<^

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 737
years. There he married and had six children, namely: Jesse, Jr., Will
iam, Emeline, Charles, Sallie and Arminta. He died at the advanced age
of ninety-two years, and his wife was three-score and ten at the time of her
demise. Politically, he was a Democrat, and for a period was a justice of
the peace. In the Baptist church he was considered quite a leader, and
for his day he was a man of exceptionally good education and general attain
ments. William Smith, mentioned above, was born in the neighborhood of
Mount Hope and was a graduate of Ridgebury Academy. He met with a
serious accident when he was about seventeen, a tree falling upon him. The
doctors insisted that his leg should be amputated, but he fought their deci
sion and would not permit the operation to be performed. It was fully two
years ere he regained the use of the injured member, and afterward, when
he presented himself as a volunteer for the Union service, he was rejected
on account of his partially crippled state. He taught school for a number
of years in his home district, and later, at North Moreland, Pennsylvania,,
for some three or four years. He followed the same calling in Centerton,
Huron county, Ohio, several years. He was married, for the first time, in
Ohio, bringing his wife to the old homestead in Orange county, New York,
where she died in 1869. The remains were taken to her Ohio home for
burial. In 1877 he sold his Orange county property and settled in New
York city< where he resided up to the time of his death in November, 1884,
at the age of fifty-nine years. While living in the city he was engaged in
the novelty business for a few years. He was a Democrat, and while in
Orange county was a justice of the peace for a time. He had but two chil
dren, — J. Clarence, and Alice, Mrs. Theodore Green, of Mount Vernon. He
died in New York city in 1882, and was taken to Otisville, Orange county,
for burial. The education of J. Clarence was obtained in the public schools of
Mount Hope and New York. Just before the time for his graduation he
embarked in business life as a clerk at No. 229 Broadway, New York. He
remained there for a year and then clerked for two years in a tea and coffee
store on Greenwich street, which position he left when seventeen years of
age, going to Greenwich, Ohio, where he established a small tea and coffee
business, which was not successful.
Returning to New York a year later, chagrinned at his" failure and dis
gusted with that line of business, he secured employment from a firm in New
York city doing a retail business in milk, cream and other dairy products,
where by close economy and strict attention to business he was enabled,
after two years, to buy a half interest in a small milk route in Mott Haven,
New York city. A little more age and experience, together with the con-
47

738 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
stant thought of his first unsuccessful effort, made him determined that this
venture should not fail. The business prospered, and after six years, during
which time it had increased to five routes, Mr. Smith, seeing the great oppor
tunities offered to an enterprising business in Mount Vernon, then a town of
about six thousand, but destined to be, as it is to-day, a city of homes,
decided to sell out and locate there, which he did in 1890, forming a co-part
nership with A. W. Halstead and establishing the Willow Brook Dairy,
which has become a household word in Mount Vernon. In 1896 a branch
was established in New Rochelle, and in 1897 the Willow Brook creamery
was built by the firm at Merwinsville, Connecticut, in the famous Housatonic
valley, where the grass and pure spring water is peculiarly adapted to pre
serving in milk a quality and flavor unsurpassed by any other section. The
plant is a model of its kind, having perfect natural drainage and pure spring
water piped to all parts of the building, which is constructed on the most
approved scientific plans for convenience and cleanliness, and health boards
and dairy inspectors who have visited the establishment have no hesitancy in
pronouncing its equipment and the methods there employed second to none.
Here at the present time are received daily over twelve thousand pounds of
milk, the greater portion of which is put up in glass jars and shipped to
Mount Vernon and New Rochelle. This firm was one of the first to demon
strate the necessity, in these days of bacteria, microbes and disease germs,
of employing centrifugal force to prevent their growth in milk. That this
method is successful is proven by the uniform quality and fine flavor of milk
so treated, at all seasons and regardless of climatic changes. The firm is
now running ten retail wagons and employ twenty men, doing a business of
over eighty thousand dollars per annum. Mr. Smith has devoted a great
deal of time and serious study to the matter of rendering the products which
he buys and sells absolutely pure. The results of the labor and money
which he has invested in perfecting the processes used in his various plants
are most satisfactory, and he now stands at the head of the live, energetic
men whose duty it is to supply the people of the great cities adjacent with
pure, wholesome milk and dairy products. While the state board of health
requires three per cent, of butter-fat in milk, an average of four and a half
per cent, is to be found in the milk handled by this firm.
August 10, 1885, Mr. Smith married Miss Minnie J. Carey, and they
have two sons, William Carey and Leland Clarence. Mrs. Smith is a daugh
ter of Dr. J. M. Carey, a retired physician of Elmira, New York. He has
been a very prominent man in his profession and was a member of the Penn
sylvania legislature some years ago, being elected to represent Wyoming
county. He is a veteran of the civil war, enlisted as a private, and was pro
moted for gallant conduct to be captain of his company. He was wounded

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 739
at the battle of the Wilderness, but later rejoined his regiment and served
until the close of the war in a cavalry regiment, which did good service at
the battle of Gettysburg and other important engagements. He now receives
a pension for his brave and loyal support of the Union in its time of need.
Some of his ancestors suffered in the dreadful Wyoming massacre.

ULRIC XAVIER GRIFFIN.
The Griffin family is an old and honored one in America. The progeni
tors of the American branch came from England more than two hundred
years ago. Francis Griffin, grandfather of Ulric Xavier Griffin, was a native
of New York city and became eminent as a lawyer, and was for many years
at the head of the celebrated Wall street law firm of Francis Griffin & Com
pany. He married Mary Sands, a daughter of an old family of prominence,
and she bore him three sons and two daughters: Edward Dorr Griffin, of
whom more will be said later; Charles Griffin, well known as a civil engineer;
George, now retired from business pursuits; Theresa, wife of General Velie,
of New York city; and Emily Seaton, who married Colonel Lyneviet, of the
German army and lives at Dresden. Edward Dorr Griffin received a liberal
education in the United States and Germany. He was educated for the law
but never practiced his profession, preferring to live the life of a private
gentleman at New Rochelle. He married Elizabeth Hicks and in course of
time the elegant Hicks homestead came into his possession and was his home
until his death. He had five children, of whom Ulric Xavier was the last
born, February 21, 1862. Francis, the eldest, is a prominent lawyer of
Brooklyn. Richard has attained standing as an actor. Charles is a popular
physician. Julia became Mrs. Wheeler.
Ulric Xavier Griffin was educated at Fordham College. Immediately
after his graduation at that institution in 1878 he took up politics and at
once became active as a worker for the success of the Republican party.
But, prominent as he grew to be in local political councils, he was not an
office-seeker, nor did he accept any one of the several offered him for the
taking until, some years ago, with the interests of the village foremost in his
mind, he consented to become a member of the board of trustees of New
Rochelle. Under the city organization he was, in 1897, nominated by the
Republicans and endorsed by the Democrats for alderman from the second
ward. He was elected practically without opposition and re-elected in the
same manner in 1899. Mr. Griffin has been a model alderman, and a board
composed of such aldermen would put any city in the country on a high
place politically and morally. It is to be regretted that more men of his
ability and sterling honesty cannot be induced to take an active interest in

740 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
municipal affairs. He has made his influence felt as a delegate to conven
tions year after year, and as a member of the board of health has been of
great service to the city. He has " served his time " in the fire department
as a member of Huguenot Engine company and is now an exempt fireman.
His liking for sports afield and astream has made him a member of the
National Sportsmen's Association. He is a member of the Knights of Co
lumbus and of other leading secret and social organizations. Mr. Griffin was
married May 28, 1883, to Margaret Day, a woman of many accomplishments,
who has borne him four children: Lilian, Malvern, Francis and Olive.
Mr. Griffin is one of New Rochelle's most public-spirited and helpful
citizens and has always given freely of his time and means to advance every
deserving local interest. He is one of the few men who have had to do with
the municipal affairs of the little city who have had the time to study the
city's needs and to lead in the work of supplying them, and his influence is of
a character that renders it indispensable when the public good is considered.

CHARLES W. CARPENTER.
Charles W. Carpenter, proprietor of Sunnyside Farm, near Jefferson.
Valley post office, Westchester county, is one of the best-known agri
culturists of this county. He has been a life-long resident within its borders,
and first saw the light of day in the old family homestead at Shrub Oak,
September 18, 1855. His father, John W. Carpenter, was born in the same
house, thirty-six years previously, in 1819, and passed his entire life in that
neighborhood. He died when in his seventy-third year, October 16, 1891,
mourned by those who had been closely associated with him in business and
social relations. His wife, Eliza, the daughter of Ebenezer and Mary
(Baker) Horton, died in October, 1892.
Among the oldest and most prominent residents of Shrub Oak was John
Wilson Carpenter, who was born January 7, 1817. His parents were
Walter Carpenter and Ann nee Summerbell. His paternal ancestors were
from the north of England, while his maternal were Scotch. John Wilson
Carpenter received a common-school education. Much of his life was spent
on his farm at Shrub Oak. He was also for a number of years proprietor
of the Carpenter House, at Lake Mahopac, where he spent the summer
months. Mr. Carpenter was a progressive and enterprising citizen. He
represented his town (Yorktown township) in the board of supervisors dur
ing the years 1877-80. He was married November 22, 1850, to Eliza
Horton, daughter of Ebenezer and Mary (Baker) Horton, and by their union
they had three children: Charles W. , Walter and Jennie. The last named
resides with her brother, Walter, at Lake Mahopac.

L^r-PzA^c /yf> /j i aShA Wz^£fcT

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 741
In his youth Charles W. Carpenter mastered the various departments of
farm work and became proficient in the three "R's" and other branches of
learning taught in the district schools of the period. He concluded to follow
in the footsteps of his ancestors in the choice of an occupation, and the
prosperity which has crowned his efforts proves the wisdom of his decision
in this important matter. About two decades ago he purchased the beauti
ful farm where he is still living. This property comprises two hundred and
fifteen acres, suitable for general farming and stock-raising. The fine large
barns and dairy-rooms are among the most notable features of the place,
everything being kept in excellent condition. The barn has box-stalls for
the accommodation of forty horses, and the owner justly prides himself
on several of his fine horses, which occupy the said stalls. In fact,
Sunnyside Farm is one of the best stocked farms in the county, and over its
pleasant green pastures large droves of high-grade Holstein cattle roam at
will. The farm is located about seven miles from Peekskill and is an ideal
country seat in every respect. The proprietor is a practical farmer and uses
good judgment in the management of all of his business affairs. He is broad-
minded and liberal upon all questions and uses his franchise independent of
party ties.
On the 17th of April, 1887, Mr. Carpenter was married in New York
city, the lady of his choice being Miss Viola Hart, daughter of John C. Hart,
who for many years was a successful merchant of New York city and is now
deceased. His wife, Mary Ann, was a daughter of Stephen Allen, who was
mayor of that metropolis in the early days. Religiously, Mr. and Mrs. Car
penter attend the Shrub Oak Methodist Episcopal church, of which Mrs.
Carpenter is a consistent member. They contribute liberally of their means
to the support of the church and kindred organizations. Their hospitality
and generosity are matters of comment among their numerous friends and
acquaintances, and all who know them are their well-wishers.

JOHN ROMER.

Captain John Romer, the last surviving soldier of the Revolution, living
in the town of Greenburg, died in 1855, aged ninety-one years. He was the
youngest of five brothers, sons of Jacob Romer and Trena nee Horlocker,
who came from Switzerland and after their marriage in the old Dutch church
in Sleepy Hollow, in 1759, settled at what is now known as East View, near
Tarrytown. It was at this house that the seven captors of Major Andre ob
tained their breakfast and had a lunch prepared by Mrs. Romer and placed
in a pewter basin for them to take with them. James Romer, the brother of
John Romer, being one of the party of seven who had slept the night prev-

742 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
ious in a hay barrack near Chappaqua, guided his little band to the secluded
home of his father, to which place they brought Major Andre immediately
after his capture. Whilst dinner was being prepared they discovered that
they had forgotten the pewter basin, containing their lunch, in their hurry to
get their captive away from the public highway. John Romer, being the
youngest, was sent to obtain it from their place of concealment by the noted
tulip tree standing on the east side of the lower highway, some six hundred feet
west of the upper road, where the other party of four had stationed them
selves. Upon his return with the basin he accompanied the captors, with
their prisoner, across the fields to the nearest military post, where a detach
ment of Shelden's dragoons were stationed, under command of Lieutenant-
Colonel Jameson. John Romer, together with the seven captors, were all
members of the local militia regiment, five companies of which, having com
pleted some few weeks previous to Andre's capture one year's active service,
desired to re-enlist under the urgent call for volunteers, but were detained on
account of the inability of the state authorities to provide them sufficient pay
to support their families for a period of three months. The depression of
the Continental currency was finally overcome by the state substituting twelve
bushels of wheat in lieu of money to each volunteer for that period of time.
After the Revolution, John Romer married Leah, only daughter of
Lieutenant Cornelius Van Tassel, of Colonel Drake's regiment. In 1793
they erected upon the site of Liutenant Van Tassel's former residence, that
was burned by the British in November, 1777, the noted stone and frame
dwelling that was used for more than fifty years as the town house and place
for holding all the elections and public meetings of the town of Greenburg.
The annual muster of the militia for a large portion of the county was held
here; also the meetings of Solomon's Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons
that was organized at Mount Pleasant, now known as Pleasantville, after the
Revolution. The subject of this sketch was made a member in the year
1800, after which the lodge was removed to White Plains, and from there to
the Lieutenant Van Tassel house in Greenburg. It was here, in 1805, that
the Hon. Daniel D. Tompkins, who became governor of the state, and
afterward vice-president of the United States, was first admitted a member of
the Masonic fraternity. During Governor Tompkins' administration, Captain
Romer took an active part in organizing the various companies and battalions
of militia required to complete the various quotas of troops called by several
acts of congress, and was one of the first to engage in repairing Fort Wash
ington, on the upper end of the city of New York. He took a very active
part in all public matters, and was one of the twenty-four prominent citizens
of Westchester county who signed the celebrated certificate given to Isaac
Van Wart, one of the captors of Major Andre, whose character had been

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 743
fiercely assailed in the debate in congress upon the bill to increase the pen
sion of John Paulding, one of his associates in that memorable event. At
the dedication of the monument to the captors of Major Andre at Tarrytown,
in 1853, Captain John Romer was the guest of honor, and the only one then
living who had seen Major Andre in person. He designated for the commit
tee the correct place of capture upon the east side of the highway. The
owner of the property objecting to locating it upon the place designated, the
committee of arrangements accepted the offer of a piece of land on the west
side of the highway, some distance south of the actual place of capture,
which was generously deeded to them by Mr. Taylor, formerly a slave, who
had purchased his freedom from bondage.
Captain John Romer died at his old homestead on the 27th of May,
1855, and was buried by Solomon's Lodge in the church-yard of the Presby
terian church of Greenburg, near the monument of his life-long friend, Isaac
Van Wart. All the local traditions and reports concerning him indicate that
he was kind, honest and upright, a good citizen and a pleasant neighbor,
possessing during life the respect and esteem of all who knew him. The fact
that he was a soldier at sixteen, and again at the age of forty-eight, serving his
country at the two extremes of life, as it were, is a sufficient indication that in
patriotism he was a worthy representative of the Westchester county yeo
men, whose fidelity, perseverance and endurance did so much for the cause
of American liberty in the days that tried men's souls.

ARTHUR W. NUGENT.

Lieutenant Arthur Wellesley Nugent is a son of Richard and Elizabeth
(Scarner) Nugent and was born at Yonkers, New York, September 11, 1863.
He was one of ten brothers, five of whom are living, and more than one of
whom possessed a patriotic and a military spirit which impelled them to
endure hardship and risk life in the service of their country. Frederick was
killed at Kobe, Japan, while with Admiral Proctor in a United States flag
ship. He was a graduate of the school-ship St. Mary and a promising young
officer in the naval and merchant-marine service. Charles served during the
recent Spanish-American war as first lieutenant of Company B, Two Hun
dred and Third Regiment. Robert was a member of Company D, Sixteenth
Battalion, and participated in its operations at Verplanke Point, Peekskill,
and other localities.
Arthur Wellesley Nugent enlisted in the Fourth Separate Company, Na
tional Guard of New York, July 7, 1885; was warranted corporal December 24,
1889; was warranted sergeant January 20, 1894, and commissioned second
lieutenant of the National Guard of New York March 4, 1898, by Governor

744 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Black. On July 6th following Governor Black commissioned him first lieu
tenant in the Two Hundred and Second New York Volunteer Infantry, and
he was assigned to duty with Company G, and did gallant service in the
Spanish-American war. He was mustered into the service of the United
States with his regiment at Buffalo, July 21, and was stationed successively
at Camp Black, Long Island, Camp Meade, at Middletown, Pennsylvania,
and Camp Haskell, at Athens, Georgia. Thence the regiment went to
Savannah, Georgia, and from Savannah, by transports, to Havana, Cuba.
For a month it was stationed at Pinar del Rio, in the province of the same
name, later, with headquarters at Guanajay, it did garrison and provost duty
at different points. He subsequently saw varying service elsewhere in Cuba
and was mustered out of the service April 15, 1899, at Savannah, Georgia,
and returned home. He is still a member of the Fourth Separate Company,
— Company A, First Regiment, N. G. N. Y.
Lieutenant Nugent was educated in the public schools of Yonkers, and
under private tutors, and while yet quite young engaged in electrical contract
ing. He secured many large contracts to fit up public and private buildings
with electrical apparatus and conveniences, at times employed twenty-five to
thirty men, and in a general way won a flattering success.
Politically, Lieutenant Nugent affiliates with the Democratic party and
personally he'is so popular that it would be hard for him to keep out of
office entirely. He has served one term as a member of the board of alder
men of Yonkers, and has done good work as chairman of the committee on
laws and ordinances and as a member of other important committees. He
is a prominent Mason and Odd Fellow and a member of Shaffner Encamp
ment and one of its past chief patriarchs. In Rising Star Lodge, A. F. &
A., M. and in Yonkers Lodge, I. O. O. F. , he is a faithful and efficient worker.
The Lieutenant was married March 22, 1888, to Frances Ewing, daugh
ter of the late John Ewing, who will be remembered as a prominent citizen
and a landscape-gardener of artistic accomplishments. They have three chil
dren, named Edith A., Helen and Arthur Wellesley Nugent, Jr.

ISAAC PURDY.

Mr. Purdy is one of the best and most favorably known citizens of West
chester county, having long been prominently identified with the business
interests of his locality and recently the most popular member of the county
board of supervisors. Of great business and executive ability and broad
resources, he has attained a prominent place among the substantial citizens
of his part of the county, with Purdy Station, named in honor of his father,
as his residence and the center of his operations. He has won success by

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WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 745
his well directed, energetic efforts, and the prosperity that has come to him
is certainly well deserved.
Mr. Purdy was born November 3, 1852, and is a representative of an
old and well-known family, being able to trace -his ancestry back for many
generations. His great-grandfather, Joseph Purdy, was born September 5,
1744, and married Letitia Guile. Their son Isaac, the grandfather of our
subject, was born January 6, 1773, and on reaching man's estate wedded
Miss Lydia Clift, by whom he had five children, — Samuel C, Sallie Ann,
Roxanna, Clarissa and Lydia. After her death he married Anna Hart, and
by this marriage there were two children, — Isaac Hart and Mary Eliza. For
his third wife Mr. Purdy was united in marriage with Jane Grant, and to"
them were born three daughters, — Jane, Letitia and Christina. Mr. Purdy
filled the office of supervisor from 1823 to 1827.
Isaac H. Purdy, our subject's father, was born June 19, 18 13, and in
1839 was united in marriage with Miss Mary W. Lyon, a daughter of Thomas
Lyon, a representative of an old and honored family, and his wife, Mary
(Totten) Lyon, who was a daughter of Gilbert Totten. Mr. and Mrs. Purdy
became the parents of. five children, namely: Elizabeth Lyon, Mary, Anna
Hart, Isaac and Thomas Lyon. The father, who was a Democrat in polit
ical sentiment, and highly respected as a citizen of this county, died in 1891
at the age of seventy-eight years. The widowed mother now finds a pleas
ant home with our subject. Mr. Purdy was the supervisor of his township
from 1846 to 1850 and from 1856 to 1857.
Reared in Westchester county, Isaac Purdy obtained his education in its
public schools, and since leaving the school-room has devoted his attention
to business pursuits. He has been engaged in the milling business and other
enterprises, and in all he has met with marked success.
Like his father, he gives his political support to the men and measures
of the Democratic party, and he is now serving most creditably as a county
supervisor. Both in his party and as a member of the board of supervisors,
he is a leader, and has become one of the best and most favorably known
men in the county. His election as a Democrat to the board of supervisors
is particularly significant of his popularity in both the great parties, as he is
thus elected in a county that has heretofore been represented by a long line
of Republican supervisors, and his district,. North Salem township, has always
been the strongest Republican locality in the county. It is only his personal
popularity that has drawn votes so heavily from both parties. His re-election
in 1898 isa testimonial to the fidelity to all the duties of his office. At the
time he was first 'elected he was acting as school trustee, and an attempt was
made in the courts to oust him from the supervisorship. He served during
thesessi ons of 1896-7, and was placed on many important committees by

746 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Gideon W. Davenport, who was then chairman of the board, but was debarred
from acting at the opening sessions of the board in 1897-8 by a decision of
the courts, which held that the holding of the office of school trustee made
him ineligible for election as supervisor. The town officers of his county,
when all Republican, appointed Mr. Purdy to fill the vacancy caused by the
decision of the courts, and his re-election later approved this appointment,
and he received the largest majority ever given a Democrat in North Salem
township, carrying with him into office the full Democratic ticket for the first
time in the history of the town. Chauncey Secor, chairman of the board at
that time, honored him with appointment on three of the most significant
committees, namely, those on the county treasurer, the auditing of the sheriff's
bills (of which he was appointed chairman), and also a special committee to
prepare plans for the erection of an addition to the court-house, of which
also he was chairman. In the auditing of the sheriff's bills he was brought
in contact with a wide range of business, which involved the auditing of bills
aggregating more than a hundred thousand dollars. During the campaigns
the public press gave uniform testimony establishing his high moral character,
business efficiency and official integrity.

JOSEPH H. LEWIS.

The healthy growth and development of a community depends largely
upon its real-estate dealers, who exercise a wide influence in the settlement
of a locality. It largely lies in their power to determine the class of people
that shall become residents of a given district, the property of which the}'
handle, and thus their labors may prove of great benefit or detriment. Joseph
H. Lewis, one of the most enterprising citizens of White Plains, in his
province as a leading real-estate dealer, has done effective work for the
advancement and upbuilding of the city, and belongs to that class of repre
sentative Americans who while securing individual prosperity also contribute
materially to the public good. His business reputation is unassailable, his
honorable methods and correct policy winning him the confidence and regard
of all with whom he has been brought in contact.
Mr. Lewis was born in Williamsburg, Hampshire count)', Massachusetts,
July 31, 1835, a son of Joseph J. and Mary R. (Rhoades) Lewis. Prior to
the Revolutionary war the family was founded in Massachusetts, and Joseph
Lewis, the great-grandfather of our subject, loyally aided in the struggle for
independence, taking part in the ever memorable battle of Bunker Hill. The
grandfather, also named Joseph, was born in the Bay state, but the father
of our subject was a native of Middletown, Connecticut, his birth occurring
there in 18 10. He married Miss Rhoades, who was born in Chesterfield,

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. UT
Massachusetts, in 1811, a daughter of Stephen and Mary (Flower) Rhoades,
who also were natives of Chesterfield. In 1840 Joseph J. Lewis removed
with his family to Westchester county, New York, settling in the village of
Sing Sing, where he engaged in the manufacture of saddlery hardware for
several years. He died in 1867, and his wife passed away in Sing Sing,
December 27, 1884.
Joseph H. Lewis, whose name introduces this record, was only a small
boy when brought by his parents to Westchester county. He obtained his
elementary education in Sing Sing and for several years attended a school at
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, supplemented by a course in the Peekskill Academy.
After spending two years in New York city he went to Columbus, Ohio,
where for four years he was employed in the manufacture of saddlery hard
ware for Peter Hayden. Later he spent several years in the manufacture of
malleable iron, in Newark, New Jersey. In 1867 he came to White Plains
and was appointed by J. Malcolm Smith to the position of deputy county
clerk, in which office he continued by reappointment for fifteen years, dis
charging his duties in a most acceptable and faithful manner. On the expira
tion of that period he turned his attention to the real-estate business and has
since handled both city and farm property, meeting with excellent success in
his endeavors. On the 9th of December, 1863, Mr. Lewis was united in marriage to
Miss Deborah A. Newman, youngest daughter of Ebenezer M. and Amanda
J. (Combes) Newman. She was born in the town of Mount Pleasant, West
chester county, and is a representative of one of the old and prominent fam
ilies of this locality. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have three children, — two sons
and one daughter, — namely: Joseph H. , Mary Amanda and Frank Tilford.
In his political views Mr. Lewis is a Democrat, and the religious faith of
himself and wife is in accord with the teachings of the Dutch Reformed
church. They hold membership in the church of that denomination at Elms-
ford, and Mr. Lewis is serving as one of its deacons. Their beautiful home,
Woodside, is one of the attractive residences of White Plains, and for its
hospitality it is widely celebrated.

THE WILDEY FAMILY.

The Wildey family, prominent in Westchester county in early days, is
descended from Thomas Wildey, who probably came here from Mamaro
neck, though at a still earlier date, 1698, the names of Wilde and Elizabeth,
his wife, appear in the census of Flushing, Long Island. Very probably they
were the parents of Thomas Wildey, of Philipse manor, who was the great
grandfather of Mrs. Storm, the wife of Captain John I. Storm, whose sketch

748 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
appears in this work. His will, dated October 7, 1776, showed him to be
possessed of a considerable estate. After the Revolution his farm, of two
hundred and sixty-two acres, comprising the present Benedict-Cobb estate
and other lands adjoining, came into possession of his sons-in-law, Colonel
Hammond and Captain George Comb, who were his executors. He left the
following children: Griffin, Joseph, Jacob, Caleb, Thomas, John, Nencia
{wife of Colonel Hammond), Elizabeth (wife of Captain Comb) and Sarah.
Of these, Thomas Wildey, Jr. (as the name is now spelled), had a son Will
iam, who was the father of William H. Wildey, now of Peekskill.
Caleb Wildey, son of Thomas, Sr. , lived on the property at the corner
of Wildey street and Broadway in Tarrytown. He married Deborah McKeel,
and among their children was Pierre, who wedded Mary Ann Mandeville, and
was the father of Pierre W. Wildey., Esq., of New York. The other sons of
•Caleb Wildey, Sr. , were Caleb, Jr., William A. and Elisha. A daughter
married the late Henry L. Haight, who was engaged in business with his
brother-in-law, Pierre Wildey, at Philipse manor, for many years, being well
known and influential members of the old Point Dock Regency. Another
daughter, Sarah, married Jasper Odell and was the mother of John J. Odell,
of Tarrytown.

JOHN C. L. HAMILTON.

John Cornelius Leon Hamilton, the youngest son of John C. A. Hamil
ton and Angeline, nee Romer, was born in Galena, Illinois, November 29,
1842, and is a direct descendant of General Alexander Hamilton, and Eliza
beth, nee Schuyler, on his paternal side. Captain John Romer, his grand
father, and Lieutenant Cornelius Van Tassel, both of the Revolution, were
his maternal ancestors. He was educated in the public and private schools
of the town of Greenburg, Westchester county, New York.
After completing a three-years course of study at the noted Paulding
Institute at Tarrytown, he was sent to Rutgers College, New Jersey, and
while engaged in his studies there the call for seventy-five thousand volun
teers to uphold the flag was made by the president, Abraham Lincoln, under
which he enlisted as a private in Company C, Fifth New York Volunteers
(Duryee's Zouaves), and participated with that heroic regiment in the first
real battle of the rebellion, at Big Bethel, Virginia. On the arrival of a por
tion of the regiment at Baltimore from a protracted march of one hundred
and fifty miles down the eastern shore of Maryland, in December, 1861, he
was detailed as private secretary to the brigade commander, and while acting
as such revised and corrected for publication a voluminous manuscript upon
the "Art of War," and at the same time continued the study of military

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 749'
engineering, under the supervision of Colonel Gouverneur K. Warren. Upon
the organization of the Third New York Artillery, early in 1862, he was com
missioned a second lieutenant and joined Company G of that regiment, sta
tioned at Fort Woodbury, near Bull Run, Virginia, and was immediately
detailed to drill and instruct the officers in infantry and artillery practice at
Fort Cochran, that state. The regiment having been ordered to reinforce
General Burnside's expedition in North Carolina, Lieutenant Hamilton, imme
diately after its arrival at New Berne, that state, was detached by orders of
Generals John G. Foster and Burnside from his regiment and assigned to the
engineer corps. His services in this particular line of duty were of the most
arduous kind. Several thousands of unskilled contrabands were employed
that required constant supervision. The construction of forts, redoubts and
breast-works, and strengthening of strategic points, permitting of no rest or
relief from the extreme heat and enervating climate.
Fort Macon, distant forty-two miles from New Berne, having been cap
tured, Lieutenant Hamilton was directed to open an air line through the
woods and swamps and construct observatories for the use of the signal corps
to that point. When this important work was completed he was carried to
the hospital, where the ravages of typhoid and malarial fever soon reduced
him to a mere skeleton, so that he weighed but eighty-five pounds. His
friends gave up all hope, and the chaplain had taken note of the last requests
to family and friends. The turning point toward recovery came rapidly,
however, and when application for a leave of absence for thirty days was
made it was returned endorsed, " Request denied:" the services of this officer
were too valuable to be spared. The attention of the medical director of
the department having been called to the matter, that officer issued the
desired leave, and upon its expiration, September 1, 1862, orders from.
Major-General Foster directed Lieutenant Hamilton to proceed and fortify
Washington, North Carolina. Four days after his arrival there the enemy
made a fierce attack upon the small garrison. For several hours the unequal
hand-to-hand struggle continued in the streets and severe losses occurred
upon both sides. Lieutenant Hamilton upon this occasion displayed the
utmost coolness and bravery, and although the enemy had taken a large
number of his men prisoners and captured four brass field pieces, the contest
was continued with the fifth gun until he alone was left, twenty-two of his
command having fallen around him before the order to retreat was given!
After the battle active work upon the fortifications was continued for
several months, during which Mr. Hamilton gave all his spare time, in con
nection with Lieutenant John J. Lay of the navy, in perfecting an experi
mental torpedo vessel, which, upon its trial, proved a great success, and by
direction of the secretary of the navy five vessels were directed to be built

750 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
after the plans developed. The first constructed was sent to the fleet at the
mouth of the Roanoke river in Albemarle sound, and under the command of
Lieutenant Cushing destroyed the iron-clad ram Albemarle, at Plymouth,
North Carolina. Orders were then issued assigning Lieutenant Hamilton
chief engineer to Major-General Hunt, afterward the chief of artillery of the
Army of the Potomac. That officer gave him a number of men with instruc
tions to construct a fort upon Neuse river, afterward known as Fort Heck-
man, but, owing to the large number of men and government supplies at
Washington, North Carolina, and the urgent necessity of completing the
works at that point, Major-General Palmer, commanding the department,
directed Lieutenant Hamilton to return there. On March 31, 1863, Major-
General Foster arrived and ordered Lieutenant Hamilton to ascertain
whether the Confederate forces of General Hill that he expected would soon
attack the garrison had arrived with artillery at Red Hill, a Confederate out
post. In executing this order one captain and five privates of the Forty-
fourth Massachusetts Volunteers were wounded. The enemy had not then
arrived in force, but did during the night and completely surrounded the town.
At daylight, April 1, they commenced an attack upon one of our naval
vessels, the Commodore Hull, which unfortunately was aground. Lieuten
ant Hamilton was ordered, with two small rifle cannons, to take position
upon an exposed point on the river and endeavor to draw the enemy's fire
away from the gunboat, which had been struck one hundred and four times
and had all her guns dismounted. The enemy were so intent upon sinking
this vessel that no attention was paid to the guns on shore until the gunboat,
released from her position by the rising tide, started rapidly away. Then
they turned their fourteen Whitworth guns against the two, and kept up a
constant fire until dark. General Foster directed that a fort be constructed
at this exposed point during the night, and siege guns mounted. This he
built and named it Fort Hamilton, in honor of its commander. It bore a
conspicuous part in that memorable siege that lasted twenty days.
Lieutenant Hamilton's health having become very much impaired, he
returned north, during the draft riots, and took an active part in quelling the
disturbances at Tarrytown, and after a much needed rest returned to the
front. By advice of his physicians he resided for a considerable time after
the close of the Rebellion in the thickly wooded pine-tree sections of the
south. The later years of his life has been spent in the neighborhood of his
boyhood home. He has contributed many interesting historical sketches to
the public press, and for the past few years has been engaged in gathering
material for a history of Phillips Manor.
At 4:30 A. m. on the morning of September 6, 1862, Lieutenant Hamil
ton became acquainted with a young lady of Washington, North Carolina,

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 751
who had appealed to him, in the midst of a fierce hand-to-hand conflict, for
protection, some of the opposing military forces, separated in the heat of
the battle from their comrades without permission, having taken refuge upon
her premises and in her dwellings. This brief acquaintance was rewarded
successfully a short time afterward when Lieutenant Hamilton appealed to
the young lady to provide a home and shelter for an aged slave, he having
been the trusted family servant of the leading Confederate of all that terri
tory. This interview also procured the use of a warehouse with forge and
much needed temporary supply of coal, which contributed toward the con
struction of the experimental torpedo boat, in order to bridge over the delay
until charcoal kilns could be prepared and burned. These casual interviews,
principally of a formal business nature, were, however, destined to bring
about a permanent acquaintance. Lieutenant Hamilton's duties being of
such an onerous character, requiring the use of three horses during the day
and much mental labor until late at night, and his health not fully recovered,
at length he suddenly succumbed, and was found in an unconscious state at
his quarters surrounded by his colored servants and was taken to the private
house of a Union resident, where several days elapsed before signs of return
ing strength were noticed, the news of which spread rapidly and soon caused
unwisely the sick chamber to be filled with many friends, one of whom,
quietly approaching the bedside, presented two beautiful roses, emblematic
of the colors of the Confederacy, that were destined never to be separated
from those of the American Union.
Invitations announcing the marriage of Miss Sarah F. Pugh to Lieuten
ant Hamilton on March 3, 1863, brought together at the bride's home a large
gathering of army and naval officers, which the garrison supplemented by
turning out in review and by giving them a national salute upon their arrival
at the principal fort. This compliment the bride, however, was called upon
to return before the close of the month, she having worked night and day in
preparing cartridge bags, using her own clothing and working when shot and
shell came crashing all about and through the very room she was em
ployed in!
When the heat of the strife had subsided preparations were made to
visit the north, but scarcely had foot been set upon the soil of the Excelsior
state before orders to report for military duty in order to quell the riots then
in progress were given. Here again cartridge bags had to be made, and the
military experience of the bride and groom gave the citizens of Tarrytown
their first opportunity to witness the impromptu manufacture of some very
dangerous ammunition, which fortunately did much toward quelling the riots.
To Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton four sons and one daughter were born:
Frank, general superintendent of the department of horticulture in the parks

752 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
of New York city; Mary Schuyler Hamilton, teacher at Pocantico Hills,
Westchester county; Philip Lee, foreman for Pierson & Company; Joseph
T., engineer; and John C. , at home.

JOHN J. SLOANE.
The successful conduct of an extensive business enterprise demands
ability and talent of no less pronounced order than that of the poet, the
musician, the inventor or the scientist. Comparatively few are the men who
are capable of handling mammoth business interests. To do this one must
have great energy, keen discrimination and sagacity, perseverance and the
ability to read and understand men. To these innate qualities he must add
tact, courtesy and above all unquestioned integrity, and then may he hope
to stand among the successful few. While some of these qualities are in a
measure the. heritage of the individual they are of no consequence until
brought into the clear light of the utilitarian and practical life; they grow by
exercise, and development comes through effort. It is through the possession
and exercise of these qualities that John J. Sloane has steadily advanced to
the leading position which he occupies in the business circles of Yonkers as
manager for the American Wringer Company.
He was born in the village of Cleator, county of Cumberland, England,
March 24, 1864, his parents being Richard and Ann (McCabe) Sloane. The
father was a mining contractor in the north of England, and was a member
of the society commonly known as the Ancient Order of Foresters. His wife
died May 29, 1891, at the age of forty-six years. They were the parents of
ten children: John J., Elizabeth, Mary, Susan, Agnus, Theresa, Sarah J.,
Rose, Kate and Richard. In 1892 Mr. Richard Sloane, the father, came to
America. John J. Sloane acquired his education in the parochial schools of Eng
land, and after laying aside his text-books secured a position as time-keeper
in the mines of England, where he was employed for six years. He after
ward engaged in mining contracting, which he followed for about twenty
years, during which time he became thoroughly familiar with the business in
every detail. On attaining his majority he crossed the Atlantic to the New
World, locating in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he accepted a position
as clerk in a paint and oil manufactory. In 1886 he removed to Yonkers,.
but later spent some time in the south in the employ of a drill company, in
setting up their steam drills. Subsequently he entered the service of the
Metropolitan Manufacturing Company, now the American Wringer Company,
at Yonkers, and has since been connected therewith, having served as mana
ger of the Yonkers branch of the business since 1888. He has built up an

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WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 753
extensive trade in this locality, extending as far north as Albany, and now
employs forty-five men and nine horses and wagons in the conduct of the
business. He has established four branch stores, located at Newburg, Pough
keepsie, Kingston and Hudson, doing an annual business of over one hundred
thousand dollars. When Mr. Sloane became manager the business trans
acted through his department amounted to only about thirty thousand dol
lars per annum, — a comparison of the two figures plainly indicating his
excellent management. He employs five clerks in his office, his oversight of
the business is continually resulting in an extension of the trade, and he has
made judicious investments of his earnings in profitable property, owning at
the present time a number of good tenement houses in Yonkers.
On the 8th of November, 1887, Mr. Sloane was united in marriage to
Miss Margaret M. Stafford, a daughter of Thomas and Jane (Anderson) Staf
ford, and to them have been born the following named children: Jane,
deceased; Ann; Richard, who died at the age of five years; Jennie and John
Joseph. The family are communicants of St. Mary's Roman Catholic
church. In his political views Mr. Sloane is a stalwart Democrat, and on
various occasions has served as a delegate to the conventions of his party.
In 1898, at the Democratic county convention, he was chosen as their can
didate for the assembly, his opponent on the Republican ticket being John
Mulligan, a popular and representative citizen. Mr. Sloane received a sub
stantial majority over his opponent, having run ahead of his ticket in the
city of Yonkers and Mount Vernon and several other voting districts. He
belongs to various social and fraternal organizations, joined Nepera Tribe,
No. 186, I. O. R. M., at Yonkers, in 1891; the same evening was appointed
chief of the records; in January, 1892, was elected sachem of the tribe; was
re-elected in 1893, and again in 1895. In 1893 he was elected a delegate to
the state convention of the order, in Binghamton; in 1894 was sent as a rep
resentative from the local tribe to the convention in Rochester; in 1895 was
a delegate to New York city and there was elected great representative to
the great council of the United States and was appointed a member of the
committee on state charters, serving two years. The same year he received
a handsome gold medal from the Nepera Tribe, I. O. R. M., at Yonkers, as
a mark of esteem and fellowship. In 1896 he was a delegate to the state
convention in Saratoga, and has attended three sessions of the great con
vention of the United States, held in Providence, Rhode Island, Minneapolis,
Minnesota, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, respectively. In 1897 he was
elected to the state council at Buffalo, and in 1898 was state delegate to
Avon Springs, where he was re-elected great representative to the great
council of the United States, held in Indianapolis in September, 1898, and
at Washington in September, 1899. He is also an honored member of the
48

754 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Foresters, of which he has been three times elected chief ranger. He was
also representative to the state lodge in 1897, and was presented with a hand
some gold badge by the Palisade Lodge, of Yonkers, also sent to the national
-meeting of that organization. He is a member of the Benevolent Protective
Order of Elks of New York city, belongs to the Knights of Honor, was one
of the organizers and a charter member of the Knights of Columbia, and at
present is a deputy grand knight of the order. For three years he was a mem
ber of the Irving Hose Company. This brief sketch will indicate in a meas
ure the great activity that has characterized his life, making him a leader in
business, fraternal, political and social circles. He is a man of charming
personality, cordial, genial and entirely approachable, and is very popular
among an extended circle of friends.

JOHN TATOR.

The subject of this sketch is of Holland descent. His grandfather Tator
was born in Holland and when a young man came to this country and set
tled in Ghent, Columbia county, New York, or rather, on a large farm near
that place, where he spent the rest of his life. He was a Democrat, filled
a number of local offices, served in the war of 1812, and was in various ways
identified with the best interests of the town and county in which he lived.
He was twice married and had a large family, his children numbering twen
ty-one. His son Peter, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in
Columbia county, New York, about the year 18 14, and there received a
common-school education and learned the trade of mason. He resided at
Troy, New York, for twenty years, for twenty years lived at Ghent, and in 1880
removed to Yonkers, where he spent the residue of his life and where he died
in 1898, at the age of eighty-four years. His wife, whose maiden name was
Kittie Dunspaugh, and who was of German ancestry, died in 1893, at the age
of seventy-tour years. Both he and his father before him were devoted and
consistent members of the Lutheran church. In his family were three chil
dren, namely: John, whose name initiates this sketch; Mary, wife of Charles
Fuller, city surveyor of Troy, New York, for twenty-five years; and Adaline.
John Tator, the immediate subject of this review, was born in Hudson,
Columbia county, New York, July 12, 1843. In his youth he had the benefit
of the common schools and was also for a time a high-school student. He left
school at sixteen and began making his own way in the world, his first posi
tion being that of water boy on the New York Central Railroad. Shortly
afterward he became a common laborer on the road, and this occupation was
followed successively by that of fireman for six months, assistant road-mas
ter for ten years and road-master for fifteen years. For a time he was with

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 755
the Boston & Albany Railroad as foreman. He was also road-master
for the New York & Harlem Railroad. His last railroad work, which occu
pied his time up to September I, 1898, was for the New York Central Rail
road Company, from Forty-second street to Poughkeepsie, and in this enter
prise he had in his employ no less than eight hundred men engaged in con
struction work. He now has under consideration a proposition to go to
Porto Rico in the employ of a railroad syndicate. His residence is at
Yonkers, Westchester county, where he has business interests, owning here
a boarding and livery stable, at 44 to 46 School street, and having succeeded
Mr. C. E. O'Dell in this business.
Mr. Tator is a public-spirited and enterprising man, is well posted in
matters of public interest, and gives his support to any and all movements
he believes intended for the public good. Formerly he was a Democrat, but
now affiliates with the Republican party. He is a member of the Knights
of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
February 28, 1864, Mr. Tator was married to Miss Lydia Cipperly,
daughter of John and Hannah (Hayner) Cipperly, and they have a family of
seven children, namely: Frederick, who married Martha Hemingway;
Cora; Grace, the wife of Roswell Jacobus; Hattie, who is the wife of Charles
Brockmier; Edna, wife of Ferris Montgomery; and Kittie and Arthur, who
still remain at the parental home. The family are adherents of the Method
ist Episcopal church. GEORGE FRAZIER.
This well known citizen of Yonkers, New York, is noted for his fine
physique and his athletic powers. The family from which he comes was
distinguished for the same qualities, and his sons also are noted athletes.
The history of his life is of interest in this connection.
George Frazier was born in county Monaghan, Ireland, August 1, 1833,
son of Isaiah and Hannah (Anderson) Frazier. The paternal grandfather of
Mr. Frazier was a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, and was a man of great
strength and size, being six feet, five and a half inches in height and weigh
ing two hundred and eighty pounds. He was in early life a candlemaker and
later a farmer, being successful in both occupations. From Edinburgh he
moved over to Ireland and settled at the birthplace of our subject. His
wife's maiden name was Rebecca McPherson, and she was beneath the aver
age in size. They were the parents of twelve daughters and three sons,
namely: Richard, Isaiah, John, Rebecca, Hannah, Rachel, Mary Ann,
Elizabeth, Sarah, Jane, Margaret, Catherine, Mary, Ellen and Ann. All
grew to adult age. Grandfather Frazier died in 1842 at the age of seventy-
two years, and grandmother Frazier died two years later at the same age.

756 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Isaiah Frazier, the father of our subject, was born in Edinburgh, Scot
land, and learned the trade of chandler, in which business his father was
there engaged. He came from Ireland to America in 1844, with his wife
and six children, and located in Parry street, New York city, where he
became engaged in the lime-burning business. Subsequently he removed with
his family to Norwich, Connecticut, to take charge of three large lime-kilns,
and at the time of his death he resided with his son, George, at Yonkers,
New York. He, too, was a man of large proportions and great strength.
He was a Republican, an Orangeman and a member of the Masonic fra
ternity. Religiously he was a Presbyterian, a zealous and active member of
that church. In his family were three sons and three daughters, viz. : John,
deceased, was a contractor in New York city; Jane, widow of James Cannon,
deceased; Margaret, who died at the age of nineteen years; George, whose
name introduces this sketch; Isaiah, deceased; and Hannah, widow of Will
iam Cunningham, deceased. The mother of this family died at the age of
forty-five years and the father lived to be ninety-one.
George Frazier, the immediate subject of this review, was a small boy
at the time he was brought by his parents to this country, and his education
was obtained in the public schools of New York city and night school at Nor
wich, Connecticut. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather,
he learned the trade of soap and candle making, and from his father learned
a secret and valuable process of clarifying the tallow. For some time he
was in business at Norwich, and became widely known for his superior make
of candles. He subsequently learned the stone-cutting and flagging trade,
in New York city, which he followed as a journeyman for several years and
then engaged in taking contracts for stone work, paving, flagging, etc., which
he has followed ever since. He has carried on a general contracting busi
ness, including the erecting of buildings, street, bridge and dock work and
yacht building. He built the yacht Montana Jack for his son, which won
the pennant in three successive races in one season. His contracting busi
ness affords employment for no less than two hundred and fifty men, and he
has had at one time as many as sixty-five brown-stone cutters. His con
tracts have included some of the heaviest street work in the city of Yonkers,
among which may be mentioned the greater part of Main street, and Nepper
han avenue from Yonkers to the old village limits. He built the fronts to
the Yonkers Savings Bank and the Westminster Presbyterian church. He
also built the Lawrence dock, which he owned and which he sold to William
Frederick Lawrence. From time to time he has invested in real estate and
has extensive realty holdings.
Politically, Mr. Frazier is a Republican. He cast his first vote for
President Lincoln and has ever since been in harmony with the principles

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 757
advocated by this party. Fraternally, he is identified with the Masonic
fraternity, maintaining membership in Rising Star Lodge, F. & A. M. ; Nep
perhan Chapter, R. A. M. ; and Yonkers Commandery, K. T.
Mr. Frazier was formerly a member of the Yonkers Curling Club, but
resigned in 1895 and started the Van Cortland Club, of which he is a mem
ber at present. He became a curler thirty years ago, and won the title of
champion curler of America, having won in four successive national tourna
ments the famous Mitchell diamond medal, with a team composed of himself
and three of his sons. This was remarkable, inasmuch as no other team in
America had won in two successive tournaments. The last in which he took
part was at Toronto, Canada, in 1894, which they won by a score of twenty-
one to seventeen, their opponents being the Champions of the West. Four
pairs of handsome curling stones were sent from Scotland to the winner of
this tournament. The Mitchell medal is a diamond worth seven hundred
dollars. His three sons in the team with him were James, John and Isaiah,
who weigh respectively two hundred and ten, one hundred and eighty-eight
and one hundred and sixty-four pounds, all of whom are athletes and have won
numerous medals in various athletic fields. Isaiah holds over seventy-five
medals, which he has won upon various athletic fields. The day before the
tournament at Toronto, Canada, between their team and the Champions of
the West, they played and defeated a team representing the Ontario branch
of the Curling Club of Canada, who had held championship for eight years in
succession. Mr. Frazier himself weighs more than any of his sons, his weight
being two hundred and tweny-six and one-half pounds, and he is tall and well
proportioned. With his hands he has lifted as much as fourteen hundred and
eighty-five pounds. He has won many honors on the athletic field and in con
tests of various kinds. He has a medal for rifle shooting. A team composed of
himself; Charles R. Gorton, present superintendent of schools of Yonkers; Rob
ert G. Jackson, of the Yonkers Brewing Company ; and Professor Elliott Mason,
had the honor of winning the championship of America on "Tug-of-war"
against the Scottish-American team, champions of United States and Canada.
He has a medal as tug-of-war's man. For eleven years he served as a mem
ber of Lady Washington Engine Company, No. 2, of the Yonkers fire depart
ment. Although now advancing in years, he is still a man of great physical
strength and endurance and with his old vigor participates in his favorite
sports. Mr. Frazier was married July 14, 1852, to Miss Margaret Stevenson
Stewart, daughter of James Stewart, a tanner and currier of Paisley, Scot
land. They have had eight children, namely: Isaiah, James (deceased),
George, Elizabeth Jane, John, James Stewart, Robert Davis and Mathew
Stewart.

758 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
The eldest son, Isaiah, is associated with his father in the contracting
business, and, as already stated in this sketch, is an athlete. He has won
medals in about all of the popular athletic, field and aquatic sports. Indeed,
he is one of the best all-around athletes Westchester county ever possessed.
For a number of years, also, he has been prominent in the local political
and municipal affairs of his town and county. He was a member of the
board of supervisors of Westchester county for two terms, from 1893 to
1897; served as chairman of the committee on printing, and was a member
of the county-treasurer committee; and was in the militia, a member of
Company H, Sixteenth Battalion. After the organization of the Fourth
Separate Company, of which he was the organizer, he became its captain.
He is at present vice-president of the Fourth Separate Company Veteran
Association. While a member of that company he won several walking
medals. It was called out during the ice riots at Verplank's Point, where he
had command of the forces. He has won in all seventy-five medals, as
before intimated. He received a handsome medal from the Fourth Separate
Company as captain, which they conferred upon him in appreciation of the
valuable services he rendered. He received several medals for rifle shooting.
He won in the Palisade yacht races in 1879, in four-oar contests; also in
single, double and eight oar shell races. He took the American champion
ship, in 1876, at the New York Athletic Club, for running broad jump. He
has also taken the medal in various other contests, — such as running broad
jump, standing broad, standing high, running high, vaulting with pole, put
ting shot, throwing hammer, handle races, sack races, rowing, shooting.
Besides these he was a member of the. team in all the important curling
matches and shared the numerous medals won by the team. At one tourna
ment of Yonkers Lyceum athletic sports, he won nine out of fourteen
trophies offered. He won the single-shell boat race in 1894 for Palisade
Boat Club championship.

ANDREW JACKSON JOSLYN.
Andrew J. Joslyn, a veteran of the civil war and an enterprising business
man of Yonkers, is a native of Maine, born at Robbinston, July 8, 1845.
His parents, William Alfred and Rebecca A. (Douglas) Joslyn, were of Scotch
and English descent, respectively. Several generations of the Joslyn family
resided in Canada, in which country William A. was born. He learned the
trade of ship-builder, and successfully carried on that business at Eastport,
Maine, for several years. In 1855 he removed to New York city, where he
died some six years later. He was a man of much more than ordinary
learning and ability, had received the advantages of a college education, and

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 759
was a great Bible student and historian. In his political faith he was a
stanch Democrat, of the Andrew Jackson school. To himself and wife were
born six children, of whom only two survive, our subject and his eldest
brother, George Washington. Those who are deceased were named as fol
lows: Charles Jefferson, Thomas Hood, Rebecca A. and Mary A. The
mother died in 1855, at the age of thirty-three years, and thus the happy
home was broken up.
A lad of but ten years at the time of his mother's death, Andrew Jackson
Joslyn was reared among strangers, his advantages being limited. The great
civil war coming on, he was eager and ready to fight for the stars and stripes
as soon as he might be admitted to the service, and August 25, 1862, at the
age of seventeen, he enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Thirty-ninth
Regiment of New York Volunteers. Assigned to the Eighteenth Army
Corps, he was stationed at Fortress Monroe for a short time, after which his
regiment was placed in the Army of the Potomac. With that illustrious
legion he took part in the engagements with the enemy at Williamsburg,
Congo, Dismal Swamp, Bermuda Hundred, Fort Darling, Cold Harbor,
Chickahominy, and many others. The famous Eighteenth Corps, to which
he belonged, charged on the heights of Petersburg and captured the position,
but had not Grant's reinforcements arrived at the time they did, the whole
army would have been routed and sorely defeated. At Harrison Landing
his regiment made the notable charge on General Lee and his forces, who
were making a desperate attempt to recapture the position. At the battle of
Drury's Bluff, the Eighteenth Corps was captured. In the encounter with
the Confederates at Cold Harbor, Mr. Joslyn was wounded by a minie ball,
and fell into the hands of the enemy, but was soon recovered by his com
rades, and was back in the ranks at the end of a week's treatment in the
hospital. He had enlisted for three years, and he served for two years and
ten months, or until the close of the war. Enlisting as a private, he was
mustered out of the service as brevet first lieutenant, though then but twenty
years of age.
The youthful hero of many a battle-field now entered upon another kind
of warfare, the battle for a livelihood, and, as an initial step, served an
apprenticeship to the trade of wagon-manufacturing, at Dobbs Ferry. In
1872, thoroughly master of the business which he was henceforth to pursue,
he came to Yonkers, but within a short time he removed to Richmond, Vir
ginia. In that city he was employed in a factory situated in the same block
as Libby Prison. At the end of four years he returned to Yonkers, where he
established himself in business on Nepperhan avenue, and remained in that
location until 1896. At that time he came to his present quarters, 257-259
South Broadway, a large and well equipped factory, where every facility for

760 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
turning out first-class work is at hand. Mr. Joslyn's business is steadily
increasing in volume and importance.
Since the close of the war, our subject has been in thorough sympathy
with the Grand Army of the Republic, and is now the senior vice-commander
of Retching Post, No. 60, of Yonkers. He has given his loyal assistance to
the Republican party, and in the past has done some effective campaign
work, such as making speeches on the principles and issues before the people.
In June, 1874, Mr. Joslyn married Miss Anna Brannock. They have
had seven children, William, Virginia, George, Andrew J. , Jr. , Annie, Rebecca
and Alice. The youngest daughter, Alice, has entered the silent land. The
family have a pleasant home, at No. 332 Nepperhan avenue, where their
many friends are always given a hospitable welcome.

THE HAYS AND ALLIED FAMILIES.
The important service rendered by the Jews in the war of the American
Revolution, while as a matter of record it is not familiar to the general reader,
it is noteworthy that though few in numbers they did mere in proportion
to the population toward establishing the independence of the Ameri
can colonies than those of any other nationality. They gave liberally of
their means and made great personal sacrifices for the cause; and but for the
great liberality and timely assistance of one man, Hyams Salomon, it would
have been almost impossible to have maintained an army in the field and
carried on the financial affairs of the government. The ancestors of Daniel
P Hays were among the most ardent and self-sacrificing of the patriots, as
shown by the public records.
The early ancestors of the Hays family came to New Netherlands from
Holland in the latter part of the seventeenth century. According to a tradi
tion preserved by the late William Henry Hays, of New York, who derived
from his father, Jacob Hays, the rank of high constable, they came in their
own ship, with their own servants, cattle, seeds and tools of agriculture.
Their first settlement was near New Rochelle in Westchester county, New
York, where Michael and David Hays, his brothers, were born. David Hays,
the paternal ancestor of Daniel P., was born near New Rochelle, in March,
1732, and died at Mount Pleasant, October 17, 1812. An unverified tradi
tion gives to him a sword, now belonging to Miss Elvira Nathan Solis, on
which is inscribed the following Spanish legend: " Draw me not without
reason: sheath me not without honor."
At the outbreak of the Revolution Michael Hays, then a farmer at North-
castle (also trader and merchant), and his youngest brother, David, who had
served in the New York contingent at Braddock's defeat on the 9th of July,

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 761
1755, had returned to peaceful occupations as a farmer and store-keeper at
Bedford. Michael was a man advanced in years. From a fragment of a
memorandum in his handwriting it appears that in 1776 or earlier he was
driven from his farm, which remained for six years in the hands of the enemy.
With the farm the enemy likewise took possession of seventy-four head of
cattle and other stores, the list of which was upon the missing fragments of
the record. Bolton, in his history of Westchester county, states that on
July 2, 1779, Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton, with a party of British light
horse, rode into Bedford and fired it. It is possible that the stores referred
to had been gathered for the colonial army, and that their presence at Hays'
farm was the cause of the enemy's descent thereon; for the tradition concern
ing the burning of David Hays' house at Bedford in 1 779 connects the absence
of one of its protectors, the eldest son, Jacob (afterward high constable of
the city of New York), with a successful attempt to drive cattle through the
enemy's lines to the army of the United States. Among the papers of Dan
iel P. Hays is a mutilated memorandum, in the hand-writing of David Hays,
of which nearly all the superscription is illegible except the words, "when
the enemy came to Bedford and burned my house on the eleventh of July,
1779." By this statement there appears a difference of nine days from the
time mentioned in Bolton's History of Westchester County.
David Hays and most of the other heads of families were absent with the
patriotic army. Jacob Hays was one of a party of young men and boys that
had undertaken to get through the enemy's lines and into the American camp
the cattle that had been collected for this purpose at Bedford. The British
raid may well have been for the purpose of preventing this, and the delay of
nine days in firing the village may have been granted in hope of discovering
the location of the herd and effecting its capture. At the time of the British
raid the wife of David Hays was lying upon a sick-bed with a new-born
infant at her breast. Her husband and eldest son were with the army, and
she with her daughters and her baby boy (Benjamin) were attended by an
old negro slave named Darby, and his wife, whom she had brought with her
from Baltimore prior to her marriage. It was not the open enemy but Tory
neighbors who entered the house on that day in July and demanded of the
sick woman information she was supposed to possess concerning the plans of
the patriots. On her refusal to give the information the house was fired,
with a brand from its own hearthstone. The mother and children were con
veyed by faithful negroes to a shelter in the woods and there cared for until
succor came to them and to others who suffered from Tory malice.
Esther Etting, daughter of Asher Etting, the cousin and wife of David
Hays, came of a patriotic family. At the beginning of the war her brother,
Reuben, then a clerk in a bank at Baltimore, gave up his position and

762 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
hastened northward to join the patriots. He was taken prisoner at Charles
town, and when the British learned that he was not only a rebel, but also a
Jew, they gave him for food only pork (forbidden by the Jewish law as
unclean), which he refused to eat, subsisting, until exchanged, on such mor
sels of unforbidden food as he could obtain from his fellow prisoners.
Weakened by confinement and privation, he died, of consumption, soon
after his release. Another brother, Benjamin Etting, was among the patri
otic merchants of New York who were forced to flee before the British
troops. He[took refuge in Norwalk, Connecticut, where he died May 24,
1778, leaving Mrs. Hays the only surviving member of the family. Moses,
another'^brother, had died some time previously at Easton, Pennsylvania.
Michael Hays, the brother of David, purchased a farm and manor in
1785 at Mount Pleasant, where he died in 1799. In his will, probated May
22, of that.year, he leaves all his property, real and personal, to his "beloved
brother David."
David Hays, after the close of the war, returned to Bedford, where he
remainedTor some years, but in 1796 his brother, Michael, conveyed, for a
nominal consideration, a portion of his property at Mount Pleasant, whither
he removed soon afterward, and in 1800 erected the homestead at that place,
which is still standing. In his will, 1812, he names sons Jacob, Moses and
Benjamin Etting, and daughters Hannah (deceased) and Rachel, who were
in turn wives of Benjamin Meyers; Hiltey, wife of Mr. Isaacs, deceased;
Charity, wife of Jacob da Silva Solis; and Abigail, whose portion was made
contingent upon her "marrying in our society." Notwithstanding this pro
hibition Abigail married, after her father's death, a Mr. Conkling, brother of
Garner Conkling, of New York.
Benjamin Etting Hays, son of David and Esther (Etting) Hays, was
born at Bedford in Westchester county, New York, in 1776. He was the
babe at his mother's breast when she was ruthlessly driven from her home
and compelled to seek shelter with a neighbor. He grew up amid the scenes
of the Revolution and was an eye witness of much of the sufferings, hard
ships and privations endured by his neighbors, all of which made a deep
impression on his youthful mind, and the story was repeated ' ' o'er and o'er "
to his children and grandchildren. He loved the country which gave him
birth and was proud of that part borne by his worthy parents in the struggle
for independence. He was a man greatly respected by his neighbors and at
the time of his death, August 13, 1858, he was supposed to be the "last
Jewish farmer in the United States." During his life he was known as
"Uncle Ben, the Jew, the best Christian in Westchester county." He was
endowed with all the noble virtues inherited from his honored parents, and
never missed an opportunity of doing good to those around him, especially to

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 763
the poor and unfortunate who were left penniless as the result of the war.
He inherited his father's farm at Mount Pleasant, now Pleasantville, and
continued to cultivate it until his death. He married and had children, —
David, Michael, Benjamin, Jacob, Esther and Hannah.
David Hays, the eldest son of Benjamin Etting Hays, was born on the
homestead at Mount Pleasant. His early life was spent on the farm, but the-
city had greater attractions for him and he engaged in the study of pharmacy,
with his brother-in-law, M. L. M. Peixotto, at the corner of Division and
Clinton streets, then one of the best residence neighborhoods in the city.
The store was an old landmark, having been established in 1832, and was
known as the Rutgers Pharmacy, from its proximity to the estate of Colonel
Rutger. Mr. Hays possessed a very earnest nature and entered upon his
new life with great enthusiasm, and very soon the old sign over the door was
taken down to be replaced by one bearing the firm name of Peixotto & Hays.
By his sterling character he soon won the confidence of the community and
success followed his -efforts, and a second store was purchased on Grand
street, not far from the Bowery.
On the breaking out of the civil war Mr. Peixotto organized a regiment
and became captain of one of the companies, and Mr. Hays succeeded him
in business. The store in Grand street was sold, and the sign of "David
Hays, apothecary," was hung over the old "Rutgers Pharmacy," where it
remained for many years. During the draft riots the store was attacked by
the mob, but the neighbors rallied to Mr. Hays' assistance and the members
of the old volunteer fire department No. 6 took turns in watching the store
until the excitement abated.
After the war Mr. Hays established a drug store in Central City, Colo
rado, which he conducted successfully for a number of years. He early
became interested in educational work and was elected a member of the New
York College of Pharmacy, in whose advancement he was deeply concerned
and whose growth during the early and trying years of its career he closely
watched and earnestly worked for. The confidence of his confreres in his
integrity was best shown when he was elected treasurer at a special meeting
in the place of an officer who had misappropriated the funds of the college.
He served on most of the important committees of the college and was a fre
quent delegate to the American Pharmaceutical Association, in whose delib
erations he took much interest.
As a trustee of the public schools he contributed to the advancement of
education, and was honored by being elected chairman of the school board,
a position which he held until he changed his residence to another school
district. In 1890 he retired from active business life, and from that time
passed most of his time at the old homestead, to which he was fondly

764 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
attached. He took great pleasure in wandering about the fields and roaming
through the woods, living over again the scenes of his boyhood. He had a
deep love of the beautiful in nature and a true poetic insight. His love of
wild flowers and the birds, as well as the nobler ideals of life, found its
expression in many poems which graced the corners of the country newspa
pers and won for him the name of the "Farmer Poet." He was greatly
beloved by all who knew him for his kindly nature, his sturdy character and
his simple, honest life. His end came peacefully and rounded out a beautiful
life. By a coincidence, his death occurred upon the anniversary of his birth
day, and he was laid beside his wife in Cypress Hills cemetery, on the anni
versary of his wedding day.
He married Miss Judith Peixotto, a daughter of Dr. Daniel S. M. Peix
otto (son of the eminent rabbi), who in 1823 took rank among the leading
physicians of New York. As a writer Dr. Peixotto acquired fame by
articles of acknowledged merit and of considerable importance to the
profession. In 1825-6, conjointly with Drs. Beck and Bell, he edited
the New York Medical and Physical Journal and also Gregory's Prac
tice. All subjects pertaining to medicine enchained his thoughts and quick
ened his pen. He served as one of the physicians of the old city dispensary
in 1827, and as president of the New York Medical Society in 1830-2. He
was also one of the projectors and organizers of the Society for assisting the
Widows and Orphans of Medical Men, and urged the establishment of a
medical library. In 1836 he received the appointment of professor of theory
and practice of medicine and obstetrics, and was elected an honorary member
of the Medical Society of Lower Canada. In the same year he was called to
the presidency of the Willoughby Medical College and removed with his fam
ily to Cleveland, Ohio, occupying the position of dean of the faculty for sev
eral years, when he returned to New York and resumed his practice. Dr.
Peixotto was gifted with high literary endowments and was a frequent
contributor to magazine literature and the newspaper press. An intimate
friend of General Jackson, he advocated his election to the presidency of the
United States, editing the True American in his behalf. For a time he was
also connected with the New York Mirror, when that journal was under the
control of N. P. Willis and George P. Morris. Dr. Peixotto was an eminent
linguist, speaking no less than seven languages with equal fluency. He died
in New York city, May 13, 1843.
David Hays, by his wife Judith (Peixotto) Hays, had eight children, of
whom Daniel P. was one. Daniel Peixotto Hays was born at the homestead
of his ancestors at Pleasantville, Westchester county, New York, March 28,
1854. His early environment tended to the further development of those
characteristics inherited from his ancestors which have continued to shine

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 765
with greater brilliancy in his own life. He obtained his preparatory educa
tion at the public schools and was graduated at the College of the City of
New York in 1873 and at the Columbia College Law School in 1875. He
entered upon a practical course of study in the office of Carpenter & Beach,
where he soon rose to the position of managing clerk, and in 1877 joined the
firm as partner, under the firm name of Beach & Hays. On the death of
Judge Beach he became associated with James S. Carpenter, the copartner
ship continuing until the death of the latter in 1885. Mr. Hays organized
the present firm of Hays & Greenbaum the same year, one of the most suc
cessful firms in their line of practice in the city, their clients including some
of the most prominent business men in New York. Mr. Hays conducted the
case of General Adam Badeau against the executors of General Grant's estate
for services in preparing the Grant Memoirs; he was also counsel for General
Daniel E. Sickles during the latter's term as sheriff of New York county.
During the past few years Mr. Hays has tried successfully many important
cases, involving millions of dollars, and is recognized as one of the ablest
men in his profession. He has filled important public positions. In 1893
he was appointed on the civil-service commission, and on the death of his
predecessor was made chairman of the board.
Mr. Hays was one of the early supporters of the Young Men's Hebrew
Association, served for many years as its director, was vice-president in 1878,
and elected president for the two following years. He was one of the found
ers of the American Hebrew and one of the original board of editors, and has
been for many years president of the congregation Temple Israel. He re
moved to Nyack on the Hudson in 1880, where he and his wife occupied a
high social position for some years, and were specially popular in the Nyack
Rowing Association, which at that time included the best social elements of
the county. He has purchased the old homestead of his ancestors at
Pleasantville, in Westchester county, embracing several acres, retaining in
its original simplicity the old house built by his grandfather, around which
cluster so many hallowed associations. Instead of enlarging or altering this,
he erected a large and elegant mansion, one of the most attractive in that
part of the county, which he named Hillcrest, as it is located on the crest of
the hill and affording a beautiful and extended view of the surrounding coun
try. Here during the summer season he entertains his numerous friends,
who are always given a hearty welcome. Mr. Hays became interested in the
public affairs of the town and contributed liberally toward the various im
provements. He was the unanimous choice of his fellow citizens, regardless
of party affiliations, for the presidency of the village. He is a member of the
Democratic, Lawyers', Reform, Sagamore and other clubs, and also of the
New York Bar.

766 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
April 1 8, 1880, Mr. Hays was united in marriage with Miss Rachel,
daughter of Aaron Hirschfield, of New York city, a highly accomplished and
attractive woman, interested equally with her husband in the benevolent and
charitable enterprises.
EDWARD F. SHEEHAN, M. D.
A prominent representative of the medical profession, Dr. Sheehan has
successfully engaged in practice in Sing Sing, New York, since 1890, his office
being at No. 18 Maple Place. He is a native of New York, born at North
Creek, Warren county, July 12, 1864, and is a son of P. and Margarette
(Fitzgerald) Sheehan, natives of Ireland who came to this country while
young and were married at Sandy Hall, Washington county, New York. By
trade the father is a tanner of sole-leather, being an expert in that business.
He had charge of the North Creek tannery for some years, and was later
superintendent of the Stony Creek tannery, for John P. Bowman. On resign
ing that. position he purchased a third interest in the lumber and tanning
industry conducted under the firm name of Sawyer, Mead & Company, but
is now engaged in farming and stock-raising in Saratoga county, New York.
He is one of a family of five children, four sons and one daughter, namely:
Patrick, known as " P." to his friends; Daniel and Edward, both farmers;
Catherine, wife of John McSweeney; and Colonel T. J., who is well known
all over this country as the man who closed the gates. He has been Indian
agent at the White Earth agency, was sheriff for twelve consecutive terms in
Freeborn county, Minnesota, and has always been an active Republican. He
is still a resident of Minnesota. Our subject's father is a Democrat, and does
all in his power to promote the party's welfare in this state. Twelve children
have been born to him and seven are still living: Annie; Maggie; Katie, wife
of Richard Barnett, of Victor Mills, Saratoga county, New York; Mary, wife
of Dr. C. D. Kelly, of Mount Vernon, New York; Edward F., of this sketch;
Ella F. ; Timothy, known as Teed, who was a druggist of Sing Sing, died in
1896; and Dr. W. J., who is associated in practice with our subject, at Sing
Sing. Dr. Edward F. Sheehan received his literary education in the Union
high school at Schuylerville, Saratoga county, and later read medicine with
Dr. Frank F. Gow, of that place; Dr. William Donnelly, of Ketchum Cor
ners, New York, and Dr. Albert Vanderveer, of Albany, New York. In the
fall of 1885 he entered the Albany Medical College, made a special study of
surgery, and graduated from that institution March 15, 1885. He first
located at Greenwich, Washington county, New York, but, at the end of two
years, came to Sing Sing, where he soon succeeded in building up the large
and lucrative practice, which he to-day enjoys. He is also largely interested

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 767
in the Home Telephone Company of Sing Sing, of which he was one of the
organizers, and is a fourth owner. He is a leading member of the West
chester County Medical Society, and in 1891 was elected health officer,
serving as such most acceptably for three years. He is also consulting phy
sician at the Sing Sing prison, has assisted in most of the electrocutions, and
was the one who held the autopsy of Carlysle Harris, the noted criminal. He
is state examiner in lunacy, and attending physician at the new Croton dam,
the largest dam in the world, now under construction. The Doctor is also
examining physician for several of the best life insurance companies of the
country, and is a progressive member of his profession, who keeps abreast of
the latest discoveries and theories by his perusal of medical journals. His skill
and ability are attested by the liberal patronage he enjoys, and he ranks as one
of the leading physicians of the county. Socially he is a member of the
Knights of Columbus and the Sing Sing Yacht Club, and is commodore of
the Ossining Yacht Club, while politically he is identified with the Demo
cratic party, and a member of the Democratic Club of New York city, and
has been an active and influential member of the town Democratic commit
tee, of which he is the chairman.
On the 31st of March, 1890, Dr. Sheehan was united in marriage
with Miss Elizabeth Terhune, a daughter of Frederick H. and Frances D.
(Dodd) Terhune, and one child has graced this union, E. Gerald, born May
17, 1891.
ISAAC YOUNG.
Mr. Young is the owner of the beautiful homestead known as Summit
Place, situated on the highest point of land between New York city and Cro
ton dam, in Westchester county, three miles to the northeast of Sing Sing.
Here he has had his dwelling-place for nearly thirty years, during which time
he has constantly made improvements and added to the beauty and value of
his country home. From his residence site most picturesque and charming
views of the Hudson river and surrounding country may be obtained, and
glimpses into the neighboring state of Connecticut may be had.
The gentleman of whom we write is one of the native sons of the Empire
state, his birth having occurred in Milltown, in the township of Southeast,
Putnam county, April 26, 1821. He is a son of James and Hannah (Law
rence) Young, who likewise were natives of Putnam county. Their children
were two in number, the other being a daughter, Esther A., now the widow
of John" G. Lane, of Harrison township, Westchester county. James Young
died in 1846, at the age of fifty-one years. He was a successful farmer, own
ing a homestead of one hundred and twenty acres, which he kept under a
high state of cultivation.

768 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Isaac Young was reared to agricultural pursuits, early mastering the
essentials to the proper management of a farm. He attended the common
schools and assisted his father in the work of the farm up to the latter's death.
He then assumed the entire charge of the homestead and continued to reside
thereon until he was thirty-five years oid. He still owns the old place, but
since 1856 he has made his home in Westchester county. For some thirteen
years he carried on the old Vail farm, near his present home, but in 1869 he
purchased the farm known as Summit Place, — a tract of thirty- eight acres.
Though he has never sought nor desired public office, Mr. Young has
sometimes been prevailed upon to accept a minor position, and has served as
justice of the peace. He is a stalwart Republican, but has never been a poli
tician in the ordinary acceptation of the term. Religiously he is a Presbyte
rian, being a member and for some time one of the trustees of the Sing Sing
church of that denomination.
In 1857 Mr. Young married Miss M. E. L. Vail, a daughter of John and
Jane M. (Lane) Vail. She was born in this county, on the old Vail home
stead, previously mentioned in this sketch, and there grew to womanhood.
The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Young is John J., who is an enterprising busi
ness man and farmer and is still living with his parents on the homestead.
The family are highly respected in this community, and on every hand only
praise and commendation of them are to be heard among their old neighbors
and acquaintances.

DR. JOHN KRESS.

Our history proves the value, to the United States, of its sturdy, honest,
progressive and industrious German-American element, which has long been
very strong in this county and always favorable to the best interests of the
general public. Our German citizens are workers, voters and fighters. An
illustration of the foregoing statement in New Rochelle is Dr. John Kress, a
son of John and Mary (Kern) Kress, who was born in Munich, Germany,
September 5, 1855. John Kress, Sr. , and his good wife lived out their days
in Germany. The former, also a native of Munich, served in the German
army six years, was afterward a prosperous blacksmith, and in time became
chief of the fire department of Waldorf. This worthy couple had two sons
and four daughters, most of whom came to America. Mary is Mrs. Kearney,
wife of a well known Chicagoan. Katie married Joseph Zehn, an Iowa
ranchman who owns seven hundred acres of valuable land and thousands of
fine cattle. Anna is an inmate of a convent in Germany. Joseph followed
in his father's footsteps as a blacksmith and was also a wheelwright. He
succeeded his father as chief of the police of Waldorf, was mayor of the

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 769
town and held other local offices of importance. John Kress, Sr. , died at
the age of forty-five years, and his wife at the age of fifty-two.
Dr. John Kress was educated in the public schools of Munich and then
served his country three years as a soldier. He was an under officer in a
cavalry regiment and his services were so meritorious that he was honored
in consequence. He had, through his cavalry service, become interested in
horses, and possessed a natural aptitude for treating them when injured or
diseased. On leaving the army he entered the King's Veterinary College at
Munich, where he was a diligent student during the years 1874-76. After
ward he was for a year the veterinarian to a German cavalry regiment by
special appointment, and in 1877 he came to the United States and located
at New York city, with headquarters on Fifty-sixth street, and subse
quently on Fifty-fifth, where he practiced veterinary medicine and surgery
and gave expert attention to horse-shoeing and allied blacksmithing.
Meanwhile he pursued his professional studies at the New York Veter
inary College, where he at length graduated, in 1898. About that time he
removed to New Rochelle, after having had a successful business career in
the city, which had brought him an extensive amount of real estate, especially
in flat property on One Hundred and First street and East Fifty-fifth street.
He still retains his mechanical and professional business in New York, where
his establishment affords employment to five skilled men; but he is prac
tically retired, living a quiet life after years of study and labor in his chosen
field. Politically Dr. Kress is a Democrat, and he has always taken an active
part in practical politics, both in New York and at New Rochelle. In 1899
he was elected alderman at large to represent the third ward. His popu
larity as a citizen is attested by the fact that he is a member of the Union
Club of New York, treasurer of the Hohenzollern Club, the Oriental Sharp
shooters, and other prominent organizations of New York and New Rochelle.
He is identified with the volunteer fire department of New Rochelle and a
member of the local board of trade, and also takes a helpful interest in all
the affairs of the little city. He and his wife and other members of the
family are communicants of St. John's church.
Dr. Kress was married, September 5, 1883. to Clara, the daughter of
Joseph Hubert, on Greenpoint avenue, Long Island. Mr. Hubert was a
cabinet-maker by trade, a successful business man and a patriotic citizen.
He was a corporal in the Fifty-seventh Prussian Infantry, with which he
served three years. He came to the United States in 1861, and after living
for a time at St. Louis, Missouri, took up his permanent residence on Long
Island. Of his six children Clara, wife of Dr. Kress, was the first born; the
others are deceased. Mr. Hubert died at the age of sixty-four years, and
49

770 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Mrs. Hubert at the age of fifty-four. John Dunski, Mrs. Kress's maternal
grandfather, now about eighty-nine years old, was a soldier in the German
army for a time. Coming to America, he found an abiding place at Green
point, Long Island, where he passed the active years of his life as a cabinet
maker. He is a very religious man. His wife is living, at the age of
eighty-eight years. Dr. and Mrs. Kress have had three children, — Ida,
Clara and John J.

WILLIAM H. LAKE.

The successful conduct of an extensive business enterprise demands
ability and talent of a no less pronounced order than that of the poet, the
musician, the inventor or the scientist. Comparatively few, indeed, are the
men who are capable of handling successfully mammoth business enterprises.
Great energy, industry, perseverance and ability are of most potent essentiality.
But to these must be added, as of equal importance, an executive and organiz
ing power of a high order, together with tact in the handling of men. While
some of these characteristics are in a measure the heritage of the individual,
they are by no means incapable of culture and development by their proper
exercise and application. The above is a just allusion to the individuality of
the gentleman who stands as the subject of this review.
William Henry Lake is a son of Edward and Harriet (Thorn) Lake, and
was born in Brooklyn, New York, October 21, 1867. His father, Edward
Lake, was born September 1, 1824, in Devonshire, England, and his grand
father Lake was a wealthy tanner and manufacturer of Devonshire. He was
an extensive property-holder and a man prominent in industrial and public
affairs, having served as justice of the peace and in various other official
capacities for many years. He passed away, in the land of his birth, at the
advanced age of ninety-eight years, — three years the senior of his wife, who
died at ninety-five years.
Although possessed of a very meager scholastic training, Mr. Lake early
acquired a studious disposition and throughout his life continued to be a student
and a great reader. He became an expert silk-worker by trade as well as a
carver. In 1859 he came to this country with his wife and seven children,
locating at Brooklyn, New York. He there became engaged in the general mer
cantile business, operating during the war period as many as nine stores at a
time, in different parts of the city. He prospered in business and became
wealthy, retiring early in life upon a handsome but well earned competency.
He continued to reside in Brooklyn up to his death, December 7, 1893. He
had been prominent in the social and political affairs of the city, having
served as an alderman from the fifteenth ward for several years. Fraternally

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 771
he was a member of the Sons of St. George, and religiously was a zealous
member of the Baptist church. He was twice married.
His second marital relation was with Harriet Thorn, a daughter of
Edwin Thorn, who for many years was connected with the Brooklyn post-
office, in charge of the money-order department. She died March 4, 1889.
Their children were: Harriet; Thomas, deceased; Edwin T. ; and William
H., the subject of this review.
William H. Lake graduated from the Brooklyn high school at eighteen
years of age, and subsequently pursued and completed the four-year course
of the Chautauqua College. He then spent two years in an office in New
York city in the study of architecture. At the expiration of that time, hav
ing mastered a knowledge of the theoretical as well as the practical elements
of the subject, he connected himself with a building company for the pur
pose of learning the building business, and subsequently, for two years, was
engaged in contracting and building on his own account. Having had a
long cherished desire to learn the banking business, and a favorable oppor
tunity presenting itself at this time, he accordingly accepted the position of
clearing-house clerk with the Third National Bank of New York.
While serving in that capacity, having displayed a business tact of a
superior order, he was sought by the First National Bank of Yonkers as
head bookkeeper for their bank, a position which he accepted and filled,
with credit to himself and fidelity to his employers, for seven years.
During that time he became interested in building in a small way,
devoting such time to the same as his duties at the bank would permit.
Finally his building operations developed to such proportions as to demand
more of his time, and he accordingly resigned from the bank to devote his
entire time to his rapidly growing business. Since then he has become an
extensive operator in New York city, as well as Yonkers. He has erected
some of the handsomest blocks in New York. Noteworthy among the many
is a block of brown-stone residences on One Hundred and Fourty-fourth
street, erected at a cost of three hundred thousand dollars; another block of
eight handsome stone residences, at a cost of two hundred and fifty thousand
dollars, at St. Nicholas avenue and One Hundred and Fifty-fourth street,
besides any number of apartment houses and cottages in different parts of
the city. He has also done a considerable amount of building in the city of Yonk
ers, having completed in 1898 a block of apartment houses on Riverdale
avenue, which was the largest block, built in that city in that year. He is
an extensive dealer in real estate, and through his efforts many houses have
been built in Yonkers and many families brought to reside there.
He is secretary and treasurer, as well as confidential manager, of the

772 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Yonkers branch of the Mercantile Co-operative Bank of New York, in which
capacity he has had over a quarter of a million dollars pass through his
hands. To the credit of Mr. Lake it may be noted that in the Yonkers
branch of the bank's interests are the most profitable of its investments.
Possessing a natural talent for business, by conservative, calculating and care
ful methods, he is fast forging to the forefront as one of the most reliable and
substantial business men in the city of Yonkers. The history of his busy life
presents a. splendid example of the great possibilities the less economic con
ditions of our country offer to ability and a determination to succeed. The
successful achievement of his short career bespeak for him a rich future.
During the Spanish-American war he, in July, 1898, organized Company
I for the One Hundred and Eighth Regiment, from New York city and
Yonkers, of which he was made captain. He is a member of the Yonkers
City Club and the Palisade Boat Club. He is a Republican in politics, and
is a member of the Baptist church.
Mr. Lake was happily married October 23, 1890, to Miss Laura Spof-
ford Wiltsie, a daughter of John R. and Mary Susan (Spofford) Wiltsie, of
Newburgh, New York. She was educated largely under private tuition. She
is accomplished as a vocalist and possesses an artistic talent as a landscape
and figure painter of a high order. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Lake has
been blessed with three children, who brighten their home, namely: Anis-
worth Spofford, Henry Rapelyea and John Wiltsie.

THE PHILIPSES AND THE MANOR— 1672-1775.

Well nigh a hundred circling years
Dwelt princely lords in affluence great,
In Manor Hall, and proudly rode
The forests of their vast estate.
At nuptial feast, where pleasure cheered,
And guests their merry-making had,
An Indian, tall and grave, appeared,
In scarlet blanket closely clad.
From door of banquet hall he spoke
With measured words, and strange, and few,
Which in the nearing days of war,
To wondering bride proved sadly true,
"From you shall these possessions pass,''
(For thus the portent message came),
" What time the eagle shall despoil
The tawny lion of his mane."
— Manor Hall Legend.

During more than one-third of the three centuries which the recorded
history of Yonkers covers, most of the territory within the bounds of the

p§

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 773
present city was owned by three members of the Philipse family, each of
whom was named Frederick, and each of whom was known as the lord of
the manor. It is to be remembered, however, that the term " lord of the
manor" is a technical one, and means simply, the owner, the possessor of the
manor: nothing more. The lords of the manor in the colony of New York
were never invested with the powers, privileges, rights and burdens of the
old feudal manors of England, with their military tenures. The grant of a
manor did not carry with it a title. Under the English law the sovereign
alone is the "source of honor," and the sole power that can, or ever could,
grant a title or confer nobility. It is. therefore, incorrect to write " Lord
Philipse." The word manor is an English corruption of the French word
manoir, a habitation, or mansion, in which the owner of the land dwelt per
manently, and that is derived from the Latin verb maneo, to remain, to abide
in a place, to dwell there. Another derivation of the word has been given;
but it is very doubtful.
Frederick Philipse, the first lord of the manor, purchased in 1672 a
portion of the tract included in the present Yorkers and owned nearly all*
of it about thirty years. The manor was confirmed to Frederick Philipse in
1693, with the customary privileges of the lordship, of holding court-leet,
court-baron, exercising advowson, etc. He died in 1702. His grandson,
Frederick Philipse, the second lord of the manor, owned the territory
included within the boundaries of the present Yonkers about forty- nine years.
He died in 175 1. Frederick Philipse, the third lord, and the son of the
second, owned the manor about twenty-eight years. It passed out of his
possession in 1779, when it was confiscated by the state. The three Philip-
ses, therefore, were owners of the territory embraced within the boundaries
of the Yonkers of to-day, about one hundred and seven years.

C. LE GRAND WASHBURNE.
The present efficient commissioner of New Castle township, and one of
the brave defenders of the Union during the civil war, is C. Le Grand Wash-
burne, who is a native of Westchester county, born on the old homestead
October 12, 1847. His father, Samuel Washburne, was born in 1812, in Mount
Pleasant township, this county, and on reaching manhood married Miss Mari-
ette Hyatt, a daughter of 'Squire Nathaniel Hyatt. They became the par
ents of nine children, namely: Mrs. Melissa Hull; Frank H., who was a
soldier of the civil war and died in Arkansas in 1894; Julia, deceased; C. Le
*Miles Square was not included in the patent of 1685. In 1685 John Doughty, of Flushing,
sold sixty-four acres, near the Bronx, in one square mile, to Francis French, Ebenezer Jones
and John Wescott.

774 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Grand, our subject; Amy, deceased wife of E. Gedney; Warren; Harry, a
contractor of Pleasantville, this county; Kate, deceased wife of Joseph Burr;
and George B. McC, who died at the age of eight years. The parents are
still living, the father having attained the venerable age of eighty-six years,
while the mother is seventy-six years of age. Both hold membership in the
Methodist Episcopal church, and he is identified with the Republican party.
Reared on the home farm, C. Le Grand Washburne early became famil
iar with every department of farm work, and obtained a good practical edu
cation in the local schools. Although only seventeen years of age, he en
listed, in 1863, in the Fourth New York Heavy Artillery, and took part in the
battles of Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and the Wilderness, being
honorably discharged at Hart's Island, in October, 1865, when hostilities had
ceased and his services were no longer needed. For sixteen years he fol
lowed carpentering and contracting, but is now devoting his energies to agri
cultural pursuits, with good results.
In 1873 occurred the marriage of Mr. Washburne and Miss Hester Rey
nolds, a daughter of Smith Reynolds, a leading blacksmith of Mount Kisco,
Westchester county, and his wife Matilda (Knapp) Reynolds, who now makes
her home in Brooklyn, New York. The children born of this union are
James H., now of Brooklyn; Mabel, who is a student in the high school of
that city; Frank, Amy, Le Grand, and an infant son deceased. Since the
war Mr. Washburne has been an ardent supporter of the Democracy, and is
an active and zealous worker in its interests, always taking quite an active
and prominent part in political affairs. Socially he is a member of the In
dependent Order of Odd Fellows.

BENJAMIN BRANDRETH.
Benjamin Brandreth, the inventor of the proprietary medicines the sales
of which have reached such enormous proportions, was born in England in
1809. His maternal grandfather was a skillful physician, and enjoyed a
large practice near Liverpool, and at an early age his grandson was employed
under his direction in compounding pills for gratuitous distribution among
the poor. After the death of his grandfather he resolved to seek a larger
field, and in 1835 he came to America with his wife and three children. A
house was rented in Hudson street, New York, and this was not only the
residence of his family, but his entire business establishment. The attic
was used as his laboratory, where he prepared his pills, his wife pasted the
labels on the boxes, and his eldest son, George, was just large enough to
count the number of pills for each box. After paying rent and advertising
bills, he had remaining of the money which he brought from England the

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 775
sum of thirty dollars, the entire cash capital of a business which afterward
rose to millions. His sales so rapidly increased that it was necessary to hire
the adjoining house, which he filled with his assistants, and during the sec
ond year four hundred thousand boxes of pills were sold. In 1837 he
removed his business to Sing Sing, and purchased land to such an extent
that he was able to build his various factories at such a distance apart as to
prevent any chance of total destruction in case of fire. In 1848 Dr. Brand
reth purchased an interest in " Allcock's Porous Plasters," and in 1857
became the sole proprietor, and added thus to his already immense business.
The career of Dr. Brandreth is the most important episode in the history of
advertising. During his life he expended for that purpose alone the enor
mous sum of three millions of dollars, and the various ways by which his
medicines were brought to the attention of the public were almost number
less. The appreciation by the people of his great energy and business
capacity was manifested by his election to the state senate in 1850, and he
was again elected to that position in 1858. In 1854 he purchased land in
New York and built the Brandreth House, at the corner of Broadway and
Canal street, a very valuable piece of property.
Dr. Brandreth was twice married. His first wife was Harriet Small-
page, whom he wedded in England. By this union he had three children —
George A.; Charles; and Ellen, wife of Henry Bacon, of Goshen, Orange
county. Mrs. Brandreth died in 1836, and he was married a second time, to
Virginia Graham. They were the parents of ten children: Beatrice, wife of
Colonel Henry C. Symonds; William; Henry; Franklin; Annie, wife of Edwin
McAlpin; Gertrude, wife of Frank B. Robinson; Florence, wife of Lieutenant
Herbert J. Slocum; Kate, wife of Lieutenant Henry L. Green, United States
Navy; Ralph; and Isabella. Dr. Brandreth was for many years president of
the village of Sing Sing, and his death occurred February 19, 1880. His
business, which had grown to vast proportions, was left to his sons, of whom
Henry is the general agent in England, while the others conduct the manu
facture in this country. The annual productions by the firm are two million
boxes of pills and five million of Allcock's Porous Plasters. The history of
the country affords few instances of a larger result arising from so small a
beginning. 
JOHN D. IHLDER.
John D. Ihlder was born at Vegesack, Bremen, Germany, on the 28th
of January, 1848, and is a son of John D. and Johanna (Schaeffer) Ihlder.
His paternal grandfather, Gerhart Ihlder, was a sea captain of Bremen and
a man of good education. He had four sons, namely: Gerhart, Hilebrich,
John D. and Wilhelm. The grandfather died at the age of eighty-five years,

776 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
while his wife passed away at the age of eighty-four. The father of our sub
ject, also a native of Bremen, died at the age of seventy-six years. His
widow is still living, at the age of seventy-seven, making her home in Berlin.
In their family are four children, — Gerhart, Heinrich, John D. and
Elizabeth. In his youth John D. Ihlder, of this review, attended the public schools
of Bremerhaven and was graduated in the high school there. Later he
graduated in a navigation school, and during his early manhood served for
one year in the German navy. On the completion of his education he went
to sea, became captain of a vessel, and remained in command until 1883,
when he resolved to seek a home in the New World. Accordingly he
entered the electrical-engineering department of Cornell University, from
which institution he was graduated in 1887, with the degree of Mechanical
Engineer. Immediately afterward he entered the employ of Eickemeier &
Osterheld, of Yonkers, as an electrical engineer, and continued in their
service until 1892, when he became associated with the Otis Electric Com
pany as chief electrical engineer.
In 1S75 Mr. Ihlder was united in marriage to Miss M. A. Mott, a daugh
ter of Elijah and Rebecca Mott, and their children are: John W., who is a
student in the science department of Cornell College; and Rebecca, who is
now pursuing her education in Wellesley College.

JOHN G. P. HOLDEN.

The subject of this sketch, John George Parker Holden, was born in
Poughkeepsie, Dutchess county, New York, on the 22d of August, 1834,
being the eldest child of Thomas and Sarah (Parker) Holden. After acquir
ing a thorough common-school education, he entered the Quintilian Semi
nary, of Poughkeepsie, conducted by the Rev. Eliphaz Fay, and on the
completion of his course was graduated at that institution. When his school
life was ended he at once began preparation for that vocation which he so
highly honored for more than forty years, going into the office of the Pough
keepsie Telegraph, and through six years of faithful application working his
way, step by step, to a mastery not only of every detail of the practical
requirements of the newspaper-publishing and job-printing business, but also
to editorial fitness as well, filling satisfactorily and ably every place in the
office from that of "devil " up to that of editor. During this time he also
served two years as assistant postmaster of Poughkeepsie, under President
Franklin Pierce.
In the summer of 1858 Mr. Holden went to New York city for a brief
season of work upon the Journal of Commerce. Returning to Poughkeepsie

J. G. P. Holden.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 777
in November of that year, he became local editor and cashier of The Daily
Press of that place, and in April, 1859, purchased a quarter interest in the
same, his associates being Albert S. Pease and John W. Spaight. From this
time until 1863, with the exception of a few months' service as reporter,
proof-reader and editor, respectively, on the New York Sun, then published
by Moses Y. Beach, Mr. Holden continued his connection with the Pough
keepsie Daily Press, the paper being published the latter part of the time by
Holden & Spaight, the partners being J. G. P. Holden and J. W. Spaight.
Early in the year he entered into a co-partnership with J. Henry Hager for
the establishment of a new daily in Poughkeepsie — The Poughkeepsian — with
which venture his interests were allied until the close of 1863.
On the 6th of May, 1864, Mr. Holden was summoned to Yonkers by a
telegram from Elon Comstock, at that time one of the proprietors of the
New York World, who wished him to assume the business management and
local editorship of The Yonkers Herald, which was the pioneer paper of
the place, and had just been purchased by the Democratic Publishing
Association. With this journal, the name of which was soon changed to
The Yonkers Gazette, Mr. Holden was connected for over thirty-three years,
or until the fall of 1897, when failing health compelled him to relinquish his
charge. For about thirty years of this time he was the sole owner and
editor. His conduct of the paper proved his eminent fitness for the profession
of journalism, the fame of The Yonkers Gazette becoming world-wide not
only for its elevated tone, versatility and humor, but also for its splendid
make-up and typographical beauty. To every element of this success Mr.
Holden contributed his genius, personally superintending the weekly arrange
ment of its forms and imparting to its letter press not only much of editorial
force and effectiveness as well as no little of that pungency which put the
Yonkers Gazette in the front rank of moral, enterprising, progressive, enter
taining and phenomenally successful journals. As a writer of political
editorials he excelled in that power of concentration which is especially
effective. As one of the noted coterie of original paragraphists on the Ameri
can press (in which his nom de plume of "Nonpareil Quadrat, X. P. D."
was well known) he gave the sparkle of wit to many brief comments on the
news and foibles of the day. His quick conception, too, of humor and senti
ment in others was of rare service in brightening the weekly issues of his
paper, and as Ralph Redwood he had for some years demonstrated this
by his " diamonds of thought " gleaned from the best current literature.
Mr. Holden's interest in New York journalism is attested by his thirty
years' membership in the New York Press Association, in which he served
one year as secretary, another as president and for more than twelve years
was an active, earnest and honored member of the executive committee. He

778 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
was chosen four times as a delegate from this association to the annual meet
ings of the National Association, in which he ably represented his brethren
of the New York state press. He was one of the originators of the Demo
cratic Editorial Association of the state of New York, and served as its treas
urer from its formation. In 1897 he was especially honored by both these
New York Press associations through election to a life membership in each.
The public spirit of Mr. Holden has been manifested throughout his
career. At Poughkeepsie he was for eight years an active member of the
volunteer fire department, serving as private secretary and assistant foreman
of the Davy Crockett Hook and Ladder Company. He was one of the
organizers of the Young Men's Association and the Dramatic Society, a mem
ber of the Lyceum and connected with many other local organizations. He
was one of the original members of the Ellsworth Guard, an independent
military company formed on the day of the tragic death of Colonel Elmer
Ellsworth, soon after the breaking out of the civil war. This company,
attached to the Twenty-first Regiment National Guard of the state of New
York, served for three months during the war.
In Yonkers, Mr. Holden was one of the organizers of the Owl, Olympic
Ball and Palisade Boat Clubs, holding important offices in all of them. He
was a trustee, was secretary for eleven years and for several years was the
first vice-president of the People's Savings Bank. He was a charter member
of Nepperhan Lodge, No. 736, F & A. M. ; a director of the Free Reading
Room; a member of the executive committee for the bicentennial celebration,
held in Yonkers October 18, 1882; and a member of the executive committee
of the Soldiers and Sailors' Monument Association, which raised the money
and erected on Manor Hall grounds, at a cost of fifteen thousand dollars, the
monument which was dedicated September 17, 1891. For twelve consecu
tive years he was secretary of the Democratic general committee of Yonkers,
and was repeatedly chosen as a delegate to Democratic state, congressional,
senatorial, county, district and city conventions. He was also for some time
a member of the Democratic Club of the city of New York.
As editor of the Yonkers Gazette Mr. Holden always took the lead in
every movement for the upbuilding and progress — religious, moral, social and
political — of Yonkers, as well as for its advancement in other directions.
Particular instances of this may be noted in his famous humorous crusade
against those twin nuisances, the " Rat Pit Depot " of the New York Cen
trales Hudson River Railroad and " Main street's beautiful curve," the abol
ition of both of which was mainly due to him. Among matters more seri
ously treated in the Gazette were the return of the railroad station from the
foot of Locust street to its former and present location at the foot of Main
street; the building of a permanent bridge in the place of the railroad draw-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 779
bridge over the Nepperhan at Dock street; and the Neperhan river nuisance,
against which his newspaper waged unceasing warfare for years, until it was
abated, to the great satisfaction of every resident of Yonkers. He always
kept at the head of the procession — often far in advance of it — in the onward
march of public improvements, such as securing a city charter for the place;
bonding the city for water-works, sewers and street paving; the opening,
regulating and grading of new streets; the preservation of Manor Hall and its
grounds; electric lighting; erection of public buildings and the construction
of street railways, using the columns of his paper in persistent advocacy
thereof, until all of these and many other improvements were secured.
Although a Democrat of the strictest sort in his discussion of political
questions, national, state and local, Mr. Holden was never offensive to his
friends, "the enemy." While emphatic in exposing and denouncing cor
ruption and fraud in all parties, he never indulged in the reprehensible prac
tice, as too many editors do, of vituperation and mud-throwing, seeking
rather to serve his party and its candidates by advocating the principles of
the former and the fitness of the latter. He was never an office-seeker, yet
the Democratic party of Yonkers, recognizing his personal integrity, moral
worth and political honesty, called him successively to such honorable,
responsible and trustworthy places as town clerk, in i865, village clerk, in
1869, and city treasurer in 1885. To the last named office he was
appointed by Mayor William G. Stahlnecker, confirmed by the common
council March 11, 1885, and reappointed by Mayor J. Harvey Bell May 24,
1886, serving in that position about two years. He was repeatedly urged
J:o accept the Democratic nomination for different state, county and city
offices, but always declined to comply.
On the 29th of August, 1894, President Cleveland appointed Mr. Hol
den postmaster at Yonkers and he entered upon the duties of that office Oc
tober 1, 1894. This was a " recess" appointment, good only until the next
session of congress, and he was accordingly re-appointed by the president,
after the re-assembling of congress, for a full term, which appointment was
confirmed by the United States senate, December 11, 1894. Many im
provements in the mail service of Yonkers and two additional carriers were
secured by Postmaster Holden, and his administration of the affairs of the
office was up-to-date, — conducted on strict business principles. He retired
from this office June 30, 1898, — having served three years and nine months,
and carried with him the best wishes of the post-office employes, who, in
order to testify their regard for and interest in him, presented him with an
elegant hardwood easy chair, handsomely upholstered.
While not an avowed professor of religion, for over forty years Mr.
Holden has been a pew-holder in the Baptist church, and a firm believer in

780 . WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
its doctrines and practices, this belief being doubtless an inheritance from
his maternal grandfather, George Parker, of Lancashire, England, who left
his native land because of religious persecution, and made his way to Amer
ica. Locating in Poughkeepsie he there established the first Baptist society
in that part of the country.
On the 22d of November, 1864, Mr. Holden was united in marriage to
Miss Maria E. Le Count, of Brooklyn, New York. They have three chil
dren, all yet living, namely, Edwin Rufus, Dr. George Parker and Mary Hol
den. This happy alliance has added greatly to the elements of Mr. Holden's
success, steadfast encouragement and wise counsel having emphasized the
industry, business alertness, intelligence and sound judgment that have con
tributed to win for him the fair fame which is now his popular award.

JOHN H. JENKIN, M. D.
Dr. Jenkin, one of the younger representatives of the medical profession
in Westchester county, has already attained a high degree of success in his
chosen calling and now enjoys a large and lucrative practice in Shrub Oak,
Westchester county, and also in the adjoining county of Putnam.
He was born of English parentage in West Stockbridge, near Pittsfield,
Massachusetts, August 31, 1869, a son of Elijah and Alice (James) Jenkin.
His father is now deceased and his mother makes her home with a daughter
at Rockland Lake, this state. The Doctor spent the greater part of his
boyhood and youth in study, completing the scientific course at Fort Edward
Institute in 1889. Later he entered the medical department of the Univer
sity of the city of New York, and was graduated in the class of 1893, April
7, with the degree of M. D. On the 29th day of April, 1893, the Doctor
passed the state medical examination held by the University of the State of
New York. The same year he also received a diploma from the Midwifery
Dispensary of New York city. In order to gain a good practical knowledge
of his profession he engaged in practice for eighteen months in the work
house and almshouse hospitals of New York city, and received a diploma
from the local board of the above named institutions, approved by the com
missioners of charities and corrections of that city. August 1, 1894, he was
made a registered pharmacist of the city and county of New York. Being
thus well fitted for his life work, he opened an office in Shrub Oak, where
he was not long in securing an excellent practice. He is now numbered
among the leading physicians and surgeons of the county, and is serving as
health officer of the town of Yorktown and also of the town of Putnam
Valley. April 8, 1897, Dr. Jenkin was married to Miss G. Bertha Lent, a daugh-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 781
ter of the late Theodore and Cornelia (Denike) Lent, of Shrub Oak. On
her maternal side she is a descendant from a good old Revolutionary family,
a great-grandfather being an officer in the Revolutionary army. She was
educated at the St. Gabriel's at Peekskill, and is a lady of culture and
refinement and a member of the Episcopal church of Mohegan Lake, West
chester county. The Doctor and his wife have a beautiful rural home, where
they dispense a pleasing hospitality to their many friends, for they are very
popular in the best social circles of the community. He is a member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of the Mohegan Country and Golf Clubs,
and also of the Westchester County Medical Society and others.

JOHN R. WILTSIE.
John R. Wiltsie descended from a noted line of ancestors. Hendrick
Martinsen Wiltsie came from Denmark to this country in the early part of
the seventeenth century. He served in the Esopus war and settled near Hell
Gate, Long Island, and reared three sons. One of these sons emigrated to
Sylvan Lake, Dutchess county, New York, where he purchased two tracts of
land, comprising over one thousand three hundred acres. In 1773 Johannes
Wiltsie was commissioned first lieutenant of foot militia in Dutchess county,
and took a prominent part in the Revolution. He died in 1820, aged thirty-
eight years.
John C. Wiltsie, father of John R. , was a farmer and justice of the peace.
He was a man of great energy and firmness, and eminently straightforward
in all his dealings. He died when his son John R. was but six years
old. He married Lavina Rapelyea, whose ancestors had been driven
out of France by the edict of Nantes. She was a woman of great
strength of character, and although left a widow with a large family of chil
dren, she early instilled into them lessons of obedience, industry, honor and
integrity, which made her son a worthy representative of a noble lineage,
which stood exponential of virtue, courage, perseverance, independence, and
loyalty to God, to the truth and to country, in a manner constituting true-
nobility. The educational advantages of John R. Wiltsie were meagre, but this
fact seemed to inspire him to extra personal efforts and studious habits, all of
which tended to make him a self-reliant man. He was born at Sylvan Lake,
near Fishkill, Dutchess county, New York, June 5, 18 14. He was educated
in the district schools, which he attended during the winter months. At the
age of fifteen he took up an apprenticeship at saddle and harness making at
Newburgh, with B. F. Buckingham and remained with him up to 1835, when
he commenced in saddlery business on his own account at Newburgh, on

782 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Water street, where he continued up to 1862, being succeeded at that time
by his son, G. Fred. Within this time he had become somewhat interested
in the insurance business, and after abandoning the saddlery business he gave
his attention to insurance, to which he soon added brokerage and banking,
the first enterprise of its kind in Newburgh. In 1867 his son Arthur V. be
came associated with him and in 1869 the firm of John R. Wiltsie & Son
was formed and opened up offices in the present Savings Bank building.
In business he was of a practical, decidedly independent and original cast
of mind, strong in his convictions, tenacious to his views, adhering to what
he considered just and right, though compelled to stand alone. He was a
trustee of the Newburgh Savings Bank from 1855 up to his death, as well as
secretary of the board for the same length of time. He did more toward
making the institution a success than any other man. What had been a
failure with a capital of twenty-eight thousand dollars he built up until it
represented four million dollars deposits at his death. On January 5, 1870,
he was appointed treasurer of the Newburgh & Cochocton Turnpike Com
pany, continuing in the office up to the time of his death.
Though not a politician he filled the office of deputy internal-revenue
assessor. He was fond of the rod and gun, and made annual trips to the
Adirondacks on hunting and fishing expeditions. He was a man of very
robust health. He was president of the Hudson River Association, organ
ized for the protection of game.
Mr. Wiltsie's first wife, Elmira, a daughter of Robert Lawson, he mar
ried October 17, 1837. They had one child, G. Fred. Mrs. Wiltsie died
in January, 1843. On January 9, 1845, he married Mary Susan, a daughter
of Rev. Luke A. Spofford, of Massachusetts, and a sister of Judge Henry
Spofford, of Louisiana, and A. R. Spofford, formerly librarian of congress.
Her father was a lineal descendant of Israel Putnam.
To this union were born six children: Arthur; Elmira, wife of J. T. Jos
lin; Henry A., who died young; Harriet Maria; Charlotte E. ; and Laura
Spofford, wife of subject, W. H. Lake.
Socially Mr. Wiltsie was a genial, courtly gentleman, decidedly com
panionable. He possessed a certain magnetic attraction which awakened in
his friends a strong, clinging attachment. Warm in his sympathies, acute
in his discernment of good qualities, he quickly took the measure of men,
entered into their sensibilities and felt with them and for them. He was
versatile of mind, and of great tact as a conversationalist. In bearing he
was of aristocratic appearance, but he was very democratic in his real nature
and conduct. In his church relations he was a devout churchman and
exemplary Christian, being a regular attendant of divine services and a liberal
giver to church support. He was formerly a member of the Dutch Reformed

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 783
church of Newburgh and for many years was elder, deacon and superintend
ent of the Sunday-school. He was county secretary of the State Sabbath-
school Association, and organized the first Sabbath-school association in
Orange county. Mr. Wiltsie died August 16, 1882.

REV. LUKE A. SPOFFORD.
Rev. Luke A. Spofford, maternal grandfather of Mrs. William H. Lake,
mentioned on anotherpage, was born Novembers, 1785, atjaffry, NewHamp-
shire. He graduated from Middlebury College, and subsequently lived at
Gilmanton, New Hampshire. He was a devoted Christian worker, and served
as pastor of the following churches: Gilmanton, Brentwood, Lancaster,
Atkinson, Chilmark and Martha's Vineyard. Besides this he did a great
deal of missionary work in the western states, and was the founder of
many churches. He died at Rockport, Indiana, September 27, 1855. His
wife died at Williamsburg, Ohio, February 25, 1855, aged sixty-three years.
Their children were: Richard Cecil, a graduate of Amherst College; Mary
Susan, who became the wife of John R. Wiltsie, whose sketch precedes this,
a most estimable lady, was educated at Wheaton College, has written sev
eral poems, and possesses considerable literary ability; Judge Henry, Martin,
Elizabeth Jane, Ainsworth Rand and Ann Matilda.
¦Judge Henry Spofford was born at Gilmanton, New Hampshire, in 1821,
and graduated with highest honors from Amherst College in 1840, and was a
member of the faculty of that college in 1840-42. He subsequently went
to Louisiana, where he taught school, studied law, and was admitted to
practice in 1845, becoming associated with Judge Alcott. He compiled
a work called Louisiana Magisterial, which became invaluable to the legal
profession. He was elected judge of the supreme court of Louisiana at
thirty-three years of age, and many of his rulings on the bench became stat
utes. He was elected United States senator from Louisiana in 1876. He
died August 21, 1880, while on a health tour.
Ainsworth Rand Spofford, who was for thirty-two years the librarian of
congress, was educated in a classical course under private tuition and later
became a bookseller and publisher. In 1859 he became associate editor of
the Cincinnati Commercial. In 1861 he was appointed assistant librarian of
congress by President Lincoln, and in 1864 became librarian in chief, in
which capacity he served up to 1896. During this time he built the library
up from seventy thousand volumes to over six hundred thousand volumes.
He made the position a very important and responsible one as well as a
difficult one to fill. During his time he established the ruling which required

784 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
that all the copyrights and copyright publications should be deposited in
the library. He has written voluminously for the press, on historical, economic and
literary subjects, besides which he has published a number of extensive
works, among which are The American Almanac and Treasury of Facts, ten
volumes, in 1 88 1-4; Wit and Humor, five volumes, in 1884; and a manual
of parliamentary law, the same year. He is famed for his comprehensive
knowledge of books and authors and his broad range of knowledge. He is
a prodigious worker. He is a member of various historical and philosoph
ical societies, and received the degree of LL. D. from Amherst College.
He was succeeded as librarian, in 1896, by Hon. John Russell Young,
since which time he has devoted himself to collecting a library of ancient vol
umes from all nations. He still resides in Washington, D. C.

J. WESLEY RANDALL.
This well and favorably known citizen of Yonkers has had an eventful
history, and when he was less than a score of years old he had struck many a
blow for the preservation of the Union and the country under whoses stripes
he and his ancestors for several generations had been born. The loyal,
devoted patriotism which he manifested on a thousand occasions in the fore
front of battle has been shown in his life no less in the years of peace which
succeeded the years of dreadful strife.
Born May 9, 1842, J. Wesley Randall is a son of Noah and Julia (Moyer)
Randall, who were of English and German extraction, respectively. As his
father died when our subject was seven years of age, little is known of his
family history. He was a native of New Bedford, Massachusetts, and for
many years was a resident of New Haven, Connecticut. There he carried
on important and extensive business as a contractor, furnishing and transport
ing heavy stone for building purposes. He died at the age of forty-two
years, in March, 1849. To himself and first wife, Thama, three children
were born, — Joseph, Freeman and Julia; and by his marriage to Julia Moyer
there were three children also, — J. W., Sarah Brown, and Nellie, the wife
of William Wilson, of Rochester, New York. Mrs. Julia Randall, who was
born February 9, 1805, died June 9, 1897, her life having nearly spanned the
wonderful nineteenth century. Her father, Jacob Moyer, was one of the
generals of Washington's body guard during the war of the Revolution, and
her uncle, George Moyer, served in the war of 1812-14. The brothers were
natives of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Noah and Julia Randall were active
members of the Methodist Episcopal church, the latter being especially
zealous in religious affairs.

/f£jjlt, P\£n*fi6ad£

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 785
J. Wesley Randall received an excellent education in the public schools
of New Haven, and when about fifteen years of age he commenced learning
the business of a stationary engineer. Subsequently he took a position on
the Elm City, a steamboat plying between New Haven, Connecticut, and.
New York city, and later he mastered the machinist's trade.
The opening year of the war of the Rebellion, young Randall enlisted
in the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery for a period of three years. In
Maryland the regiment was recruited to twelve hundred and placed under the
command of Colonel Robert O. Tyler. The winter of 1 86 1-2 they were
encamped on Arlington Heights, and their first active fighting was at the
siege of Yorktown. After the battle of Hanover Court House the regiment
was moved up to Fair Oaks, where, failing to receive expected reinforce
ments, our troops fell back, retreating for seven days, until at Malvern Hill
they made a desperate stand against the enemy. While thus engaged, in the
afternoon, the Cimeron, a Union gunboat, proceeding along the James river,
mistaking the federals in the distance for rebels, opened fire upon them, with
disastrous effect. Mr. Randall was lying upon the ground, firing at the gray-
coats, when a nine-inch shell from the gunboat struck the ground near his feet,
plowed through the earth under him, and passing beyond burst and killed
four of our brave "boys in blue." Wonderful to relate, our subject was
unhurt, although in the thickest of the fight, save that he sustained a severe-
shock, and, accompanying his comrades, fell back with the troops after the-
battle to Harrison's Landing. He became seriously ill a short time after the-
engagement at that point, and was sent to Bellevue Hospital, New York,
where he was discharged on account of physical disability, in September, 1862.
Coming to Yonkers in the fall of 1862, Mr. Randall became chief engineer-
of the Star Arms Company, and October 15, 1863, he passed an examination as
an engineer in the government naval service, and was appointed second assistant
engineer on the Tallapoosa, under Captain DeHaven. Some time afterward
he was detached from the Tallapoosa and ordered aboard the monitor Maho
pac, which participated in the James river campaign and the Fort Fisher
expedition of 1864. Their first assault being unsuccessful, the boat retreated
and was caught in a fearful storm which raged along the coast, and had it
not been for the courage and intelligent management of the chief engineer,
Marshal] T. Cheevers, all on board must inevitably have perished. At last
the monitor safely reached Beaufort harbor, North Carolina; and while there,
Mr. Randall applied to Admiral Porter, who was in command of the fleet, for
a detachment, and was transferred to the gunboat Mackinaw, on which vessel
he participated in the second and successful attack upon Fort Fisher.
After the capture of the fort the fleet was re-formed and sent up the
Cape Fear river and next engaged Fort Anderson. The Mackinaw, being in
50

788 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
the lead, approached to a point near the fort in order to enable gunners to
use the nine-inch broadside guns, and after one day's severe battle the fort
was captured. The fleet next proceeded farther up the river, where Fort
St. Philip was engaged, and in the contest the Mackinaw took no small part.
Order was then given to take the vessel north to James river, which it
ascended to the Appomattox river and to the Point of Rocks, and here the
Mackinaw was moored across the river and her nine-inch guns trained to
support General Grant's line; after the battle of Petersburg and the fall of
Richmond the vessel was ordered north to the Kittery navy yard, New
Hampshire, where, in May, 1865, she went out of commission.
Mr. Randall returned to Yonkers, where he was placed on waiting
orders, and after a few weeks was ordered to Washington as second assistant
engineer of the United States steamer Hornet, the pleasure boat of Presi
dent Andrew Johnson. The chief executive and his cabinet started down
the bay July 4, 1865, and when outside of Cape Henry a high wind arose
and at one time all the members of the cabinet were seasick. The ship was
ordered about back to the navy yard and the trip was not resumed. In
September, 1865, Mr. Randall tendered his resignation, since the war was
over and he thought that his services were no longer needed.
Though his connection with our country's navy dates back many years,
Mr. Randall has never lost his intense and patriotic interest in it, and has
kept up many of the friendships which he formed among the officers and
crews with whom he came into association during the stormy period of the
war. With just pride he refers to the bravery and genius of Robert W.
Milligan, an intimate friend of his over thirty years ago, who, during the
recent Spanish-American war, won fame at Santiago. He was the chief
engineer of the Oregon, which ship first sighted Cervera's fleeing fleet and
delivered the first shot in the memorable combat. It was owing to the intel
ligence, foresight and determination of Mr. Milligan that the Oregon was
kept under a full head of steam and was thus prepared for the notable
chase, resulting in complete victory on our side and undeniably bringing
about the speedy termination of the war. Robert W. Milligan and J.Wesley
Randall were assistant engineers together on the United States steamer
Mackinaw in 1864-5.
Mr. Randall has a warm place in his heart for the boys who wore the
blue, and has long been a member of John C. Fremont Post, No. 590, Grand
Army of the Republic. Since 1867 he has been identified with the Rising
Star Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. For some time after his
return to Yonkers in 1865, he was chief engineer for the Harlem Chemical
Works; then occupied a position on contract with the Otis Elevator Works,
and from 1870 to 1883 was employed as chief engineer in the Baldwin &

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 787
Flagg Hat Factory. Since 1885 he has held the very responsible position of
chief engineer of the immense buildings of the O. B. Potter estate, including the
"sky-scraper " Potter building and Empire building, in New York city. His
business office is at No.^n^ Empire building, and he not only attends to
the employment of every one connected with the running of these buildings
but also has charge of all repairs, alterations and changes required by the
tenants of the estate.
The first marriage of Mr. Randall took place March 18, 1861, when
Miss Mary Palmer became his wife. She died, leaving one son, Frank, who
is now a prominent dealer in real estate in Minneapolis, Minnesota. On the
8th of June, 1865, Mr. Randall married Miss Emma, daughter of Edward
Crisfield, and they have had five children, namely: Wallace, who died at
the age of six years; Frederick Eugene, also deceased; Walter Melville,
who died when three years old; Edna Estelle, who was born in 1875, ar>d
is now the wife of Milton P. Kaler, of Yonkers; and Warren Lester, who is
still at home with his parents. They are members of the Methodist Episco
pal church, and enjoy the friendship of a multitude of acquaintances.

FRANKLIN HORTON.

This highly esteemed citizen of Yorktown Heights, Westchester county,
was born July 6, 1862, and is the son of William and Annette (Purdy) Hor
ton, and a grandson of Henry and Ann (Carow) Horton. He occupies and
cultivates the farm upon which he was born.
The Horton family were early in this county. William H. Horton, the
father of Franklin, is now of Guthrie Center, Iowa, and was at one time
overseer of Ward's Island for about six years. He was born and raised on
the old Horton Homestead in Yorktown. His father, Harry Horton, was
one of the leading men in that township. William H. married Annette, a
daughter of Isaac and Hester (Vail) Purdy, who died at the age of thirty-
seven years. On the Vail side of the family there were ancestors who took
an active part in the Revolutionary war. The old Vail homestead, located
in the town of Somers, was owned by Isaac Vail, the grandfather on the
maternal side, and was known at an early day as Cortlandt Manor. The
Purdy family also has long been established and favorably known in this
county. Mr. Horton, our subject, has a large number of old papers handed
down to him dating back as far as 1700. William H. Horton had three chil
dren: Isaac P. and Randolph, both of Guthrie county, Iowa, and Franklin,
who is the subject proper of this sketch.
Educated in the public schools and reared to agricultural pursuits, Mr.
Horton married on attaining manhood and continued to make his home on

788 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
the old place, attending the crops and flocks, and adding both to his business
and his friendships. He has a property of one hundred and thirty-two acres,
which is well situated and brings him a neat income. His wife, whose maiden
name was Julia Hahn, was a native of this county and the daughter of Paul
and Paulina Hahn; her father is deceased.
Mr. Horton is an enthusiastic Democrat, taking an active part in poli
tics. For a time he had the position of inspector of streams of Westchester
county in the department of public works of New York city; was gate-keeper
in the Grand Central Railroad depot in New York city for three years, and
was appointed gate-keeper at the Amawalk reservoir on August 10, 1898. He
is well and favorably known in this county.

JACKSON YOUNG.

Jackson Young, for many years a leading representative of the agricultural
interests of Westchester county, was born in New Castle, October 12, 181 5,
and died in Mount Kisco, January 30, 1891. His parents were John and
Sarah (Carpenter) Young, both natives of Sing Sing. His father, who was
born January 5, 1782, died April 13, 1838, and his mother, whose birth
occurred July 15,. 1789, passed away September 15, 1829. Mr. Young was
an enterprising and practical farmer and an honest, upright man who was
recognized as a leader in the community in which he resided. Both he and
his wife were members of the Society of Friends, as were their respective
families. They had eleven children: Mary, who was born September 22,.
1807, and died August 26, 1.829; Deborah, born March 25, 1809, and died
February 2, 1899; Eliza R., who was born September 23, 1810, and died
February 27, 1840; Emeline M., who was born February 14, 1812, and died
January 7, 1891; De Witt C. , who was born October 2, 1813, and died March
10, 1889; Jackson, who was born October 12, 1815, and died January 30,
1891; Lydia R., who was born October 12, 1817, and died April 1, 1847;
Asa W., who was born April 30, 1820, and died August 28, 1898; Jessie C,
who was born September i, 1822, and died April 21, 1875; J°hn W. , born
March 28, 1824, and died November 17, 1897; and Harrison, who was born
February 2, 1826, and died January 6, 1859.
Jackson Young, whose name introduces this review, was reared in the
town of New Castle, near Sing Sing, and when, a young man went to New
York city, where for twenty years he was engaged in the grain business,
meeting with gratifying success in his undertaking. He then returned to
Westchester county and made his home in Mount Kisco until his death, devot
ing his energies to agricultural pursuits. He followed practical and progress
ive methods of farming, and his richly cultivated fields yielded to him a golden

flh>

1

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 789
return for the care and labor bestowed upon them. He also possessed excel
lent business and executive ability, and his capable management was an
important element in his success.
February 14, 1846, Mr. Young was united in marriage to Miss Julia A.
Putney, a daughter of Jeremiah Putney, who was born in Westchester county,
April 7, 1788. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Jackson Young,
namely: Rockwell, born September 12, 1850; C. P., who is engaged in busi
ness with his brother Rockwell at White Plains; E. E. , who is conducting a
clothing store in Peekskill; A. W., a lumber merchant of Mount Kisco; and
George W., proprietor of a clothing store in Middletown, New York.
The members of the young family were originally advocates of the Whig
party, and on its dissolution became Republicans. Jackson Young was a
stalwart advocate of the principles of the latter organization, but never sought
or desired office, preferring to devote his energies to his business interests.
He was a man of strong will, of great energy and of strict adherence to a
course which he believed to be right, and commanded the respect of all with
whom he came in contact.
ROCKWELL YOUNG.
Rockwell Young, who is actively connected with the business interests
of White Plains, as a dealer in lumber, builders' materials, coal and feed,
was born in the city of New York, in 1850, and is the oldest son of Jackson
and Julia A. (Putney) Young, whose sketch precedes this. He spent the
first nine years of his life in the metropolis and then accompanied his parents
on their removal to Mount Kisco. As the days of his childhood and youth
passed, he occupied a portion of his time by mastering the branches of learn
ing taught in the private schools and in the Bedford Academy. In 1871 he
left home and entered upon an independent business career as a partner in
the firm of Young, Tripp & Company, of White Plains, dealers in coal and
builders' materials. He was connected with that house for fifteen years,
when, in 1886, he, with Jackson Young, purchased the property of Charles
Wiegand and established his present business, soon after forming a partner
ship with his brother, Cornelius, under the firm style of R. Young & Brother.
They have built up a large and profitable business. Their lumber yard is
situated on Railroad avenue, at the Harlem Railroad crossing, where they
have extensive sheds for the protection of their lumber and coal. They now
enjoy a large and constantly increasing patronage, and are business men of
prominence, sustaining an unassailable reputation for honorable dealing in
trade circles. Mr. Young is one of the founders and trustees of the Home
Savings Bank at White Plains; also one of the promoters, and trustees of
the White Plains Building and Loan Association, and a member of the board

790 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
of directors- of the Central Bank of Westchester County, White Plains, the
oldest bank in this section.
On the 25th of October, 1876, was celebrated the marriage of Mr.
Young and Miss Matilda A. Mathews, daughter of John H. Mathews, of
Mount Kisco, New York, and they now have two children, — Edna J. and
Mabel E. In his political views concerning the national policy Mr. Young is
a Republican and keeps well informed on the issues of the day. He has
served for one term as alderman of the village of White Plains, and is a pub
lic-spirited citizen who takes a commendable and active interest in the vari
ous measures and movements calculated to benefit the community.

ASA W. YOUNG.

Asa W. Young, the son of Jackson Young and the leading lumberman
of Mount Kisco, was born in New York city January 25, 1859, attended the
schools of Mount Kisco, where his father moved when he was a child, and
also the Albany Business College. Upon leaving college he entered the
employ of S. H. Weeks, a lumberman at Mount Kisco as bookkeeper, and
after two years he purchased the hardware business and formed the firm of
Young, Ganum & Smith, and had a store at Mount Kisco and one at Bruster,
New York. This business continued for four years, when he sold his interest
in that enterprise and bought the location of the Seller estate and the lumber
business of A. G. Carpenter, the office and yards of which were on the site.
He conducted the business for five years and then admitted W. I. Halstead
as a partner and has since engaged in the management of the firm of Young
& Halstead, and they have a large business in lumber, grain and coal, and
all kinds of building materials.
Mr. Young is a successful business man, and has always taken an active
interest in the affairs of his village. In politics he is a Republican. Frater
nally he is a member of Kisco Lodge, No. 708, of the A. F. & A. M. In
1885 he married Miss Mary E. Moger, a daughter of Joseph Moger, and
granddaughter of the late David Moger, who was a prominent landmark in
that section for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Young attend the Methodist
Episcopal church, and are leading young people in the society of Mount
Kisco. He is a very popular citizen, and this fact attests his intelligence and
business integrity. CAPTAIN JOHN I. STORM.
A prominent and representative citizen of Peekskill, Captain John Isaac
Storm is now one of the leaders of the Republican party in Westchester
county, his large acquaintance and unbounded popularity giving him an in-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 791
fluential following, while his shrewd judgment of men and affairs makes his
counsel of value in all important movements. In business circles he has also
taken a foremost rank, and for many years was identified with river transpor
tation, his success being all the more notable from the fact that it has been
secured by his own judicious management.
The Captain is descended from one of the oldest and most prominent
Westchester county families, — one that was well represented in the war for
independence. He traces his ancestry back to Dirck Storm, who came from
Utrecht, Holland, to Harlem, New York, in 1662. The arms of the family
were a field, a ship at sea under a storm: crest the helmet of a knight, visor
closed affronte and surmounted by eagle's wings; motto, Vertrowt (in God we
trust). Riker in his history of Harlem says that "Dirck Storm sailed from
Amsterdam September 2, 1662, with his wife, Marie Pieters, and three sons,
Gregoris, Peter and David. In 1670 he was secretary of Brooklyn and after
ward for some years town clerk at Flatbush; was clerk of the session for
Orange county in 1691, and in 1697 he and his family were living on Philipse
manor, where his descendants became numerous and noted." In 1699 David
Storm was chosen one of the deacons of the old Dutch church, and afterward
served several terms as elder. In 1730 Thomas Storm was collector of the
manor. In fact, the Storm family was very prominent in the early days in
this vicinity. Nicholas Storm, Sr. , by his first wife, Rachel, had three chil
dren, namely: Abraham, Elizabeth (wife of Cornelius Van Tassel), and
Isaac. For his second wife he married Maritje Dutcher, daughter of Johannis
Dutcher, and to them were born the following children: Maritje; Rachel,
wife of Isaac Van Wart, one of the captors of Major Andre; and Nicholas, Jr.
Nicholas Storm, Sr. , lived in the present town of Elmsford, his house being
located on the site of the present hotel at that place. He was a stanch
patriot and his name was enrolled among the militia of the manor. His son
Abraham was for a short time captain of the Tarrytown company, was major
of the first regiment of minute men, and a member of the committe of public
safety in 1776-7. He lived at his first place in Elmsford, then known as
Storm's Bridge. His will, dated April 4, 1792, gave in addition to bequests
to his wife, and to the son of his brother, Nicholas Storm, the sum of fifteen
pounds to the old Dutch church, by the sale of a slave, Sam, the balance of
the proceeds of said negro to go to his sister, Catharine De Voos.
Nicholas Storm, Jr., was born on Philipse manor, in the present town
of Greenburg, November 20, 1756, and resided upon the farm now occupied
by Mrs. Decker, who is one of his descendants. In the Revolutionary war
he took up arms against the mother country, and in his application for a
pension, dated March 27, 1838, says that he entered the service in July,
1776, in Captain William Dutcher's company, and was stationed at Tarry-

792 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
town for a term of six weeks. In October he again enlisted in the same
company, and for a time was stationed at Throgg's Neck; in January, 1778,
he again enlisted in that company, — all of which were at that time in service;
and in May, 1779, he served under Captain Daniel Martling. He died May
28, 1835, in his seventy-ninth year. His widow, Mrs. Leaney Storm, in her
application for a pension, February 18, 1837, says she was married on the
19th of December, 1778, at Bedford, New York. She passed away in 1844,
at the age of eighty-three.
The paternal grandparents of our subject were John and Elizabeth
(Jewell) Storm, the former of whom was born at Irvington on the Hudson.
The great-grandfather, who also bore the name of John, was carried from his
home near Dobbs Ferry to the old sugar-house prison at New York in the
early part of the Revolution, and on his way home died from poison, prob
ably administered there. Isaac, Jeremiah and Thomas Storm, soldiers of
the French and Indian war from the manor, and the late General Henry
Storm, of Tarrytown, belonged to the same family. When the Continental
army lay at White Plains, in October, 1776, General Schuyler made his
headquarters at the home of Nicholas Storm, Sr. , and an old colored woman
belonging to the family used often to tell how he powdered his hair.
Captain John I. Storm's parents were Jacob and Mary (Ferris) Storm.
The father, also a native of Irvington on the Hudson, was a highly respected
and honored citizen of his community, was widely known for his generosity
and kindness of heart, and was a consistent Christian gentleman, serving his
church as elder for forty years; he was also a strong anti-slavery advocate.
He was the founder of Sleepy Ho'low cemetery and for many years served
as its superintendent.
On the maternal side Captain John I. Storm is a lineal descendant of
Captain Oliver Ferris, who was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, November
22, 1753. He was a son of Josiah, through John, Jr., and John was
descended from Jeffrey Ferris, the progenitor of the family in America.
Oliver Ferris was married February 10, 1776, to Abigail, daughter of Enos
Lockwood, by the Rev. Blackleach Burritt, who, on the 17th of the follow
ing June, was taken prisoner by the British and incarcerated in the old sugar-
house prison, on account of his stanch patriotism. Captain Ferris did good
service in the Connecticut militia, and the records of the pension office at
Washington, D. C. , show that he enlisted May 10, 1775; was in the expedi
tion to Canada under General Montgomery; was in Colonel John Mead's reg
iment from August 14 to September 25, 1776; in Colonel Wooster's regiment
in 1777; was quartermaster in Colonel Mead's regiment in 1778; was
appointed commander of the war vessel Wakeman March 9, 1779; and was
¦commissioned brigade quartermaster of the Fourth Brigade of the militia of

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 793
Connecticut July 4, 1781. After the Revolution he came to Tarrytown, New
York, and purchased the historic Major Van Tassel place, the date of trans
fer being March 31, 1802. He died August 17, 1825, and ten years later his
son, Benson Ferris, Sr. , sold the homestead, comprising ten acres, to Wash
ington Irving, who rebuilt it and gave it the title of Wolfert's Roost. His
grandson, "Benson Ferris, Jr., son of Benson, Sr. , was born there. The
Captain's widow applied for a pension February 18, 1837.
Captain John I. Storm was born in Tarrytown on the Hudson, February
15, 1838, and his elementary education was acquired in the schools at that
place. Soon after attaining his majority he went to Washington, D. C,
where he entered the employ of Smull & Sons, dealers in hides and fat, as
superintendent, in which capacity he remained with the firm for some time.
He then returned to Tarrytown, and was in the office of the provost marshal,
Captain W. W. Pierson, for a short time. In July, 1865, he entered the
service of the Lower Hudson Steamboat Company as clerk on board the
steamer Sleepy Hollow, and after two years spent in their employ was made
captain of the steamer General Sedgwick, running between Grassy Point and
New York city. From this time forward he was more or less interested in
freight transportation on the Hudson, and in 1870 came to Peekskill, where
he purchased the Peekskill freight line, running between that point and New
York city. In this undertaking he met with well deserved success, and con
tinued his connection with the same until 1878. Subsequently he was identi
fied with the various enterprises at Peekskill and Tarrytown, and in 1885-6
was interested in the Newburg Steamboat Company, being captain of their
steamer, James T. Brett, for two years.
After severing his connection with the transportation business, Captain
Storm commenced giving considerable attention to political and public affairs.
In March, 1888, he was nominated and elected by his party as a member of
the board of trustees of the village of Peekskill, in which capacity he served
for three years. In 1889 he was nominated by the Republican convention in
Westchester county for the office of register, and after a hotly contested cam
paign was elected, and in that capacity also he served for three years, with
promptness and fidelity. He .was elected president of the village of Peeks-
kill in March, 1899. He is deeply interested in public affairs and the good
of the community where he has so long resided. He is genial, courteous,
enterprising and progressive, of a commendable public spirit and of the high
est integrity, reflecting great credit on the community which has honored him
in the highest office.
On January 27, 1876, Captain Storm was married to Miss Georgene Hal
stead, a daughter of George P. and Elizabeth (Carpenter) Halstead, and by
that union there was one child, named Winnefred, now a student at the

794 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Ossining Seminary. The wife and mother died February 14, 1894, and the
Captain was again married November 10, 1896, his second union being with
Georgiana Haight, daughter of Henry L. and Mary (Wildey) Haight. Her
maternal great-grandfather, Thomas Wildey, was a soldier of the Conti
nental army in the Revolutionary war and was killed at the battle of White
Plains.

DWIGHT S. HUBBELL.
Ceaselessly to and fro flies the deft shuttle which weaves the web of
human destiny, and into the vast mosaic fabric enter the individuality, the
effort, the accomplishment of each man, be his station the most lowly or one
of pomp and power. Within the textile folds may be traced the line of each
individuality, be it the one that lends the sheen of honest worth and honest
endeavor, or one that, dark and zigzag, finds its way through warp and woof,
marring the composite beauty by its blackened threads, ever in evidence of
the shadowed and unprolific life. Into the great aggregate each individuality
is merged, and yet the essence of each is never lost, be the angle of its influ
ence wide-spreading and grateful, or narrow and baneful. He who essays
biography finds much of profit and satisfaction when he would follow out the
tracings of a life history, seeking to find the key-note of each respective per
sonality, as one generation succeeds another'. The subject of this review stands
as a representative of old and honored families of English lineage, and in trac
ing the genealogy the record is one which bespeaks the unblotted scutcheon
and lives significant of honor and usefulness in the various relations thereof.
Dwight S. Hubbell, the popular and efficient deputy postmaster at White
Plains, Westchester county, is a native of Connecticut, having been born in
the city of Bridgeport on the 24th of November, 1853, the son of Levi H. and
Caroline (McEwan) Hubbell. The father was born in Derby, Connecticut,
of English parentage. He was an undertaker by profession and was engaged
in this line of enterprise at Bridgeport at the time of his death, which occurred
August 3, 1887, when he had attained the age of sixty-five years. He was
at one time a member of the state militia of Connecticut, and in his political
proclivities was a Jeffersonian Democrat and a stanch advocate of the princi
ples implied. In religion he clung to the faith of his fathers, who had been
communicants of the established church in England, and was himself promi
nently identified with the Protestant Episcopal church. His devoted wife
passed away in 1892, at the age of sixty-eight years. Of their four children
three are now living: Mrs. Mary G. Mays, of White Plains, New York; Harris
B., of Park Ridge, New Jersey; and Dwight S., subject of this sketch. The
deceased daughter was Alice G., who became the wife of W. E. Phillips.
Dwight S. Hubbell received his educational discipline in the public

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 795
schools of his native city, and such was his interest in and devotion to his
studies that he was enabled to graduate in the high school at the early age
of sixteen years, His initial efforts in connection with the practical affairs-
of life were made by his securing a clerkship in a mercantile establish
ment, where he remained for some time, gaining excellent ideas in regard
to general business operations. In the year 1873 the young man came to
Westchester county, New York, to accept the position of deputy postmas
ter at Mount Vernon, under the incumbency of Andrew Bridgeman, in whose
grocery the postoffice was then located. In this capacity at Mount Vernon.
Mr. Hubbell served for the long period of twenty-five consecutive years,
being deputy in turn to Postmasters Bridgeman, David Quackenbush, Colo
nel Henry Huss and Clarence S. McClellan. It is scarcely necessary to
to revert to the fact that within this long interval there had been a constant
expansion of the business of the office, demanding in turn more intricate and
important service on the part of the officials in charge, and implying a con
stantly increasing knowledge of the details of the postal service. The official
reports of the department accord to the Mount Vernon postoffice one of the
best records in the state, and it is not to be doubted that this came as the
direct result, in no small measure, of the efficient services of Mr. Hubbell, for
his service had been consecutive and he had practically assumed the major
responsibility of the practical workings of the office during his protracted-
tenure of the position of deputy.
In 1898, a new postmaster being appointed, he accepted a similar posi
tion in White Plains postoffice. He had given a full quarter of a century to
work and the improvement of the service of the Mount Vernon office. How
ever, his ability in the line was so widely recognized that he received calls to
other positions of similar character, and he soon became the deputy post
master of White Plains, in which capacity he is now retained. He is recog
nized as an authority on postoffice matters, and his advice has been brought
into requisition on many occasions, while he has frequently been called upon
by the department to superintend the establishment of branch offices. In his
work he has been signally conscientious and painstaking, of which no better
evidence may be adduced than that implied in the statement that during his
twenty-five years of service in the Mount Vernon office he indulged in vaca
tions aggregating in all only ten days, certainly a record almost unprece
dented. As a citizen and a man he enjoys a distinctive popularity and holds
the respect and high regard of all who know him or his efficient services and
sterling worth. For about a year and a half Mr. Hubbell conducted an agen
cy for foreign steamship lines, at No. 20 East First street, Mount Vernon,
but the exacting demands of his government position eventually prompted
him to abandon all extraneous interests of a business nature.

796 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
The marriage of Mr. Hubbell was solemnized on the 24th of June, 1874,
when he was united to Miss Lottie J. Spalding, daughter of Henry Spalding,
of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and she presides with gracious refinement over
their home, which is now in White Plains, whither they removed from
Mount Vernon, where Mr. Hubbell has property interests, including an
attractive residence. Mr. Hubbell is a communicant of Grace church, Prot
estant Episcopal, at White Plains, and has been a devoted worker in the
cause which it represents. Fraternally he holds allegiance to Mount Vernon
Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he has been a member
since 1874. His popularity and prominence in the order is manifest from
the fact that he has been chosen as grand representative of his lodge to the
grand lodge of the state.
J. FRANCIS CHAPMAN, M. D.
One of the most exacting of all the higher lines of occupation to which
a man may lend his energies is that of the physician. A most scrupulous
preliminary training is demanded, and a nicety of judgment little understood
by the laity. Then, again, the profession brings its devotees into almost
constant association with the sadder side of life, — that of pain and suffering,
— so that a mind capable of great self-control and a heart responsive and
sympathetic are essential attributes of him who would essay the practice of
the healing art. Thus, when professional success is attained in any instance,
it may be taken as certain that such measure of success has been thoroughly
merited. Standing under the light of a life and character like that of the late Dr.
Seth Shove, the noble man and eminent physician, whose successor he is
and under whose able preceptorage he prosecuted his technical studies, Dr.
Chapman could not do other than hold in high regard the calling to
which he has devoted his life. He may well attribute much of his success
to the one who was indeed a father to him, in more than the mere relation
ship by marriage implies, — to Dr. Shove, whose name is revered in the
community, and who laid down the burden so long and willingly borne, be
queathing to his son-in-law the carrying on of the work he thus resigned at
the close of a long and useful life.
A prominent and successful physician of Katonah, Westchester county,
New York, Dr. J. Francis Chapman was born at East Pepperell, Massachu
setts, on the 23d of July, 1844, the son of Elias and Harriet E. (Tarbell)
Chapman, the former of whom is still living at Pepperell, at the venerable
age of eighty-five years, the mother having entered into eternal rest on
March 11, 1878. The Doctor traces his lineage on either side to stanch old
Revolutionary stock, while representatives of both family lines participated

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 797
in the war of 1812 and the Mexican war. He was one of three children,
and we may here note that his brother, Henry A., who was formerly a suc
cessful teacher in his native town for more than twenty years and merchant
during later years, died suddenly at the old home on the 7th of October,
1898; and that his sister, Eliza J., is the wife of H. T. Lawrence, a coal
merchant of Boston.
Until he was about twenty years of age Dr. Chapman remained at
the parental home in the old Bay state, receiving his preliminary educational
discipline in the old Pepperell Academy. His parents were intelligent Chris
tian people, and the influence of the early home training has had an abiding
effect upon the character of him whose name introduces this review, and to
the memory of his mother and to his venerable father he accords the fullest
measure of filial thankfulness and honor. He was scarcely more than a
mere boy when his patriotic ardor, inherited, it may be, from his Revolu
tionary sires, prompted him to go forth in defense of the nation now in the
midst of the war of the Rebellion. Late in 1864, he served in the quarter
master's department of the Union army and was assigned to duty with the
One Hundred and Seventh United States Infantry (colored). His regiment
served until after the war closed, its members being mustered out in the
spring of 1866, having been for a number of months assigned to garrison
duty at the forts about the national capital.
Soon after his discharge from the army, Dr. Chapman made a visit to
Vineland, New Jersey, where he formed the acquaintance of Miss Irene
Shove, daughter of Dr. Seth Shove, previously mentioned. This acquaint
anceship culminated in the marriage of the Doctor to Miss Shove, October
10, 1866. In the preceding spring he had taken up the study of medicine
with Dr. Shove, who had advised him to adopt this profession as his life
work. He continued his studies under the direction of Dr. Shove for a period,
of three years, and in the fall of 1869 was graduated from the College of
Physicians and Surgeons, in New York city, having the distinction of winning
the class medal known as the Harson prize, together with a check for one
hundred and fifty dollars, offered as a reward for proficiency. It is also in
teresting to note that Dr. Chapman at this time received honorable mention,
for his graduating thesis. These circumstances all indicate most clearly the
excellent preliminary training he had received, and denote as well that he had
been a careful and able student of the science in which he was later to attain
honors and success. After his graduation he became associated in practice
with Dr. Shove, at Katonah, and this professional alliance, strengthened by
the strongest bonds of mutual respect, affection and honor, was broken only
when Dr. Shove was called upon to answer the inexorable summons of death,.
in 1878.

798 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Since the demise of Dr. Shove the subject of this review has continued
in the practice of his profession and has ably maintained the high prestige
gained by his honored preceptor in the long years of his active practice in
Westchester county, his business along professional lines being of a success
ful and distinctly representative order. Mrs. Chapman, whose association
from earliest childhood had been that of a physician's home, has proved to
the Doctor an able coadjutor. She graduated at the Wyoming Seminary in
1865, and later pursued a course of study in the Women's Medical College,
of New York, thus fitting herself to aid her husband in his work.
Dr. Chapman became a member of the State Medical Society in 1872,
having previously, in 1869, become identified with the Westchester County
Medical Society, of which he was secretary for ten years and president for
one term. He has maintained a lively interest in the society and its work,
and has done much to keep the organization on a solid foundation, fully
realizing the value of the same to the profession of the county. He was
appointed a member of the Tarrytown Board of Pension Examiners and
served during the administration of President Harrison, the meetings of the
board being held at Tarrytown. This appointment was conferred without
the solicitation or knowledge of the Doctor, and resulted from the friendly
intervention of the late Judge Robertson, who was his intimate friend and
associate, and whose physician he was for many years. For more than two
years Dr. Chapman has been an attendant of the New York Eye and Ear
Infirmary, and he is making this department of his profession a specialty,
though his general practice is one of very wide scope. He is essentially a
student, and his investigations and reading are prosecuted with unflagging
zeal and earnestness, so that he is at all times in line with the latest develop
ments in the sciences of medicine and surgery. He is the local medical
examiner for a large number of the most important life-insurance companies.
In his political proclivities the Doctor champions the cause of the Repub
lican party, of which he is a stanch adherent, though not an active worker in
the political line. He is public-spirited in his attitude, and is ever ready to
lend encouragement and aid to all measures which have for their object the
advancement of the interests of the community. In religion he is an earnest
and devoted member of the Presbyterian church at Katonah, and is recognized
as one of the most indefatigable and most prominent workers in the local soci
ety as well as the church at large. He was one of the little band who aided
in organizing the church in Katonah, and through the devoted efforts of the
society, which at the time numbered but eleven members, the original church
edifice was built and the present fine granite edifice is being erected at the
village. The church was established in 1872, and Dr. Chapman has been a
member of its board of ruling elders since that time, and is now president of

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 799
its board of trustees. He was superintendent of the Sunday-school for twelve
years, has been clerk of the session since the organization of the church, and
a frequent delegate to the Presbytery of Westchester. In the present year
he was appointed a commissioner to the General Assembly of the church,
which convened at Minneapolis, Minnesota, on the 1 8th of May, 1899.
Dr. and Mrs. Chapman have two sons: Charles Francis Chapman, M.
D., of Mount Kisco, this county, to whom specific reference is made on
another page of this work; and Herbert Shove Chapman, who was born in
1870, and is in the auditing department of the North British & Mercantile
Insurance Company; of New York city. The family home is one of the
attractive domiciles of Katonah, being now located on an attractive site in the
new town, to which it was removed from the older section of the village in
ii

WILLIAM J. BEAIRSTO.
The city of Yonkers includes among its leading citizens the gentleman
whose name initiates this biographical account, — William J. Beairsto.
He was born at Boston, Massachusetts, March 29, 1862, son of Thomas
and Maria (Quigley) Beairsto, and in him is a mixture of French and Irish
blood. His paternal grandfather, Johnston Beairsto, was a shipbuilder by
trade and was born in Canada East, to which place his grandfather had emi
grated from Paris, France, his location being on Prince Edward island. The
great-grandfather of our subject was a soldier in the Revolutionary war.
Thomas Beairsto was born on Prince Edward island, November 10, 1832,
and for some years he was a shipbuilder in his father's employ. Coming to
the United States, he located in Boston, where he made his home five years,
and removed thence to New York city, where he was engaged in the fertilizer
business. In 1865 he came to Yonkers, where he has since lived and is now
retired. His wife died in 1897, at the age of sixty-two years. They were
the parents of ten children, of whom six are now living, namely: Mrs. Anna
J. Barton, William J., Ida M. , Thomas, Joseph and J. Albert.
Joseph Quigley, the grandfather of our subject, was an early pioneer of
Boston, having come to the United States in 1812-13. His father, Joseph,
was a leading manufacturer in the city of Dublin. Joseph Quigley, Jr.,
engaged in the importing business in Boston, and later as a contractor, and
as such he was very successful. He died in 1865, leaving a widow and
children. William J. received his education at public school No. 6, Yonkers,
being a student there until his fourteenth year. Leaving school, he entered
upon a three-years apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade, making a spe
cialty of stair-building, and this business he followed from 1880 to 1889. He

800 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
then became a traveling salesman for the Waterburg Rubber Company, of
New York city, with which he has since been connected in that capacity;
also, he is identified with other business enterprises. He has an interest in
the McElroy Smokeless Furnace Company, of 49 Warren street, New York
city, inventors and manufacturers of the McElroy Smokeless Furnace, the
only successful smokeless furnace on the market. Also at the same place he
is interested in a leather business.
Politically Mr. Beairsto is a Republican and has always been active and
efficient in promoting the interests of his party, frequently serving as dele
gate to various Republican conventions. In 1898 he was made deputy
sheriff of Westchester county. For eight years he was a member of the
Yonkers fire department and he is still active in promoting its interests.
Religiously he is a Roman Catholic, a devout member of St. Joseph's
church. He maintains fraternal relations with the Red Men, Knights of
Pythias, Ancient Order of United Workmen, Commercial Travelers' Associa
tion and Knights of Columbus.
Mr. Beairsto was married, May 12, 1886, to Miss Emma Frances
Crofut, daughter of David K. Crofut, of Yonkers. The Crofut family have
been residents of Westchester county for a period of two hundred years.
Mr. and Mrs. Beairsto have seven children: William J., Jr., Emma Mary,
Anna, Joseph A., Emma Frances, Frank B. and David E.

ALVARO JAMES ADAMS.

The profession of law is honored by the ability and integrity of the
Mount Kisco attorney whose name appears above. He is a native of Nassau,
Rensselaer county, New York, born January 3, 1851, and was reared to
agricultural pursuits by his parents, Hiel and Mary (Newton) Adams. His
father, a native of the same county, passed his entire life there as farmer
and school-teacher, dying at the age of seventy-seven years. In his political
views he was a Whig and Republican, held several local offices and was
active in the public affairs of his town and county. In his religion he was a
member of the Baptist church. His father, also named Hiel, was a native
of the same county and a farmer all his life, and was a soldier in the war of
1812. He passed from the scenes of earth at the age of fifty-four years.
The great-grandfather of our subject, Elijah Adams, was an officer in the
Revolutionary war. Heroic patriotism therefore characterizes the ancestry
of Mr. Adams. All his ancestors of the last century — Adams, Harris, Garri
son and Newton — indeed were strong supporters of the Revolution. A great
grandfather, Rev. Ephraim Harris, took part in the battle of Germantown,
using a musket and fighting in the ranks as a common soldier, was also a

Trie Lewis Publishing Do.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 801
chaplain and was one of those sufferers who passed the severe winter at Val
ley Forge with Washington. Among Mr. Adams' ancestors was a grand
mother named Deborah Garrison, who was a daughter of Rev. Ephraim
Harris and wife of Daniel Garrison.
Mr. Adams, the subject of this brief outline, in his youth attended the
common schools and the State Normal School at Albany. At the early age
of sixteen years he began teaching in the district schools. In 1874 he took
up the study of law in the Albany Law School and graduated in 1877,,
immediately after which he opened out in the practice of his chosen profes
sion at Sing Sing, in partnership with Judge Lent, and a few months after
ward came to Mount Kisco, where he has since. devoted his energies to his.
profession with that success that is due to capacity and integrity.
In his political principles Mr. Adams is a stanch Republican. He has.
been attorney for the village of Mount Kisco and the town of New Castle,.
and he now has charge of a great many claims of the people against the New
York City Watershed. He has also held and now holds the office of school
trustee, and was instrumental in bringing about the union of the two school
districts. Mr. Adams is a member of Gratitude Lodge, No. 674, F & A. M.,
of Nassau, New York; of Buckingham Chapter, R. A. M., No. 174, of
Sing Sing; of Westchester Commandery, No. 42, K. T. ; of Croton Valley
Lodge, I. O. O. F. , of Mount Kisco, and one of the trustees of the same;
of Mount Kisco Council, Jr. O. U. A. M. ; and Kisco Council, No. 1562,.
Royal Arcanum. In respect to his religious views we may state that he is a
member of the Presbyterian church.
He was united in marriage with Miss Emily Bennett, of Albany county.
New York, and they have two children, — Irene B. and Alvaro Justin.

CHARLES H. MURRAY.

The names of those who have come down to us through history from.
remote ages are largely men who won fame through military prowess, who in
war and conquest gained renown, but their labors were always to a greater or
less extent attended by destruction and its natural sequence, sorrow. As
civilization has advanced, however, those who have gained the right and title
to have their names enduringly inscribed on the bright pages of history are
they whose efforts have resulted to the general good, and have been attended
by progress and improvement. What more creditable monument could stand
to the memory of any individual than a beautiful town or city, — a place of
thriving business interests and the home of a prosperous, contented people.
In Larchmont, Charles H. Murray has such a monument, for he was one of
51

802 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
the founders and builders of this village. In the period of its early devel
opment, no enterprise or interest there was placed on a substantial founda
tion without his support, and up to the time of his death he was an active
factor in its welfare and upbuilding. Thus it is that the record of West
chester county would be incomplete without the sketch of Charles H.
Murray, for many years one of its most eminent and honored citizens.
A native son of the Empire state, Charles H. Murray was born in
Albany, on the 19th of April, 1817, and there spent his boyhood days and
acquired his education. He began his business career as clerk in a store,
where he remained, gradually working his way upward until he became a
partner in the enterprise. He applied himself closely to his business inter
ests, and his honorable dealings and courteous treatment of his patrons made
him one of the most popular merchants of the city. As his financial resources
increased, Mr. Murray made judicious investments in real estate and stocks,
-manifesting superior judgment in placing his capital, and thus realizing hand
some profits thereon. He also became connected with the banking and
'exchange business in New York city, and, being a man of more than ordinary
business ability and sagacity, he made money rapidly. This came from a close
study of the conditions of any enterprise with which he was connected, so
that he made no false move in placing his capital in an interest whose out
come was uncertain. He could judge and manage men exceptionally well,
and his own unassailable reputation enabled him to secure the confidence and
co-operation of others. In 1871 he came to Larchmont, Westchester county,
and purchased a plat of ground, upon which he erected a fine and substan
tial residence, making it his permanent home until called from the scene of
earth's activities in 1897. From that time forward he was closely identified
with the growth and progress of the village. He promoted its material wel
fare through the organization of business concerns, which added to the com
mercial and industrial activity of the town. He was instrumental in organ
izing the Larchmont Water Company, and established a very complete
system of water-works, the supply of water being brought a distance of four
miles. He also formed the Larchmont Electric Light Company, became its
heaviest stockholder, and was the president of the company at the time of
his death. In these ways he materially advanced the interests of the village
and added to its prosperity.
In 1838 or '9, probably, Mr. Murray, was united in marriage to Miss
Jessie Conway, and to them were born two children, a son and a daughter:
William, now a prominent resident of Larchmont; and Jessie, wife of Walter
S. Neilson, also of this village. Mr. Murray was a man of domestic tastes
and found his chief delight in the pleasures of home. The Murray house
hold was always noted for its hospitality and his friends found him a most

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 803
-entertaining and genial host. Mrs. Murray ably seconded her husband in all
his social efforts and her sweet womanly qualities endeared her to all who
knew her. She was a devoted wife and mother, an earnest Christian woman,
and passed away in 1884, Mr. Murray, however, surviving until 1897. His
life was indeed well spent. In his accumulation of wealth he was not un
mindful of the interests of others, and was ever ready to encourage young
men of enterprise and to extend a helping hand to the poor and needy. He
was also greatly attached to his church, being a member of St. John's Epis
copal church, of Larchmont, to which he contributed most liberally. He
was always one of the first to subscribe for the support of any movement
calculated to advance the moral, intellectual or material welfare of his town.
In politics he was a most pronounced Republican in national and state mat
ters, but voted independently of parties at local elections, supporting the men
whom he considered best qualified for the office. At this point it would be
almost redundant to enter into any series of statements showing Mr. Murray
to have been a man of broad intelligence and genuine public spirit, for these
have been shadowed forth between the lines of this review. He was a man
of strong individuality and broad humanitarian principles, which taken in con
nection with his rectitude of character naturally gained to him the respect and
confidence of men.

WELLINGTON LOUNSBURY.
The world instinctively pays deference to the man who has achieved suc
cess, overcoming the obstacles in his path until he has reached a high posi
tion in the business world. This is a progressive age and he who does not
advance is soon left far behind. Mr. Lounsbury, by the improvement of
opportunities by which all are surrounded, has steadily and honorably worked
his way upward and has attained a fair degree of prosperity, He makes his
home in Yorktown township and owns and operates the Fowler mill, now
known as the Lounsbury mill, situated on Mill Brook.
He was born in Yorktown, July 25, 1857, and is a son of Ezra and Mary
Ann (Losee) Lounsbury. The birth of the former occurred in the town of
Somers, Westchester county. The grandfather, Jesse Lounsbury, who was
of Scotch descent, married a Miss Flewellen, who belonged to an old West
chester county family. Both died in Sullivan county, this state. Ezra
Lounsbury grew to manhood in Westchester county, and wedded Miss Mary
Ann Losee, who was born in Yorktown, this county, a daughter of Stephen
A. and Martha Losee, representatives of an old Dutch family. After his
marriage Mr. Lounsbury worked at the carpenter's trade, which he followed
for over thirty years, but in 1874 purchased the mill now owned by his son,

804 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
the subject of this sketch, William Tompkins, and turned his attention to-
the operation of the same. He was a life-long Republican in politics, and
both he and his wife were faithful members of the Baptist church. Ezra
Lounsbury died June 27, 1897, and his wife Mary Ann Lounsbury died May
10, 1899. Wellington Lounsbury, the only child of this worthy couple, was reared
and mainly educated in this county, but attended the Chappaqua Mountain
Institute for some time. Since attaining to man's estate he has given the
greater part of his attention to milling and in his undertakings has been
remarkably successful. Besides his mill property he owns a fine farm of one
hundred acres in Cortland township, and three dwelling-houses in Peekskill.
On the 29th of December, 1875, Mr. Lounsbury led to the marriage
altar Miss Josephine Clayton, of Roxbury, Delaware county, New York, a
daughter of John Clayton, deceased, and his wife, Sarah (Baxter) Clayton.
Mrs. Lounsbury is a lady of refinement who has received a liberal education,
and both she and her husband are now pursuing the work of the Chautauqua
Club with the Shrub Oak class. Mrs. Lounsbury is a member of the York-
town Baptist church. They give their support to all enterprises tending to
advance the educational or moral welfare of the community. Genial and
pleasant in manner they stand high in the community where they have so
long made their home, and no citizens in the county are more honored or
highly respected.

IRA D. STRANG.

Among the representative citizens of Westchester county is the gentle
man named above, who was born on the old Strang homestead in this
county, March 22, 1851. The family to which he belongs has long been
associated with the history of New York state, and was originally of France,
the name being then spelled De la Strange. The paternal grandfather
of our subject was Nathaniel Strange, who with his twelve brothers
and sisters grew to maturity in this county. Several of them attained
to extreme old age, one dying at ninety-seven, one at ninety-five and three
at ninety-one years, the average age of the thirteen being eighty-five years.
Nathaniel Strang married Miss Lent, whose ancestors also were early set
tlers of the Empire state.
Daniel Strang, the father of Ira D., was born on the farm since owned
and occupied by his son, Albert Strang, M. D., March 13, 1810. The house
where he was born stood at the east of the present one and across the road.
His mother was a daughter of Jacob and Philena Lent, of Somers. His edu
cation was that of many of his contemporaries, received in the district school

^>lJ %/-A.B fLUc'lv.e.

s%

2#sO*

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 805
and at the North Salem Academy. His early life was spent on his father's
farm. Later he purchased the Strang homestead on Crompond street in
Yorktown township. On December 20, 1837, he was united in marriage
with Sarah Jane, daughter of Daniel B. and Deborah (Hoag) Tompkins, of
Yorktown, and their children are: Margaret, who died in infancy; Mary
Jane, wife of Ebenezer Wood, Jr., of South Salem, now deceased; Albert
Strang, M. D. , of Yorktown township, also deceased; and Ira D., our sub
ject. Daniel Strang was an ardent advocate of the principles of the Dem
ocratic party and for some years served as supervisor of Yorktown township.
Albert Strang, M. D,, the brother of Ira D., was born in Yorktown
township, October 13, 1843, educated at the district school and College Hill,
Poughkeepsie, New York, and in October, 1864, entered Bellevue Hospital
Medical College in New York city and began his professional studies under
the preceptorship of Stephen Smith, M. D., professor of anatomy in that
institution, and graduated in 1867, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine.
The previous year he had been a junior assistant in Bellevue Hospital, and
in October, 1867, he became the senior assistant; was house surgeon in
1867-8; assistant to the chair of descriptive and surgical anatomy in Bellevue
Hospital Medical College in 1868-70; and health inspector in the health
department of New York city 1869-71. From 1864 to 1871 he resided in
New York city. In 1872 he returned to Yorktown and began a successful
career in the practice of his profession. On September 2, 1868, he mar
ried Kate Depew, daughter of Isaac and Martha M. Depew, of Peekskill,
and a sister of Hon. Chauncey M. Depew. The children by this union were
Martha Depew, Elise Hagaman and Mary Jane. Dr. Strang died January
24, 1888. Ira D. Strang, whose name heads this sketch, obtained his education in
private schools and at River View Academy at Poughkeepsie, and also at
Williston Seminary, at East Hampton, Massachusetts. Since then he has
made his home in Yorktown, devoting his energies to the management of his
large real-estate interests, conducting also a very successful fire and life insur
ance business. Ever since 1883 he has been identified with the interests of
the northern portion of Westchester county. He is a director of the Peek-
skill Savings Bank, a director of the Peekskill Clock and Novelty Company,
and of the Poughkeepsie Underwear Factory, and from a financial point of
view is considered one of the most substantial men of the county. He casts
his ballot in favor of the principles and nominees of the Democratic party
and represented his town in the county legislature for seven years,— from
1887 to 1894, — during which period he was an acknowledged leader; and no
supervisor was on more important committees or did more faithful service to
town or county, managing the public business with the same care that

806 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
attends his private affairs. Many times has he been sent as a delegate to
state and county conventions of his party.
On the 14th of October, 1874, he was married to Miss Katie L. Jacobs,
of Peekskill, a daughter of N. S. and Caroline Jacobs. Their only child,
Kate, is a graduate of Lyndon Hall Seminary at Poughkeepsie and is now
living in the paternal mansion. Her mother died in 1878, aged twenty-five
years. In 1880 Mr. Strang wedded Miss Mary B. Fowler, a daughter of
George B. Fowler, of this township, and by the latter marriage there are
two children: Arthur F. , who is a student at the Mohegan Lake school; and
Florence, who died in 1887, at the age of four years. Mrs. Mary B. Strang
passed to the invisible world September 17, 1894, when in her thirty-sixth
year.
JAMES L. TAYLOR.
James L. Taylor, the editor and proprietor of the Dobbs Ferry Register,
and also of the Hastings Echo, is one of the wide-awake, enterprising and
progressive men of this village, in which he was born July 3, 1863. His
parents, Thomas and Mary (Higgins) Taylor, were natives of the Emerald
Isle, although his father was reared in Sheffield, England, whence in 1840 he
came to America. He located in the city of New York and worked at his
trade, that of mason. In 1852 he brought his family to Dobbs Ferry, where
he was engaged in contracting and building, constructing principally the
foundations and walls of stores and dwellings and the abutments of bridges.
He was a skilled workman and much of his work is still in evidence. He
died September 14, 1864, when James was but one year and two months
old. Mr. Taylor, our subject, attended the public schools of Dobbs Ferry,
where he received his primary education. He was of a studious nature and
applied himself diligently to his books with such good results that he was
a graduate of the school when but seventeen years -of age. After finishing
his schooling he secured a position in the office of Warner D. Hatch, lith
ographer, where he remained two years, when he was offered a desk in the
main office of the Continental Insurance Company, also of New York city.
So faithfully did he discharge the duties of his position that he was promoted
to the office of assistant in the fourth department, under the late Walter E.
Hope. After remaining there for some time he opened a branch office at
Fifty-eighth street and Third avenue, New York, known as Castello & Tay
lor, managers of the Continental Insurance Company, where they transacted
considerable business for the company. About this time he was importuned
by Joseph Stiner & Company to act as their secretary, and severed his con
nections with the insurance company to accept their offer, remaining in their

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 807
employ two years. Returning to Dobbs Ferry in 1894 he purchased the
Dobbs Ferry Register, which was at that time in a state of collapse. He at
once placed a good foreman in charge, while he devoted his time to the busi
ness management and editorials, and soon had the satisfaction of seeing it in
a prosperous condition. He now has a large circulation, making it a most
effective medium of advertising, a fact which his patrons are not slow in tak
ing advantage of. The Register is the official organ of the Republican party
and has accomplished a great deal of good, as Mr. Taylor possesses great
force of character, is zealous and ardent in whatever he espouses, and his
example and the precepts given in his forceful way through his paper have
contributed greatly toward molding public sentiment. He is fearless in his
utterances for the cause of honesty and good government, and shrinks from
no danger in upholding the view he considers to be right. Mr. Taylor has
few idle minutes, those not employed on his paper being spent in writing
insurance or looking after his real estate, in which he does an extensive
business. He was married June 4, 1885, to Miss Rose H. Denning, of Long
Island, a daughter of architect James and Anna (Clark) Denning. Their
home circle is brightened by the presence of three sons and four daughters,
and a visitor is sure of a cheerful' welcome. Mr. Taylor is the president of
the Republican Club of Dobbs Ferry, secretary of the Historical Society and
a trustee of the church of the Sacred Heart. He is a member of the Sixth
District Republican Association, the New York State Republican Editorial
Association, Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Benevolent Legion. On the
30th of October, 1898, was appointed postmaster of Dobbs Ferry. This office
has felt his guiding hand and the service has improved very much, many new
mails having been added. His uniform courtesy in the discharge of his offi
cial duties have made him so popular that it would be hard to find a successor
who would fill the position as satisfactorily as the present incumbent.
United States Senator T. C. Platt and the county organization, through Con
gressman William L. Ward, were unanimous in their indorsement of his
appointment and secured confirmation by the senate.

CARSTEN WENDT.

Carsten Wendt, the president of the village of Larchmont, was born in
Germany, but received his education in Massachusetts. Becoming interested
in Larchmont property, he identified himself with its interests, helped to
incorporate the village in 1891, served two years as trustee and seven years
as president, which position he now holds. His management of the village
affairs has been on strict business principles. He served for seven years as

808 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
president of the board of education of the Union free school district No. i,
of the town of Mamaroneck, and the high-school building was erected during
his presidency.

FRANCIS P. DECKER.

This well known progressive farmer and dairyman of Elmsford, West
chester county, takes great interest in stock-raising and breeding fine stock,
in that particular doing the country much good. He was born in New York
city, May 30, 1852, the son of William J. and Harriet Storms (Bayles)
Decker, and the grandson of Cornelius and Mary (Ketcham) Decker, the
latter of whom lived to the good old age of ninety-two years. The great
grandfather of our subject was one of seven brothers who emigrated from
Holland and settled in Amsterdam, near the city of New York. From them
are descended the various families of that name in America.
William J. Decker, the father of Francis P., was born in the village of
Newburg, New York, November 2, 1809; became a ship-joiner and con
structed vessels for the elder Cornelius Vanderbilt. He was a great mechan
ical genius, "handy" with tools of any kind. He helped build some of the
first steamboats that ascended the Hudson river, also some of the first
steamers that crossed the ocean. Later in life he engaged in contracting
and building houses in New York city; was also one of the organizers of
the Dry Dock Savings Bank, and for many years was a director of the
Broadway National Bank in New York. Being a man of fine business ability
he became well known among business men generally throughout the city
and a prime mover in all public works. Naturally he was a very public-
spirited man. He was indeed so successful in business that in 1854 he
moved to his farm in the town of Greenburg and there passed the remainder
of his days in comparative retirement, dying June 3, 1878.
As his most intimate companion in life he chose Miss Harriet Storms
Bayles, who was born at Ardsley, Westchester county, in 18 19. Her father,
Jonathan Bayles, had charge of the mill at that place, and he moved to the
farm where the family are now living when Mrs. Decker was only seven
years old. She is the granddaughter of N. Storms, whose father, Jacobus
Storms, sacrificed his life for the liberty of this country in the Revolutionary
war. Being taken prisoner, he was sent to the Sugar House in New York
city, where he was poisoned and died. Rachel Storms, a sister of the grand
father of Mrs. Decker, became the wife of Isaac Van Wart, who aided in
the capture of Major Andre. Mrs. Decker is now in her eightieth year,
occupying the old home which has been historic ever since the days of the
Revolution.

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WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 809
William J. Decker and wife became the parents of 'the following chil
dren: Nancy B., who married Asa O. Bassett, and resides in Evanston,
Illinois; George Washington, who was born February 22, 1846, on the anni
versary of the birth of the illustrious general whose name he bears; Francis P.,
the subject proper of this sketch, born May 30, 1852; Emma, who was born
January 27, 1856. and became the wife of R. C. Tuttle, of Middletown,
New York; Anna, deceased, who was born April 9, i860, and married
William Ambler, of Sing Sing, New York; and Jonathan Bayles, who was
born May 8, 1862, and married Emma Minrath.
Francis P. Decker received his primary education in the public schools
of his native town, after which he went to Chicago and attended school, and
also finished a course in a business college in that city. Returning then to
his home in this county, he turned his attention to dairying and fancy farm
ing. He milks from fifteen to twenty cows, making the cream into butter
which is of fine quality and in great demand. He also handles a fine strain
of chickens, hatching for the early market by means of the incubator. He
strives to have everything about his farm of the best quality. He conducts
a boarding stable, where he keeps many of the horses belonging to the
famous "400" of New York city.

GEORGE B. ROBBINS.

George Bacon Robbins, a prominent and influential citizen of West
chester county, residing near Pleasantville, was born in Kingston, Plymouth
county, Massachusetts, January 27, 1834, and is a son of Charles and Emily
(Fuller) Robbins, both of whom were descended from good old Puritan stock,
our subject belonging to the seventh generation in direct line from John and
Priscilla Alden. The family is one of the oldest and of the purest English
extraction in this part of the county. Joshua Delano, a great-grandfather
on the maternal side, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, serving under
Captain Ebenezer Washburn, Colonel Thomas Latrop and Colonel Joseph
Cushings, who commanded the brigade. For several generations the Robbins
family have largely been seafaring men. Our subject's grandfather, Charles
Robbins, was the captain of a merchantman plying between this country and
foreign ports, and died about the year 1805 on the isle of Martinique. The
early religious belief of the family was either Universahst or Baptist. The
father of our subject was born in 1795 and made his home throughout life
in a part of Plymouth now called Kingston, Massachusetts. Although very
young he was one of the defenders of his country in the war of 1812, and
like his ancestors he followed the sea, being captain of a merchant vessel
which engaged in trade between this and many foreign countries. He died

810 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
at the age of eighty-three years, and his wife, who was a lady of remark
able intelligence, departed this life at the advanced age of ninety years.
In the family of this worthy couple were thirteen children, of whom
eight reached years of maturity, namely: Matilda, who married George
Dean and now resides in Cleveland, Ohio; Emily, deceased wife of Seth
Drew, of Kingston, Massachusetts; Mary D., deceased wife of Sardis Curtis,
formerly of Toledo, Ohio, but now of Texas; George Bacon, our subject;
Lucia, a resident of Kingston, Massachusetts; Charles Taylor, a resident of
Dayton, Ohio; Elizabeth, widow of Henry R. Glover, of Cambridge, Massa
chusetts; and Franklin Jackson, who was formerly owner and manager of
the Dansville (New York) Express, but is now a resident of Bethany, this
state. Reared at Kingston, Massachusetts, George B. Robbins obtained his
education in the schools of that place and at Middleboro and New Hampton,
New Hampshire, and he learned the trade of a tool finisher. During the
Crimean war he made a trip to France with his uncle, Nathan B. Robbins,
on the vessel Russel, which was employed by the French government in
carrying munitions of war to their armies. He remained on the ship until it
finally returned to the United States and then assisted his father in his large
general store, which was conducted by the family for some forty years, it
being carried on by the mother when the father was away from home on
some voyage. Our subject did not remain long in this business, however.
On the 22d of December, 1857, Mr. Robbins married Miss Lydia Atwood
Shaw, also of Revolutionary stock, whose ancestor, Lieutenant John Shaw,
served under Colonel Timothy Walker, being one of the first twenty-two
regiments ever mustered into service in this country, when General Artemus
Ward was in command. Mrs. Robbins is a native of Wareham, Massachu
setts, and a daughter of Sullivan B. and Abigail (Griffith) Shaw. Soon after
his marriage, Mr. Robbins removed to Minnesota for the benefit of his wife's
health, remaining there two years and a half, and on his return to Massachu
setts entered the armory at Springfield in 1861, spending two years there as
polisher. Going to New York city in 1867, he located at the corner of Third
avenue and One Hundred and Thirty-sixth street, and established himself in
the roofing, drain and sewer-pipe business. This he conducted alone until
1 883, when he admitted to the firm H. W. Bell, who in the absence of our sub
ject is managing partner. In 1891 Mr. Robbins purchased a farm of seventy
acres in Westchester county, lying within the corporate limits of the village of
Pleasantville. It was formerly known as the old Buckhout farm, but he has
changed the name to the Lydwood, and has made many excellent improve
ments which add to its value and attractive appearance, including the erec
tion of a beautiful modern residence and other buildings. To this place the

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 811
family removed in August, 1892, and here they have since made their home,
while Mr. Robbins gives his attention to his investments. He gives consid
erable time to the raising of fruit and poultry, making a specialty of white
Leghorn and white Wyandotte fowls, and upon his place has the very finest
equipments for carrying on those industries. He is very prominent socially
and holds membership in the New York Republican Club and the Harlem
Club. Mr. and Mrs. Robbins have one child, Mrs. Bertha Murdock Robbins,
now a widow, who has one son, Thaddeus Wood Fowler Robbins. The fam
ily are prominent members of the Baptist church at Sing Sing, and formerly
were connected with the Fifth Avenue Baptist church of New York. They
are charter members of the public library of Pleasantville, our subject being
one of the trustees of the same, while his daughter did a great deal toward
securing the means for its establishment. The daughter is also a member of
the Mohegan Chapter, Daughters of American Revolution, of Sing Sing.

CHARLES E. GRATTAN.

Charles E. Grattan, president of the village of Croton-on-Hudson, New
York, is one of the most prominent and influential men of Westchester
county, of which he has been an honored resident for a quarter of a century.
A native of New York, he was born at Greenpoint Bend, April 30, 1854, and
is a son of John and Margaret (Kiper) Grattan. Of their family of seven
children, four sons and three daughters, one son, John W., died in 1887,
and the others are Mrs. William Morton, Jr., and Mrs. M. A. Cogley, both
of Croton-on-Hudson, Mrs. John Morton, Thomas H., James B., and Charles
E. , our subject. Their parents survive, the father being now in his eighty-
sixth year and the mother in her seventy-eighth.
Our subject was educated in the district schools, and was reared in much
the usual manner of boys of his day. In 1877 he was united in marriage
with Miss Emma B. Schneider, a native of Westchester county, and to
them has been born one child, a son, Charles G. , who is at home with his
parents. Since attaining his majority Mr. Grattan has taken an active interest in
political affairs, is a pronounced Democrat, and is a recognized leader in the
local Democratic organization. He has ever taken a prominent part in pub
lic affairs, has filled many of the township offices, served as collector for
fourteen years, and has been treasurer of the fire department. In 1888 he
was elected the first president of the village, and discharged the duties thereof
with fidelity and satisfaction to his constituency. The reins of 'the city
government have never been in more capable hands, for he is a progressive

812 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
man, pre-eminently public-spirited, and all that pertains to public welfare
receives his hearty endorsement. Socially he holds membership in the
Knights of Pythias Lodge at Sing Sing. He is past master of Westchester
Lodge, F. & A. M., past high priest of Buckingham Chapter, 74, R.
A. M., and of Westchester Commandery No. 42, all at Sing Sing. He is
emphatically a man of enterprise, positive character indomitable energy,
strict integrigity and liberal views, and is thoroughly identified in feeling
with the growth and prosperity of his village.

THOMAS RADFORD, Esq.
Nathaniel Radford came from Nova Scotia in the early part of the present
century and settled in Poughkeepsie, this state. His wife was Sarah Barton,
of Dutchess county, and they were the parents of three sons: William,
Lewis and Thomas. The last named was born at Poughkeepsie, October 8,
1 8 1 9. He remained in his native place until the age of fifteen, when he went
to New York and entered the store of his brother Lewis, who was already
established in business. There he remained for four years and then engaged
in business on his own account, in which he was very successful. In 1854,
having accumulated a competence, he removed to Yonkers, where he spent
the remainder of his life as a retired country gentleman, building the hand
some residence, on South Broadway, where the family now reside, and where
he continued to devote his time and attention to the improvement of his
estate and to making the comfort and enjoyment of his family his constant
care. Mr. Radford married Miss Adelia Antoinette, a daughter of David B.
Wood, of Newburgh, New York. Their family of ten children are all living,
as follows: Frances, the wife of Oscar Waring; Huldah, the wife of Will
iam Welsh; Adalaide W. , the wife of James H. Weller; Thomas W., who
married Eldora, a daughter of Montgomery Davis; Antoinette, the wife of
Charles R. Crisfield; Emma, the wife of Garrett F. Rose; Lizzie; Lewis,
who married Lucy C. Berston; Walter and George B., most of whom reside
in Yonkers. William Radford, the eldest brother of Thomas Radford, was the first
president of Yonkers and was a member of congress. His brother Lewis was
a successful merchant of New York city, where he resides in retirement.
Mr. Thomas Radford was not attached to any political party and
shunned all offers for official honor. He was an attendant of the Reformed
church and his memory is cherished by his friends as a kind parent and a
worthy citizen. He died December 30, 1877, in the fifty-eighth year of his
age.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 813

HON. JAMES H. WELLER.
Hon. James H. Weller, ex-mayor, and for thirty years a resident and
one of the. leading and most substantial business men of the enterprising city
of Yonkers, New York, was born at Montgomery, Orange county, New York,
October 10, 1835. His father was Alfred Weller and his mother was Cath
erine Dickerson. He was the eldest of three brothers, the other two being
Alanson Y. of the firm of Schoonmaker & Weller, of Newburgh, New York,
and Joseph H. of the firm of Tefft, Weller & Company, of New York city.
They all became successful dry-goods merchants.
The subject of this review when seventeen years of age became an
apprentice of the old dry-goods firm of Scott & Clark, of New York city,
with whom he remained eight years, after which he engaged with Demarest
& Middleton in the leather and findings business in New York city. While
with that firm he became associated with Thomas R. Miller, with whom he
embarked in the leather and shoe-findings business, under the firm name of
Weller & Miller, at 16 Spruce street, New York city. After a pleasant and
profitable business career of fifteen years, the firm was dissolved in 1877 Dy
mutual consent. After living in retirement for one year Mr. Weller estab
lished the dry-goods, furniture and carpet house of Weller & Welsh, at Yon
kers in 1878. The firm continued in this successful and pleasant relation up
to July 1, 1897, when by mutual agreement the partnership was dissolved
and the extensive business of the house was divided, — the dry-goods depart
ment having since been conducted under the style of James H. Weller &
Sons (George R. and Joseph W. constituting the sons of this firm). Mr.
Weller has been a trustee of the Yonkers Savings Bank since 1891 and is at
present a member of the finance committee.
In the spring of 1892 Mr. Weller received the Republican nomination
for mayor of Yonkers. After -a hotly contested election, there being four
candidates in the field, he was elected by a plurality of two hundred and
twenty-six votes. During his term of office he made earnest and honest
attempts to reduce the evils of the liquor traffic by the appointment of an
excise board that would materially reduce the number of drinking places. In
his efforts he was opposed by the aldermen, yet be succeeded in improving
the character of the excise board, increasing the amount of the license fees
and in holding the demoralizing traffic in check. - The most important bene
fit, however, conferred upon the city by Mr. Weller's administration was the
suppression of the threatening nuisances along the Nepperhan river. These
nuisances had been indicted by the grand jury and most emphatically con
demned by the Yonkers and state boards of health; but .they continued to
offend the senses and imperil human life. At length, firmly supported by the

814 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
board of health, Mayor Weller signed an order for the removal of the dams,
and they were summarily removed. The stream once so offensive now rip
ples through the city, sparkling and bright, proving an ornament rather than
a nuisance. During his administration many new and important improvements were
accomplished, among them being the introduction of granite-block and sheet
asphalt paving for the important thoroughfares of the city, the widening of
the arch of the old Croton aqueduct over Nepperhan avenue and the estab
lishing of a hospital for contagious diseases and a crematory for the burning
of garbage and dead animals. Many new streets were laid out and extended,
electric subways put down, sewers constructed and water and fire systems
enlarged. On his retiring from office he left a public record which for
aggressive action and benefit conferred on the city has been unsurpassed
by that of any other mayor. His administration was characterized by a bold
courage and an impartiality in the discharge of the duties of that important
office that knew neither fear nor favor. He stood aggressively in sup
port of every measure and movement inaugurated which had for its purpose
the welfare of the city of Yonkers and the health, happiness and convenience
of its citizens.
On May 21, 1867, Mr. Weller married Miss Adelaide W., a daughter of
the late Thomas Radford, of Yonkers (see sketch preceding). Eight children
were born to them, five of whom are now living: Emma Adelaide
(deceased), George R. , James Edwin (deceased,) Grace Adelaide, Joseph W. ,
Charles Warren (deceased,) William Henry and James Alfred.
Alfred Weller, father of James H., was a farmer in the town of Mont
gomery, Orange county, New York; politically, he was a Republican and
religiously, a member of the Reformed church. He married Catherine Dick-
erson, daughter of Adam Dickerson, also of Montgomery. Their children
were: James H., Alanson Y., Joseph H. (deceased), Eliza B. Harris, Sarah
Agnes Kernochan (deceased), Cecelia Bull, and two who died in infancy.
Alfred Weller passed away in April, 1872, aged sixty-seven years. His
wife died in 1887, at the age of seventy-five years.

SEAMAN BRADLEY, D. V. S.
The Bradley family has for several generations been prominently identi
fied with the commercial, political and social interests of New York. Henry
Bradley, Dr. Seaman Bradley's great-grandfather in the paternal line, was a
candidate for governor of the state and was defeated by Hon. Reuben E.
Fenton by only about twelve hundred votes. He was prominent as an

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 815
abolitionist and as an advocate of temperance, and did much active and tell
ing work for the emancipation of slaves and the advancement of the cause of
temperance, and was in every way a useful and patriotic citizen. He was, in
his day, one of America's great merchants, and died past ninety years of
age, leaving a considerable fortune which had been amassed honestly and
without injustice to any class of people. He married Rhoda Ogden and had
several children, one of which was Henry Bradley (second), the paternal
grandfather of Dr. Seaman Bradley, who, like his father, was a true Ameri
can and a lover of liberty and justice, and who was for many years successful
as a manufacturer of varnish in New York city. This Henry Bradley married
Mary Seaman and had two sons and two daughters, James N., Ogden S. ,
Catalett and Mary, and died at the age of sixty-five. His widow, Mary
(Seaman) Bradley, survives him, now past eighty. Of their four children
but one married, — Ogden S., — who took as his wife Rebecca Purdy and had
five children, of whom Dr. Bradley was the first born.
Ogden S. Bradley was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1844, and .after
attaining his majority removed to Sing Sing. Thence he removed to Dobbs
Ferry in 1868, and at this time lives at Millwood. He was for some time
engaged in the real-estate business, in New York city, and with most sat
isfactory results. He has retired from active business and is enjoying the
fruits of early and well directed enterprise. His children were Seaman, of
whom more is said further on; Harry, now dead, who was editor and pro
prietor of the Greenburg Register at Dobbs Ferry and postmaster of that
place by appointment of President Harrison: George, who married Anna
Halstead; Fredrick, who married Rebecca Montgomery; and Cornelia, who
became the wife of Samuel J. Henwood.
Dr. Seaman Bradley was born in Sing Sing, New York, July 4, 1863.
He acquired his elementary education in the schools at Dobbs Ferry, and in
1883 entered the American Veterinary College of New York, at which he was
graduated in 1886, with the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Surgery. He
immediately entered upon the practice of his profession at Dobbs Ferry,
where he met with success. In 1895, in order to be more centrally located,
he removed to Sing Sing, where his success has been in every way
creditable and satisfactory. His home and veterinary establishment, situated
on beautiful grounds near the old camp-meeting grounds, have been greatly
improved by him since he took up his residence there, and now have every
feature of comfort and convenience that could be desired.
Politically, Dr. Bradley follows in the footsteps of his forefathers and
is a strong Republican, but he is not an active politician or an office-seeker.
He was married June 5, 1898, to Callette Elizabeth Deliot, daughter of
Adolph and Elizabeth (Hunter) Deliot.

816 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

GILBERT B. HUESTIS.
The fitting reward of a well spent and upright business life is an honorable
retirement from labor, — a period in which to enjoy the fruits of former toil
and to engage in those pursuits which afford pleasure and recreation in compen
sation for the years assiduously devoted to business. Gilbert B. Huestis is
one to whom such a rest has been vouchsafed. For many years he stood
as one of the foremost representatives of the building interests of New York
city. Some of the most palatial homes of the metropolis stand as monu
ments to his architectural skill; but now, as the reward of his honorable and
well directed effort, the handsome competence formerly acquired enables him
to live retired in his beautiful home in Mount Vernon.
Mr. Huestis is a representative of one of the oldest and most honored
families of Westchester county. At a very early period in American history
a Eustis — for so the name was originally spelled — left his home in Holland
and founded the family in the New World, locating in Fairfield, Connecti
cut, whence Robert Huestis came to Westchester county about 1664. By
his wife, Elizabeth, he had four children, — Robert, Samuel, David and
James. The last named removed from Fairfield, Connecticut, to East
chester in 1665, and his children were Jonathan, born November 12, 1667;.
James, born February 15, 1669; and Judah, born March 16, 1671. James,
the second son, married Tamer Pell, a daughter of John Pell, and their son
James, who died about 1779, at the age of eighty years, married Tamer
Ferris, and had six children, namely: James, who married a Miss Griffin;
Caleb; Samuel, who became a man of high literary distinction; Joshua;
Martha, wife of James Boyd; and Sarah, wife of Samuel Nelson.
Joshua Huestis, the son of James and Tamer (Ferris) Huestis, married
Abbie Parker, and died in December, 1 781, while his wife died in 182 1, at the
age of ninety years. Their eldest son, Thomas Huestis, of New Brunswick,
New Jersey, was born December 25, 1760, and married Phoebe Mabee, by
whom he had four children: Joshua, who married Sarah Black; Peter, who
married Miss Lefruge; James and Nathaniel. The mother having died,
Thomas Huestis married Eliza Smith, and by the second union had six chil
dren: Phoebe, Mabee, Abby, Joshua, Thomas and Mary. The last named
became the wife of Benjamin Palmer, who was born in December, 1765, and
followed farming on eighty acres of land near Tuckahoe, New York. He was
a zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and served as a trustee.
Benjamin Huestis married Hannah Higby, who was born June 16, 1771.
Their children were Joshua; Fleming, a farmer who resided in Illinois; Ben
jamin, who was likewise a farmer in Illinois; Thomas Palmer, of Portsmouth,
New Hampshire, who died in New Jersey; Samuel, who died in childhood;

^^^^1^t J&^^^T

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 817
William, who died in Yonkers; Daniel, who resides in Omaha, Nebraska, at
the age of eighty-eight years; Harvey, who died in early youth; Catherine,
wife of Abraham Lent, of Tuckahoe, New York; Mary, and Abigail, wife of
James Thomas.
Joshua Huestis, the father of our subject, was born at Somerstown,
Westchester county, March 4, 1795, and for many years resided upon a farm
of eighty acres at East Chester. He was postmaster of Mount Vernon when
the office was at Hunt's Bridge, the present site of Harlem Station. He
married Sarah A. Fowler and they had two children, — Susan and Gilbert B.,
the latter the subject of this sketch. The former married George Archer, of
Fordham, a farmer, who served as tax collector for many years. Mr. Archer
died in 1867, and his wife died in 1891, at the age of sixty-five years. Joshua
Huestis died at Mile Square, March 10, 1873, and his wife passed away in 1849,
at the age of forty-nine years, her birth having occurred February 10, 1800.
Gilbert B. Heustis, the subject of this review, was born March 29, 1832,
and attended the public schools at East Chester until fifteen years of age.
He left home at the age of seventeen and, under the direction of Steven S.
Munson, architect and builder, mastered the business which he made his life
work. He became an expert workman, his skill enabling him to command a
very important position. For forty years he was connected with the exten
sive business of James C. Hoe as superintendent of their building interests,
and in that capacity had charge of the construction of the Tiffany mansion at
Seventy-seventh street and Madison avenue. It required six years to com
plete this, and the cost was one million dollars. On the completion of the
work C. L. Tiffany presented him with a gold watch valued at two hundred
and fifty dollars. He also had charge of the erection of the palatial home of
A. T. Stewart on Park Hill, between, Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth streets,
and of the reconstruction of the Metropolitan Hotel, in 1865. These hand
some structures stand as monuments to his skill and enterprise, and many
other fine buildings in the city give evidence of his handiwork. He continued
with James C. Hoe until 1896, since which time he has lived retired, enjoy
ing a rest which he has truly earned and richly deserves.
On the 7th of May, 1854, Mr. Huestis was united in marriage to Miss
Harriet E. Fowler, a daughter of Duncan S. Fowler, a shoe dealer of New
York city. Three children were born to them. William Henry, the eldest,
married Margaret Smart, of Yonkers, who died leaving two children, — Hattie
and Hazel. He afterward married her sister, Mary Smart, and they now
reside in Brooklyn. Emory J., the second of the family, is deceased. Harvey
is the youngest. The mother died June 24, 1864, at the age of twenty-eight
years, and Mr. Huestis was married, in July, 1865, to Mary Bryant, who died
June 23, 1893, at the age of sixty-five years.
52

818 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
In 1878 Mr. Huestis removed from New York city to Mount Vernon,
where he has since made his home. He is a Republican in his political
views, and in religious faith is a Methodist. His life has been well spent,
and his success is the creditable result of his own efforts. His business career
has been characterized by perseverance, promptness and marked fidelity to
the terms of a contract and to the trust reposed in him. His integrity is
above question, and he sustains an unassailable reputation in business circles.
His interest in the welfare and progress of the community renders him a
valued citizen, and his social qualities and sterling worth make him popular
with a large circle of friends.

MRS. MARY EVELINE PIARPER.
One of the first questions that demanded public attention in America
was education, and since that time the school system of the country has com
manded universal respect. Marked advancement has been made in this line,
and in the public schools of the land are found teachers of marked ability,
strong mentality and forceful individuality, who are leaving their impress upon
the intellectual progress of the nation. Among the prominent representatives
of the educational interests of southeastern New York is Mrs. Mary Eveline
Harper, who resides in Mount Vernon, but is principal of an industrial school
which is carried on in connection with the public-school system of New York
city. She is a representative of two of the most prominent pioneer families
of Westchester county. Her parents were Aaron and Eliza (Searing) Spin
ning. The former was a native of Newark, New Jersey, and his father, a
native of Holland, became the foundar of the family in America. Crossing
the Atlantic, he took up his abode in Newark, where he made his home until
his death. He was a man of considerable means, and died in 1857, at the
age of eighty years. In his family were two sons, — Aaron and Charles. The
former spent the greater part of his life in New York city, where he was
engaged in the carriage-trimming business. He married Miss Searing, who
was born in 18 18, and was a daughter of Moses Searing, whose history is
given in connection with that of his nephew, Gilbert B. Huestis, in the preced
ing sketch. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Spinning were born three children: Theo
dore, deceased; Mrs. Harper; and George, who died in infancy. The father
was a Republican in his political views. He is deceased, as also his wife,
who passed away April 1, 1850.
The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Harper, Moses Searing, was born No
vember 23, 1782, at the residence on the old Searing homestead, which is
still standing. His father, Daniel Searing, was a second lieutenant in the

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 819
Second Battalion of Westchester county in the war of the Revolution. The
Searing family was of English origin and the original American ancestor lo
cated at Searington, Long Island, which place was named in honor of the
family, and from there Daniel Searing came to Westchester county. He
located at East Chester, where he purchased a farm and built a residence at
what is now the corner of Eleventh avenue and Fourth street, Mount Ver
non. He owned and operated one hundred and twenty-five acres, and upon
that farm reared his family. He was a prominent man in the affairs of the
village and town, served as assessor and road commissioner, and held other
public offices of trust. His wife, Elizabeth Searing, was born October 22,
1745, and their children were Jane, born August 21, 1764; Sarah, born July
21, 1768; Elizabeth, born July 19, 1771; Mary, born November 22, 1774;
Charles, born May 18, 1777; Moses, born in 1782, the grandfather of our
subject; and Lewis, born in 1784. Moses Searing followed farming through
out his life. He was a Republican in politics and a member of St. Paul's
Episcopal church in East Chester, where he was buried in i860, his death
occurring when he had reached the age of seventy-eight years. He married
Susan White,. of Tarrytown, and their children were John, Jane, Mary,
Eliza, Susan, William Henry and Daniel, all now deceased.
Mrs. Harper was afforded excellent school privileges, and completed her
education by her graduation in the Mount Vernon Institute, under the in
struction of Professor John Oakley. Since that time she has largely devoted
her attention and energies to teaching. She taught the Mile Square school
in the city of Yonkers in 1866-7, and in the latter year took charge
of school No. 5, of Mount Vernon, where she remained until 1869. She
was married June 24, 1868, when she became the wife of James Harper, a
hardware merchant of Mount Vernon. They became the parents of two
children: Jennie Sherwood, the elder, born May 13, 1869, a graduate of
Albany S. College, is a teacher in the public schools of East Orange, New
Jersey. James Edwin, the son, now occupies a responsible position as trav
eling salesman for a large hardware firm in San Francisco, California. He
makes his home in Reno, Nevada.
For twenty-two years Mrs. Harper was successfully engaged in teach
ing in the public schools of Mount Vernon, and since 1895 has been principal
of an industrial school of New York. She has traveled extensively, thereby
gaining that knowledge and culture which nothing but travel brings. Her
scholarly attainments and literary tastes make her a valued addition to intel
lectual circles, and at the same time render her peculiarly competent to
instruct the young not only in the lessons of the text-books but also in the
habits of mental development that will best fit them to cope with the prac
tical duties of life.

820 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

G. HOSMER MAGNESS, M. D.
Dr. Magness is engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in
White Plains, New York, and has that love for and devotion to his profession
which results in success and which has won him a place among the ablest
representatives of the medical profession in this locality.
The Doctor was born in New York city, in 185 i, a son of Henry Dorsey
and Elizabeth A. (Hosmer) Magness, both of whom were of French descent.
The Magness family originated in the north of France, and its first represent
ative in America crossed the Atlantic in 1650, and located in Maryland.
From him are descended all bearing the name in the New World, and many
of the members of the family, like our subject, have devoted their energies
to the medical profession. The Hosmer family also came from France and
was founded in this country by two brothers, one of whom settled in Con
necticut, the other in Massachusetts. In their veins flowed noble blood, and
the family was one of much prominence in the "land of the lily."
Henry D. Magness, the Doctor's father, was born in Baltimore, Mary
land, in 1824, and was a son of John Magness, who also was a native of
that state, where he owned a large plantation which he cultivated with the
aid of a large number of negro slaves that he owned. He was a soldier of
the Revolutionary war and held a captain's commission. Henry D. Mag
ness was reared on the plantation, and having attained to man's estate mar
ried Miss Elizabeth A. Hosmer, who was born and reared in New York city
and is a daughter of John A. and Mary A. Hosmer, natives of Connecticut.
The Doctor spent the first fourteen years of his life in South America,
where he had gone with his father, who was largely interested in commercial
enterprises there and owned considerable property in that country. There
Dr. Magness was first sent to an English and afterward to a French school.
Returning to New York city, he began the study of medicine, preparatory to
making the profession his life work, and later pursued a course in Bellevue
Hospital Medical College, where he was graduated in the class of 1876. He
afterward spent six months in a hospital to gain practical knowledge of the
science of medicine and also devoted a year to the study of special surgery.
Thus thoroughly equipped for life's work, he opened an office in New
York city, in 1878, and began the practice of his chosen profession. The
following year he came to White Plains, where he soon succeeded in build
ing up a large and lucrative practice, which he still enjoys. It has largely
been of an important character, for which his skill and ability aptly fit him.
He is now serving as physician at the Home of Nazareth and to the Sisters
of Divine Compassion. He is also president of the board of health of the
village of White Plains. He was one of the active leaders in the opposition

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 821
movement against the sale of adulterated milk in the city of New York, and
as an editorial writer has exerted a strong influence against the sanitary
abuses in the metropolis. He is a leading member of the Westchester Med
ical Society and the New York State Medical Society, and keeps constantly
in touch with the progress that is continually being made in connection with
the medical science. He has gained marked prestige in his profession, and
his brethren accord him a foremost place in their ranks.
Dr. Magness was united in marriage to Miss Margaret E. Moore, of
Brooklyn, New York, a daughter of P. S. Moore, of that city, and to them
have been born four children, — Mary, Helen, Thomas W. and George, aged
respectively twenty, eighteen, eleven and nine years. The family have an
elegant home in White Plains, and therein hospitality reigns supreme. It is
a favorite resort with many friends, and the members of the family are both
widely and favorably known in this locality. The Doctor is also a valued
and exemplary member of the Foresters, and is a prominent knight of Sher
wood Forest, having been commander of the conclave. He is also a Knight
Templar in Masonry, and a member of the Mystic Shrine.

JARED E. MEAD.

The well known assessor of Lewisboro township, Jared E. Mead, is
a worthy representative of the agricultural interests of Westchester county,
and is to-day successfully operating a valuable farm of two hundred and
thirty- four acres, which was the homestead of his grandfather, Jared Mead,
and was owned by Elroy Mead for many years. In connection with general
farming, our subject is also engaged in the milk business and has built up an
excellent trade along that line.
Mr. Mead was born in Yorktown, this county, February 14, 1855, and
is a son of Clarke F. Mead, also a native of Westchester county, his birth
occurring in New Castle township. The paternal grandparents were Jared
and Elizabeth (Parker) Mead, both of whom died in York township. They
had four children, namely: Clarke F., Mrs. Olivia Banks, Mrs. Esther Ray
mond, and William L., deceased, who was a soldier in the civil war. Clarke
F. Mead married Miss Sarah Reynolds, of Mount Pleasant township, a
daughter of Enos Reynolds, and they became the parents of eight children
who reached years of maturity, namely: Jared E., Mrs. Elizabeth Haight,
Effie Mead, Lewis W., Flora (wife of Ira D. Strang), Mrs. Sarah A. Strang,
and two who died young, — Morris R. and Elmer E. The father, who was
an earnest member of the Methodist church, and in politics an ardent Repub
lican, died at the age of forty-six years, but the mother is still living, at the
old home in Yorktown.

822 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
During his boyhood and youth Jared E. Mead pursued his studies in the
public schools near his home and at Claverack, New York. In 1888 he was
married to Miss Mary A. B. Clapp, of Brooklyn, this state, who, prior to her
marriage, was successfully engaged in teaching school. In 1890 he removed
to Somers, this county, but two years later located upon his present farm, to
the cultivation and improvement of which he has since devoted his energies,
with most gratifying results. Politically he is a Republican, with prohibition
tendencies, and in 1896 was honored by an election to the office of assessor
of his township, a position he is now acceptably filling. He is an active and
prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is now
serving as steward.
Colonel Joseph B. Clapp, Mrs. Mead's father, was educated at Amherst,
Massachusetts, and for a short time was in the Union service during the civil
war, later serving with the rank of colonel in the state militia. He married
Sarah Jeroleman, who was of Holland descent, of which stock she is proud,
as is every one else who is acquainted with it. On the side of both her
father and her mother several of the men participated in the Revolutionary
war, and Mrs. Mead has one of the spoons given in a set to her great-grand
father by John Hancock as a wedding present. It was manufactured by the
noted silversmith, Paul Revere, and his name is engraved on the back as the
maker. The family to which Mrs. Mead belongs is an old Brooklyn family,
well known in their section of the state, her father being one of the best
known citizens and an associate of all the leading men, such as the father of
Seth Low, and many old-time politicians.
Mr. and Mrs. Mead, the subjects of this sketch, are members of the
Methodist Episcopal church, and are held in high esteem by ail who
know them.
CALEB FOWLER UNDERHILL.
This gentleman is one of the leading and influential citizens of Yonkers
and has taken an active part in promoting its substantial improvement and
material development. He is now acceptably serving as assessor of the city
and town of that name, having filled the office for twenty-four consecutive
years, discharging his duties with most commendable promptness and fidelity
throughout the long period. He has commanded the respect of all by his
sterling worth, and his rectitude of character and faithfulness to trust
furnishes an example well worthy of emulation.
Mr. Underhill, a representative of an old and honored Westchester
family, was born July 30, 1821, on the old homestead where his grandfather
lived for many years. He traces his ancestry back to Captain John Under
hill, more familiary known as Lord Underhill, who was born about the year

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 823
1600 and emigrated to the New World in 1632. He married Elizabeth Feke,
and their descendants, now very numerous, are widely scattered. As far as
the facts can be ascertained it js believed that Captain Underhill and his
wife first settled on Long Island, New York, whence they afterward removed
to Westchester county. The great-grandfather of our subject was Nathaniel
Underhill, and his son, Frederick B. Underhill, the grandfather of our sub
ject, was born in the town of Yonkers, Westchester county. Thomas Bon
nett Underhill, father of Caleb F. , was born on the old family homestead,
August 12, 1794, and followed the occupation of farming as a life work.
He married Miss Susanna Fowler, and to them were born eight children, six
sons and two daughters, who in order of birth were as follows: Elda Jane,
deceased; Caleb Fowler, Fred Bonnett, Benjamin Fowler, David Morgan,
Susan Ann, Isaac Vermilya and Thomas Bonnett. The father was a devoted
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and was widely and favorably
known throughout the entire county. He died March 12, 1874, and his
estimable wife, who was born in 1800, departed this life in 1850.
In speaking of Frederick B. Underhill, the grandfather of Caleb Fowler
Underhill, it ought to be said that he was for many years a vestryman of St.
John's church at Yonkers, and was most active in the building of St. John's
chapel at Tuckahoe in the year 1798. He and many of his descendants are
buried in the picturesque little glebe that surrounds this venerable church,
which is beautifully situated opposite the Underhill homestead.
At the old ancestral home Caleb Fowler Underhill spent the days of his
boyhood and youth and early became familiar with all the duties and labors
that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. He acquired his education in dis
trict No. 5, and remained at his parental home until his marriage, in 1846,
when he removed to the town of New Rochelle, Westchester county, where
he carried on general farming until 1854, when he returned to the old Under
hill homestead, now the property of his youngest brother, Thomas B., and
successfully engaged in its cultivation until 1875. He still resides there and
has one of the old historic places of the county. A part of the house was
erected more than a hundred years ago, but it has been enlarged and
adorned with extensive verandas, which make it quite modern in appear
ance. It is beautifullysituated on a knoll and commands a fine view of Yonkers
and the palisades of the Hudson. Its splendid location near the river, whose
beauty has been the theme of musician and poet, renders it a most attract
ive place, and its picturesqueness is heightened by an old well, with two oaken
buckets, one of which ascends while the other descends, bringing up the pure
and sparkling liquid.
In November, 1846, Mr. Underhill was united in marriage to Miss Emily
Sherwood, of New Rochelle. She was born, reared and educated in that

824 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
city, being a daughter of Jonathan and Susanna Sherwood. One daughter,
Susan Jane, who died in childhood, was born of this union, and one son,
Wilbur Sherwood. Both Mr. and Mrs. Underhill are earnest and consistent
members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Tukahoe, of which he has
been a trustee since 1862. Their charming home is noted for its hospitality
and they have the warm regard of many friends.
Prior to the war of the Rebellion, Mr. Underhill gave his political sup
port to the Democratic party, but when the country became engaged in civil
strife he joined the ranks of the party which stood loyally by the Union and
has sin'ce been a stalwart Republican. In 1875 he was appointed assessor
of the town of Yonkers, and has filled the position through the intervening
years up to the present time, so that his incumbency covers a period of almost
aquarter of a century. His loilg retention in office stands in unmistakable
proof of his efficiency and the confidence and trust reposed in him by his
fellow citizens, who justly regard him as a man of sterling worth, possesssing
those qualities which in every clime command respect.
Wilbur Sherwood Underhill, the son of Caleb F., has been connected with
the Hodgman rubber works at Tuckahoe since 1879. He is a vestryman
of St. John's church at Tuckahoe, where he has been the organist for over
twenty years. He married Jane Odell Dusenbury, a daughter of Charles R.
and Emily Dusenbury.

THE TODD FAMILY,

OF SOMERS, NEW YORK.

The Todd family is one of the oldest in Westchester county. The name
is an altered form of the Scotch word " tod," which means fox. With a
single exception the Todds have all come from the highlands of Scotland.
From many sources data of the family history have been collected, and one
authority says: "The original name of the Irish Todds is O'Shanagh, which
is Irish for fox. An early English parliament compelled the Irish to assume
the English names and thus the family changed the name, the Leinster
branch taking the name of Fox, and the northern branch that of Todd or
Wolfson, which has since been corrupted to Wilson." It appears from this
that a portion of the Irish Todds are of Irish origin, but all other Todds are
Scotch. Several times representatives of the name have come to the shores
of the New World from Scotland. Prominent among these was Adam Todd,
who arrived in New York about the beginning of the seventeenth century
still wearing his tartan and plaid. His descendants have intermarried with
the Brevoorts, the Astors, the Sedj wicks and other old and distinguished
families of the Empire state.

// ,,-

?(sa>r^y' c-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 825
There was also an emigration of the Irish Todds of whom a part came
originally from Scotland. In the early part of the seventeenth century Hugh
Todd came from county Antrim and settled on wild land in the interior of
Pennsylvania, whence his descendants removed to New Jersey, Carolina,
Georgia and Kentucky. It was into a branch of this Irish stock that Abra
ham Lincoln married, Mrs. Lincoln being a great-granddaughter of Robert
Todd, who was a native of Pennsylvania and a general in the Revolutionary
army. Then there are the English Todds, who have come to this country
from. the ' ' merrie isle" where they have been known as far back as the
eleventh century. They seemed to have setted first in Yorkshire, where the
name is common to-day. There are several branches of the Yorkshire Todds
in America. The family in New Haven and Westchester county, New York,
are descended from one of these, the original ancestor being Christopher
Todd, who came from Pontefract, West Riding, Yorkshire. The register
of the old parish church there is still in existence and contains the records of
his marriage, also that of his parents and grandparents.
William Todd, of Yorkshire, England, was married, September 25, 1592,
to Isabel Rogerson. They had a son, William, who was born in Yorkshire,
June 29, 1593, and died in May, 1617. He was married, May 22, 1614, to
Katharine Brewster, a daughter of John and Isabel (Ward) Brewster, and
they had two children — Christopher and Mercy.
Christopher Todd was born at Pontefract, West Riding, Yorkshire, Jan
uary 12, 1617, and died April 23, 1686, He was but twenty years of age
when, with his wife, Grace, daughter of Michael Middlebrook, of Hold Mills,
Yorkshire, he sailed with Mr. Davenport's company on the Hector, probably
some time in April. It required about two months to make the voyage in
those days, and anchor was dropped in Boston harbor June 26, 1637. The
prominence of " the famous Mr. Davenport " and the opulence of merchants
who accompanied him gave to this company, in the estimation of the colo
nists, an unusual value and they were accorded a very warm welcome. Most
of the company remained in Boston or vicinity through the winter, and on the
30th of March, 1638, the greater number embarked at Boston for Quinnipiac,
where they arrived about a fortnight later. There they settled and for some
time, under a compact which they formed, they governed themselves by
what they believed to be the Biblical teaching. Christopher Todd seems to
have been at first one of the less prominent of the colonists. He signed the
"General Agreement" modestly, with his mark, and quietly took his allot
ment in the "Yorkshire Quarters," and when the "meeting-house" was
"dignified" he had his place assigned him, not in one of the honorable
"middle seats," but in the "third side seat," though "Sister Todd "—for
they worshiped in those days "the men apart and their wives apart"— was

826 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
a little more fortunate. It was not long, however, before Christopher Todd
began to make another kind of mark. He bought a gristmill, the first
erected in New Haven, and it was long known as Todd's mill, and after 1798
passed into the possession of Eli Whitney, who erected there the first estab
lishment in America for manufacturing fire-arms. "The record of the gen
eral court " shows that he was " a continually adding to his real estate."
He even rose to the dignity of a " viewer of fences." He bought an acre
and a half of ground on Elm street, between Church and Orange streets,
subsequently known as the "Blue Meeting House lot," where St. Thomas
church now stands, and there resided. The place remained in possession of
the family for a hundred years. Christopher and Grace (Middlebrook) Todd
had six children.
Samuel Todd, the second of the family, was born in New Haven April
29, 1645, and died in April, 17 14. He succeeded his father in the gristmill
and carried on the business for many years. He was "propounded" for
freeman in 1670 and proprietor in 1685. He was married November 26,
1668, to Mary Bradley, a daughter of William Bradley and his wife, Abigail
or Alice nee Pritchard. Mary (Bradley) Todd died September 26, 1724.
By her marriage to Samuel Todd she became the mother of eleven children.
Jonah Todd, the seventh of the family, was born in New Haven Febru
ary 16, 1684, and died August 29, 1730. He was married April 20, 1709,
to Hannah Clark, who was born April 6, 1685, a daughter of Samuel and
Hannah (Tuttle) Clark and a granddaughter of Samuel and Hannah (Ford
ham) Clark.
Abraham Todd, the only child of Jonah and Hannah Todd, was born in
New Haven, February 18, 1710, and died December 17, 1772. He studied
theology and was a graduate of Yale College of the class of 1727. Although
but seventeen years of age he was married that year, November 20, 1727,
to Hannah Dickerman, daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth (Glover) Dicker-
man, and granddaughter of Lieutenant Abraham and Mary (Cooper) Dick
erman, and great-granddaughter of Thomas and Ellen Dickerman, of Rev.
Mather's company. In June, 1732, Rev. Abraham Todd was invited by the
Episcopal church in Derby, Connecticut, to the pastorate at that place, but
just previously had accepted a call from the Second Congregational Society,
of the West church, at Horse Neck, Greenwich, Connecticut, which stood
on the hill afterward made famous by Putnam's desperate ride. He was
duly installed the following year. "In 1769 the society by vote impowered
Mr. Todd to desire one or more persons to tune the psalm as he shall see
proper." It is related that during his ministry many of his hearers were
outspoken men, even expressing themselves publicly during worship as to the
merits or demerits of the doctrine advanced. Among this class of persons

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 827
was one Palmer, who was present during the service on an occasion when an
Indian missionary preached to Mr. Todd's congregation. He preached
fluently, and we presume well, and so great an impression did his logic and
eloquence make upon Palmer that he exclaimed at the close of the sermon
with great vehemence, "Let's swap Todd and buy the Injun; he does a
good deal the best." Mr. Todd himself was present, but whether he thought
it so much the greater compliment to the Indian or a low estimate of his own
powers, we are not informed. His death occurred in 1773, after a pastorate
of forty years. He had enjoyed the confidence of his people, adding many
to his flock. Of his character, the duration of his ministerial office over a
single church is perhaps a sufficient indication. His wife was the president
of an association whose purpose was to provide clothing for the soldiers in
the French and Indian war. Her death occurred June 21, 1777. They had
eight children.
Oliver Todd, their seventh child, was born October 25, 1748, in Green
wich, Connecticut,- and died July 25, 1814. He was married July 25, 1768,
to Lydia Close, who was born October 5, 1747, and died April 27, 1825.
They had four children, — Fannie, Ira, Huldah and Uel. Oliver Todd and
his brother moved with their wives to South Salem, New York, when the
British occupied Greenwich, Connecticut, during the Revolutionary war, set
tling on lands now owned by Squire George Todd. Oliver Todd served in
Colonel Crane's regiment in the American army, and thus loyally fought for
the cause of freedom. He and his wife are buried in the old Todd burying-
ground on the farm. He left a will, giving to his wife " the use of one-third
of all my lands and buildings as the law directs, also I give and bequeath unto
my said wife the household furniture and her clothing to do as she thinks
proper with; and I also give to my said wife the choice of one horse and four
cows." To his sons he gave his land, and to his daughters one thousand
dollars each and made Abraham Todd and his two sons his executors.
His son, Uel Todd, was born May 2, 1782, in South Salem, New York,
and died February 27, 1852. He was a farmer by occupation and with his
family he removed in 1812 to the farm owned by his father, in the town of
Somers, near Whitehall Corners. His father, dying in 1814, left him this
farm as a part of his share of the estate. He married Laura Mead, daughter
of Enoch Mead, of Revolutionary fame. She was born January 22, 1783,
and died July 26, 18 14, leaving seven children. He afterward married Mrs.
Jane Baker Teed, widow of Samuel Teed and a daughter of Samuel Baker,
of Somers, New York. She was born April 29, 1787, and died May 22, 1828,
leaving seven children. For his third wife Uel Todd chose Betsey Baker
Purdy, a sister of his second wife. She survived him. Uel Todd owned
property in Greenburg, New York, and resided there at one time. He died

828 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
in 1852 and was buried in the Todd family cemetery, near Whitehall
Corners. Harvey Mead Todd, the eldest child of Uel and Laura (Mead) Todd, was
born in Lewisboro, New York, January 2, 1803, and died December 21,
1 88 1. He acquired his education in the district school of Somers, to which
town the family removed in 18 12. At an early age he put aside his text
books and took up farm work, carrying on agricultural pursuits until his
death. His farm was on the old turnpike road, two and a half miles from
Somers village, known as the Micah Purdy farm, which he bought from his
father. His residence stands on a high elevation some distance west from
the highway, and is a handsome structure, commanding a splendid view of
the Plum Brook valley, the undulating farms of eastern Somers and the dis
tant hills of Connecticut. Surrounding the mansion are an ample lawn and
¦the cultivated fields of a rich and extensive farm. Harvey Mead Todd was
a plain, unostentatious man, upright and straightforward in every transac
tion. By his steady industry he won a large fortune and obtained for him
self a representative place in the community in which he lived. He was a
director of the Farmers and Drovers' Bank at Somers. February 11, 1827,
he married Miss Esther Warren Nelson, daughter of William and Catherine
(Green) Nelson, and granddaughter of Absalom and Esther (Warren) Nel
son, and a great-great-great-granddaughter of John and Hendrica (Vander
Vleecht) Nelson, of ye Flatlands. Absalom Nelson served in Colonel Lud-
dington's regiment, Crane's company, in the war for independence. Mrs.
Todd was born November 8, 1808, and died May 1, 1883. Four children
were born to them: William Nelson; Augustus E., who was born May
18, 1830, and died November 26, 1830; Edgar A., who was born Novem
ber 6, 1833, and died May 6, 1836; and Laura Josephine, born October
1, 1845. William Nelson Todd was born in Somers, March 11, 1828, and isa
farmer by occupation. He was married October 10, 1855, to Jane Elizabeth
Wilson, who was born October 22, 1826, a daughter of Samuel and Jane
(Purdy) Wilson and granddaughter of Samuel and Charity (Rogers) Wilson.
Her grandfather served in Colonel Drake's regiment in the Revolutionary
war. William N. Todd purchased from his father-in-law's heirs the estate
known as the Wilson farm and made his home thereon until 1880, when he
purchased the Crane estate, north of Somers, where he now resides. In
connection with agricultural pursuits he has served as the vice-president of
the Farmers and Drovers' Bank, of Somers, for a long period, and for many
years has been a town officer, discharging his duties with marked promptness
and fidelity. In 1888 he was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who
died on the 23d of March of that year. They were the parents of six chil-

/^ ?Z c/^62^

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 829'
dren: Charles Yates, who was born July 17, 1856, and died May 1, 1857;
Isabelle M., who was bom December 15, 1857, and died May 12, 1879; Wil-
nettie, Wilson G., George E. and Eleanor Blanche, all yet living.

EDWIN F. STUDWELL.

Captain Edwin Francis Studwell, one of the most popular and influen
tial citizens of Port Chester, New York, is now the efficient superintendent
and manager of the Port Chester Transportation Company, with which he has
been identified for many years. As a business man he has been enterprising,
energetic and always abreast of the times, and the success that has come to
him is certainly well deserved.
Born in Greenwich township, Fairfield count}', Connecticut, April 8,
1843, Captain Studwell is a son of George O. and Joanna Studwell, the
former also a native of Greenwich, and the latter of Harrison township,
Westchester county, New York, born near Rye. The Studwell family is one
of the oldest in the New World, having been founded here as early as 1640.
It is probable that our subject's grandfather, Solomon Studwell, was also a
native of Greenwich township, Fairfield county, Connecticut. He was a
shoemaker and farmer by occupation, and died at about the age of seventy-
five years. The father was a seafaring man, beginning his marine life at the-
age of fifteen years, and following the water in the transient freight business
on Long Island Sound until his retirement from all business cares at the age of
seventy. He then made his home in Port Chester, New York, where he died
at the age of eighty. Prior to i860 he was a Democrat in politics, but later
gave his support to the men and measures of the Republican party. He was
only fairly successful in a business way, but his life was such as to win for
him the confidence and respect of all with whom he came in contact. His
wife died at the age of fifty years, leaving seven children.
At the early age of ten years, Captain Studwell, of this review, began
clerking in a grocery store in Brooklyn, New York, but continued to attend
the public schools during the winter months for a few years. His next em
ployment was in a store at Greenwich, Connecticut, where he remained for
two years, and then shipped as boy and deck hand on a sloop running out of
Stamford, Connecticut, remaining on her about a year. On the ist of
March, i860, he came to Port Chester, New York, and entered the service
of the company of which he is now superintendent and manager. When the
company was organized under the style of the Port Chester Transporta
tion Company, he was elected secretary and treasurer; has always served as
manager, and was also captain of the steamer Glenville until 1897. In his

830 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
hands the business has steadily grown, and the firm is one of the most relia
ble in this section.
Captain Studwell married Miss Mary Anna Ferris, daughter of John
Ferris, and they have become the parents of six children — four sons and two
daughters, namely: Nettie; Edwin A., secretary of the Port Chester Trans
portation Company; Nelson F. ; Mabel E. ; Chester A., who is attending Dart
mouth College, and Lester W. , at school in Stamford, Connecticut.
Captain Studwell has ever been a loyal citizen, co-operating in all that
is calculated to promote the interests of city, state or county. His political
support has always been given to the Republican party. He has always kept
well informed on the issues and questions of the day, and taken quite an
active part in local affairs, but has never sought political preferment, though
often solicited to become a candidate for office. Socially he is a member of
the Royal Arcanum; was first assistant of the fire department for eight years,
and is now serving as chief; and he is also the secretary of Port Chester
Savings Bank.
CORNELIUS VAN TASSEL.
Lieutenant Cornelius Van Tassel, of the South Battalion of Westches
ter County Militia, was a lineal descendant of the noted Van Texel family of
Holland, John Cornelius Van Texel being one of the first to emigrate when
it was decided to occupy and settle New Netherland. He married, shortly
after his arrival, the daughter of an Indian chief, at Eider's Neck (now
Huntington, Long Island), and one son was born, who was named after his
father and baptized in the year 1650, in the Dutch church erected within
Fort Amsterdam, upon Manhattan island. This son afterward settled in the
Indian town of Accamacpo, in the county of Westchester, and his farm
lands comprised nearly all of the present village of Sing Sing: He was
appointed tax collector, and for a number of years prior to the year 1700
paid the taxes collected from this particular town to Childe Brook, the
colonial treasurer. Of his family, consisting of several sons and daughters,
all became members of the Dutch church at Sleepy Hollow, and are num
bered among the earliest supporters of that ancient congregation. Their
father having died about the year 1703, the colonial government gave them,
in 1705, a grant of land, four miles by six in size, at Eider's Neck, Long
Island, in right of their grandmother, who had received the same through
her tribal relations. They continued, however, to reside in Westchester
county. Cornelius, the eldest son, and grandfather of the subject of this sketch,
became a tenant upon Phillips Manor, which farm was afterward occupied
by his son Dirk, and after his death by Lieutenant Cornelius, who was

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 831
appointed an officer of the provincial congress and assigned to the Tarry
town company, — this being September 2, 1775, the first and earliest mention
of the name in Tarrytown yet discovered. The adjoining farm on the south
was occupied by Peter Van Tassel, a member of the county committee of
safety for the year 1777, while that on the west extended to the Hudson
river and was occupied by Captain Jacob Van Tassel. It was also the head
quarters of the water guard, which Irving has made famous in his Wolfert's
Roost, — the present Sunny Side.
The enforcement of the enrollment act, that required each militia pre
cinct to include all Whigs, Tories, sick, lame, lazy and distressed, of sixteen
years of age and upward, to do military duty, devolved principally upon the
members of the committee of safety. In order to encourage enlistments in
the British service, Governor Tryon, in command at King's Bridge, deter
mined to capture and imprison every committeeman that could be found, and
directed, on November 17, 1777, Captains Emmerick and Barnes, of his cav
alry, to carry out his instructions. They succeeded in taking Peter and
Lieutenant Cornelius prisoners, after burning their dwellings and barns.
Their hands were tied to their horses' tails, and in this manner were com
pelled to drive their stock of cattle to the British camp, while their families
were left to care for themselves as well as they could. Several of Lieu
tenant Van Tassel's neighbors, under direction of Abraham Martling, a Con
tinental soldier, who resided upon a portion of his farm, a few nights after
ward proceeded to New York and burned Lieutenant-Governor Delancy's
house, in retaliation for this offense.
There being no arrangement made between the opposing military forces
for the exchange of civilian prisoners, the Van Tassels were compelled to
remain confined in the provost gaol (jail) some eleven months, as the British
authorities supposed they were civilians, and declined to entertain the fre
quent requests made for their discharge. They were finally released, and re
turned to the vicinity of their former homes, the ruins of which did not quench
their ardor to re-enlist in the cause of liberty. Nowhere within the limits of
the neutral ground did loyalty find or possess truer patriotism. Out of thirty-
nine members of the Van Tassel family that were engaged in the military
service, sixteen were connected with the South Battalion of Westchester
county militia, and around the charred remains of the former home of Lieu
tenant Van Tassel many sanguinary encounters with the enemy took place.
The bodies of six Hessian soldiers are still interred upon a portion of his
late farm. General Washington's headquarters, during the summer of 1780,
was at the house of Joseph Appleby, a second lieutenant of Lieutenant
Van Tassel's company.
About one mile distant General Rochambeau, commanding the French

832 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
forces, had his headquarters, which house, at this date (1899), is still stand
ing. Brick ovens were constructed in front of the army to deceive the
enemy, while General Washington caused deceptive letters to be sent out,
that they might fall into the hands of General Clinton, in order to make him
believe the American forces were making permanent preparations to remain
during the winter. His local militia were valuable aids in carrying out his
plan of capturing Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown.
Lieutenant Van Tassel, previous to the Revolution, was one of the most
extensive and well-to-do farmers of the locality, and, although he lost every
thing by the ravages of war, including his only son, who was a celebrated
rifleman, he managed, at its close, to purchase from the commissioners of
forfeiture the farm occupied by his ancestors, and recuperated from his severe
losses. He contributed liberally to his neighbors and friends, and toward
the establishment of churches and schools, and lived to see them firmly
established.
JOHN C. SHOTTS.
Among the " boys in blue " who followed the starry banner upon south
ern battle-fields and vindicated the honor and strength of our national govern
ment, and struck the shackles from three millions of slaves, none is more popu
lar among his fellow soldiers than John C. Shotts, of Yonkers. He is to-day
an acknowledged leader in the Grand Army circles of the east, and in fact is
well known among the members of the order throughout the country. With
a heart and mind responsive to all that is patriotic and loyal, he advocates
every measure that will promote the welfare of the nation and is especially
active in his labors in behalf of the valiant men who stood by the country in
the dark hour of peril and braved danger and death until the army victorious
had planted the stars and stripes in the capital of the southern Confederacy.
Mr. Shotts was born at West Farms, Westchester county, New York,
August 11, 1844, spent his boyhood days under the parental roof, and in his
seventeenth year responded to his country's call for aid. The smoke from
Fort Sumter's guns had scarcely cleared away when he offered his services to
the nation, enlisting at Yonkers, April 16, 1861. He was mustered into the
United States service for two years, in New York city, May 22, as a private
of Company A, Seventeenth Regiment of New York Volunteers. The regi
ment was composed of companies enlisted in different counties of the state,
was sent to a camp on Staten island and H. S. Lansing was commissioned
its colonel. On the 21st of June they went to Camp Mansfield, at Washing
ton, D. C, where they remained until July 15, when they were ordered to
Fort Ellsworth, at Alexandria, Virginia, and assisted in covering the retreat
of the army from the first battle of Bull Run. In August, while in command

John C. Shotts.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 833
of an advance picket post about five miles above Fairfax Seminary, Mr.
Shotts captured the first rebel spy of note taken during the war, giving him
over to the charge of Colonel Baker, chief of the secret-service division, who
thanked Mr. Shotts most earnestly and commended him for his watchfulness
while on duty.
On the 15th of October, 1861, the Seventeenth New York Regiment was
assigned to General Daniel Butterfield's brigade, General Fitz John Porter's
division, and went into winter quarters at Hall's Hill. On the 13th of
March, 1862, the brigade and division were- placed in the Third Corps of the
Army of the Potomac, and on the 14th day of May were transferred to the
Fifth Army Corps, commanded by Major-General Fitz John Porter. When
the army left Hall's Hill, the Seventeenth New York went to Fortress Mon
roe and was encamped at Hampton Roads, from which point it was sent on
a number of reconnoitering expeditions, and on one of them had a sharp
skirmish with General Magruder's forces at Big Bethel, where several men
were killed and wounded. On the way to the siege of Yorktown the regi
ment led the advance of the right of the army. At the battle of Hanover
Court House, Company A captured a brass cannon belonging to Latham's
celebrated New Orleans battery, it being the first cannon captured by the
Army of the Potomac in an engagement. Mr. Shotts, who was on the
skirmish line, was one of the first to reach the cannon and claim it for his
company and regiment. On the 26th of June the Seventeenth New York
and Eighteenth Massachusetts Regiments, with two flying batteries of artillery
and a squadron of cavalry, constituted the entire force under General Stone-
man when he made that hasty, timely and terrible march to protect the army
supplies at the White House against the advance of Stonewall Jackson. On
the night of June 30 Company A was the last to leave that place after burn
ing the supplies which set fire to and destroyed the White House, which was
the Lee residence where George Washington first met Mrs. Martha Custis,
who became his wife and the first lady of the land.
The forces just mentioned went on board the gunboat Marblehead and
were attacked by two flying batteries of Stonewall Jackson's artillery and his
sharpshooters. After a hard fight both batteries were disabled with heavy
loss. The gunboat headed for Fortress Monroe, and from there the regi
ment was ordered to Harrison's Landing on the transport steamer Knicker
bocker, which on her return trip sank in Cheseapeake bay, opposite Point
Lookout. The regiment was ordered, with orders of the Fifth Army Corps,
to join General Pope's army in the second Bull Run campaign. At the bat
tle of Bull Run, four color-bearers lost their lives in defense of the flag, but
the starry banner was saved and rigged to a new staff and was returned to the
common council of New York city as a proof of the valor of the regiment,
53

834 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
which lost over two hundred men out of five hundred and fifty who went into
the battle. The regiment later participated in the Antietam and Fredericks
burg campaigns and afterward went into camp at Falmouth. The Seven
teenth New York was also in the Burnside "mud march, " January 19-21.
On the 27th of April these troops participated in the Chancellorsville cam
paign and then returned to the old camp. At the battle of Groveton, General
Butterfield complimented his men and spoke of the splendid advance of the
brigade led by the Seventeenth and Forty-fourth New York Regiments.
Mr. Shotts participated in the following battles: siege of Yorktown, April
5 to May 4, 1862; Mechanicsville, May 22; Hanover Court House, May 27;
Cold Harbor and White House, June 28-29; Bull Run, August 30; Grove
ton; Chantilly; Antietam, September 17; Shepardstown, September 20;
Fredericksburg, December 1 1 — 1 5 ; Richard's Ford, December 30-31; and
Chancellorsville, May 1-4, 1863. He was mustered out of the service at
New York, June 2, 1863, his term having expired.
After his return to the north Mr. Shotts established a market in Yonkers
and carried on business in that line for many years, meeting with good suc
cess in his undertakings. Since 1883 he has been engaged in the wholesale
commission business, operating three refrigerator houses, — at Yonkers, Tar
rytown and Mount Vernon, respectively. He represents Armour & Com
pany and enjoys the distinction of being one of the first commission agents
for that house. His business has grown to extensive proportions, and he is
now conducting the largest trade of the kind in Westchester county, furnish
ing employment to twenty-five men, while his sales annually reach a large
sum. He is regarded as one of the most substantial and reliable business
men of Yonkers, possesses great energy and perseverance and follows pro
gressive and enterprising business methods.
In the public affairs of the city he has taken a deep interest and has
labored earnestly for the advancement of its greatest good. He was a mem
ber of the city board of water commissioners from 1888 until 1893, and since
that time has served as president of the board, occupying the incumbency
for the second time at this writing. He is a member of the City Club, now
serving his third term as its president. He is a valued representative of many
of the social organizations, belonging to the Palisade Boat Club, to Nep
perhan Lodge, I. O. O. F., the Yonkers Turn Verein and a member and one
of the organizers of the Exempt Firemen's Association, having served for five
years in the Lady Washington Hose Company. Politically he is a Repub
lican and for many years has been a member and chairman of the city
organization, besides having been a delegate to various state and other polit
ical conventions and chairman of the Republican general committee.
Mr. Shotts has been twice married. On the ist of March, 1868, he

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 835
wedded Miss Ida Kuster, who died September 5, 1877, and on the 28th of
April, 1 88 1, he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah M. Smith.
While Mr. Shotts is widely and favorably known in social circles, is
regarded as a leader in political affairs, and is accounted one of the lead
ing and reliable business men of Yonkers, he is probably best known in
connection with his work in the Grand Army of the Republic. He has
been a member of Retching Post, No. 60, since 1879, was elected its com
mander in 1880, and in 1886 was again elected to the position, serving for
eight consecutive terms. He was a delegate to the National Encampment
at Milwaukee in 1888, at Detroit in 1891, and Washington in 1892. He was
elected a member of the state council of administration in 1893, and was
department commander of New York from February 28, 1894, to May 15,
1895. He has been chairman of the Yonkers memorial committee, and the
fidelity with which he has ever discharged his duties in connection with the
Grand Army of the Republic is shown by the fact that he traveled twenty-
two thousand miles and met the friendly hand-clasp of twenty thousand com
rades. His sympathy for the private soldier has led him to perform much
active service for them in the halls of legislation, and his labors have not
been without good results. At the national convention of the Grand Army
¦of the Republic in Cincinnati, in 1898, he was a prominent candidate for
commander. He is one of the best known and most popular members of the
order in the east, and without exception has done more, spent more time and
money, for the welfare of the organization than any other man in the coun
try, and contributed fully as much. The honor of an election to the highest
office within the gift of his comrades will undoubtedly be conferred upon
him at no very distant date, and it will be well merited and worthily worn.

ISAAC W. TURNER.

Isaac W. Turner, who is now serving his third term as a member of the
board of county supervisors of Westchester county and who is regarded as
one of its most able members, was born at Norwich, Connecticut, April 29,
1854. He attended the common schools there, also the Norwich Free
Academy, and at the age of eighteen years entered upon an independent busi
ness career as clerk in a drug store. He was thus employed for sixteen
years, part of the time in his native town and part of the time in New York
city, and finally entered that business on his own account in Jersey City,
where he conducted his store with good success for six years. On the expira
tion of that period he turned his attention to the hotel business in New York
city and subsequently established the Mutual Steam Laundry at Nos. 524-
531 Twenty-fourth street, New York. He has since been secretary and

836 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
treasurer of the company, which is now doing an immense business, employ
ing one hundred and forty hands. The Mutual has the reputation of being
one of the best laundries in New York, and hence a very liberal patronage is
accorded it. In the establishment of a business where competition is rife it
is often difficult to gain prosperity, but this Mr. Turner has done. He en
tered upon his business career in the humble capacity of clerk, but steadily
he has worked his way upward and in the legitimate channels of trade he has
acquired a handsome competence, overcoming all difficulties and obstacles
by determined purpose and undaunted energy.
Although identified with the industrial life of the metropolis, Mr. Turner
makes his home at a beautiful summer residence two and a half miles east of
the village of Katonah, Westchester county, and is one of the leading citizens
of the community. He married a daughter of James F Merritt, one of the
leading agriculturists of the county.
In his political views Mr. Turner has always been a stalwart Democrat,
and on that ticket was elected supervisor for the town of Bedford in 1893.
Since that time he has been twice re-elected and is the first Democrat of the
town that has ever filled the position for three successive terms. Bedford
usually gives a Republican majority of two hundred and his election is cer
tainly a tribute to his personal worth and an indication of the confidence
reposed in him by his fellow townsmen. Duriug the past six years he has
been a leading member of the board of supervisors and has served on some
of the most important committees, among them being the committee in
charge of the poor, the asylums and the almshouses. He was instrumental
in securing the new improvements at the county farm and it was through his
efforts that the new hospital was built and put in operation, he obtaining an
appropriation for carrying on the work. He has also served on many other
important committees, and has ever discharged his duties with credit to him
self and satisfaction to his constituents. For many years he has been an
active factor in political circles, and in 1889 was elected justice of the peace,
serving until 1892, when he entered upon his campaign for supervisor,
against Edward Carpenter, of Mount Kisco. Although he ran ahead of his
ticket he was defeated on account of the town being largely Republican; but
in 1893 he was successful in the race, and so ably has he served his fellow
townsmen that he has since been continued in office. He has been a mem
ber of the Democratic county committee, served for one year as its secretary,
and in 1895 was made its chairman.
Mr. Turner is not only well known in Westchester county, but also has
an extended acquaintance in New York and Jersey City. He is a prominent
Mason, belonging to Hugh De Payen Commandery and the New Jersey Con
sistory, of Jersey City, and Mecca Temple of the Mystic Shrine, of New

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 837
York. He also belongs to the Plama Club, of the former place, and to the
Democratic Club of New York. Socially he is deservedly popular, as he is
affable and courteous in manner and possesses that essential qualification to
success in public life — that of making friends readily and of strengthening the
ties of friendship as time advances.

HART CURRY.

Hart Curry, one of the most enterprising, wide-awake and energetic citi
zens of Somers township, Westchester county, was born in Fishkill, New
York, April 30, 1847, and has resided in this county since 1894, though he
has virtually called this his home for fifteen years. His parents lived here
about five years, from 1844 until 1850, the father, Peter B. Curry, being en
gaged in teaching. He was a native of Putnam county, born in the town of
Carmel, May 17, 181 1, and was the son of Lewis and Mary (Secor) Curry.
The family is of Scotch origin and the men have mostly been farmers and
mechanics. Peter B. Curry devoted many years of his life, however, to
teaching in the public schools of Putnam county, and there served as school
commissioner for two terms. He was a stanch Republican in politics and a
highly respected citizen of the community in which he made his home. He
married Miss Elizabeth Hart, who was born in Carmel, April 24, 1822, a
daughter of James and Thamie (Sloat) Hart, the former a ship carpenter by
occupation. Mr. Curry died in his native county, at the age of seventy-six
years, and his wife a few years later. In their family were five children, of
whom our subject is the eldest. Ellen, born August 25, 1849, is a graduate
of the Albany Normal School and was for several years a successful teacher
and vice principal of the Drum Hill school, at Peekskill, but is now the wife
of Casper Brower, proprietor of the Glenwood Institute at Matteawan, New
Jersey; Franklin, born December 28, 1856, died in 1858; Willis, born April
29, i860, is a graduate of the American Veterinary College of New York,
was for years employed by the bureau of animal industry in New Jersey, and
is now engaged in the practice of his profession at Hackensack, that state;
and Wright, born March 26, 1866, died in 1877.
The subject of this sketch was reared upon a farm until he reached his
seventeenth year, and received his early, education in the public schools.
He then engaged in teaching for a short time in order to procure funds with
which to continue his studies, and for two years he was a student at Cornell
University. Again he followed the teacher's profession for a short time, and
for ten years was in the employ of the New York postoffice, in the box and
money-order department at Station L and the main office. At the end of
that period he embarked in the hotel and lodging-house business, being one

838 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
of the pioneers who furnished cheap lodgings for the poor men of New York
city. Later he opened others of a similar character, and is still interested
in the business, the Glenmore being his principal hotel. In this venture he
has met with excellent success, but has not confined his attention to it exclu
sively. He was the founder of the Mutual Steam Laundry Company, of
which he is now the president and principal stockholder and does work
mainly for large steamship lines. He is one of the commissioners of
appraisal of the Lake Gleninda commission, and is one of the most public-
spirited and progressive citizens of Westchester county. In Somers town
ship he owns a beautiful farm and is successfully engaged in dairying, in
connection with his other business interests. The success that he has
achieved in life is due entirely to his own unaided efforts, and he is to-day
recognized as one of the most substantial and reliable business men of his
community. On April 30, 1884, Mr. Curry was married, by Rev. Morris Schenck, to
Miss Alice Wright, a native of Peekskill, New York, and a daughter of
Joseph S. and Almira (Waters) Wright. They hold membership in the
Presbyterian church and are highly respected by all who know them.
Socially, Mr. Curry belongs to Croton Lodge, F. & A. M., and is also a
member of the chapter and commandery at Brewster, Putnam county.
Since attaining his majority he has been prominently identified with the
local organization of the Republican party, has served as a delegate to its
various conventions, and has been an important factor in securing its success
in the community where he has resided.

REV. JAMES W. KELLY.

There is no position held by man more important than that of pastor of
a church; nor is there a position that has attached to it greater importance
and responsibility when properly conceived and conscientiously discharged.
This is more essentially the case with the clergymen of the Catholic faith,'
for he is held by his congregation more as an instructor and guide, not only
in religious matters, but also in moral and social conduct. There are few men
by character and education better fitted to preside over a people in all these
relations than the reverend gentleman whose name stands at the head of this
biography. He is now pastor of St. John's Catholic church at White Plains,
New York.
Father Kelly was born in New York city, in 1858, a son of John and
Catherine (Sheeran) Kelly, and his early education was obtained in private
schools there. In September, 1874, he entered Manhattan College, New
York city, at which institution he graduated in 1877, and the same year

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 839
entered the Theological Seminary at Troy. After being ordained to the
priesthood, in December, 1881, by Bishop McNeirney, of Albany, he was
called to St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York city, where he remained ten
years. For four years he was located as pastor at Williamsbridge, New
York city, but in June, 1895, took charge of his present church at White
Plains. His congregation now numbers three hundred and twenty families.
In connection with the church is a parochial school, which is presided over
by the Sisters of Charity.
The new church edifice, which was erected in June, 1892, is among the
finest in Westchester county and cost one hundred and twenty-five thousand
dollars, the money for its erection being donated by Mrs. Jules Reynal, in
memory of her father and her son. It is furnished with all modern improve
ments; is heated throughout by steam; has a seating capacity of eight hun
dred, and the windows are very artistic in design. Here Father Kelly, as an
active, zealous and efficient worker for the church, is held in high esteem,
not only by the people of his own congregation but by the residents of White
Plains generally. DAVID F. DAVIDS.
One of the oldest and most respected families of New Rochelle is that
represented here by the subject of this biography. The Reynolds family, to
which his mother belonged, was also one of the pioneer families of this county,
and thus no citizen of this region is better entitled to a place in the history of
Westchester county than David F. Davids. His ancestors were noted for
their patriotism, public spirit and peaceful, industrious, law-abiding ways,
and no breath of calumny ever darkened their fair escutcheon.
As early as 1666 one William Davids, a native of Wales, crossed the
Atlantic to found a new home for himself and children in a land where Old
World tyranny had not yet cast its blight. He and many of his descendants
assisted in placing the United States on its present basis as one of the pros
perous, progressive nations of the globe, and to his children and children's
children he left a worthy example of good citizenship. The grandfather of
our subject was William Davids, whose birth took place in this county. The
parents of David F. were Thaddeus and Jane M. (Reynolds) Davids, the
latter a daughter of Isaac Reynolds, whose ancestors also were among the
early settlers of this county, Thaddeus Davids was born in Chestnut Ridge,
Westchester county, November 16, 1810, and died July 22, 1894. In
1825 he founded the business of manufacturing various kinds of inks and
writing fluids in a factory in New York city, and conducted it up to the year
1883, when a stock company was formed and David F. Davids was made the
manager, which position he has filled to the present time.

840 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
The birth of David F. Davids took place September, 1832, and his early
years were passed in the city of New York, where he attended the public
schools until he had arrived at a suitable age to be of assistance to his father
in business. Though he is necessarily in the city every day, his home is in
New Rochelle, and he makes the journey back and forth morning and night.
He stands well among his business associates wherever he is known. Quiet
and unassuming in manner, he has avoided public life as far as was compat
ible with his duties as a citizen, and has steadfastly adhered to the resolution
which he formed, in his young manhood, that he would keep out of politics.
He is not remiss in meeting his duties as a voter, however, and chooses to
use his franchise on behalf of the men and measures that may serve the best
interest, both state and national.
The marriage of David F. Davids and Miss Louisa A. Seacord was sol
emnized in June, 1867. Mrs. Davids also isa descendant of sturdy French-
Huguenofj stock, her family having been closely identified with the annals of
Westchester county since'1681, at which time the founder of the second Sea-
cord branch in the United States settled here.

ABRAHAM H. TOMPKINS.
More than two centuries and a half ago, in the year 1640, three broth
ers, Abraham, Joseph and John, came from England to America, braving the
dangers incident to ocean voyages in those days when primitive methods of
navigation were in vogue. One of the brothers was the father of Governor
Daniel D. Tompkins, of New York. Abraham, the great-great-grandfather
of our subject, located in Massachusetts, and had a son, also named Abra
ham, who was born in the town of Greenburg. Westchester county, New
York. He became the owner of a large tract of land here, and at his death
was buried in the cemetery at White Plains. He was loyal to the crown.
John Tompkins, his son, and the grandfather of our subject, was born in
New York city and throughout his business career engaged in contracting and
building. His political support was given the Whig party. He married
Thama Shute, and they became parents of Abraham, William Shute and
Mary Jones. The mother died, after which the father was married again, to
Kathrine Yule, the children of the second union being John and Catherine,
the latter the wife of Colonel Weeds, who is still living in Cincinnati,
Ohio. Abraham Tompkins, the great-grandfather, was a very zealous church
man of the Methodist Episcopal faith. He died in Westchester county and
was laid to rest in White Plains.
William Shute Tompkins, father of our subject, was born August 22,
181 2, in Sullivan street, New York city, and obtained his education in the

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 841
public schools there. He learned the trade of cracker manufacturing and
afterward that of cabinet-making. Later he added to the latter trade the
conducting of furniture stores in different parts of the city, and at one time
the celebrated W. M. Tweed, of political fame, was in his employ. Subse
quently he engaged in the manufacture of drums at No. 69 Wall street, and
soon took the leadership in that line. He became especially famous for the
superior quality of his drums, some of which sold for as much as five hun
dred dollars. He had the monopoly on high-grade bass and tenor drums and
made the first orchestra drum used in this country. He also took up the
study of music and was able to play almost any kind of wind instrument. In
his youth it was a fondly cherished dream that he might some day become
the leader of a fine band, and that dream was ultimately realized. He was
chosen the leader of the old New York Band and was one of the most cele
brated musical directors of the country. His place of business became
known as "The College," and was the most popular rendezvous for the musi
cal fraternity of the city. For several years he led P. T. Barnum's band,
and after his removal to Yonkers he organized the Yonkers Cornet Band.
He also engaged in the manufacture of drums in the city until within a short
time prior to his death. In his political views he was first a Whig and after
ward a Republican. He took an active interest in public affairs, served as a
member of the Irving Hose Company, and socially was connected with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
William Shute Tompkins married Martha A. Hatfield and to them were
born six children: Gilbert H., who was born March 11, 1812; William E. ;
Frances H., wife of John H. Tremper; Mary A., wife of J. Henry Andrews,
a wealthy builder of New York city and commodore of the New Rochelle
Yacht Club; Abraham H. ; and Mercy M., wife of Captain J. A. Sartorious,
of the United States Armory of New York city. The mother of these chil
dren died in 1855, and Mr. Tompkins afterward married Louisa Walls, of
Westchester connty. They had two children: Vivian S., a graduate of the
University of New York, who is now taking a post-graduate course prepara
tory to practicing medicine; and Martha. The father died in November,
1884, and by his side in the Sparta burying-ground rests his wife, who died
in 1855. Of the maternal ancestry of Abraham H. Tompkins we have the follow
ing account. Gilbert Hatfield, the great-grandfather of our subject, had a
son, Gilbert, who was born in New York city, but became a gentleman farmer
at Scarboro, in the town of Ossining, Westchester county. He traced his
descent back to Arthur Hatfield, who crossed the Atlantic to America and
purchased lands at North Castle, in October, 1763. The old homestead,
which is still standing, and which is called the Mansion House, was erected

842 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
in 1795 and was used as an inn during the war of the Revolution. The
barn, on account of its superiority over others of that day, was significantly
styled " None Such." The farm comprised five hundred acres of land, and.
was one of the best in that section of the country. The owner, Arthur
Hatfield, went to Nova Scotia, where he was appointed a first lieutenant in
the English army in 1744. Gilbert Hatfield, the great-grandfather of our
subject, married and had five children: William, John, Anna Townsend,
Thama Searles and Phoebe Tompkins, one of whose sons, Gilbert, married
Martha Williams, who was of Holland Dutch extraction and held valid claims
to the Holland throne but relinquished all such on coming to America. Her
father, Arthur Williams, was born May 27, 1740, and on emigrating from
Holland to America located in the town cf Ossining, Westchester county.
He was very wealthy. He held a lieutenant's commission in the British
army and was sent to Nova Scotia to drill English soldiers. When twenty-
two years of age he married a lady of eighteen, the wedding taking place in
1762. He died' in the town of Ossining, in 18 19, and his wife passed away
in 1 82 1. Their daughter, Martha Williams, became the wife of Gilbert Hat
field, and one of their daughters, Martha A., married William Shute Tomp
kins, father of our subject. The children of Gilbert and Martha (Williams)
Hatfield, were Tamna Ann, Arthur, John and Martha A. Their father was
the owner of a farm in the town of Sparta, and also on Sullivan street, New
York city, but selling the latter property he removed to Sing Sing, this state.
Abraham H. Tompkins, whose name introduces this sketch, was born
in Bleecker street, New York city, January 2, 1844, moved to Sing Sing when
seven years of age, then moved to Yonkers, at the age of ten, and has lived
here ever since. He was engaged in music until the war, when he enlisted
at Newburg, New York, as drum major of the One Hundred and Sixty-eighth
Regiment of New York Volunteers, being discharged at Newburg, October
3.1, 1863, at the expiration of his term of service. He was the youngest
drum major in the war. He participated in the skirmish at Fort Magruder;
in June, 1863, the engagements at Yorktown and Greenwich settlements.
In July the regiment was attacked by General Mosby, who after a short
struggle was repulsed. Twenty of his men were captured, while the Union
loss was only five. The regiment then left Yorktown to join the Army of
the Potomac, and reached Gettysburg, July 6, 1863. In August, the Eleventh
and Twelfth Corps were consolidated as the Twentieth Corps and sent to
Georgetown, Alabama, whence the One Hundred and Sixty-eighth New
York went to Newburg and was mustered out. From twenty to thirty-five
years of age he was considered one of the best snare drummers in the world,
if not the best.
Upon returning from the war Mr. Tompkins engaged in the butchering

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 843
business, continuing in that line until 1896, when a horse falling upon him
injured him so seriously that he was obliged to withdraw, and has since prac
tically lived retired. He was a reliable, enterprising business man who won
the public confidence and received a liberal patronage. He has always taken
a zealous and active interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of the
city, and is now serving as alderman from the fifth ward, to which position
he was first elected in 1892. By re-election he is now serving his fourth
term and as an alderman he has been aggressive and enterprising, always
favoring improvement and reform. The erection of the public drinking
fountains of Yonkers is credited to him, also the widening of the aqueduct
arch; he is a strong advocate of public parks, and always advocated the
equalization of water rates. In politics he has always been a Republican,
and belongs to the Lincoln Legion, a political organization, and the Young
Men's Republican Club.
Mr. Tompkins is a charter member and one of the organizers of Retch
ing Post, No. 60, G. A. R., which is now the fifteenth post on the roll. He
was chairman of the memorial committee, G. A. R., May 30, 1895, and he
has filled all of its offices, and is now serving his second term as commander.
He was chosen delegate to the state encampment at Syracuse in 1899. He
is also, a member of the Westchester County Association of Grand Army
Posts, and was a member of Company H, Seventeenth Regiment, and after
ward the Third Regiment of the state militia. Subsequently this became the
Sixteenth Battalion, and of both he served as drum major. It is now known
as the Fourth Separate Company, and Mr. Tompkins is still connected
therewith, having for twenty years been a member of the state militia. He
is a valued member of the Patriotic Order Sons of America, formerly belonged
to the Knights of Pythias fraternity and also the United American Mechanics,
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and was the department commander.
He served as aide on the staff of Charles Freeman and Jack Adams, and as
aide-de-camp on the staff of Thomas Lawler, commander in chief. He took
an early interest in the movement toward securing the Yonkers soldiers'
monument, and served as chairman of the committee from Retching Post,
No. 60, G. A. R. ; on the entertainment committee at the unveiling cere
monies. Also he is a member of the Veteran Association of the national
guard, S. N. G. In religion he is a member of the Methodist church.
On the 7th of April, 1867, Mr. Tompkins married Miss Eliza L. Nuskey,
a daughter of Captain Alfred Nuskey, captain of the Lockwood Guards. Her
mother bore the maiden name of Susan Tillottson and was a daughter of
Rachel Lambert, whose father, William Lambert, belonged to a prominent old
Knickerbocker family, and served for seven years as a sergeant in the Amer
ican Revolution. He was married October 11, 1790, to Elizabeth Cypher,

844 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
who was born April 21, 1761, and was of Scotch descent. They were very
aristocratic people and possessed considerable wealth, living in very luxurious
style for those days. They were also very charitable, and generous in their
giving. Their daughter, Rachel, was born October 3, 1790, and married
William Tillottson, by whom she had the following children: Susanna,
Lavinia, James, Catherine, Nancy, Benjamin and Nathaniel. Mr. Tillott
son died October 6, 1865, and his wife in January, 1874. He had served in
the operations along Lake Ontario in the war of 18 12, was taken prisoner
and sent to Boston, where he was exchanged after peace was declared. His
daughter, Susan, was born April 2, 1816, and married Alfred Nuskey, who
was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in August, 18 15. Their children
were Mrs. Catherine Knapp; Clorinda W. ; Mrs. Rachel Ward; Eliza; Abra
ham H. T. ; Emma, deceased; and Granville. The mother of these children
died December 15, 1888, but Mr. Nuskey is still living at the age of eighty-
four years. He makes his home in Sing Sing, New York, where for many
years he served as foreman of the Brandnith Mills. He is a very zealous
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, is a local preacher of that
denomination and is very popular in church circles. His life has been well
spent and all esteem him highly for his sterling worth. His daughter, now
Mrs. Tompkins, was born June 22, 1848. By the marriage of our subject
and his wife have been born three children: Gertrude I.; William N., who
married Miss Jennie Stainsby, of Brooklyn, and resides in Yonkers with his
wife and daughter, Gertrude E. ; and Abraham H., Jr. The family is one
of prominence in the community and its members occupy social positions of
distinction.
WILLIAM F. COCHRAN.
The name and the personality of William Francis Cochran are associated
with so many of Yonkers' philanthropic enterprises that to write of him is to
write of the history of some of her beneficent and useful institutions, for, in
a very large measure, to him they owe their present splendid homes and facili
ties for perpetuating and carrying on their work. Always ready to lend his
support, personal and financial, to any good cause, he has won the honor and
affection of all classes regardless of creed or party.
His father, Alexander Gifford Cochran, was born in 1803, in the city of
New York, of a good old Scotch family. He was a man of sterling worth,
who brought up his children in the simple, religious way so characteristic of
the sturdy Scots. He began his commercial career as a clerk in the old dry-
goods house of Doremus, Suydam & Nixon, but in 1830 started his own firm,
and soon became known as one of the leading dry-goods merchants of New
York. Edward S. Jaffray, one of the most prominent merchants of those

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 845
days, said of Alexander Cochran that " he was the ablest and most promising
young merchant in that city." After attaining success in New York, his
ambition led him to New Orleans, where he soon became widely known. A
man of fine presence, most genial in disposition, kindly of heart and liberal
to a fault, he gave to his children a heritage greater than wealth could bestow,
— the heritage of a life won honestly and nobly before God and man. He
died in 1875, honored and beloved of all. He left one daughter, the wife of
the Hon. Stephen Sanford, of Amsterdam, New York, and one son, William
F. Mr. Cochran's mother, Sarah, nee Phillips, was born at Florida, Mont
gomery county, New York, in 1805, of old Revolutionary stock. She was
the youngest of a family of twelve children, all of whom lived to maturity.
The Rev. William West Phillips, D. D., for years pastor of the First Pres
byterian church of New York, was her brother. Mr. Cochran's father and
mother were devoted members of the Presbyterian church. The latter died
at Amsterdam, the home of her son, in 1893.
William F. Cochran was born in the city of New York, in October, 1835,
and was early taught that life was real and earnest, and that industry, integ
rity, honesty and economy were the foundation stones upon which commer
cial success was built, and that regard for the welfare and happiness of others
was a cardinal principle without which all life's attainments lacked the true
and permanent elements of success. In 1844 his parents removed to Florida,
Montgomery county, New York, and later they settled in Amsterdam on the
Mohawk river, where the early years of his life were spent. He received the
educational advantages of a first-class academy, and his academic career as a
student was prophetic of the success he should afterward attain in the social
and commercial world. His conception of the uses of wealth as a means to
dispense happiness and comfort, and to give to the less favored advantages
and privileges otherwise beyond their reach, it was the ambition of his youth
to accomplish, and his whole later life has been eminently successful in the
achievement of this noble purpose.
In 1849 he returned to New York to commence his business career, and
entered the service of Swift, Waldron & Company, in Front street, and aft
erward Rent, Lowber & Company, both well known houses. In 1857 he
took up his residence in Albany, New York, and for several years conducted
a business in that city with unusual success. While there he became inter
ested in the manufacture of Canadian lumber, being associated in this busi
ness with his brother-in-law, Samuel H. Cook, of Balston Spa, New York.
After a close application to business for ten years he made a tour of Europe
in 1867, and on his return devoted all his energies to his lumber interests.
In 1869 he married Miss Eva Smith, the only daughter of Alexander Smith,
of Yonkers, with whom he soon after became associated in business. In.

846 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
April, 1869, the firm of Alexander Smith & Sons was formed, and later, in
1873, the company was organized, being composed of Alexander Smith &
Sons and the well known house of W. & J. Sloane, of New York. The
Alexander Smith & Sons Carpet Company is now one of the largest carpet-
manufacturing companies in the world, if not indeed the largest. A sketch
is given elsewhere. Mr. Cochran was the secretary and treasurer of this
company, and was devoted to the development of its large interests for
almost a quarter of a century. He retired from active participation in its
management in 1894, and since then he has given the greater part of his
time to the various beneficent institutions with which his name is so closely
associated. " Duncraggan," his charming summer home on the banks of
the Hudson, is justly celebrated as one of the most beautiful properties- on
America's Rhine. At this house, where he resides most of the year, and
also at his city home in New York, hospitality and hearty cordiality "wel
come the coming and speed the parting guest." He had three sons and
three daughters.
Mr. Cochran is a man simple in his tastes, most temperate in his habits
and ready always to bestow upon others what he denies himself. In politics
he has ever been a strong Republican, taking an active personal interest in
the municipal affairs of Yonkers. In 1895 he was his party's choice as the
nominee for congressman, but he declined the honor, preferring to devote
himself to the enterprises in which he is enlisted here. Mr. Cochran has
been a vestryman of St. John's Protestant Episcopal church for nineteen
years, and during that time he and his wife relieved the church of a large
debt and built the rectory, parish buildings and drinking fountain (which lat
ter is supplied with ice water all through the hot season) at the corner of
South Broadway and Hudson streets.
In many of the good works, indeed in almost all which have been
recipients of his benefactions, his good wife has been a partner in his philan
thropy. Always exceedingly modest and retiring, ever ready to help, but in
the most unostentatious way, Mr. and Mrs. William F. Cochran have done
more for the city of Yonkers than any other residents. Their work is not
confined to the church of which they are members, but all denominations
have received their generous and unstinted support. The beautiful and
superbly equipped St. John's Hospital buildings on Ashburton avenue, opened
in 1894, were erected by them, of which institution Mr. Cochran has been
president for seventeen years. He has been a member of the board of edu
cation, first president of the board of trade, and director of the First National
Bank. At present he is identified with several large corporations in New
York, being a director of the Western Union Telegraph Company and of the
Continental Trust Company.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 847
The Hollywood Inn, at South Broadway and Hudson street, the largest
and best equipped workingmen's club-room in this country, was the personal
gift of Mr. Cochran, who is also the president of the club. To this work, so
extensive, so broad, he gives much of his time, ever anticipating and providing
for the wants of the thousands who participate in its benefits. When Mr. Coch
ran, who had previously been a liberal contributor toward the club, became
impressed with the great value of such an institution as the above, and the
importance of so increasing its accommodations and facilities as to make it a
permanent and complete workingmen's club, he addressed the following letter
to its president: Yonkers, March 16, 1896.
-James E. Freeman, President of Hollywood Inn, of Yonkers, New York.
My Dear Sir: — Having watched with much interest (especially during the past winter) the
establishment and development of the work carried on by the organization known as the
" Hollywood Inn," I have been and am more and more impressed with its importance and the
great benefit it may become to this commuuity.
The house now occupied being entirely inadequate to its present requirements, much
less to its future extension, it becomes a serious question how best to provide more suitable
quarters, such as will enable its managers to add new features which will be educational and
social as well as useful mentally, morally and physically. Believing this work, when thor
oughly organized and established, will be self-supporting, as has been elsewhere demonstrated;
and with a conviction of the boon it will prove to the class of men and boys it will reach, and
for whose benefit it was conceived and is being conducted, I am led to offer you, under certain
•conditions (hereinafter named) such accommodations as this work requires, and believe the
problem of success or failure will be decided during the next three years. I now make the fol
lowing proposition to yourself and board of managers, which if accepted it will soon be ascer
tained how far the citizens of Yonkers are willing to contribute to the support of an institution
which apparently appeals SO favorably to the public spirit of this and other communities. If
you will secure for the next three years annual subscriptions of three thousand dollars, thus
insuring the running expenses of the institution, exclusive of rent (which I will contribute), I
will erect for the use of the Hollywood Inn a commodious building (on a central site) which
wil-1 be not only an ornament to our city, but a building complete in all its appointments for the
fullest and best development of this work. Should the next three years prove its success, in
which I have the greatest confidence, satisfactory arrangements will be made such as are
-deemed best for its permanent home. ,
With such a building and suitable managers, many new features may be added, which
in turn will place the Hollywood Inn, of Yonkers, among .the great institutions of the land, and
who shall say how far-reaching its influence for good maybe felt. Sincerely trusting you may
succeed in meeting the only condition necessary to secure this new home, and which condition
is to secure the work until it becomes established, I remain sincerely yours, Wm. F. Cochran.
St. John's Riverside Hospital, on Woodworth avenue, after some years,
proved to be too small and not well adapted for a hospital. Then William
F. Cochran and his wife, Mrs. Eva S. Cochran, generously gave to the
society the present large and elegant buildings and grounds. The record of
the dedicatory services is in the hospital annual report for 1894. In closing
his address on that occasion, Mr. Cochran said:

848 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
"And now you will allow me to add that no word can be spoken here
to-day that can in any way add to the pleasure we experience in contributing
this gift to the cause of humanity. The reward is in the doing; and while
we are spared to go in and out among you the pleasure that will daily come
to us in the consciousness of sickness and suffering relieved will be second
only to the precious thought that when we are called hence this Christ work
will continue, and that we have been permitted to contribute toward this
result and to lay the corner-stone, as it were, of a lovely charity that will go
down 'the ages,' — a blessing to the sick, wounded and sorrowful of God's
children. And now, gentlemen, for the service of man, and in the name of
Christ, my wife and myself present to you the deed of this property. In
accepting it you assume a great responsibility. The work will not go on
alone, but will need sympathetic care, watchfulness and attention. It
requires charity, love and forbearance in its management; perfect peace and
harmony must prevail in all its departments; and I assure you that, accepted
only in the loving spirit in which it is given, can it continue to grow and
strengthen as it should. May God add His blessing! "
Of this man it may be truly said, he lives to' make others happy, to dis
pense the wealth which he regards as committed to his trust, simply and
solely as a steward, for the benefit and happiness of others. Yonkers has
many enduring monuments which will long commemorate the thoughtfulness
and the generosity and the nobility of William F. Cochran.

J. EUGENE PAWSON.

One of the leading business concerns in the city of Yonkers is the Yonk
ers Roofing & Concrete Company, of which J. E. Pawson is the able and
efficient superintendent.
Mr. Pawson is a descendant of old English families. His grandfather,
Robert Pawson, was born at Leeds, England, in 1806, and came to America
when about twenty years of age. For some time, in the old country, he was
a member of the queen's body guard, and his brother, William Pawson, was
for a time mayor of the city of Leeds. Robert had the following named
children: Henrietta, Mary, John W. , Robert, Richard, George, Elizabeth,
William, James, Philip, Eugene and Charles. He finally died at East
Chester, Westchester county, in 1865, when in his fifty-ninth year.
John Ward Pawson, the father of our subject, married Mary Elizabeth
Cromwell, who was born at Catskill on the Hudson, a daughter of Oliver and
Anna Maria (Robbins) Cromwell. Her maternal grandfather, John Robbins,
was a soldier in the war of 18 12 and was killed while in the service. Oliver

^^^^y-^^y^^

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 849
Cromwell, the maternal grandfather of our subject, was born in 1812, at a
place called Cromwell's Creek, near McComb's dam, and now situated at
One Hundred and Sixty-fourth street and Central avenue, in the twenty-third
ward of New York city. Oliver Cromwell was a son of Oliver Cromwell and
a direct lineal descendant of the famous Oliver Cromwell the Protector, of
England. John W. Pawson had the following named children: Frank
Henry, deceased; Ella Maria Rex, also deceased; Francina Prophet,
deceased, was the wife of George C. Bearsford; James Oliver, born in 1864,
died June 14, 1897; Mary E. Van Fleet; Carrie A. Palmer; John Eugene,
our subject; William H. and Charles T.
John W. Pawson was born at Hunt's Point, Westchester county, in
1833, and was educated there. For many years he was engaged in the milk
business, and made his home in the metropolis up to 1887. At present, and
for the past twelve years, he has been engaged in the oil business at New
Rochelle, having purchased a valuable homestead at that place about seven
years ago. He is a practical, successful business man, and is affiliated with
the Republican party. He and his estimable wife are both about sixty-five
years of age and still in the enjoyment of good health.
John Eugene Pawson, the subject proper of this sketch, was born in
October, 1871, at Mott Haven, now included within the Greater New York.
He acquired a good business education in the grammar and high schools of
New York city, and learned the trade of silk-cutting, which he followed for
some time in New York city. He then became an employe of his brother,
James Oliver, who was carrying on the roofing and concrete business. As
foreman of this work our subject continued until the death of his brother, and
when the widow sold her interest in the concern to the present company, J.
E. Pawson was retained, being made superintendent. Under his judicious
management the business has rapidly grown, and now the company is trans
acting the most extensive trade in this line in the county. In the past two
years they have laid over one hundred thousand square feet of seyssel rock
asphalt for the board of education of Yonkers, and they are the sole agents
for this kind of asphalt in the county.
A true patriot and good citizen, Mr. Pawson belongs to the Patriotic
Order Sons of America, and is the vice-president of the local lodge. He is
an active member of the volunteer fire department, connected with the Hope
Hook and Ladder Company; is associated with the ABC Bowling Club,
and is councilor of the lodge of the Ancient Essenic Order. He is a member
of the City Club, of Yonkers, and a non-resident member of Mount Vernon
City Club. Politically he is a loyal Republican. His marriage to Miss
Hannah Amelia Maiden was solemnized December 31, 1896, and on October
6, 1897, Mrs. Pawson was summoned to the silent land.
54

850 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

HENRY H. CANNON.
The present mayor of the pretty village of Irvington, Westchester
county, and for a period of thirty-five years one of the leading merchants of
the place, is Henry H- Cannon. He is one of the native sons of Irvington,
his birth having occurred here February 28, 1842, and from his earliest recol
lection he has been closely associated with the welfare and interests of this
immediate locality. That he is esteemed as a man of sterling worth has been
frequently manifested in material ways by his fellow citizens and neighbors.
When Irvington was incorporated he was appointed treasurer of the village
and served in that capacity for fourteen years. He has been president for
the past four years, and is discharging his duties in a manner generally satis
factory to all concerned.
Having spent his entire life in Irvington, Mr. Cannon is widely known
in the locality. His parents were James and Clarissa (Ackley) Cannon. His
father was a native of Ireland who came to the United States when very
young, and for many years was successfully engaged in contracting and build
ing, his home being in Irvington. His mother was born and reared in Con
necticut. The early educational privileges which Henry H. Cannon received were
such as the public schools of his native town afforded, but later he pursued
special courses of study under the tutorship of Rev. Dr. McVickar, rector of
the Episcopal church, and also under the direction of Benson Ferris, who
for years was president of the Tarrytown Savings Bank and whose death
occurred in the autumn of 1898. In 1865 Mr. Cannon embarked in the busi
ness to which he still gives his attention, the buying and selling of flour,
grain and feed, engaging in both the wholesale and retail trade. He soon
acquired the confidence of the business world and from the beginning he met
with the success which he so richly deserves. The best of shipping facilities
are his, as his place of business is situated near the New York Central Rail
road tracks, — no small matter to a merchant who handles such quantities of
freight as does Mr. Cannon.
In 1870 he married Miss Lucy H. Davis, a resident of New York city,
in which metropolis she was born and reared to womanhood. Her father,
Dorrance Davis, was a descendant of an old colonial family of Connecticut.
Ten children — eight sons and two daughters — have blessed the marriage of
Mr. and Mrs. Cannon.
In his political views Mr. Cannon is independent of party ties, his sup
port being given the men and measures that he believes will best promote the
public welfare. That he is a capable official is indicated by his long reten
tion in office, and through his instrumentality the welfare of the village has

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 851
been greatly advanced. Religiously he is connected with St. Barnabas'
Episcopal church, of which he has been a member since his youth, while for
many years he has served the congregation as vestryman.

JEROME A. PECK.

Among the founders of the New Haven colony was William Pecke, who
located in Connceticut in 1638. He and his son often spelled their names
Pecke, but in the latter part of their lives they dropped the final letter. Will
iam Pecke was born in or near the city of London in 1601, and was married
there about the year 1622. With his wife Elizabeth, and their son Jeremiah,
the only child born to them in the mother country, he came to America,
probably sailing from London, in the ship Hector, in company with Governor
Eaton and Rev. John Davenport, the voyage being completed by their arrival
at Boston, June 26, 1837. Trumbull, in his History of Connecticut, erro
neously states that their arrival was July 26, and some have copied their
mistake. The members of the company were principally from London,
where Mr. Davenport had been a celebrated minister. There were many
wealthy merchants and others of great respectability from the world's meT
tropolis, together with farmers from Yorkshire, Hartfordshire, Kent and some
from Surrey and Sussex. They had suffered much from the intolerance and
persecution of Archbishop Laud during the reign of Charles I, and the object
of their emigration was to secure the unmolested enjoyment of civil and
religious liberty.
As stated above, William Pecke went to New Haven in 1838 and became
one of the original proprietors of the town, his autograph signature being
affixed to the " fundamental agreement," or constitution, dated June 4, 1639,
for the government of the infant colony. This is said to have been one of
" the first examples in history of a written constitution organizing a govern
ment and defining its powers. " He was admitted a freeman of the colony,
October 20, 1640; was a merchant by occupation, and a trustee, treasurer
and the general business agent of the Colony Collegiate School, established
on the basis of the Hopkins fund. He is usually named in the records with
the title " Mister," then a prefix of respect and distinction. From 1659 until
his decease he was a deacon in the church at New Haven. His wife Eliza
beth died December 5, 1683, and he subsequently married Sarah, the widow
of William Holt. His death occurred October 4, 1694, at the advanced age
of ninety-three years. His children, all born of his first marriage, were
Jeremiah, John, Joseph and Elizabeth, all of whom together with his second
wife, survived him, and are named in his last will and testament, dated
March 9, 1688-9 (" 1689 as we now write it"). This will is found

852 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
recorded in the probate records of New Haven, book n, page 176. His
home lot of about an acre, and his dwelling-house and shop, or store, in New
Haven were, at the time of his decease, on the southeasterly side of, and
fronting on, Church street, the lot extending from Center street northerly in
front on Church street toward Chapel street about one hundred feet, and
extending easterly from Church street a few feet beyond Orange street. The
front on Church street is now covered by the Connecticut Savings Bank
building, on the corner of Church and Cedar streets, the Clark and the
Odeori buildings. His grave is in that part of the old burial ground now
under the Center church in New Haven, but his tombstone is in the new
cemetery, having been removed thither in 1821, together with- the monu
ments and tombstone, of others, whose graves also are covered with the old
church. Jeremiah Peck was born in the city of London, England, or vicinity, in
1623, and was brought by his father to this country in 1637. Little is
known of his early history except that he had a good education, acquired in
part before he left England. He is said by Cotton Mather to have been
bred at Harvard College; but though probably a student, his name does not
appear in the catalogue of graduates of that institution. He was married
November 12, 1656, to Johannah Kitchell, a daughter of Robert Kitchell,
who went to New Haven in the company of Eaton, Davenport and others in
1638, and the next year settled in Guilford, Connecticut, being a prominent
citizen and one of the first planters of that town. He was one of those who
emigrated from the New Haven colony to Newark, New Jersey, in 1666, and
there died about 1672. His only son, Samuel Kitchell, also went to Newark
about the same time, was a man of high standing and respectability, and died
April 26, 1690. The wife of Robert Kitchell died in Greenwich, Connect
icut, in 1682, while residing there with her daughter, the wife of Rev. Jere
miah Peck.
Before his marriage, Jeremiah Peck had commenced preaching and
teaching school at Guilford, Connecticut, and followed those professions
until 1680, when he was invited to take charge of the collegiate school at
New Haven. This was a colony school, and had been instituted by the
general court in 1659. It was open to students from other colonies, and in
it young men were to be fitted for college, Latin, Greek and Hebrew being
part of the curriculum. He accepted the invitation, and removing from
Guilford to New Haven, entered upon his duties as an instructor, and con
tinued to discharge the same until the summer of 1661, when the school was
temporarily suspended for want of adequate support. It was revived, how
ever, after a few years, and has continued and flourished until the present
day, under the name of the Hopkins Grammar School.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 853
In the autumn of 1661, Rev. Jeremiah Peck was invited to preach at
Saybrook, Connecticut, where there is much reason to suppose that he was
ordained and where he settled as a minister, succeeding Rev. James Fitch,
the agreement of settlement being dated September 25, 1661. After a few
years there was some dissatisfaction with his ministry and a misunderstand
ing in regard to the provisions of his agreement of settlement, and when this
was amicably arranged he left Saybrook and early in 1666 removed to Guil
ford. He was then, and for some time had been, together with numerous
other ministers and churches in the New Haven and Connecticut colonies,
decidedly opposed to what was called the Half-way Covenant, adopted by
the general synod of 1662, and, with many of the leading ministers and the
people of the New Haven colony, was especially and irreconcilably hostile to
the union of the New Haven and Connecticut colonies under the charter of
Charles II, which, however, after a protracted struggle, was finally effected
in 1665, and he resolved to emigrate from the colony.
Removing from Guilford in 1666, he became one of the first settlers of
Newark, New Jersey, his grounds and residence being on the northeast corner
of Market and Mulberry streets. It does not appear that he officiated as a
minister at Newark, but he preached to the neighboring people of Elizabeth-
town soon after his removal to Newark, and finally settled there as minister
in 1669 or 1670. During the latter year and again in 1675 he was invited by
the people of Woodbridge, New Jersey, and in 1676 by the people of Green
wich, Connecticut, to settle with them in the ministry, but he declined these
several invitations. In September, 1678, he" was again invited to settle as a
minister, and in October, 1678, he had a similar call from Greenwich, remov
ing there late in the autumn of that year from Elizabethtown, New Jersey.
He became the first settled minister at that place, where his pastorate was a
very quiet and useful one, being disturbed only by his refusal in 1688 to bap
tize the children of non-communicants, allowed by the introduction of the
Half-way Covenant, which still agitated the churches of Connecticut.
Though sustained by a majority of the members of his church, the dissatis
faction of the minority probably led to his resignation in 1689. He then
commenced preaching in Waterbury, Connecticut, and, having accepted the
unanimous invitation of the residents of that town to settle with them in the
ministry, he removed there early in 1690 and became the first settled minister
of the church in that place in 169 1, at which time he was nearly seventy years
of age. In a few years his health gradually failed, but he continued to be the
pastor of the church and discharged the most of his official duties until his
decease, at Waterbury, June 7, 1699. He seems to have possessed consider
able energy and ability and to have been a man of much usefulness, both as a
teacher and minister in the frontier settlements. His wife survived him, dying

854 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
in Waterbury in 171 1. His will, dated January 14, 1696-7, in the form of a
deed of gift, is recorded on page 6 of the Waterbury Land Records, volume 1 ;
and hers, in the same form, dated October 7, 1686, appears on page 103 of the
same volume.
Samuel Peck, who was born in Guilford, Connecticut, January 18, 1659,
went to Greenwich, Connecticut, with his father in 1678, acquired a good edu
cation and was married, November 27, 1688, to Ruth Ferris, whose father,
Peter Ferris, was a son of Jeffrey Ferris, of Stamford, Connecticut. Samuel
Peck became the progenitor of the numerous Greenwich families of his sur
name. He was a man of large wealth and influence, for about fifty years was
justice of the peace and held other important positions in Greenwich, where
he died, April 28, 1746. His wife's death occurred there, September 17,
1745, when she had reached the age of eighty-three years. Their grave
stones are still standing in the old Greenwich cemetery.
Theophilus Peck, born in March, 1702, was married February 5, 1728,
to Elizabeth Mead, daughter of Benjamin Mead, of Greenwich, who was
born in November, 1703, and died November 17, 1783, aged eighty years.
He was the owner of an extensive tract of land in the northern part of the
town of Greenwich, called Pecksland and Round Hill, where he resided until
his death, November 7, 1783.
Theophilus Peck, born March 15, 1730, married Rebecca Knapp, July
5, 1753, and died in Greenwich July 8, 1812.
David Peck, born in February, 1754, was married August 10, 1773, to
Amy Rundell, who died January 31, 1793, and in 1794 he wedded Alathea
Honeywell. He resided in Greenwich, where he followed farming and also
engaged in preaching as minister of the Baptist church. He died there
April 23, 1835, and his second wife passed away May 14, 1850.
David Peck, born March 16, 1805, was married March 11, 1829, to
Mary B. Miller, and in 1870 was living in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Cephas Peck, the father of Jerome A. Peck, was born January 3, 1830,
was married December 31, 1857, to Josephine Ferris, in 1861, was a resident
of Port Chester, New York, and died April 14, 1895.
Jerome Alvord Peck, clerk of the village of Port Chester, was born in
1863, in Pecksland, town of Greenwich, Connecticut, and a few years after
ward, about the close of the civil war, his parents removed to Port Chester,
taking up their residence on Locust street, where he has since made his
home. He obtained his early education in the public schools of this district
and at O. W. Starr's Military Academy, which flourished here in the early
'80s, and subsequently was graduated at the New York University in 1883,
with the degree of LL. B. In the following year he was admitted to the bar
at Poughkeepsie and for a short time thereafter was clerk in the office of

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 855
ex-Governor John T. Hoffman, in New York city. Since that time he has
engaged in practice on his own account, and his superior ability has enabled
him to gain a position of distinction at the Westchester bar.

SAMUEL T. CLARK.

Samuel T. Clark, a well known resident of New Castle township, West
chester county, has made his home here, on his present farm, for the past
twenty years, during which time he has gained an enviable reputation for
uprightness and good citizenship. He has been very successful in his various
business enterprises, and is justly entitled to the prosperity which crowns his
efforts. The Clark family of which the subject of this article is a most worthy
representative, originated in England. His father, Samuel Thompson Clark,
was a native of the city of London, and there learned the business of manu
facturing hats. Desiring to become a citizen of the United States, "the
land of the free," he crossed the ocean and took up his abode in the town of
Mystic, Connecticut. There he married Lucinda Thompson, a native of the
place, and some time afterward removed to Chenango county, New York,
where they reared their large family. The father died when in his fiftieth
year, in Norwich. The mother, surviving him many years, died when she
had reached the advanced age of eighty-five years. She was a lady who was
universally loved and esteemed and for years she was an active and zealous
member of the Baptist church.
S. T. Clark, who was born in Norwich, Chenango county, New York,
January 13, 1827, is one of thirteen children, ten of whom were sons. Their
names in the order of birth are as follows: William, Mary Ann, Abigail,
Charles, Calvin, Hannah, Lewis, Daniel, Samuel T., Edward, Jasper, Les
ter and Horace.
The youth of our subject was spent in his native county, his education
in the higher branches of learning being gained in Oxford Seminary. When
he was about seventeen years of age he entered a store at Norwich, as a clerk,
and there acquired the rudiments of business training, after which he con
tinued merchandising for several years in that town. In 1866 he went to
New York city and for the following twelve years was occupied in business
affairs in the metropolis. In 1878 he removed to the homestead which he
is now engaged in cultivating, and has since resided here. The place is a
well-kept, fertile, desirable farm in every respect, and comprises two hundred
acres. Fifty acres of this is covered by a fine old orchard, and a ready
market is found for the numerous varieties of fruit which are grown on this

856 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
place. Mr. Clark has been engaged in the milk and dairy business to some
extent and has derived a good income from this source alone.
During his residence in this community, Mr. Clark has won the esteem
of his neighbors and those who have been associated with him in one way or
another. Prior to the civil war he was a strong abolitionist and since the
organization of the Republican party he has been one of its sturdiest defenders.
He is at present serving in the responsible office of justice of the peace.
The marriage of Mr. Clark and Miss Anna M. Thomson, of New York
city, was celebrated in 1872. Mrs. Clark is a daughter of William A. and
Mary (Corwin) Thomson, and is of Scotch descent. Two children blessed
the union of our subject and wife; Mary C. , Mrs. Robert L. Tompkins, and
William A. T., who is at home and assists his father in the general manage
ment of the farm.

WILLIAM J. GRANEY.

William J. Graney, in whom public confidence has reposed positions of
public trust, is one of the most prominent residents of Westchester county
and is now serving as state senator. His has been an honorable record, well
worthy of emulation from the time when, forced by circumstances to give up
his cherished hopes of a collegiate course, he started out to make his own
way in the world. Most of our best men are "self-made," and among the
histories of the leading, substantial and successful men of this locality that
of Senator Graney deserves a high place by reason of his well-directed
efforts, broad charities and public spirit.
Born on the 5th of May, 1858, at Dobbs Ferry, New York, he attended
the public schools and was graduated at the high school there. After his
father's death it became necessary that he seek employment as a means
whereby he might support his widowed mother and his sisters, and, putting
aside his own ambitions for a collegiate education, he sought and obtained a
position as bookkeeper in a leading mercantile establishment at Dobbs
Ferry, where he remained for several years, his services proving very satis
factory to his employer and creditable to himself. His business-like meth
ods and thorough reliability attracted the attention of Warner D. Hatch,
president of the Hatch Lithographing Company, by whom he was offered a
position. In that house he rapidly worked his way upward and served as
manager for the firm until their retirement from business.
Mr. Graney has been a very prominent factor in political circles, and
gives an unwavering support to the Democratic party. No man in West
chester county has labored more untiringly or effectively for its interests, and
for many years he has been the able chairman of the town committee and a

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 857
member of the Democratic county committee, also serving as its chairman
for several years. His powers of organization, his executive ability, and his
keenness in foretelling results contributed in no small measure to the suc
cess which has attended the Democracy in Westchester county. His first
official service was in the office of clerk of the village of Dobbs Ferry. In
1892 he was the Democratic nominee for register of the county and was
elected by a large majority; but in 1895 was defeated for the same office,
owing to the great Republican tidal wave which swept the county. Never
theless he ran fifteen hundred ahead of his ticket, which was certainly a
compliment to his ability and an indication of the confidence reposed in him.
He was elected to the general assembly by a majority of one thousand in a
district which the year previously had given a Republican majority of twenty-
five hundred, and in 1898 he was elected to represent the second district in
the state senate, so that he is the present incumbent in that position. While
in the lower house he served as a member of the committees on insurance,
railroads, and fish and game, and in the senate on the committees on insur
ance, roads and agriculture. He has been instrumental in securing the
passage of some fifty-eight bills, all of local interest to Westchester county,
including the one making New Rochelle a city. He has always favored the
labor element and is active in all legislation which has benefited the work
ing-man. In 1893 Senator Graney was united in marriage to Miss Mary Louise
Maher, of Dobbs Ferry, a daughter of Thomas Maher. She was called to
the home beyond December 22, 1897. Mr. Graney is a very popular citi
zen, broad and liberal in his views and judgments, strong in his convictions
and earnest in his opinions. Self-willed but not obstinate, a strong, stalwart
character whose life record will bear the closest scrutiny without suffering
criticism, such men leave a lasting impress for good, and the story of their
lives cannot fail to exert a beneficial influence on the youth of succeeding
generations.
SETH SHOVE, M. D.
We live in a world of fractional truths, of judgments resting on frac
tional premises. Perhaps this is not more manifest than in our estimates of
men's lives. We are prone to judge their conduct by a fixed standard, with
out much reference to the conditions under which they act, — to exact of all
like results in like positions, with little consideration for the peculiar charac
ter of each, which essentially enters into and qualifies his work. We make
more allowance for the intellectuality of men, forgetting that character is a
greater power in life than mere intellect. Philosophically considered, ability

858 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
includes character as well as intellect or knowledge. With how great ven
eration, and even humility, may we then view such a life as was that of the
honored subject of this memoir, — a life that typified the apotheosis of
nobility in characterity; a life in which intellectuality was vita), permeat
ing, certain; a life dignified by simplicity and by a gentleness that spread
wide its wings to shelter all who were in "in any way afflicted in mind,
body or estate;" a life, in short, in which great powers co-ordinated them
selves to produce a character which was a benediction to all whom it touched.
In a consideration of the life and services of Dr. Shove, whose name is
revered throughout the county where so many years of his long and useful life
were passed, there would be a manifest incongruity in having recourse to ful
some eulogy, since his was a nature signally modest, self-abnegating and
unassuming. His life was purposeful, canopied and directed by duty; and
though there was naught of supine inefficiency in connection with either his
mental or moral attributes and actions, yet that one tender word, pregnant
with meaning, " simpleness, " denotes his character so truly that the biog-
raphist would but do violence to the record of honest worth and honest
endeavor were he to speak of the honored dead in terms other than those of
quiet appreciation and reverence.
Dr. Seth Shove, who was engaged in the active practice of his profes
sion in Westchester county, New York, for nearly half a century, retaining
his residence at Katonah, was a native of Connecticut, having been born in
Warren, Litchfield county, that state, on the 8th of August, 1805, being of
stanch old New England stock. His parents, Levi and Abigail (Weed) Shove,
removed from Danbury to Warren, the historic old town first mentioned
having been the abiding place of the Shove family from the time when its
first representative came from England, early in the colonial epoch of the
New World. The Christian name borne by the subject of this memorial,
Seth, had long been a family patronymic, descending from one generation to
another in an unbroken line. Dr. Shove's great-grandfather was the first
minister of Danbury, where his mortal relics repose in the old churchyard,
with this inscription on the tombstone: " Here lyes ye body of ye Revd.
Mr. Seth Shove, ye pious and faithful pastor of ye church in Danbury 39
years, who died Oct. 3d, Anno Domini 1735, astatis sua? 68."
In the succeeding paragraphs we deem it expedient to follow more or
less closely the text of the memorial address delivered by Rev. J. H. East
man on the occasion of the funeral of Dr. Shove, February 27, 1878. From
his earliest childhood the Doctor gave evidence of a decided predilection for
those studies and pursuits to which his after life was devoted. About the
old farmstead he seized every opportunity for exercising surgical skill, and
from his studious disposition was recognized as the bookworm of the family.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 859
He received a common-school and academic education at Warren and in the
neighboring town of Goshen. At a very early age, following the natural
tendencies displayed from childhood, and having no disposition to become a
farmer, his father having devoted his life principally to agricultural pursuits,
he decided upon a course of medical study. Though by nature modest and
unassuming, as before stated, he was not lacking in the courage of his ambi
tion nor in the will to acomplish his aims by personal effort. How clearly
his early struggles show forth the elemental strength and earnestness of his
character may be seen from even the most cursory review. The youngest but
one in a family of eleven children, his father was able to render him but little
assistance, and in order to secure the necessary means for his professional
education he taught school for some time in his native town of Warren, as
well as in Rent and in Fishkill, New York. While at the last named place
he pursued his medical studies under the direction of a physician residing
there, and later continued his specific study under the preceptorage of Dr.
Hatch, of New Preston, Connecticut. Finally he was enabled to matriculate
in the medical department of Yale College, where he received his coveted
degree on the 4th of March, 1829.
Within the following summer Dr. Shove made a tour on horseback,
seeking a favorable place for location. Starting from his home in Warren,
he came first to New York and visited the neighboring towns on Long Island.
A desirable opening presented itself at Flushing, and for a time he was
inclined to establish himself in the practice of his profession at that point.
Finally, however, he decided to continue his journey northward through
Westchester county, for the purpose of making farther investigation and
inquiry. Coming to the house of Dr. Bowron, then living in New Castle, a
favorable location in the neighboring town of Bedford was recommended to
him. Following the directions given, he rode to the house of Mr. Squire
Wood, a relative, residing on Cherry street, just opposite the late residence
of Dr. Shove. Mr. Wood at once told him, "This is the place for you."
Cherry street was then a post-office and the business center of triis region,
containing flourishing stores and shops, while the present site of Katonah
was a sandbank.
Deciding to locate here, he returned to his home, made the necessary
preparations, and came back to settle permanently on the 6th of August,
1829. On November 17th of the same year he was united in marriage to
Miss Irene Pulford, of Warren, Connecticut, and they commenced keeping
house that winter, on the site of the present residence of the family. At the
funeral services were present a number of venerable citizens who had been
familiar with his public life as a physician from the very beginning, and it is
worthy of note that the one for whom he performed his first professional

860 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
service in Katonah, nearly forty-nine years previously, stood by his bedside
when he breathed his life so peacefully away. In this community he lived
for nearly half a century, gaining for himself the highest distinction in his
profession, both as a physician and surgeon, founding a practice extending
for miles into neighboring counties and into Connecticut, and strengthening
year by year the ties of confidence and love which have bound him so closely
to many homes and hearts. His life was remarkable not alone for the
length of his professional services but for the untiring energy with which he
devoted himself to his arduous work. He was blessed with wonderful vigor
and powers of endurance, and never was the supplicating voice of suffering
permitted by him to go unanswered, no matter what the sacrifice or labor
involved. He seemed to look upon his profession as imposing a sacred obli
gation and duty, and his life was signally consecrated to the good of his fel
low men. The number of those who pursued their medical studies under
his care was very large, and the kindness and courtesy with which he ever
treated his younger associates have been a bright feature of his career. As
exemplifying his devotion to his noble calling, we can not do better than to
give the exact words of the Rev. J. H. Eastman:
In thinking of the busy life of Dr. Shove, spent in riding over these hills and through
these valleys, for miles in all directions, visiting the sick and healing all manner of diseases,
and gaining for himself the love and confidence of so many grateful hearts, I could but think
of the Master, and these words spoken of Him came at once into my mind: "And Jesus went
about all Galilee, healing all manner of sickness and all manner of diseases among men."
And such was the life work of this disciple of the Master, following thus closely in the foot
steps of Him whom he loved and delighted to honor and serve. And it has seemed to me
that there are several respects in which his work as a physician resembles most closely the
work of the Master. Like His, it was the work of self-sacrifice. A spirit of self-forgetfulness
characterized it from beginning to end. With him, as with the Master, there was no respect of
persons: rich and poor, high and low, received the same impartial treatment, and that perfect
courtesy, which was one of his most striking characteristics, was bestowed on all alike. With
him, as with the Master, there was no thought of personal reward or gain. Like that of the
Master, his work was a consecrated work. He gave himself entirely to it for the work's sake.
He seems to me the most remarkable instance I have ever known of complete devotion to a
chosen life-work. His heart, mind and soul were absorbed in his profession, and to it he bent
-every energy. The result of fifty years of such consecration, who will attempt to estimate?
He died in the harness, as had been his wish.
His was the faith that made faithful. He had an abiding faith in the
doctrines of Christianity, and exemplified his faith in his life and works. He
was a man of distinct culture and refined tastes, drawing ever from the well-
springs of a manhood essentially deep and pure. The death of Dr. Shove
occurred on the 24th of February, 1878, and the community mourned in
common for the loss of a friend and a man loved and venerated for his many
noble attributes of character. He had continued in his wonted duties up to
within but a few days prior to his decease, his death resulting from a cerebral

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 861
lesion, of which there had been numerous premonitory symptoms. He
passed peacefully away secure in the honor and esteem of men, in the full
ness of years and of noble endeavor. The funeral obsequies and memorial
services were held at the Methodist Episcopal church in Katonah on Wednes-
- day, February 27th, and the edifice was not sufficient to accommodate the
great assemblage of those, of all classes of society, who assembled to pay a
parting tribute to a loved friend and honored citizen. A large number of
physicians from neighboring points, as well as from greater distances were
present, and addresses were delivered by Dr. Fisher, of Sing Sing; Dr. Hodg
son, White Plains; Rev. Edmund Lewis and Rev. J. H. Eastman, — all giving
voice to the high ability and the exalted character of the deceased. The re
mains of the honored dead were then laid to rest in the cemetery at the rear
of the church, and the record of a true and noble life found its mortal pages
turned down; the immortal book was opened.
In conclusion we may revert briefly to the professional associations and
domestic life of Dr. Shove. He was a member of the American Medical
Association and for seventeen years prior to his death had been a member of
ths State Medical Society. He was also one of the earliest members of the
Westchester County Medical Society, holding at various times all the impor
tant official positions in the same, having been president of the society a num
ber of terms in succession. He was one of the organizers, and the first
president, of the Croton Medical and Surgical Union, and on the 18th of May,
1833, he was appointed, by Governor William L. Marcy, surgeon of the
Thirty-eighth Regiment of New York Infantry. He was recognized by his
professional confreres as a surgeon of great skill and as a physician who kept
fully in touch with advances made in medical science, his knowledge of all
branches being broad, exact and practical.
Of the marriage of Dr. Seth Shove and Irene nee Pulford, the following
children were born, namely: Sarah, who married Benjamin F. Bonnett and
had one son, Seth S. ; Ellen, who died at the age of nineteen years; Irene, the
wife of Dr. J. M. Chapman, and had two sons, — Dr. Charles Francis and
Herbert; Seth, Jr., who died in infancy; and Mary M., who died at the age of
nineteen years. Mrs. Irene P. Shove, the mother of these children, died at
the old homestead in Cherry street, December 7, 1887, at the age of eighty-
two years.
AZARIAH CARPENTER.
Azariah Carpenter, late one of the oldest and best known citizens of Sing
Sing, was born October 19, 1828, at the home of his maternal grandfather,
William Quinby, known as the Quinby Home, in the town of New Castle.

862 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
His father was Joseph T. Carpenter, son of James and Elizabeth Car
penter, and his mother was Hannah, daughter of William and Phebe How
land Quinby. His grandfathers were farmers, owning adjoining farms. Mr.
Carpenter's father was born and raised in the town of New Castle, the eldest
of two sons of James Carpenter, his brother Zopher being five years younger
than he. His father was born in 1800 and died in 1861. He was a farmer,
but active in politics, a Democrat of the Jacksonian order — always a Demo
crat. He was personally popular and held many positions of honor, among
them supervisor of the town many years and chairman of the board. He was
elected to the assembly in November, 1846, and re-elected the following year.
Mr. Carpenter's mother was the daughter of William Quinby and also born in
1800, and always resided in the town of New Castle. All of his ancestors
were members of the Religious Society of Friends, and he was proud to pos
sess a birthright membership in that society. His certificate of membership
was transferred from Chappaqua to the New York monthly meeting, where
he was connected up to the time of his death.
In his sixth year, the parents of our subject, at that time residing with
his grandfather Carpenter, removed to the farm formerly owned by Abram
Hyatt, and afterward called "Our Glenmary," and owned by him. He was
given a good opportunity to attend the district school on the top of the hill
on the road to the Chappaqua meeting-house. This was continued until he
was fourteen years of age, when he went as clerk in the store of Jackson
Hyatt, at Pine's Bridge, with whom he remained for two years, when he
went to New York in the employ of Townsend H. Underhill, in Cedar street,
in the domestic dry-goods business, his duties being in the office. He studied
bookkeeping and attended evening classes. Mr. Underhill died while Mr.
Carpenter was with him — something over three years. He remained a year
with Jonathan Odell, who was executor of his estate. He was then a year
with Lancaster Underhill, in the same street, and in the same line of busi
ness. While there, Reuben W. Howes came and offered him the position of
bookkeeper with him, then R. W. Howes & Company, in the wholesale boot
and shoe business, and he commenced there January 1, 1850. He was
taken into the firm as Howes, Hyatt & Company as a partner on July 3,
1855. He continued a member of the firm until February 1, 1869, when he
withdrew, but after that and until March 1, 1871, he continued its financial
manager. On March 1, 1871, he was appointed assistant vice-president of the
Manhattan Gas Light Company, and in the year 1874 he was made vice-
president and remained such until 1884, when the consolidation of the gas
companies was consummated, and then his position was changed to superin
tendent of the Consolidated Gas Company, at the same place, which he

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 863
continued until November, 1897, when, on account of his failing health, he
retired. Mr. Carpenter married Mary C. Baxter, daughter of Timothy and Maria
Ann Baxter, on November 13, 185 1, in Brooklyn, by the Hon. Conkling
Brush, mayor of Brooklyn, at the home of Timothy Baxter, 74 Court street.
They lived with his wife's father and mother for three years, when they
began housekeeping at 181 Schermerhorn street, Brooklyn, having purchased
the property. They came to Sing Sing in 1857 and purchased the Nickerson
place at the top of the Dock Hill, in Main street, or High street, as it was
then called. They lived in the old house for three years and then moved
into a new one which he built upon the property and which was the one in
which he died.
Mr. Carpenter was elected a trustee of this village on March 6, i860,
and again elected March 5, 1861, and re-elected each year afterward until
chosen president, March 7, 1865. He was elected a trustee of the Sing Sing
Savings Bank, June 16, 1862, and appointed chairman of the examining
committee. ' He resigned his village trusteeship owing to removal from the
village, but was again elected on March 16, 1883, having returned, but
declined to serve. He was also elected a trustee of Mount Pleasant Military
Academy, being proposed by General Aaron Ward. He served several years
as such trustee, until May, 1861, when he resigned on removal from the
village. Mr. Carpenter was elected a member of the Society for the Pre
vention of Cruelty to Children January 6, 1876. He was tendered the
nomination for supervisor of the town of New Castle, March 22, 1876, but
declined to run, as his cousin, Francis M. Carpenter, was running on the
other ticket. In politics he was a Democrat. Mr. Carpenter was a trustee
of the Friends' Seminary, Sixteenth street and Rutherford Place, for many
years, and was a member of the representative committee of the yearly
meeting. By his death, July 1, 1899, he left a widow and five grown sons —
Charles, Azariah Frederick, J. Herbert, Harry M. and William M.

ISAAC E. YOUNG.

Isaac E. Young, superintendent of the public schools at New Rochelle,
New York, is a gentleman who has long been identified with educational
work and whose life history includes a three-years war record. He was born
in Sullivan county, New York, February 10, 1841, and is a son of David and
Harriet (Carmichael) Young. His boyhood days were passed in his native
county and his early education was obtained in the district schools near his
home. Later he took a course and graduated in the private school of Pro-

864 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
fessor H. A. Holbrook. In September, i860, he entered Washington
Academy at Florida, New York, where he pursued the study of Latin and
higher mathematics, and subsequently was for a time a student at Seneca
Institute, New York. His career as a teacher began previous to the civil
war, at Sparrowbush, New York, where for two years he was employed as
principal. He had just entered upon his twenty-first year at the time Fort
Sumter was fired upon, and, as the war continued and additional troops
were called to take their place in battle line, Mr. Young left the school
room and entered the service of his country. He spent three years in the
war. He was. commissioned second lieutenant of the Eighty-second United
States Cavalry Regiment, and was with his command a participant in several
important engagements, among which were those of Port Hudson, Black
mountain, Mobile and Pensacola. After the close of hostilites he was in
command of government forces, with headquarters at Bristol. During the
reconstruction period he was very active in his official capacity in removing
the disability from many of the more prominent Confederates.
Returning to New York in 1868, Mr. Young again took up his educa
tional work, accepting a position as principal of the Westchester schools,
Westchester county, which he filled for thirteen consecutive years. He came
in 1880 to New Rochelle and as principal took charge of the schools at this
place. This responsible position he still occupies. During the eighteen years
of his identity with the New Rochelle schools he has done much to adyance
their interests. He has won and retains a warm place in the hearts of the
people here, by pupil and patron alike being held in the highest esteem.
Mr. Young was married in 1861 to Miss Emily J. Goble, of Florida,
New York, daughter of Elias Goble, Esq. Mr. and Mrs. Young have one
daughter living, Bessie M. They are members of the Presbyterian church.

ALBERT E. SMITH.

The name of this excellent citizen will ever be inseparably associated
with many of the substantial building enterprises that have built up Yonkers
and given the city its present prominence in southeastern New York. He is
most enterprising and energetic, and by the exercise of those important qualities
has gained a standing in the business world that is indeed enviable. Suc
cess comes not to the man who idly waits, but to the faithful toiler whose
work is characterized by sleepless vigilance and cheerful alacrity, and it is in
this manner that Mr. Smith has gained the prosperity which now crowns his
efforts. The family of which he is a representative lived for several generations
in Nova Scotia. His paternal grandfather, Fairfield Smith, was a native of

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 865
that country, where throughout his entire life he engaged in farming. He
served as justice of the peace and deputy sheriff and was captain of a com
pany of militia, taking part in the drills. He was of English descent and
held the religious faith of the majority of the English people, being a mem
ber of St. Mary's Episcopal church. He married a Miss Magee, and their
children were John M., Eliza, Henry, Maggie and Frederick.
John M. Smith, the father of our subject, was born in Nova Scotia, and
acquired a good education in the public schools. He engaged in farming and
merchandising, and also did some speculating and legal business. He held
the office of justice of the peace, and for a time was a member of the com
pany of militia of which his father was captain. He also was a member of
the Episcopal church. He wedded Miss Mary Condon, and to them were
born five sons and five daughters, namely: Ida, Fannie, Louise, Amy,
Mabel, Frank, Albert, Austin and Vernon. The father passed away in 1891,
at the age of sixty-six years, his last days being spent in New York city,
and his wife died at the age of forty-four years.
Albert Edward Smith was born in Nova Scotia, November 28, 1865,
and to the public schools of his native land is indebted for the educational
privileges which he enjoyed. At the age of nineteen he put aside his text
books, came to Yonkers, and learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed
in the employ of others until 1887, when he began contracting and building
on his own account. His success has been almost phenomenal and indicates
his superior business and executive ability, his marked skill in the line of his
chosen vocation, his thorough reliability and his sound judgment. He has
erected and sold many buildings, and has been prominently connected with
the building interests of New York city. At the corner of One Hundred and
second Street and Ninth avenue, he erected property worth four hundred and
fifty thousand dollars, employing as many as two hundred hands. He gives
his personal supervision to the work, which is always of a most substantial
character, and which stands as a monument to his thrift and enterprise. He
has erected in Yonkers a number of excellent flat buildings and now has in
course of erection, at the corner of Woodworth Point street and Ravine,
avenue, ten houses, the property being valued at seventy-five thousand dol
lars. In a single year he has erected property to the value of one hundred
and thirty thousand dollars, and in this manner has contributed largely to the
improvement of the city.
On the 27th of April, 1886, Mr. Smith married Miss Lizzie Wagner, of
Sing Sing, New York, and to them have been born three sons: Albert, Har
old and Wallace. The family attend St. John's Episcopal church, of which
Mr. Smith is a member. In his political affiliations he is a Republican and,
keeping well informed on the issues of the day, casts an intelligent ballot
55

866 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
for the men and measures of his party, but has never been an aspirant for
¦office. His life has been a success. He has accumulated a handsome com
petence and to this end has used only such means as will bear the closest
scrutiny. All honor him for his blameless record. His actions have during
his life been such as to distinctively entitle him to a place in the history of
the representative men of Westchester county, and although his career has
not been filled with thrilling incidents, probably no biography published in this
work can serve as a better illustration to young men of the power of enter
prise and integrity in insuring success.

CHARLES H. CHASE.

Few men in the community are better known or rank higher in the esteem
of their fellow men than Charles H. Chase, of Peekskill. He has been singularly
fortunate in his business and is one of those rare individuals whom prosperity
does not spoil. He was born July 27, 1849, in Westchester county, about
two miles from Peekskill, New York, on the old homestead, his parents being
Herman B. and Emaline (Losey) Chase.
The Chase family have taken a prominent part in the early struggles of
this country and its later development, so the name is a familiar one in the
pages of history. They are of English origin, and we find from the genealogy
of the family that this branch was descended from a peer of the realm. This
gentleman had several sons, the youngest of whom, William, knowing that
he could not hope for a home on the landed estates of his father, determined
to try his fortunes in the new country, America. Accordingly, after bidding
farewell +o family and friends, he took passage on shipboard, intending to
join the Massachusetts colony; but fate willed it otherwise, and while off the
coast of Newfoundland he was washed overboard and after a hard struggle
reached shore, more dead than alive. He made his way to Nova Scotia,
and after remaining a year he once more started for Massachusetts, settling
in Cape Cod, was married and reared a large family. One of his sons,
Obediah, having the roving disposition of his father, left for new scenes, and
made his home in the then new colony of New York. Here he spent his
early manhood and here espoused Miss Susanna Knapp. They located in
what is now the county-seat of Putnam county, New York, where he built
him a "dug-out," spending considerable time in hewing the timbers and
making his home cosy and strong. Here he raised his family of seven sons
and five daughters, and they assisted him in the cultivation of the farm, which
he had obtained from the government.
The first gun of the Revolution was now heard, being the firing upon
Charlestown, Massachusetts. He was plowing in the field with his oxen when

n*

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 867
the news of the trouble reached him. Leaving the team standing in the
field, he walked quietly to his "dug-out " and said to his wife: " There is a
great duty before me, — first to my God, second to my country, and the third
to my family, which I am about to leave. Charlestown has been fired upon
by the British and my country calls me to help protect her interests, so I will
leave you in charge of our family and hasten to join the rebel forces against
King George." He kissed his wife and family good-bye, took up his musket
and started on foot to the front to join the continental army. After endur
ing great hardships he reached the army at, or near, Bunker Hill, where he
was gladly welcomed and duly enrolled as a member. He fought valiantly
at the battle of Bunker Hill, and traveled with the army from post to post
until the battle of Cowpens, the most decisive engagement of the war. His
brigade was then sent north, stopping en roitte at Philadelphia. During the
winter of 1777 they were encamped in tents at Valley Forge, and suffered
untold hardships from scarcity of food and from a severe winter, many of the
men, he among the number, being obliged to go barefoot the entire time.
They remained there during the summer and took part in the skirmishes
which proved so disastrous to the British forces. The latter part of the
summer they were again on the march, crossing the Hudson river. The
brigade was stationed at Fort Lookout, about two miles from Peekskill.
They were now under the command of General Putnam, and took part in the
battle of Trenton, where the General made his famous ride down the court
house steps, pursued by the British. During this engagement Obediah Chase.
with two companions, was cut off from the main body of the army and sur
rounded byfive red-coats who cried, " Lay down your arms, you rebels, and
surrender." Not receiving a reply to this request, they loaded their guns
and fired, killing two of the brave colonists. The other shot had missed its
mark and Obediah Chase was left to battle with the five red-coats alone.
Before they could reload he had discharged his gun and one less enemy was
left to fight. Clubbing his gun, he rushed with such vigor upon the four
remaining that they were soon overcome, and after securing their arms and
ammunition he placed them before him, in single file, and gave the order to
march; making a detour he was able to deliver his prisoners into the hands
of General Putnam. He was also in the battle of Stony Point, July 15, 1779,
under gallant Anthony Wayne, or "Mad Anthony," as he was called, and
was one of the first to scale the wall of the fort.
After this battle he was transferred to a fort which stood on the Hudson
river, at Verplank's Point, and later to watch the narrows at Garrison Sta
tion. Being near his home, he longed to visit his family, and obtained a
furlough for that purpose. On his way home he met one of his Tory neigh
bors who seemed overjoyed to see him and began to ask all kinds of ques-

868 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
tions concerning the affairs of the continental army. But he was suspicious-
of this neighbor and refused to answer his questions, when the man said, " I
will call and see you this evening." Had he known why the Tory was so
rejoiced to see him he would have returned at once, for the many deeds of
valor performed by him had reached the ears of Lord Cornwallis, and a price
in gold had been put upon his head. Not knowing this, he continued on his
way home, reaching the same in safety, and finding the family glad, indeed,
to have him with them once more. He was tired and hungry from his long
tramp, and his wife hastened to prepare him a hearty meal, after partaking
of which he retired to the attic — his regular sleeping apartment — for the
night, leaving his wife to make fast the door. While she was still occupied
with her household work a rap was heard on the door and a voice inquired if
Obed was at home. She replied by a demand to know who was there and
what was wanted. The answer came, "A friend, and I want to see Obed."
She said he could not be seen that night, when more voices were heard in
the yard, and one said, "We will see him at any cost, for a price has been
placed on his head, and we mean to take him and get the money." Another
rap, and more questions and answers followed; she could hear the crowd
increasing, and also hear them planning for her husband's capture. One of
the number espied a log and invited his companions to lay hold and break in
the door, which they at once proceeded to do, as they had been unable to
effect an entrance by stratagem. This, however, was not an easy matter to
accomplish, as the door was made of hewed timber and stoutly barred on the
inside by a three-inch oak stick being placed across the center of the door in
notches cut in each side of the door posts. Leaving them trying to effect an
entrance, the faithful wife retreated to the attic, pulling after her the ladder,
the only means in those days of reaching the upper rooms. Stationing her
eldest daughter, a girl of eleven years, at the opening, she placed a hewed
bed-post in her hands and told her to hit, and hit hard, any head appearing
above the opening. After a time the door gave way and the Tories made a
rush for the opening, expecting to meet with no further resistance. In this-
they miscalculated, the first person trying to gain access to the room above
receiving a blow that sent him crashing back among his companions. Again
and again did the brave girl repulse their attempts, until seven of their num
ber had received strong and convincing proof of her earnestness, and the rest
of the crowd drew back to hold a consultation as to the best plan to pursue.
In the meantime Obediah and his wife had not been idle; they had made an
opening in the room above, and after seeing that the coast was clear outside,
he crawled out, taking his trusty rifle with him. He passed around to where
the door had been, and the Tories were very much surprised to find them
selves facing a loaded rifle in his hands, while he ordered them to throw down.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 869
their arms and surrender, under the penalty of shooting the first man to move
in resistance. They saw a very determined man, and, knowing resistance to
be worse than useless, they complied by throwing down their arms, which he
at once secured. Their hands were then securely bound, and at break of
day a much chagrined lot of Tories were seen marching before him on their
way to Fort Lookout, where he delivered them to General Putnam on the
same day that witnessed the hanging of Palmer, the spy, in Westchester
county. He continued with the army until he was mustered out of the serv
ice, in 1 78 1, and received his pay in the depreciated currency, hardly worth
a shilling on the dollar. He then returned to his family and there remained
until his death, which occurred in his eightieth year.
Some of his sons moved to various parts of the state, while others went
west and became persons of prominence. Among them was Salmon P.
Chase, who was elected governor of Ohio on the Whig ticket, and later ap
pointed chief justice of the United States by President Lincoln; Ezra, with
whom his mother made her home in Tompkins county, New York, until her
death, at the advanced age of ninety-six years, and for sixty-four years a
minister of the gospel; and John, who settled in Westchester county. All of
the sons reared large families, and their ancestor's roving disposition is
noticeable in most of the children, as at almost any age in life they are ready
to seek new homes. John Chase, the grandfather of our subject, reared a
large family, all of whom are dead except two, Daniel H. and Amos. They
were as follows: Oliver, John D., Heman B., Daniel H., Benjamin, Amos,
Eliza Ann, Rosetta and Sarah.
Heman B. Chase, the father of our subject, was born upon the farm
upon which he died, after reaching the advanced age of seventy-three years.
He was a farmer of some pretensions, and an upright Christian gentleman.
He was an honored and faithful member of the First Methodist Episcopal
church, near Peekskill, New York, and his death was a public loss. His
wife was Emaline Losey, and to them were born four children, viz.: Han
nah E., wife of Charles E. Plam, of Peekskill; Charles H., our subject; Anna,
wife of Robert Johns; and Ida H., wife of Jacob Varian.
Charles H. Chase received his education in the public schools, at the
same time helping with whatever work there was for him to do. He began
driving a team for his father when but a lad of nine years, working in sum
mer and in winter attending school. When seventeen he began to learn the
trade of carpenter and joiner, and when twenty years old was placed in
charge of a gang of men. He later worked at the trade of a pattern-maker
for five years and then resumed carpentering. In 1873 he began to work for
himself at the business, and has been one of the most successful carpenters
in Peekskill. He has erected over five hundred buildings, and does most of

870 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
his own drafting and designing. He built two churches for the Methodist
Episcopal denomination in this city, and some of the dwellings and a number
of business blocks are of his construction. Most of his work has been in or
near the city, and it stands as a monument to his popularity and skill. In
1884 he added to his business a planing-mill and since then manufactures
moldings in connection with house-building, and ten years later he added a
paint and varnish department, and in 1897 he erected his present commo
dious quarters, a brick building, located at Nos. 16,18 and 20 Nelson avenue,
three stories in height, with a large basement, and a wing adjoining, in which
he keeps his paints. His son operates a lumber and coal yard adjoining this
place of business.
Mr. Chase was married December 27, 1 871, to Miss Mary Evalina Appleby,
of Port Jervis, Orange county, New York. They have two children: Willis
Henry, who married Ella G. Stone, of Port Jervis; and Lillian E., wife of
Edward J. Tenant, of Peekskill. Mr. Chase is a friend of education, and
both his children have received superior advantages in this respect; the son
graduated from the Peekskill Military School, and the daughter from district
No. 7, Peekskill, and also in music. The family are consistent members of
the Methodist Episcopal church, in which, for eleven years, Mr. Chase held
the office of trustee. He is a Republican, and takes a part in all affairs
relating to the improvement of the community or the betterment of mankind.
He is a member of Cryptic Lodge, No. 75, I. O. O. F., and Mount Ararat
Encampment, No. 9'. He also belongs to the Cortlandt Hook & Ladder
Company, No. 1, of which he is a past officer. He is a man of ripe experi
ence, exceptional capacity and thorough knowledge of his business, having
a remarkable degree of personal popularity among those who have come in
contact with him. He evinces a pardonable pride in his splendid ancestral
record, which includes much of what is best in American life and tradition.

THOMAS B. CAULFIELD.
Thomas B. Caulfield, often referred to affectionately as " the father of
the public library of Yonkers," was born at Lowell, Massachusetts, in August,
1824, and was educated in the public schools of that city. He learned the
machinist's trade and subsequently that of a sleam engineer. He came to
Yonkers forty-five years ago and was a resident of the place — as village and
city — until his death, and was one of the stanchest and most helpful friends
of education Yonkers has ever had. He was for a number of years engineer in
the Clipper Mowing Machine Works. From 1873 to 1883 he was inspector of
construction at York's Machine Works. What is known as the high-service
pumping system was perfected in 1883, and Mr .Caulfield became engineer

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 871
of the high-service pumping station and held the position until his death,
which occurred March 14, 1899.
Mr. Caulfield from early manhood took a deep and helpful interest in the
cause of public education. In 1881 he was appointed a member of the school
board of the city of Yonkers, by Mayor Otis. It is a noteworthy fact that
the first appointments to the school board was made that year, and Mr.
Caulfield's was one of them, and he served until 1884. He was a member of
the committeee for the establishment of the Yonkers city library. He was
made chairman of the committee, and to him was delegated the not easy
task of classifying and aranging new books and other publications. Exacting
as were the demands upon him, he was fully equal to them and the make-up
of the library under his direction would have done credit to the most expe
rienced librarian in the country. He was a man of wide reading and deep
research, — one who knew the needs of not only the casual or general reader,
but of the student along special lines, and he brought his exhaustive knowl
edge to bear upon the work in a manner which incurred the most satisfactory
results. His enthusiasm for the library, his tireless work in its behalf, and
his generosity in the cause, have given him a place in local history as " the
father of the public library," and his devotion to it will make for public
enlightenment through countless generations. He was no less enthusiastic
in his work as a member of the school board. He was largely responsible
for the establishment of night schools in Yonkers, was a leader in other pro
gressive innovations and devoted his evenings and all his spare time to the
schools and the library. The value of his opinion was recognized by all the
school officials and educators in Yonkers and his advice was sought not only
by those who had the destinies of the public schools in charge, but by those at
the head of the monastery of the Sacred Heart Catholic church. He identi
fied himself with the militia and with other important local organizations and
was in a general way interested in and helpful to every movement tending to
the public benefit.
He married Fannie Judge, who is still living, aged about seventy, and
who bore him ten children, of whom only three are living: James E. is a
well known engineer; Daniel Webster is mentioned below; Fannie B. mar
ried Joseph Sweytzer; Martha died at the age of sixteen; and William died
when twelve years old. James Judge, Mrs. Caulfield's father, was a volun
teer, from Lowell, Massachusetts, in the Union service and was killed during
the war of the Rebellion, and is buried at Baltimore, Maryland. George and
Alfred Caulfield, sons of John Caulfield, a brother of Thomas B. Caulfield,
also enlisted at Lowell and both lost their lives in battle. Ora Caulfield, a
brass manufacturer, formerly of Bangor, Maine, now of San Diego, Califor
nia, also served the Union cause as a soldier.

872 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Daniel Webster Caulfield, son of Thomas B. Caulfield, learned the
machinist trade with D. Sanders' Sons, Yonkers, and was in the employ of
that concern from 1874 to 1888. As a builder and repairer of engines he
familiarized himself thoroughly with the engineer's trade also. He became
temporary engineer at the high-service pumping station, under his father,
and in 1897 was appointed night engineer and held the position until his
father's death, when he was appointed day engineer, in recognition of faith
ful and efficient service and because he was the logical man for the place,
and has entire charge of the station, practically filling his father's place.
Between 1888 and his connection with the high-service pumping station
he was for a time employed in the manufacture of Hotchkiss guns by the
Pratt & Whitney Machine Company, of Hartford, Connecticut, and later he
was employed by the Crump shipbuilding concern at Philadelphia, to instruct
its workmen as to the processes of manufacture for another gun which that
company had purchased. This employment was congenial to him and was
a high recognition of his ability as a machinist. He is a Democrat, but has
always been too much devoted to machinery to give much attention to poli
tics. He served seven years as a member of Irving Hose Company and has
in many ways shown an interest in town affairs.
February 24, 1897, he married Julia Lander, a daughter of James
Lander, the well known landscape gardener of Yonkers, and they have a
young daughter, named Gertrude.

EDWARD WELLS.

In the last half of the present century the lawyer has been a pre-eminent
factor in all affairs of private concern and national importance. The man
versed in the laws of the country, as distinguished from business men or pro
fessional politicians, has been a recognized power. He has been depended
upon to conserve the best and permanent interests of the whole people, and
without him and the approval of his practical judgment the efforts of the
statesman and the industry of the business man and mechanic would have
proved futile. The reason is not far to seek. The professional lawyer is
never the creature of circumstance. The professsion is open to talent, and
eminence or success cannot be obtained except by indomitable energy, per
severance, patience and strong mentality. Possessing those qualities in a
high degree Edward Wells for many years- maintained a leading position at
the bar of Westchester county and handled much of the important litigation
heard in its courts, winning a most desirable reputation as a representative
of the legal profession.
A native of New York, he was born in Durham, Greene county, Decern-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 873
ber 2, 1818, and was the fourth son of Noah and Dimmis (Kilbourne) Wells,
both natives of Colchester, Connecticut. The family traces its lineage to a
Puritan ancestor, the first of the name in this country being Hugh Wells,
who was born in Colchester, England, in 1590, and became a resident of
Colchester, Connecticut, in 1635. In England the ancestral line can be
traced to Bishop Hugo de Welles, who drafted the Magna Carta.
Edward Wells, of this review, began attending the public school near his
home when only four years of age and even then showed considerable apti
tude for learning. In 1824 he removed with his family to Liberty, Sullivan
county, New York. Most of the county was then covered with heavy for
ests, abounding in game, and the early settlers were chiefly Connecticut peo
ple — sturdy and industrious pioneers. This environment doubtless contrib
uted to the elements of frugality, self-denial, endurance and simplicity in
living which characterized Mr. Wells' subsequent life. Until he was twelve
years of age the common school continued to furnish his chief means of edu
cation; he learned readily at school, but probably derived more intellectual
stimulus from the fireside instruction of his father, who was widely read in the
best English literature. In 1829 his father died, and not long afterward Mr.
Wells entered the academy at Fishkill-on-the-Hudson, then conducted by his
brother Albert, under whose instruction he continued until 1831. In that
year his brother was elected principal of the Newburg Academy, one of the
oldest institutions incorporated under the regents of the state of New York,
instituted in colonial times, and endowed by Queen Anne with a grant of
valuable lands situated near the college, on the north. There Mr. Wells
prosecuted his classical and other studies in preparation for college, and a
"few months after entering that school he removed with his mother to New
burg. In 1835 his brother was offered the presidency of the Mount Pleasant
Academy, at Sing Sing, New York, and there the family removed, Edward
continuing his preparation for a collegiate course. Among his fellow students
were some who gained distinction in after life, including John T. Hoffman,
subsequently twice governor of the Empire state.
In 1837 Mr. Wells was able to enter the junior class of Yale College,
and was graduated in that celebrated institution in 1839 with the degree of
Bachelor of Arts, winning some of the honors of the class. Three years
later he also received the degree of Master of Arts from his alma mater.
After his graduation he accepted a position as a member of the faculty of
Mount Pleasant Academy, at the same time entering upon the study of law
in the office of General Aaron Ward, member of congress, and Albert Lock-
wood, afterward county judge. During this time the cause of temperance
was actively advocated, and Mr. Wells, being deeply interested in its suc
cess, was frequently called upon to address public meetings in different parts

874 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
of the country. In this work his oratorical ability made his services very
effective, and through this means he was enabled to extend his acquaintance
throughout the state. Alexander Wells, editor of the Hudson River Chron
icle, having been elected surrogate of Westchester county in 1841, offered
Mr. Wells a position as his assistant, and the latter, accepting, took up his
residence in White Plains in that year, at the same time continuing his legal
studies under the direction of Minot Mitchell, who was then regarded as the
leader of the Westchester bar. With him he continued his reading until
October, 1842, when he was admitted as an attorney in the supreme court of
the state, and in November of the same year as solicitor in chancery. In
December, 1842, Mr. Wells opened his law office in Peekskill and entered
upon the practice of his profession in partnership with John Curry, who in
after years removed to California and became a judge of the supreme court
of that state.
In 1846 Mr. Wells was licensed as a counselor in the supreme court of
the United States. He was twice elected district attorney of Westchester
county on the Republican ticket, and served from January, 185 1, until Jan
uary, 1857. At the first election he received a majority of three hundred
and eleven, a very complimentary vote in this county, which usually gives a
Democratic majority of eighteen hundred. At the time of his second candi
dacy he defeated Francis Larkin, of Sing Sing, by a majority of eleven hun
dred. He was urged to accept the nomination for a third time, but declined.
His administration of the business of the office during those two terms is
described by the records of the time and by those who know him as a model
of industry, integrity and zeal. He pursued crime with a relentless vigor,
but never sought reputation for himself at the expense of innocence or
helplessness. Mr. Wells was married October 21, 1856, to Hannah, daughter of the
Rev. Charles W. Nassau, D. D. , of Lawrenceville, New Jersey, formerly
president of Lafayette College. He immediately took possession of his
new home on Main street, in Peekskill, where he resided continuously to the
time of his death. The children of this marriage were two sons, Edward
and Charles Nassau, both lawyers, and a daughter, Anna Hamill, all of whom
survived him. In his domestic relations Mr. Wells was exceedingly happy.
His wife was a lady of high character and cultivation, and of much force of
mind, who devoted herself to the interests of her husband and children, and
to making their home a place of physical comfort and mental inspiration.
From the time of his marriage until his death Mr. Wells continued in
the active and successful practice of his profession, widely known throughout
the state, and generally regarded as a leader of the county bar. In 1887,
with his son, Edward, and his friend, Hiram Barney, he formed a partner-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 875
ship for the practice of law in New York city, under the firm name of Bar
ney & Wells, a relation which was successfully continued in connection with
his Peekskill business until about the time of his death. The high estima
tion in which his ability as a lawyer was uniformly held might have secured
him an elevation to the bench of the supreme court, for which he was emi
nently fitted, had not his lot been cast in a district so thoroughly Democratic
as to afford no such opportunity to one of opposite political views. In his
knowledge of the law he was accurate and profound. While his learning was
based upon an exhaustive knowledge of principles, he was yet able to store
in an exceedingly retentive memory leading cases and precedents which he
could cite in argument with extraordinary readiness and facility. With this
wide learning he combined an unusually judicial cast of mind, while his con
vincing manner and eloquent diction made him no less successful with juries
than with the court. To these qualities he added an untiring industry which
held no case mastered until he had searched out the principles involved to
the very bed rock. His reputation as a lawyer brought to his office and his
instruction a constant succession of law students, several of whom have
become eminent.
In politics Mr. Wells was a Republican from the time of the formation
of the party, and was a consistent and constant supporter of its principles,
but never a solicitor for its favors or an applicant for office. A man of broad
and thorough knowledge, who like Bacon "took all learning for his field," he
tilled it thoroughly. He read and spoke eight languages, was widely known
as an authority on Roman law and was one of the best Greek scholars in the
state. As an authority and connoisseur of books, Mr. Wells was well known
and during his life collected a large library of rare and valuable works, which
was his delight as a constant source of pleasure and recreation. His library
contained little fiction, but was rich in elegant editions of the classics, in
English literature, and on works on the Roman and international law. For
many years he was president of the board of education of school district No.
8. He was one of the organizers and the vice-president of the Peekskill
Savings Bank, a trustee of the Temporary Home at White Plains and of the
Westchester County Bible Society, a member of the-American Board of Foreign
Missions and of its financial committee, and judicial adviser and counselor of
the board. For many years he was an elder in the First Presbyterian church,
and for forty years previous to his death had been a ruling elder, trustee of
the Presbytery and eight or ten times a commissioner to ttie general assembly.
In 1884 he was appointed a delegate to the Presbyterian Alliance, which met
in London, but was unable to attend.
Mr, Wells was a man of calm and judicial mind, of the most delicate
honor and of the keenest judgment. He reached his conclusions by temper-

876 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
ate and logical reasoning, but, once formed, his convictions were unshakable.
Unselfish and easily approachable, in all matters affecting only his own com
fort or convenience he was ready to yield at once; but in matters of convic
tion he showed the blood of his Puritan ancestors. Of a calm and rather
retiring disposition, he was not easily moved to anger, but when roused by
injustice or wrong could be scathing in his denunciation. Not endowed with
great physical strength, but being rather wiry and enduring, he never feared
a foe, nor did he ever desert a friend.
Mr. Wells died October 8, 1896, at his home in Peekskill, after a
month's illness, his wife and three children surviving him. One who long
knew and admired him wrote: " If we define righteousness as ' holiness on
fire ' we can stand by his bier and pray fervently. ' Let me die the death of
the righteous, and let my last end be like his.' Though not a native of
Westchester county, so large a part of his long, eminent and useful life was
passed in this locality that the county claimed him for his own. Of all of
the prominent families of this region he was a friend and associate; in all the
progress of the county, socially and religiously, he was a prime factor, a
zealous and wise worker for all the interests of the people; and in educa
tional, beneficent and political affairs, he was an unselfish and tireless watch
man. Incorruptible, steadfast, strong for the right and true, his life was a
living testimony of the value of honesty, fair-dealing in all public matters,
and to the baseness of treason to principle for the sake of party gain. He
was a man whom men of all parties revered and whom corrupt men of any
party feared, like the disclosures of an adverse majority. He was one man
who sought sincerely to have God in his sight."
Charles Nassau Wells, son of Edward Wells, was born December 22,
1864, and is one of the leading attorneys of Peekskill, having already won
for himself an eminent position at the bar. He is a good judge of law, and,
what is of almost equal importance, a good judge of men; and it is this
quality, together with his ability as a speaker, that has given him marked
success. He has been prominently identified with the interests of Peekskill
since 1892, at which time he began practice here. Throughness charac
terizes all his efforts, and he conducts all business with a strict regard to a
high standard of professional ethics.

RUDOLF EICKEMEYER, Jr.
In 1854 the business of manufacturing hat machinery was established in
Yonkers by George Osterheld, a brother of Henry Osterheld, who was sub
sequently a member of the firm of Osterheld & Eickemeyer. In 1854 Rudolf
Eickemeyer, who became the widely known inventor, removed to Yonkers

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 877
and was associated with Mr. Osterheld. About 1854 the Otis Elevator
Works were established in Yonkers. (More extended reference to this
industry is made on another page of this volume.) In 1855 George B. Skin
ner began the manufacture of sewing-machine silk in Yonkers, on the east
side of the Nepperhan, in a stone building which had been erected a year or
two before for a cotton factory.
Another Yonkers inventor, Rudolf Eickemeyer, Sr., was born October
18, 1831, in the village of Altenbamberg, in Rhenish Bavaria, his father
being an officer of the forestry department of the kingdom of Bavaria. His
grandfather, who, at the time of his death, was chief of the forestry depart
ment of the province, had been in early life a colonel of engineers in the
French army, and his great-grandfather had been an engineer in the service.
of the archbishop of Mainz and professor of mathematics in the University of
Mainz during its existence. His family came originally from Duderstadt, in
Hanover, and his great-grandfather was the first Eickemeyer in Mainz, where
he resided as early as 1753, and where his grand-uncle, Rudolf, was born, a
well-known hydraulic and mechanical engineer, whose writings show him to
have been well informed in all branches of engineering science, and possessed
of considerable inventive skill in suggestions to improve fire-arms and vessels
with defensive armor. All the Eickemeyers weie born draughtsmen, and he
began to make pictures long before he could write, and the same trait was
dominant in his children, and in theirs. Mr. Eickemeyer had a love for
mechanical pursuits from his earliest recollections, and as a boy was always
busy making wagons and building miniature mills on a small stream which
was near his home. When thirteen years of age he was sent to the real
school at Kaiserslautern, and later on to Darmstadt. All mathematical and
scientific studies were easy to him, but languages and grammatical studies
were the bane of his existence; and, although English was one of the lan
guages taught, when he landed in New York, on the 22d of November, 1850,.
he could not speak a dozen English words.
In 1849 the rebellion came to a head in Germany, and he, with a num
ber of schoolmates, joined the rebel army under August Willich (who became
a brigadier-general in our late civil war), and the well-known veteran of the
Union army, Franz Sigel. After the close of the rebellion, life in Germany
was made so unpleasant for the young revolutionist by the government that
he determined to emigrate. Mr. Eickemeyer, with his schoolmate, fellow
rebel and lifelong friend, George Osterheld, therefore came to this country.
They made their way to Buffalo, New York, and, not finding any employ
ment in the shops, started on foot for Dunkirk, where work was obtainable
on the New York & Erie Railroad. They remained there until spring,
returning then to Buffalo, where they found employment in the steam engine.

878 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
works, which was then one of the largest machine shops in the west. There
they remained until the fall of 1853, when they returned to New York.
During the winter of 1853 and the summer of 1854 Mr. Eickemeyer was
employed as draughtsman in an office in New York, and his first patented
invention was the result of this employment. He had a great deal of shad
ing to do in drawing, so invented an instrument enabling him to draw parallel
lines with precision and ease. This was patented, and later on he started a
shop and manufactured them. Mr. Eickemeyer started in business with Mr.
Osterheld on September 10, 1854, with the expectation of doing general
machine work and repairs in the different factories.
Yonkers was the leading center of the wool-hat industry, and being con
tinuously employed in these factories he soon found opportunities to suggest
improvements in the machinery employed. His first attempt was to fold the
edges of the leather bands which were used as substitutes for the ribbons of
the so-called " Ledger" hat then in fashion. The demand for these bands
was so great that it was impossible for the manufacturers to obtain them at
any price. The little machine he invented would fold and emboss fifty of
these bands while a boy or girl could fold one. It was a great success, and,
simple as it was, it formed the foundation of the leather-folding machines
now in use to-day in every hat factory. His next venture was a sewing
machine to sew the sweat-linings into hats. This was patented in 1859, and
sewed the sweats with an overhand stitch substantially the same as is now
used in all button-hole machines. He manufactured and sold some hundreds
of these machines, which remained in use until superseded by others which
he introduced in 1863. In the meantime he had been experimenting to find
a substitute for the laborious method of stretching and blocking hats then
used. This problem was solved when he invented the ribbon and recessed
stretching cone, and jointly with his partner, George Osterheld, built the
wool-hat blocking machine. These inventions revolutionized this part of
the manufacture of hats all over the world. Later on he substituted an
automatic machine for those in general use in this country. About the time
when blocking-machines came into use, pouncing-machines also made their
appearance, and he introduced a number of improved machines. For fur
hats of a certain style the pouncing-machine was found to be unsuited, and
it was necessary to find a substitute to prepare the hat body, which is a
conical form, by what the trade called shaving. The long hair which is
always present in the fur has to be removed, but not cut off, as the term
shaving would imply. The hair is drawn out of the body with a sharp knife
held at a certain angle. Mr. Eickemeyer was obliged to learn to shave a
hat by hand, and after he had mastered the trade designed a machine which
surpassed all expectations. Other branches of hatting also received his

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 879
attention, and improvements have been introduced, some to a greater, some
to a less, extent. During all these years his partner, George Osterheld,
attended to business affairs, and he was left free to devote his time to
inventing and improving machinery, and while he made hatting the main
object of his investigations, he tried his hand in other lines.
The Clipper Mower and Reaper Company had an establishment in this
city, which gave him an opportunity to test another device, a differential
gear to produce the reciprocating motion of the cutter bar. The first machine
built in 1870 proved the correctness of the device and some hundreds were
built during the next few years. In 1876 the Otis Brothers exhibited it at
the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, and after a field trial the machine
proved itself the lightest draught mower of its class. Thousands of machines
of this type, known as the Champion, have since been manufactured and are
used all over the world. When Mr. Bell astonished the world with his tele
phone, and Mr. Edison startled it with the phonograph, he began some
experiments in electricity, not at first with a view toward doing anything in
this line, but simply as a recreation and to understand the principles upon
which these instruments acted, all of his knowledge of electricty dating back
to the time when he attended school, and was more ancient history than
science. To come up to the present he had to begin at the beginning and
make sure of his ground, and his bent to improve kept him busy. He finally
invented what is considered the most practical form of dynamo machine
made, and has proven its excellency in its use as a generator and as a motor,
and in the latter capacity, among other things, it has proved a great success
in running elevators, Messrs. Otis Brothers having adopted it for use with
their hoisting machinery in preference to other motors in the market. The
introduction of his machinery had the usual effect. Infringers appropriated
it and he had to apply to the courts for redress. He found that a record of
the time when his inventions and experiments were made would be valuable,
and in July, 1866, he began to keep a written record of his work, which
record now fills about twelve volumes of about four hundred pages each.
He was one of the commissioners of the water board since the works were
started, and at the time of his death was serving his fifth term of five years,
and his tenth year as president of the board, having been re-appointed every
time unanimously by a Democratic board of aldermen although he was a
Republican. Nearly twenty-two years ago he was elected a member of the
board of education of one of the school districts and was a member of that
board and of the board of education of the consolidated schools, with the
exception of two years, until his death. From 1858 to 1865 he was a mem
ber of the volunteer fire department, and from i860 to 1867 a member of
the national guard; and during Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania, in 1863, he

880 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
served some thirty days in Fort McHenry. He was a director of the First
National Bank of this city from 1878 to 1895. In matters affecting the
improvement of the city; Mr. Eickemeyer gave an ardent and intelligent sup
port, and his private charities were many, his generous nature finding its
greatest pleasure in helping his fellow men. He died at Washington, D. O,
after a brief illness, on January 23, 1895.
Mr. Eickemeyer was married to Miss Mary T. Tarbell, of Dover, Maine,
on July 21, 1856. WILLIAM G. SHRIVE.
No business has come more rapidly to the front in the past decade than
that of the manufacture and sale of bicycles. Throughout the civilized
world the " wheel " is found, and even in far-off India and Japan it is replac
ing the methods of travel which have been in vogue for centuries. Its almost
universal adoption places it among the foremost inventions of the nineteenth
century, and as it contributes to both health and pleasure it will probably
remain the favorite vehicle for the young and vigorous for many years to
come. The sale of the bicycle has reached astounding proportions, and every
small hamlet boasts of at least a repair and supply shop. One of the most
thoroughly equipped establishments in this line of business, in the Empire
state outside of New York city, is that conducted by William Glenn Shrive,
of Yonkers, who deals in all kinds of bicycles and sporting goods. He is one
of the representative business men of the place, occupying a most enviable
position in commercial circles, and his reliability and enterprise have secured
to him a large and constantly increasing trade.
Mr. Shrive is a native of Pennsylvania, his birth having occurred in
Equinunk, Wayne county, September 20, 1862. His paternal grandfather,
Glenn Shrive, was born at Kitring, Northamptonshire, England, a son of
Luke Shrive, who was in the postal service in the government employ. He
had four children, — Glenn, George, Ethel and Anna. Glenn Shrive was a
dry-goods merchant and a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church.
He married Phcebe Odell, who died in early womanhood, while his death
occurred when he was in his fifty-eighth year. The children were: Alfred,
Phcebe and Anna, who died in childhood; and Eliza, who married Benjamin
Cheney and for thirty years has been engaged in missionary labors in Peter-
meritzburg, South Africa. Mr. and Mrs. Cheney have two living children:
John G., who is engaged in prospecting in the gold and diamond fields of
South Africa; and a son who is the editor and publisher of the Port Natal
Daily Witness, a sixteen-page paper.
On the maternal side the ancestry of our subject can be traced back to
John Warren, who served his country in the war of the Revolution and was-

William G. Shrive.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 881
a minister of the gospel at Mount Carmel, Putnam county, New York. His
son, Rev. John Warren, Jr., was the grandfather of W. G. Shrive. For
twenty-one years he was the pastor of a Baptist church in Putnam county,
and besides he was something of an agriculturist. He married Dezire Grant,
a second cousin of General Grant, and two of their sons, Levi and Hiram
Warren, were surgeons in the great general's army during the civil war.
The former, Dr. Levi Warren, as he was subsequently known, won distinc
tion in the medical profession, and Hiram, who was a graduate of Colgate
University, of New York, became a successful teacher, preacher and physi
cian. The other members of the family were John, who was pastor of a
church at Easton, Connecticut, for many years; David, Euphemia, Olive,
Ann and Elizabeth. The father of these children departed this life at Dan
bury, Connecticut, where he had attained the advanced age of eighty-two,
while the mother died when in her seventy-third year.
Rev. John George Shrive, father of oursubject, was born at Kitring, Eng
land, November 5, 1830, and in 1854 came to the United States, locating in
Ulster county, New York. He received his education in the schools of his
native land and in a biblical institute at Concord, New Hampshire, now con
nected with the Boston University. He was graduated in i860, but even-as a
student preached in the vicinity of the college to some extent, and later occu
pied pulpits for a quarter of a century. For a score of years he was connected
with the Methodist Episcopal denomination, serving congregations at Con
cord, New Hampshire; Equinunk, Pennsylvania; South Yonkers and Dover
Plains, New York; Fairfield, Connecticut; and Croton Lake, Carthage Land
ing, Crawford and Newburg, New York. While at the last named place, on
account of changing views on religious doctrines, he joined the Baptist church,
and for a number of years labored faithfully at Elizabeth, New Jersey; Nyack
and Lake Mahopac, New York, and at the Warburton Avenue church, of
Yonkers, New York, where he was the assistant pastor. Subsequently he did
missionary work in New York city. Then, owing to failing health, he aban
doned the active work of the ministry, but his interest has never flagged, and
since he gave up regular pastoral work he has been instrumental in building
two churches, one at Ridgefield Park and the other at Ridgewood. Both of
these congregations now employ regular ministers and are strong and flour
ishing churches. Occasionally he supplies a pulpit for some of his ministe
rial friends, and now, in the evening of life, he may look back along the way
he has traveled and feel certain that "well done, good and faithful servant "
will be his welcome plaudit from that Master whom he has so conscientiously
served. The marriage of this worthy man took place April 2, 1858, the lady of
his choice being Miss Maria Ann Warren, a daughter of the Rev. John
56

882 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Warren. They became the parents of three children: William G., Maggie
Burke, who died at the age of fourteen years; and George G., who is super
intendent of Bradstreet's Commercial Agency at Newark, New Jersey, and
resides at Rutherford, that state. The parents are both living and are much
beloved by every one.
William G. Shrive was educated in Siglar Institute, of Newburg, New
York, and in Pingree's School at Elizabeth, New Jersey, being graduated in
the last named in 1878. He then came to Yonkers with his father and in
1 8S0 became connected with the printing business of this city. Two years
later he founded the Yonkers Free Press, a four-page, seven-column journal,
which he conducted for two years and then sold. During the three succeed
ing years he was the steward of the Merchants' Dining Rooms, in New York
city, and later he spent seven years in the employ of the Bank of the State
of New York. On the expiration of that period he began dealing in bicycles
and has since added sporting goods, until his present complete stock is valued
at upward of fourteen thousand dollars. His place of business is at No. 21
North Broadway, where the two basement's are utilized as a repair shop,
and he also is the proprietor of Shrive's Riding Academy, at Nos. 25, 27
and '29 North Broadway. In the various departments of his extensive busi
ness a dozen persons are employed. He is the local agent for the leading
high-grade wheels in the market, and all varieties of sporting and athletic
goods, cameras, and other accessories of the modern tourist and pleasure-
seeker. He has an excellent knowledge of photography and makes a business
of developing pictures for amateur photographers. Everything which he
undertakes is well done, and success has come to him as the result of
genuine merit and enterprise.
For some six years Mr. Shrive was a member of the Twenty-second
Regiment of State Militia, served in the Brooklyn and Buffalo riots and now
belongs to the Twenty-second Regiment Veteran Association. He also
served in the fire department as a member of the Lady Washington Hose
Company, and now is a member of the Exempt Firemen's Association.
Moreover, he is identified with Palisade Lodge, No. 571, I. O. O. F. ¦ Pali
sade Boat Club; the Yonkers Bicycle Club and the Baptist church.
The home relations of Mr. Shrive are very pleasant. He was married
October 18, 1892, to Miss Nettie Vail Worth, who was born at Carmel,
New York, July 6, 1871, a daughter of Benjamin and Lucretia (Vail) Worth,
the father an extensive builder and contractor. Mrs. Shrive is a descendant
of Stephen Hopkins, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Mr. and Mrs. Shrive have one charming little daughter, Lillian Worth by
name. They have many sincere friends and are welcomed in the best social
circles of Yonkers and elsewhere.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 883

JOHN F. MILLS.
The well-known and popular superintendent and vice-president of Abend-
roth Brothers' Eagle Iron Works, John F. Mills, of Port Chester, New
York, was born on the 9th of October, 1843, in Jersey City, New Jersey,
and is a representative of one of the old and highly esteemed families of that
state. The progenitor of the family in America was a native of England,
and on crossing the Atlantic he located near Jamaica, Long Island, New
York. The great-grandfather of our subject, however, was born in New
Jersey, where he spent his entire life. The grandfather, John Mills, was
also a native of New Jersey, and there engaged in farming until life's labors
were ended. He aided his country as a soldier of the war of 18 12, and the
old gun which he used in the service is now in possession of our subject.
The father, Benjamin Mills, was a native of Westfield, New Jersey, and for
many years he extensively engaged in the manufacture of oakum in that
state, where he died at the age of eighty-three. He was a very successful
business man and the prosperity which crowned his efforts was due entirely
to his own enterprise, industry and perseverance, and he started out in life.
for himself empty-handed. For some time he was connected with the Prov
idence Institution Savings Bank. Politically, he was first a Whig and later
a Republican. He married Miss Lizzie Walker, who was born October 11,
1799, at the corner of Thirtieth street and Tenth avenue, New York city, of
German parentage, and was left an orphan when quite young. She was
a consistent Christian woman, a member of the Methodist church, and was
an invalid for several years, death coming to her relief in 1859. She was
the mother of seven children, four of whom are still living, namely: Sarah
Ann, wife of Frederick Bonghamper; Louisa, wife of Henry Trumper;
Augustus R., a resident of Jersey City, where he is serving as clerk; and
John F. , the subject of this review. Those deceased are Washington, Morti
mer and Sister Jane. On his grandmother Mills' (Anna Denman) side Mr.
Mills is a descendant of Christopher Denman, of Cranford, New Jersey,
who served as a private in Captain Benjamin Laing's Company, First Regi
ment Essex County (New Jersey) militia, in the war of the Revolution.
From this branch he became a member of the Sons of the Revolution.
The boyhood and youth of John F Mills were passed at home, and his
education was received in the schools of Jersey City, New Jersey, and And
over, Massachusetts. In 1862, at the age of nineteen years, he came to Port
Chester, New York, and as office boy entered the employ of the firm of which
he is now vice-president and superintendent. Having inherited his father's
business ability he gradually worked his way upward until he reached his
present responsible position. In 1876 he was made superintendent and

884 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
treasurer of the iron works, serving as such until appointed vice-president on
the 9th of March, 1898. The thoroughness and persistency with which he
applied himself while mastering the business has characterized his entire
career, and has been supplemented by careful attention to detail and by hon
orable, straightforward effort, that has gained him a most excellent and envi
able reputation. For about four years he served as cashier of the Savings
Bank of Port Chester, and is now first vice-president of that bank. He
has been a director of the First National Bank for several years, vice-presi
dent of the Port Chester Water Company, and was one of the original stock
holders of the Port Chester Athletic Association; but the greater part of his
time and attention has been devoted to the business of the Abendroth Broth
ers' Eagle Iron Works, which is one of the largest institutions of the kind in
the state, employing several hundred workmen in manufacturing stoves,
grates, steam heaters, etc.
Mr. Mills married Miss Maria F. , daughter of William P. Abendroth,
who was the founder and president of the works, and whose sketch appears
on another page of this volume. Four children have been born to them:
William, who is now serving as secretary of the corporation; John F., Jr.,
who also is connected with the business; Benjamin, who is connected with
the shipping department; and Frank M., who is attending college.
Politically, Mr. Mills is an independent Democrat, has served as president
of the board of education several years and as town auditor for a time. He is
very popular in Masonic circles, being a member of Mamaro Lodge, No. 653,
F. & A. M., of Port Chester; Mount Vernon Chapter, No. 228, R. A. M.,
and Bethlehem Commandery, No. 53, K. T. In social circles he and his
wife occupy an enviable position, and both hold membership in the Episco
pal church, in which Mr. Mills has served as vestryman for thirty years and
warden for five or six years.

WILLIAM P. ABENDROTH.
The life history of this gentleman is somewhat similar to that of many of
the great men who have made and established American commerce and Ameri
can progress everywhere. The story of his early life if told in detail would
form a narrative that could not fail to interest and hold the attention of every
youth of the day who has the energy to succeed and the sterling integrity
upon which to build a great business and establish a name as enduring as the
eternal rocks that line the shores of our homes. There is nothing of the
romantic in the life of Mr. Abendroth, but there is that firm purpose, that
sterling tenacity to succeed, that honest, upright perseverance that knows no-
such word as fail. He belonged to that gifted race whose frugality and sin-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 885
gleness of purpose has brought them foremost in the scale of valor and
prowess in the world.
Mr. Abendroth was born in Germany, December 18, 1818, and in 1832
came to New York with his parents; but after a short stay in the metropolis
he went to Albany, where he began an apprenticeship in the foundry of Dr.
Eliphalet Nott, remaining there two years, during which time he attended
night school. When Dr. Nott went to New York city in 1834 and started the
Novelty Iron Works, Mr. Abendroth accompanied him, completing his appren
ticeship in 1836. He then worked as a journeyman in the foundry of Bart
lett Bent in Jersey City until 1839, when he declined the position of foreman
of that establishment, and with the hopes of securing something better he
went to New Orleans. After a short period of recreation and labor in the
Crescent City he went up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to Cincinnati and
later to St. Louis, working for a while in both cities. At the end of a year,
however, he returned to the east, and for three months was employed in the
foundry of George E. Waring, in Stamford, Connecticut. He then came to
Port Chester, New York, and formed a partnership with Philip Rollhaus, lay
ing the foundation of the great firm and mammoth foundry now known as
Abendroth Brothers' Eagle Iron works, established in 1840. Business was
begun on a small scale, and for a few years the efforts of the ambitious
founders were somewhat circumscribed; but when the confidence of the com
mercial world was secured the path to prosperity was an easy one. Among
the first to notice and appreciate the material advancement of the self-reliant
young apprentice of a few years previous was Mr. Bent, who offered financial
aid to the young founders. In 1845 Mr. Rollhaus retired from the firm and
Augustus and John Abendroth, brothers of our subject, were admitted. The
former died in 1881, and shortly afterward John D. Fraser, our subject's son-
in-law, became interested in the business. John Abendroth retired in 1874.
In 1876 the firm was changed to a stock company, Mr. Abendroth being
elected president and remaining such up to the time of his death. While he
had much to attend to in the management of the great plant, he yet found
ample time to devote to the welfare of the community. He assisted in organ
izing the First National Bank in 1863, and served as one of its directors until
called from this life. In 1865 he was instrumental in securing the charter
for the organization of the Port Chester Savings Bank, and with other leading
men laid the foundation of one of the most solid and substantial institutions
in the country, a worthy monument to the sturdy, enterprising official who
served as its first president, and laid down his stewardship only when stern
death demanded it. He was also instrumental in organizing the Port Chester
Mutual Loan & Building Association in 1852-3; was a charter member of
the fire company which became known as Putnam Engine, now Putnam

WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Steamer, and he served as its foreman in 1857, 1858 and 1859. The last year
he was presented by the company with a very handsome silver trumpet,
which was one of his treasured possessions. He was a charter member of
the Firemen's Benevolent Fund Association, and remained an active member
until his death.
As president of the village of Port Chester, Mr. Abendroth's administra
tion stands out boldly. He was the only man who had the courage to
enforce the ordinances, and despite the most persistent and obstinate objec
tions on the part of some timid persons he enforced the excise laws as he
understood them and forced a respect of the Sabbath by liquor dealers. It is
safe to say that no citizen of Port Chester was held in higher regard or had
more true friends than Mr. Abendroth. When he was about to sail for Europe
he was given a dinner in courses at Hawthorne Beach, by the trustees of the
Port Chester Savings Bank, June 16, 1 891, and on Saturday, September 27,
1 891, a number of leading citizens and the employes of all departments of
the Abendroth foundry made a surprise visit to Mr. Abendroth at his resi
dence on the Post Road, to greet and congratulate him on his safe return
from Europe and to tender felicitations on the completion of the fiftieth
year of the successful management of the firm of Abendroth Brothers. Sev
eral impressive speeches were made, showing the esteem in which he was held
by the entire community. He died January 29, 1898, and the organizations
with which he was connected sent to his wife appropriate resolutions of
respect. Mr. Abendroth's home life was an unusually happy one. In 1843 he
married Miss Anna Maria Fraser, who survives her husband. To them
were born five children, who are still living: Mrs. John F. Mills and Mrs.
M. R. Hoagland, both of Port Chester; Frank A. Abendroth, of Chicago;
John W. Abendroth, of New York; and Mrs. F. G. Dickson, of Jersey City.

WILLIAM FRED LAWRENCE.
The quiet, persevering business man who does not mix in politics is
every year becoming a more and more important factor in our national prog
ress. That there is something to be done besides helping elect men to fat
offices is a fact that is coming home to the American people. Politicians
talk about prosperity; but it is the quiet, persevering business man who does
not mix in politics that creates the prosperity. Such a man was William
Fred Lawrence, of Yonkers. A stanch Republican in politics, a man of
much personal and business influence, Mr. Lawrence was repeatedly urged
to become a candidate for important public offices; but he steadfastly refused
such honors and devoted his time and energies to building up his business

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 887
interests, employing men intelligently and helpfully and doing the unostenta
tious but always telling work of the every-day business man for the good of
the general public. In this way he was an exemplar of the truism that "he
best helps others who helps himself."
William Frederick Lawrence was the oldest child of William H. and
Maria Vanderveer (Back) Lawrence. He was born at Yonkers January 15,
1841, and died at 143 Buena Vista avenue, that city, July 13, 1897. After
acquiring an education and passing some years in other employment, he
entered the service of the lumber and coal firm of Read, Speedling & Nairn
as bookkeeper. Not long afterward, upon the retirement of Mr. Read from
the enterprise, he was able to purchase that gentleman's interest and the
business was continued by Speedling, Nairn & Lawrence. Mr. Speedling
died in 1872, and the business passed into the ownership of Mr. Lawrence
and his brother, James V. Lawrence, and after that it was conducted under
the firm name of Lawrence Brothers. This business has always been a
leader in its peculiar field, and it has been so energetically developed that it
has more than kept pace with the rapid growth of the city of Yonkers. Mr.
Lawrence was also extensively interested in real estate in different parts of
the city, and through his operations had much to do with the extension of
the visible limits of Yonkers. He was one of the directors of the Citizens'
National Bank of Yonkers, a trustee of the Yonkers Fuel, Light & Power
Company and a stockholder and trustee in the corporation owning the Yon
kers Weekly and Daily Statesman.
On November 21, 1867, Mr. Lawrence married Miss Mary J. Weddle, of
Rochester, New York. Her father, William Weddle, came to this country
from Hull, England, with his father, Thomas Saddler Weddle, and his
mother, Mary M. (Maune) Weddle. Mrs. Lawrence's mother, Electa (Brown)
Weddle, traced her ancestry back to Elder John Strong, of Dorchester,
Massachusetts, who came to America in the Mary and John, and to Thomas
Ford, also a passenger in that good ship. Richard Strong, father of Elder
John Strong, was born in Wales in 1 561 and died in 1613. Elder John
Strong married Abigail Ford, daughter of Thomas Ford. Their son, Samuel
Strong, married Esther Clapp, daughter of Deacon Edward Clapp, of Dor
chester, Massachusetts. Their son, Ezra Strong, Sr., married I. Fowler,
daughter of Samuel and Abigail (Brown) Fowler. Their son, Ezra Strong, Jr. ,
married Mary King. Their son, King Strong, married Hannah Noble.
Their daughter, Huldah Strong, married Jonah Brown, and Electa Brown
was their daughter. Mr. and Mrs. William Fred Lawrence had four chil
dren: William H., Stanley (who died October 16, 1880), Mabel, Maud and
Arthur. Mrs. William F. Lawrence's rriother, Electa (Brown) Weddle, was
a direct descendant of Peter Brown, 33d signer of the Mayflower compact.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
She was also descended from Hon. Daniel Clark, John Newberry, Thomas
Barber, Christopher Crow, Benjamin Burr, Jonathan Gillette and many other
New England emigrants of the seventeenth century. His family are con
nected with St. John's Episcopal church, of Yonkers, of which he was a lib
eral supporter and a member of the vestry. His enthusiasm for yachting led
to his identification with the Corinthian Yacht Club. He was the owner,
until about the time of his death, of the one-hundred-foot steam yacht,
"Nereid," which was used during the late war with Spain by the government.
He was a member of the uniformed rank of Masons and was connected with
other important organizations, and in every relation with his fellow citizens
was a leader in useful work, justly esteemed for his high character and
worthy success. COMMODORE A. MONROE.
One of the most popular and esteemed citizens of Westchester county is
Commodore Augustin Monroe, whose broad culture, genial temperament and
uniform courtesy have made him a social favorite and won him the regard
and friendship of representatives of all classes. One of the most prominent
factors in the social life of Westchester county and New York city is the
Larchmont Yacht Club, of which Mr. Monroe was one of the organizers, and
since its formation he has been active in its successful management and is
now serving as a member of its board of trustees. It ranks among the finest
clubs of the kind in the United States, which position is due to the influence
of its many eminent and well known members, prominent among whom is
the subject of this review.
Mr. Monroe was born in the city of San Francisco, California, in 1854,
and there passed the first nine years of his life. He then accompanied his
mother, Laura (Renwick) Monroe, on their return to New York. Father
John A. Monroe died in San Francisco in 1862.
Commodore A. Monroe acquired the greater part of his education in
New York city, but also attended St. Paul's school, at Concord, New Hamp
shire, which he left in 1869. Returning home he spent five years in the city,
graduated at the Columbia College Law School in 1876, and in 1881 came to
Larchmont, with the interests of which village he has since been identified.
Larchmont occupies one of the most beautiful sites on Long Island Sound,
and, recognizing the advantages here offered for such an organization, Mr.
Monroe, in conjunction with two other prominent men, was instrumental in
forming the Larchmont Yacht Club, which soon took rank among the finest
clubs of the kind in the United States. Its growth was rapid, drawing its
membership from the best citizens of Westchester county and New York.
There are now six hundred names on the membership roll, and the club dis-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 889
plays many of the finest yacht and sailing craft seen on the sound. From
the beginning Mr. Monroe has served as a member of the board of trustees,
and under his able management the club has become one of the most pros
perous in the Empire state. He was third commodore of Larchmont Yacht
Club, serving for 1884 and 1885. The club house, which was erected at a
cost of one hundred and fifty-four thousand dollars, is a beautiful and magnifi
cent structure, complete in all its appointments, having spacious halls, draw
ing rooms, fine libraries, extensive verandas, balconies and dormitories. It
is also most beautifully located, commanding an excellent view of the harbor
and Long Island sound, and is a most delightful retreat during the hot sum
mer months. Mr. Monroe has labored untiringly in its interests, and for its
success he deserves great credit. He possesses a fine physique, is an excellent
conversationalist, is most affable and genial in manner and is a great favorite
in all circles.
JAMES V. LAWRENCE.
James V. Lawrence is a son of William Henry and Maria Vanderveer
(Back) Lawrence, and was born at Yonkers, New York, February 6, 1843.
He was a younger brother and is the surviving partner of the business of the
firm of Lawrence Brothers, composed of his brother, William F. Lawrence,
deceased, and himself. They descended from patriot stock and from old and
honorable English families. Samuel Lawrence was born in East Chester in
175 1 and married Abigail Pell, who was born in East Chester, New York, in
the same year. Her father, John Pell (1722-73), was the son of the honor
able Thomas Pell, third lord of Pelham manor, Westchester county (1686
-1739), and Anna, daughter of the reigning Indian chief of Westchester
county. This Thomas was a son of Sir John Pell, second lord of Pelham
manor, and Rachel Pinckney, daughter of Philip Pinckney, one of the ten
proprietors of East Chester, New York. Sir John Pell (1643-1702) was
born in London and died in East Chester. He was a server-in-ordinary to
King Charles II. Through a long line of illustrious history the origin of the
family of Pell is traced to William Pell, who descended from Walter de
Pelham, who held the lordship of Pelham in Herefordshire, 21 Edward I
(A. D. 1294).
Samuel Lawrence was the son of Mary Bishop and John Lawrence.
Mary Bishop was the daughter of Mary and Frederick Deveaux, son of
Abel Deveaux, one of the French Huguenots who came to New Rochelle
about 1700. John Lawrence was the son of Jonathan, son of Jonathan, son
of Thomas Lawrence, one of the three brothers, John, William and Thomas,
sons of John Lawrence, of Great St. Albans, Herefordshire, England.
Thomas was one of the patentees of Newtown, Long Island, in 1666, and

890 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
proprietor of Hell Gate Neck, Long Island, and major in Leisler's forces in
1690, and died at Newtown in July, 1703. Samuel Lawrence early removed
to Yonkers, where he became a tenant of Frederick Phillipse. His farm was
located on both sides of Broadway, and his homestead, which is now stand
ing, was on Valentine's lane, near the Hudson. He was first lieutenant,
then a captain, in the Westchester militia, and was an enthusiastic patriot.
He acted as a guide for Washington, who with his officers many times held
council under his roof and who evinced great friendship for him. When
Frederick Phillipse was declared a traitor and his land confiscated, Samuel-
Lawrence, then holding a commission as major, bought all that land which
he had theretofore held as tenant. Besides, he was presented, as a reward
for his efficient service as a guide, with a considerable tract of land south of
the Phillipse property. He died at Yonkers November 26, 1834, and his
wife, Abigail Pell, died February 12, 1828, and they were buried in St.
John's cemetery at Yonkers. They had six children, of whom Jonathan,
grandfather of James V. Lawrence, was the oldest. Their father was Hen-
drick Vanderveer, son of Macchiel, son of Cornelis Vanderveer and Tryntjr
de Mandeville, daughter of Gillis de Mandeville and Elsie Hendrickse Koch,
all of Flushing, Long Island. Their mother, Maria Voorhees, was the
daughter of Adrianna Lefferts and Jan Van Voorhees, son of Maykr Schenck
and Lucas Van Voorhees, son of Steven, son of Coert, son of Albret.
Maykr Schenck was the daughter of Annetje Wyckoff and Roslof Schenck,
son of Martin, son of General Peter Schenck, who fought in the war between
Holland and Spain. General Schenck was descended through a noble fam
ily from Heinrich Schenck, 1346, Lord of Afferdeen, Walbeck, etc., Batavia.
To him letters of administration were granted upon his father's estate in
1835- Jonathan Lawrence was a farmer and owned a large tract of land in the
southern part of Yonkers. His homestead, on South Broadway, is now
known as the Radford house. He married Sarah Rheade, daughter of
Robert (1749-18 10) and Mary (1759—183 5) Rheade. Robert Rheade, who was
a son of Robert and Jane Rheade, was a stanch patriot who had a large farm
on Sawmill River road, purchased from the commissioners of confiscation.
While Colonel Thompson was stationed at Four Corners, Rheade learned
that the English were making a stealthy movement to attack him. He rode
his best horse at break-neck speed to Four Corners and arrived just in time
for Colonel Thompson to make preparations to repulse the enemy, but his
horse fell dead as he drew rein ! Major Jonathan and Sarah (Rheade) Lawrence
had seven children, of whom William Henry Lawrence, father of James V.
Lawrence and William Fred Lawrence, was the sixth in order of birth.
William Henry Lawrence was born at Yonkers, February 28, 181 3.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 891
His home was at Lawrence street and South Broadway, on part of the land
which had belonged to his grandfather, Major Samuel Lawrence. He
engaged in the real-estate and insurance business and served as coroner, tax-
collector and deputy sheriff, and was otherwise prominent in municipal and
public affairs. He was successful in life and accumulated a good property.
He and his family were members of St. John's Episcopal church. He died
January 13, 1879, and his body lies in St. John's cemetery. He was buried
with Masonic rites. In politics he was a Democrat. On November 24, 1835,
he married Maria Vanderveer Back, of Yonkers, who was born in New York
city, October 4, 1813, and who traced her ancestry back to the early emi
grants along a number of lines. Her father was Henry Back, of Flushing,
New York, and his father, Simeon Back, was of the early Backs of Connecti
cut. This Simeon Back married Belinda Vanderveer, who was a sister of
Abraham Vanderveer, one of the early residents of Kings county.
Mrs. Maria Vanderveer (Back) Lawrence is still living. She bore her
husband the following mentioned children: William Frederick, a bio
graphical sketch of whom appears on another page; James Valentine, referred
to more at length further on; Mary Frances and Francis Henry, both of
whom died in infancy; Arthur, who died at fourteen; Isabella; Harriet, who-
married Milo Baker, one of the proprietors of the Baker Iron Works of Los
Angeles, California; Cecil R. , who married Isabelle Otis, daughter of Colonel
Otis, U.. S. A.; Sidney, who is in the west; Amette O., who married Miss
Nellie Car; and Eugene, who recently died in Wyoming.
James Valentine Lawrence was educated in the public schools of
Yonkers, and subsequently studied law at Columbia College, now Columbia
University, District of Columbia, and was graduated with the degree of A. B.,
in 1 87 1. He later practiced law in Washington about a year. At eighteen
years of age he enlisted, in April, 1861, as one of the first defenders of the
Union, in Company G, Second Regiment, New York Light Artillery, after
ward changed to heavy artillery acting as infantry. After organizing on
Staten Island, he and his comrades were sent to Washington, where they did.
garrison duty for some time at Chain Bridge, Alexandria and Fredericksburg.
They were detailed to join Sherman in his historic march to the sea, but the
order was rescinded before its execution was commenced. Mr. Lawrence
enlisted as a private, but was promoted successively to corporal, sergeant,
second lieutenant, first lieutenant and adjutant, and was afterward trans
ferred to the grand staff of the war department as assistant commissary and
rank as captain. He was mustered out at Alexandria, in September, 1865,
by special order of the war department, and for gallant and meritorious
services was brevetted major. He occupied (1868-1872) a semi-official and
diplomatic position in the department of foreign mails in the general post-

892 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
office department at Washington, D. C, in which capacity he was sent by
our government to negotiate postal treaties with Great Britain, Brazil and
other countries, and attended various treaty conventions in different parts of
the world. With Anthony Trollope, of London, he outlined the work of the
convention between the United States and the United Kingdom, held at
Washington in 1868. He was sent to the West Indies to examine and report
upon the desirability of improving mail facilities with those islands, including
the Danish West Indies. With the emperor and postmaster general of
Brazil he arranged a postal treaty with that country, which was ratified in
1874. He attended various postal treaty conventions in South America and
established the mail steamship service between the United States and China.
He subsequently resigned from the postoffice department and returned to
Yonkers to engage in his present business, one of the oldest enterprises in
the city. This business was founded in 1848 by Henry W. Bashford, who was suc
ceeded by the firm of Read, Speedling & Nair. That firm was succeeded by
Speedling, Nair & Lawrence. Speedling & Lawrence succeeded Speedling,
Nair & Lawrence. Mr. Speedling died in 1872 and the business was contin
ued by Lawrence Brothers. The concern deals in building materials and
coal, and its establishment occupies three docks covering three acres of yard
space, besides a block on Wells avenue, upon which the main office is located.
Mr. Lawrence employs more than one hundred men in the office and in the
yards; and his business which aggregates more than a million dollars annually,
is the largest of the kind in the county. Mr. Lawrence is interested in a num
ber of other important enterprises, among them the Palisade Ferry Company
and the Hygeia Ice Company.
Politically he is an enthusiastic gold Democrat. He has served in var
ious political capacities and stands high in the local councils of his party. He
was a member of the board of supervisors a number of terms, and, until he
refused to serve longer, a member of the civil service board; and for some
years he has been a member of the board of school commissioners of the city
of Yonkers. He was a candidate for mayor of Yonkers in 1874, on the minor
ity ticket, but was defeated by but a few votes, and in 1897 was the Dem
ocratic nominee for congress from the sixteenth district on the gold Demo
cratic platform. He was president of the board of trustees of the City Club,
of Yonkers; he is a member of the New York commandery of the Loyal
Legion, and was one of the organizers and charter members of John C. Fre
mont Post, G. A. R., and past commander of Kitching Post. He is identi
fied also with Nepera Lodge, A. F. & A. M., the Yonkers Teutonia Club, the
Corinthian Yacht Club and the Yonkers Board of Trade.
Mr. Lawrence was married May 7, 1864, to Charlotte E. Southworth, a

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 893
daughter of the famous novelist, Mrs. Emma D. E. N. Southworth, of George
town, D. C. They have had ten children, seven of whom are living: Emma,
Elizabeth Young, Valentine Henriques, James V., Jr., Edith, Nevette and
Mary.
WILLIAM BRANDRETH.
William Brandreth, son of Dr. Benjamin Brandreth, was born at Sing
Sing, October 22, 1842. His early education was obtained at Mount Pleas
ant Academy, and when sixteen years of age he went to New York, where he
gained a thorough knowledge of his business as a pharmaceutist and druggist,
and subsequently became connected with the wholesale drug trade, in the
Spanish firm of Palanca & Escalante. At the age of twenty-one he went to
South America and traveled extensively, remaining for some time in Venezuela,
and afterward passed a year in the British, Dutch and Danish West Indies.
Thence he went to California, by way of the isthmus of Panama, and remained
there four years. During a portion of this time he was engaged in introduc
ing and extending the sale of medicines, but afterward established a life-
insurance agency, in which he founded a very extensive business and enjoyed
a high degree of success. In 1868 he returned to Sing Sing, where he
became interested in insurance and real-estate transactions, in which he was
very successful, and two years later established the firm of Howland &
Brandreth, which for years carried on a very extensive and profitable busi
ness. In 1876 he disposed of his interest in the firm and removed to New
York, where he opened an office for the purpose of dealing in mines and
mineral lands, and in the prosecution of this business he had ample oppor
tunities of becoming acquainted with the mineral resources of various portions
of the county which he improved and acquired a practical knowledge of metal
lurgy. While thus engaged he became acquainted with W. W. Chipman,
who had discovered a method of manufacturing iron and steel from the ore by
the direct action of flame, and at a cost which is less than half of the ordinary
methods of production. Experiments conducted by Dr. Charles J. Ernes,
Ph. D. , have demonstrated its entire practicability and give promise of a
new era in American manufacture. The companies which are at present
engaged in the enterprise are the Graphite Steel and Iron Company and the
Carbon Iron Company, in both of which Mr. Brandreth has extensive invest
ments; and he is also largely interested in mineral lands in North Carolina,
containing mines of iron, copper and mica, which are as yet undeveloped.
As a citizen there are few who have taken a more active part in local
improvements. The introduction of steam fire-engines and reservoirs in the
village of Sing Sing was largely owing to his efforts, and it is generally

894 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
admitted that in the business of insurance his knowledge of all the details is
unsurpassed, and his reputation as a thoroughgoing man of business and a
public-spirited citizen is fully sustained. Active and energetic in his nature,
he sometimes allows his enthusiasm to get the better of his judgment, but
no advice that can affect the interests of others is ever given by him unless
based upon the most careful and dispassionate examination, and a knowledge
of this fact renders his opinion worthy of the respect which it seldom fails to
receive. In whatever business Mr. Brandreth has engaged, it has been his
constant practice to leave no means untried to gain a thorough knowledge of
all its details, and in this pursuit no amount of toil can turn him from his
purpose, and no labor, however arduous, can cause discouragement. He is
also a director and stockholder in the Porous Plaster Company of the village
of Sing Sing, which company is the successor of his father, manufacturing
Brandreth's Pills and Allcock's Porous Plasters. Mr. Brandreth takes great
pride in being the pill-maker of the family, his brothers paying more atten
tion to the manufacturing of porous plasters.
Mr. Brandreth is a prominent member of the Masonic order, with which
he has been connected for twenty-one years, and in addition to his member
ship in the lodge at Sing Sing he is also connected with the St. George's
Society of New York. In 1868 he married Sarah Louise, daughter of the
late George B. Flint. They are the parents of three children, — • Sarah
Bertha, Louise and Delia.

DANIEL D. MANGAM.

The honorable prominence of Daniel D. Mangam in the village of Sing
Sing justifies us in presenting to our readers the fragmentary points of his
career that we find available.
In i860 he purchased a residence on Highland avenue, Sing Sing, and
since that time he has been prominently connected with the public affairs of
the town. For several terms he was trustee and treasurer of the town and
chief engineer of the fire department, in which he took great interest. He
has also been long connected with the National Bank of Sing Sing, as
director, and is one of the trustees of the Savings Bank. His ancestor, Daniel
Mangam, who came to this country from Scotland, was a soldier in the war
of the Revolution, and present at the battle of White Plains. He left a fam
ily of seven children, — William, Isaac, John, Stephen, Daniel, Sarah, wife
of Robert Tompkins, and Elizabeth, wife of Pierre Decevier.
Of these children William, who married Elizabeth Leggett, died about
1865, at the age of eighty-three, leaving eight children: Mary, wife of A. B.
Royce; Eliza, wife of William Lewis; Esther, wife of William Colyer;

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 895
Nancy, wife of Lewis McCord; Rebecca, wife of Andrew L. Purdy; Gert
rude, wife of Levi Wilson; William L. , who died at the age of twenty-two;
and Daniel D., our subject.
The last named was born at Sing Sing, May i, 1828. In his early youth
he;was a student at Mount Pleasant Academy, but left home and school at
the age of fourteen and found a position as clerk in a grocery store. He
remained there for three years and then entered a dry-goods store, but two
years later he commenced business on his own account, by opening a store
at Sing Sing, Shortly afterward he sold out and removed to New York,
where he had an interest in the mills of William D. Mangam, son of his
uncle Stephen, who was the founder of one of the oldest produce and grain
commission houses now doing business in the city. William D. Mangam
died in 1866, and Mr. Mangam succeeded to the entire business, which he
has carried on at the old stand till the present time. The following state
ment from the Commercial world shows the extent of the business. It is
proper to state that since its publication Mr. Mangam has become the lessee
of half of pier No. 6, North river, and two floating elevators.
The city business of the house is transacted at 92 Broad street, New
York, but the mills and warehouses are located at the foot of Degraw street,
Brooklyn. Here there are spacious premises occupying a space about one
hundred and fifty by two hundred feet, the ground floor being used for mill
ing purposes and offices, the floor above containing bins, many of them forty
feet high. From twenty-five to thirty hands are constantly employed in
operating the steam elevator — which hoists all the grain and corn from ves
sels in the river — and the four ' run ' of mills, the latter have a capacity of
about fifty bags an hour, and grind on an average some six hundred bags
per day. As a dealer Mr. Mangam handles vast quantities of corn, oats, feed and
hay for the home market; in the export market he deals chiefly in white and
yellow corn, making a specialty of fine hay, grown for the most part in New
York state. This export trade is mainly with the West Indies, the southern
states and South America.
Mr. Mangam, like his father before him, is an active member of the
Baptist church and has labored without ceasing for its advancement and wel
fare. He united with this church as a member at the early age of fourteen,
and for fifty years has been connected with the Sunday-school and has been
the superintendent for the last thirty-eight years. At the time of the build
ing of the present church edifice Mr. Mangam had the plans prepared and
was one of the building committee, and it is largely owing to the efforts of
himself and a few others that the society is established on a firm foundation.
Mr. Mangam married Deborah, daughter of Thomas Horton, of Mount

896 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Pleasant. Their children are Ella E., wife of Louis W. Williams; William
L. , who is now engaged in business with his father; Susan J.; Daniel D., a
graduate of Yale College; and Deborah L. , who is now a student at the
Packard Institute. ST. MARY'S CATHOLIC CHURCH.
The first record of any Roman Catholic church in Yonkers is about
1836-9, at which time the Rev. James Cummisky began his ministration
among the workmen who were engaged in the construction of the Croton
aqueduct from Sing Sing to New York. Many of the laborers on the bridge
over the Sawmill river, now the Nepperhan river, occupied the adjacent
uplands, which belonged to Anthony Archer, Sr. A building in the neigh
borhood of Summit street became the first Catholic chapel in Yonkers.
Here the Father heard confessions and said mass for the people.
In 1848 Father Ryan received a deed for a church site from Judge
Woodworth, the present site of St. Mary's church, and this church was
built; through the request of Father Ryan the church was dedicated as the
Church of Immaculate Conception or St. Mary's, and it is yet known by
either name. The building committee was Judge Woodworth, Thomas C.
Cornell and Hugh Donoghue. It suffered greatly for lack of funds, most of
which was contributed in small amounts and from those of other religious-
sects. At the end of 1849 the church had cost, exclusive of land, four thou
sand five hundred dollars.
Father Ryan organized a Sunday-school, taught the children himself,
and devoted the afternoons to teaching musical notation. In 1850 he
became president of St. Francis Xavier's College in Fifteenth street, New
York city, and he was thus unable to continue his mission at Yonkers. The
work was, however, continued to a degree by Father Bienvenne, who came
up from Fordham weekly, on Saturday evening and Sunday. He attended.
the mission Sundays and holy days in 1849-50, and he was succeeded by
Father L. Jouin, S. J., 1850-51. In 1851 the church feeling able to sup
port a pastor, Rev. Thomas S. Preston, now the Right Reverend Mon-
signor Preston, holding the dignity of prelate of the papal household,
arrived in Yonkers and took charge of the new parish.
After Father Ryan became president of the College of St. Francis
Xavier, his mission at Yonkers had been continued with some intermissions
by his successors. Father Jouin brought in lay teachers to assist him, and
numbered one hundred pupils at the coming of Father Preston in 1857, who,
preferring to teach the children himself, excluding lay teachers, taught the
children on Sunday afternoon. The Yonkers mission at this time included
Hastings, Dobbs Ferry and Tarrytown. Father Preston at first boarded,.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 897
there being no parochial residence; but in 1853 a small residence was built,
but scarcely completed when Father Preston was recalled to become the sec
retary of Archbishop Hughes. He was subsequently made chancellor of the
diocese and has now long been vicar-general and one of the archbishop's
council. Rev. Father McMahon succeeded Father Preston and continued in
charge from October, 1853, to May, 1854, and was succeeded by Rev.
Eugene Maguire, who remained in charge from May, 1854, to February,
1856. Rev. Edward Lynch succeeded him February 22, 1856, and continued
until 1865, his assistants being Rev. S. A. Mullady, S. J., 1859-1861; Rev.
Father Biretta, O. S. F., 1861-1862; Rev. Patrick Brady, from January,
1863, to May following; Rev. T. Byrnes, from June, 1864, to October fol
lowing; and Rev. William H. H. Owen in 1864-65.
The coming of the Sisters of Charity to Yonkers is an important event
in the history of St. Mary's church.
The present site was purchased from Edwin Forrest, at a cost of one
hundred thousand dollars, the purchase being negotiated through Mother M.
Angela, a sister of Archbishop Hughes, who was the Mother Superior of the
mother house of the Sisters near Fifth avenue and One Hundred and Seventh
street, New York city. The title is in the name of the Sisters of Charity, a
corporation organized under the laws of the state of New York. The con
vent was begun in 1857, the corner-stone being laid that year by Archbishop
Hughes. In 1859 Father Lynch began the erection of a school-house, fifty by
fifty-five feet, which was completed in 1859, at a cost of ten thousand dollars.
Sisters Chrysostom and Winifred remained in charge of the school until the
death of former in 1865; and she was succeeded by Sister Ambrosia, who sub
sequently was put in charge of the Girls' Protectory at Westchester, and
who is now Mother Superior of the Sisters of Charity in the diocese.
The Brothers' School opened in 1871, under Brother Clementine, now
vice-president of Manhattan College.
After the building of the school-house the enlargement of the church
was begun, and transepts, chancel and vestry were added; enlarged from
two aisles and eighty-four pews in the old church to three aisles and one
hundred and sixty-two pews on the floor and thirty-four in the gallery, thus
giving it a capacity for seating one thousand persons. The church was com
pleted in 1863, at a cost of thirteen thousand dollars.
Father Lynch died in 1865, in the tenth year of his pastorate here.
His successor was Rev. Charles T. Slevin, in 1865. In 1866 he had erected
a white marble altar and tabernacle in. the place of the wooden altar, and
he made several other material improvements. The parish school was con
tinued by Father Slevin. Sister Ann Cecilia and Sister M. Maurice con
ducted the girls' school, which numbered one hundred and fifty-five children,
57

WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
and the Brothers, one hundred and fifty boys, in 1865. The boys' school
was discontinued in 1876 and was opened again by Charles R. Corley, suc
cessor of Father Slevin. Father Slevin's assistants were Albert A. Lings,
1867-71; Rev. Bernard Goodwin, 1871-2; Rev. J. Byron, 1872-4; Rev.
Eugene McKenna, 1874-5; James W. Hays, 1875, short time; and Rev.
Father Andrew O'Reilly, 1874 to present time, 1899.
Father Slevin died July 18, 1878, at North Easton, Massachusetts, and
Rev. Charles Raymond Corley succeeded him in June, 1877. During his
pastorate there were two important events, — the founding of St. Aloysius'
Academy at Yonkers in 1868 and the setting off of the new parish of St.
Joseph in 1871. The Academy of St. Aloysius was established in 1868 with
Sister Ann Cecilia as first Sister Superior. The academy is situated on lower
Broadway, on what was formerly the residence property of Judge Aaron
Vark. The site, comprising four and one-half acres, was purchased at a
cost of forty-two thousand dollars, and occupies an elevated position in the
neighborhood, and many additions have been made, rendering the property
valuable. The institution has been successful, being always filled with
pupils. Its chief importance and influence has been in bringing to Yonkers
a community of the Sisters of Charity. It has been made the home of the
Sisters teaching in the parish schools.
Rev. Charles R. Corley has been pastor since 1877. He was born on
St. Raymond's day, 1848, received his classical education at St. Xavier's
College, New York city, entered the Provincial Theological Seminary, was
ordained by Bishop McQuaid in 1871, and in June of that year was sent to
St. Mary's, Rondout, New York, where he was assistant for two years. In
July, 1873, he was sent to St. Peter's, New York, as one of the assistants of
Father Farrell, now bishop of Trenton, New Jersey, where he remained
until the archbishop sent him to Yonkers, in June, 1877. Father Corley's
assistants have been: Rev. Edward Sweeny, 1877; Rev. Michael Mont
gomery, 1880-81; and since 1884 James F. McLaughlin has also been an
assistant. Rev. Andrew O'Reilly, D. D., who was assistant when Father
Corley came to the church, has done a great deal of the pastoral work in
recent years. The parish school was one of Father Corley's first cares, and
he re-opened the boys' department under the Christian Brothers. Rev.
Brother Elwaren was made principal in 1877. The sodalities of the parish
school are as follows: St. Aloysius Society of Boys, Holy Angels of Girls,
and Society of the Holy Infant. The total number of children enrolled in
all these at the present time is 1,112. The parish school building has been
enlarged from time to time during Father Corley's rectorship, until at present
it is three stories in height, one hundred and twenty-three feet front by fifty-
three feet in depth.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
St. Mary's church has several societies, — the Sodality of the Sacred
Heart, the Confraternity of the Living Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
the Children of St. Mary, a ladies' temperance society and a young men's
temperance society.
St. Mary's parish is one of the fourteen in the archdiocese of New York
that has been honored by making its rector immovable. The immovable
rectors have a voice in selecting the bishop of the diocese when there is a
vacancy. Rev. Father Corley has continued to be rector since 1877, win
ning the respect of all with whom he comes in contact by his scholarly attain
ments and gentle bearing. During his rectorship a handsome new church
edifice has been erected, at a cost of one hundred and seventy-five thousand
dollars, located at the corner of South Broadway and St. Mary's street. The
structure is one of stone, with a seating capacity of one thousand and four
hundred; there is a chapel wing to the church with a seating capacity of two
hundred. The style of architecture is known as rounded arched Gothic.
The building is one of the finest and most costly Catholic houses of worship
in the diocese. The corner-stone was laid May 4, 1890, and Right Rev.
Monsignor Preston officiated at the ceremony.
The number of persons confirmed during Father Corley's pastorate to
date is about one thousand and eight hundred.
St. Joseph's Hospital was erected in 1889 on the site formerly occupied
by St. Aloysius' Academy, and opened March 19, 1890. It is under the
management of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, and it is
attended by the priests of the church.

CAPTAIN JAMES M. REQUA.
More than two centuries ago a gentleman of a distinguished French
Huguenot family, Glode Requa by name, crossed the Atlantic ocean in one
of the slow-sailing vessels of that day and found a home in America, the land
of promise. He proceeded to the locality of Tarrytown, where the great
natural beauty of the place attracted him, and he decided to settle per
manently here. He was succeeded by a son, who had been christened in his
honor, Glode, and he, in turn, left the old home place to his son, Samuel
Requa, who was the grandfather of the subject of this narrative. Samuel
Requa chose for his wife a Miss Van Wart, of an old and honored Holland
family. The parents of Captain James M. Requa were Isaac and Bridget (Dunn)
Requa, the former born in 1794 on the old Tarrytown farm, and the latter
born in 1806. The father died here in October, 1870, and the mother
departed this life in 1896. They were the parents of seven children, six of

900 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
whom grew to mature years, namely: Maria, Isaac, Ann, James M., Juliar
who married David Kent, and Grace, wife of Frank D. Millard, of Tarry
town. The birth of Captain J. M. Requa occurred in Tarrytown September 24,
1 86 1. He received his early education in the public schools and later it was
his privilege to attend Irving Institute for some time. Upon leaving the
school-room he entered the law office of W. H. Ely, and for several months
was employed there in the capacity of a clerk. He then embarked upon his
mercantile career, and in partnership with his brother, Isaac Requa, opened
a grocery, the style of the firm being I. & J. M. Requa. This business enter
prise, founded in June, 1881, is yet in existence, and a large and flourishing
trade is carried on by the brothers. In 1891 James M. Requa purchased a
half interest in the steamboat named Armitage, the other half being owned
by Captain James Duell. The boat is used for both passengers and freight
and makes three trips weekly between Tarrytown and New York city. In
his various business undertakings Captain Requa has met with gratifying
success, as he justly deserves, for his financial methods are above reproach,
and his well directed energy, sound judgment and intelligent supervision of
his affairs insure the best results.
A man of great public spirit, active in the Republican party, he has
officiated in several minor positions in this locality. In June, 1891, he
was appointed postmaster of Tarrytown, and continued to discharge the
responsible duties of this office until the change of administration, when
he tendered his resignation. March 29, 1899, he was again appointed to
the position, by President McKinley. Socially, he stands high in the
regard of all who know him, and he is considered one of the leading
spirits in the Young Men's Lyceum, the Tarrytown Gun Club and in the Con
queror Hook & Ladder Company, in all of which organizations he has been
an active member for some years.
Captain Requa's marriage to Miss Myra R. Lee, of Pottsdam, St. Law
rence county, New York, was celebrated May 10, 1887. Mrs. Requa is a
daughter of Henry and Harriet G. (Bloss) Lee, and by her marriage has
become the mother of four interesting children, namely: Harriet Ruth, born
September 27, 1890; James M., Jr., April 18, 1895; Helen, April 24, 1896;
and Frances, January 15, 1899.

CHARLES ELDREDGE.

Mr. Eldredge, the prominent and efficient supervisor of the town of Rye,
Westchester county, has been an important factor in the business circles of
the community, and for many years has served as secretary of the Port Ches-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 901
ter Bolt & Nut Works, of Port Chester, New York, having held the position
since the organization of the company. It is one of the largest manufactories
of the kind in the country, and its products are sold not only in the United
States but in England and other foreign countries.
Mr. Eldredge was born July 15, 1855, in Binghamton, New York, and is
a son of Charles Eldredge, who was for several years one of the most promi
nent attorneys of this section of the state. The grandfather, Christopher
Eldredge, was born in Stonington, Connecticut, of English extraction, and
was one of the founders of Binghamton. The father was a native of that
place, where he was reared and continued to make his home until about 1865,
when he came to Westchester county and purchased a residence at Orienta,
in the town of Rye. He was a graduate of Geneva College, being a class
mate of James G. Blaine and Secretary Folger. While a resident of Bing
hamton he successfully engaged in the practice of law and in 1858 went to
California to take charge of a case for his brother, and was there employed
as counsel on many silver cases iu the supreme court. He was a Republican
in politics but took no active part in partisan work, and was a faithful mem
ber of the Episcopal church. He married Miss Jeanette Waterman, a daugh
ter of William and Pamela (Whitney) Waterman, of Binghamton, the latter
a daughter of General Whitney. Mrs. Eldredge, who also was an active
member of the Episcopal church, died in 1892, at the age of seventy-four
years, and her husband passed away in 1866, at the age of sixty. In their
family were five children, namely: Olive P., wife of John Haviland, of Rye,
New York; Jennie, wife of Baron Von Fresckow, of Berlin, Germany; Thomas
W., a business man of New York; Jeanette, wife of Joshua Friro, an attorney
of New York city; and Charles, the subject of this sketch.
Charles Eldredge remained at home until fourteen years of age, when
he entered the St. Paul's Boarding School at Concord, New Hampshire,
where he pursued his studies for three years. He next attended Columbia
•College, where he was graduated with honors in the class of 1879, and later
he took a two-years course at the College of Physicians & Surgeons in New
York, but did not enter the medical fraternity. Since that time he has been
identified with the business at Port Chester, with which he is still connected,
and as a business man he has displayed marked ability, being sagacious, far-
sighted and progressive.
Mr. Eldredge married Miss Ida E. Sanford, of New York, and they now
have four children: Charles, Sanford, Ida and Margaret. The family have a
most beautiful and pleasant home at Rye, two miles from Port Chester, and
their hospitality reigns supreme, their many friends always feeling sure of a
hearty welcome. Both Mr. and Mrs. Eldredge are active members of the
Episcopal church.

902 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
As a Republican, Mr. Eldredge has always taken a prominent and influ
ential part in local politics, and for some time he served as one of the trust
ees of the Rye public schools, resigning that position on his election to the
office of supervisor. He never sought the nomination and reluctantly con
sented to run, accepting the responsibility as a duty a citizen owes to his
fellow taxpayers, and not because he believed the office would be of benefit to
him. His popularity and the confidence and trust reposed in him was mani
fest by his election in a township which usually was strongly Democratic.
For six years he was one of Columbia College's champion oarsman.

EMMETT S. CROWE.

Mr. E. S. Crowe, the station agent at Harrison, and justice of the peace
of Harrison township, is one of the well-known and popular magistrates of
Westchester county, who has the reputation of dispensing justice in a manner
worthy of a judge of the higher courts. He carefully weighs the evidence of
each case, and is never hasty in his conclusions. Although a strong Democrat
in politics, his name appeared on both the Democratic and Republican tickets,
and he was elected in March, 1894, for a five-years term. His father, the
late Esquire Charles C. Crowe, who died in 1895, was a justice and migistrate
for nearly thirty years, and was known far and near as an officer who dealt
out justice according to the dictates of his judgment without fear of conse
quences. Mr. Crowe is a native of Columbia county, New York, born February
22, 1863, when all the nation was celebrating the birth of the father of our
country. His paternal great-grandfather was an officer in the Revolutionary
war, and made an honorable record as a soldier. The family is an old and
prominent one in this country. Our subject's father was for many years act
ively identified with the interests of that county, was a leader in the local
Democratic organization, and besides serving as justice of the peace he filled
the office of township clerk for a time. For years he was a deacon in the
Baptist church. He married Miss Maria Williams, a native of Columbia
county, who is still living, at the age of seventy-one. Her mother, who bore
the maiden name of Loomis, lived to the age of ninety-three years, and
belonged to a family noted for longevity. She was the youngest of five chil
dren, living on the Livingston grant or manor farms, some of whom lived to
be over one hundred years old. Four children were born to Charles C. and
Maria Crowe: Charles, now a dry-goods merchant of Troy, New York;
Linda, wife of Dr. William Hogeboom, of Troy; Laura, wife of Allen Conk-
lin, of Hillsdale, New York; and Emmett S.
The subject of this review received a good practical education at Hills-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 903
dale, New York, and in 1882 became connected with the railroad. The fol
lowing year he came to Harrison, where he has since acceptably served as
local agent. On the 22d of July, 1887, he was united in marriage with Miss
Ida R. Roser, of Harrison, a daughter of John E. Roser, a well-known mer
chant of that place. They now have two interesting children: Mabel R. and
Charles E. Mr. and Mrs. Crowe are both members of Hope Chapel Associa
tion, and she is serving as organist and teacher in the Sabbath school.
Socially, Mr. Crowe affiliates with Apawarmiz Lodge, No. 800, F. & A. M.,
of Rye Neck, of which he is the secretary and was one of the promoters; and
he is a trustee of the Harrison Fire Company, of which he was one of the
organizers and promoters. He is a very popular and influential citizen and
has made a host of warm friends since coming to Harrison.

SILAS J. OWENS.

For a number of years the gentleman whose name heads this sketch has
been numbered among the leading members of the legal profession in Peeks-
kill, New York. He is one of the native sons of the Empire state, his birth
having taken place in Putnam county December 2, 1831. He is of Welsh
descent, as his paternal grandfather, Jonathan Owens, was one of three
brothers who passed their early years in Wales, the land of their birth, and
together came to seek new homes and fortunes in America toward the latter
part of the eighteenth century. The brothers were named respectively Jesse
and Solomon. They settled in Saybrook, on Phillip's Patent, in 1783, buy
ing farms, which they proceeded to develop and cultivate, with the energy
and application common to those of their country.
Family tradition states that the first ancestor of the family who came
from Wales was Jonathan Owens, who settled at Saybrook, Connecticut,
about 1650. His grandsons were Solomon, Jonathan (who was the great
grandfather of our subject) and Jesse. Jonathan Owens, the great-grand
father of our subject, settled in Putnam county, New York, on part of the
land of the old Phillip's Patent land grant, known as the Robinson's long
lot. This patriarch of the Owens family of New York had sons, among
whom was Jonathan, who served in the continental army during the Revo
lution; Levi was the grandfather of Silas J., and Solomon, Samuel and Israel
were the other sons. Levi Owens, the grandfather of our subject, married
Sarah Sherwood, succeeded to part of his father's estate in Putnam county,
New York, and died at the age of forty-five years, leaving sons and daugh
ters as follows: Jesse, Levi (the father of Silas J.), Jasper, Phcebe (Mrs.
Jasper Horton: Mr. Horton died and his widow married Silas Whitney),
Nancy (who died in early womanhood), Jane (Mrs. William Terry), Maria

904 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
(Mrs. Sands Reynolds), Dorothea (Mrs. William H. Ferguson), Sarah (Mrs.
James Sherwood: her second union was to John B. Cole), and Rachael, who
remained unmarried.
Levi Owens, the father of our subject, was an agriculturist, as were his
ancestors. He was born and reared to manhood in Putnam county, and there
married Miss Nancy Whitney, a daughter of Silas Whitney, a prominent cit
izen of that section of the state. Seven children blessed their union, namely:
Thomas W. , Washington, Nancy M., Fayetta, Phoebe A., Silas J. and
Sarah A.
Silas J. Owens passed his boyhood days in Putnam county and received
a liberal education. He attended the state normal after completing his pub
lic-school course and soon entered upon the study of law. He was admitted
to the bar in 1863, at the old brown-stone court-house, and not long after
ward opened an office in Cold Spring, Putnam county. Subsequently he
was located in the practice of law in New York city for a period, and in 1881
he went to Leadville, Colorado, where he resided for a year and a half. For
a number of years past he has conducted a legal business in this city and has
won the admiration of his brethren in the profession, as well as the respect
and high regard of his fellow citizens in general. He is independent in the
matter of politics, using his franchise for the men and measures he deems
best regardless of party lines.
In 1873 Mr. Owens married Miss Martha Ann Warren, daughter of John
Warren, a son of Peter Warren, who was the first sheriff of Putnam county,
New York, and held the office for three terms, dying whilst in office. His
wife, the mother of Mrs. Owens, was a Miss Matilda Ann Ireland in her girl
hood, a native of Putnam county, and of an old and respected New York fam
ily. Mr. and Mrs. Warren were the parents of twelve children, viz. : Cath
erine, Mary, Permelia, Martha, Susan, Sarah, Esther, Alexander, Edward,
William, Nelson and Purdy. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Owens is
Washington, who was born April 21, 1875. This young man, who has a
most promising future, was one of the brave boys who offered their services
in the late war with Spain, he being a member of Company I, Twenty-second
Regiment of New York Volunteer Infantry.

JAMES B. COLGATE.

James Boorman Colgate, so well known throughout Westchester county
and the country at large for his deep interests in all philanthropic movements,
was born in the city of New York, March 4, 181 8. The family is of English
stock, appearing in the county of Kent as early as the beginning of the fif
teenth century. The first of the name in this country was Robert Colgate,

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 905
who had been prominent among the freedom-loving yeomanry of Kent, in the
days of the American Revolution, as an outspoken advocate of the cause of
the colonies. Subsequently sympathizing with some of the principles of the
French Revolution, and joining in the demand for reform in England, he was
in danger of arrest; but, through the friendly suggestion of Pitt, who had been
a companion of his boyhood, he decided to remove from England, and, early
in 1795, left his home with his wife and children for the United States, his
departure being marked by many tokens of regard from the people of Kent.
He resided for some time in Maryland, but spent his last years in Delaware
county, New York.
William Colgate, the eldest of his sons, entered into business in the city
of New York in 1806, and built up the well-known house of Colgate & Com
pany, in Dutch and John streets, of which he was the head till his death in
1857, having maintained for half century a high reputation for sagacity,
sterling commercial integrity and Christian character. His surviving sons
are Samuel, at the head of the old house; Robert, of the Atlantic White
Lead Company, and James B., the subject of this sketch.
James B. Colgate received his early education partly in Connecticut and
partly in New York city. At the age of sixteen he was prepared for college,
but his mind turned to business, and he spent the next seven years in acquir
ing a thorough knowledge of mercantile life. The last four years of his clerk
ship were passed in the well known commission house of Boorman, Johnson
& Company. Failing in health, he spent the larger portion of the year 1841 in
Europe. On his return he accepted an opening in the wholesale dry-goods
business. In 1852 he entered Wall Street as a dealer in stocks, associating
himself with John B. Trevor, under the firm name of Trevor & Colgate. In
1857 they added a billion department, and established themselves at No. 47
Wall street. This has always been the leading billion house of this country.
To this branch of the business Mr. Colgate has especially directed his atten
tion. He was among the first to organize, during the civil war, the New
York Gold Exchange, of which he was for many years president. His papers
advocating the remonetization of silver, and expressing views in which he at
one time stood almost alone, have been extensively read, and evince his well-
known strength and independence of judgment.
Mr. Colgate's leading interest, apart from his business, has been given
to education and general Christian benevolence. At the age of twenty-one,
moved by convictions which had influenced his whole life, he became a pro
fessing Christian and identified himself with the Baptist denomination. Be
ginning in his early business career, while receiving but a moderate salary,
he has made it a life principle to give a percentage of his income for the pro
motion of Christianity in all departments of its work. This self-resolved

906 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
pledge has been more than kept. He has been fortunate in his association
with a partner who has sympathized with him in his purposes, and has emu
lated his gifts. Mr. Colgate and Mr. Trevor united in building the Baptist
church in Yonkers, New York, at a cost of one hundred and ninety thousand
dollars, in giving fifty thousand dollars to the Baptist Church Extension
Fund, and in fostering many other enterprises, both benevolent and edu
cational. Mr. Colgate's devotion to the cause of Christian education was, in part,
the result of his early home training, and has thus been shared by his brother
Samuel and others of the family. William Colgate, the father, was one of
the leading corporators of Madison University. The Colgate Academy build
ing was erected in 1873, at the sole expense of James B. Colgate. He gave
also forty-two thousand dollars toward endowing the principalship. Mr.
Colgate's interest in Madison University has been more than an inheritance
or a sentiment, however profound. It has rooted itself in his intellectual
and moral convictions. He fully appreciates the worth of higher Christian
education to his denomination, and so to the world.
He became a member of the board of trustees of Madison University in
1 861, and in 1864 was elected president of the board, which position he still
holds. Since January, 1865, he has, at various times, contributed to the
invested funds of the University no less than two hundred and forty-seven
thousand dollars, besides expending an additional sum of sixty thousand
dollars for the building and grounds of Colgate Academy. These repeated
and munificent gifts have not been due to any pressure of solicitation, but
have been spontaneous offerings. He has led all others in his desire for the
prosperity of the university. His donations, having been prompted by prin
ciple, have been altogether free from ostentation. Neither has his interest
in the university been alloyed with any of those personal elements that fre
quently enter into large benefactions. He has never subordinated the welfare
of the university to any of those private ends, fancies or friendships. Mr.
Colgate's beneficence has not been confined to one institution. He has been
alive to the claims of others. He has given, for his wife (daughter of the
late Governor Colby, of New Hampshire), about ninety thousand dollars to
the Colby Academy, at New London, New Hampshire; also twenty thousand
dollars to the Rochester University; ten thousand dollars to the Peddie Insti
tution, at Hightstown, New Jersey; besides liberal sums to Columbian Col
lege, Washington, D. C. ; to Rochester Theological Seminary; to the Cook
Academy, at Havana, New York; and to other institutions, both at the
north and south. To these donations may be added his gifts to needy
churches and to various missionary and benevolent societies.
Mr. Colgate is a man of strong physique, with a countenance that be-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 907
trays intelligence, frankness and force. He has indomitable energy, breadth
and acuteness of intellectual perception and deep religious convictions. Asso
ciated with these is a love of truthfulness so intense as to produce a thorough
intolerance of all shams and false pretensions. His character is also equally
marked by the openness and geniality of his nature and his great kindness of
heart. He deservedly holds a high place among the princely givers of our
times, and it is to be hoped that many other men of large wealth may emu
late his example. ROBERT COLGATE.
The family which Mr. Colgate represented has been traced back to a very
remote ancestry in England. They appear to have been settled in the county of
Kent at an early date. The immediate ancestor of the branch of the family
that settled in America was Robert Colgate; a native of the village of Seven
Oaks, in Kent, a man of note and influence and a prominent agriculturist of
his native county. In political affairs he was a most determined Radical, and
so plainly outspoken in his opinions as to render him obnoxious to the gov
ernment. His known sympathy with the Radicals and the assistance he
rendered to some who were confined in the Tower of London caused an order
for his arrest and imprisonment to be issued. In his younger days he had
been a schoolmate [of William Pitt, and that statesman, moved by remem
brance of early friendship, sent him a timely warning, with the intimation
that if he should leave for America within a limited time an opportunity
would be given. Acting upon this suggestion, he hired a vessel, and with
his family sailed for the New World and landed at Baltimore in 1795. Under
the protection of a free government, the fiery Radical soon became the peace
ful citizen, and, purchasing a farm near Baltimore, he made agriculture the
business of his life. Upon this farm he remained several years, then removed
to the state of New York and took charge of the farm of Peter J. Monroe,
Esq., of Westchester county. Some years later his son William, having
been successful in business, purchased a farm in Andes, Delaware county,
New York, and placed his father upon it. Here he lived a life of quiet use
fulness till 1826, when, walking to church one Sabbath morning, he suddenly
dropped dead, having reached the age of sixty-four.
Mr. Colgate was married, in England, to Miss Sarah Bowles, and their
children were William, Bowles, John, George, Charles, Charlotte (wife of
Dr. William B. Selden, of Norfolk, Virginia), Esther (wife of Jacob Klein, of
New Orleans), and Lydia and Maria (both of whom died unmarried).
William Colgate, the oldest son, was born in Kent, England, in 1783,
and came to this country with his father. At the age of twelve he was
apprenticed to John Slidell, who at that time was doing business at Bowling

908 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Green, in the city of New York. In after years Mr. Slidell failed in business,
and, through the influence of Mr. Colgate, he obtained the position of presi
dent of the Mechanics' Bank, and was subsequently president of the Traders'
Insurance Company. He died very suddenly of cholera, in 1832. His son,
John Slidell, lived in Virginia and gained at a later day a very undesirable
notoriety as the ambassador of the Confederate States to France. After
remaining a while in the employ of Mr. Slidell, Mr. Colgate commenced
business for himself in 1806 as a manufacturer of soap and candles, in part
nership with Francis Smith. Their place of business was No. 6 Dutch street,
New York. During the war of 181 2 the firm carried on an extensive and
prosperous trade, and he found himself on the road to fortune. Mr. Smith
having retired from the firm, Mr. Colgate conducted the business, which is
still continued at the old place, under the firm name of Colgate & Company.
After a life of successful business enterprise, Mr. Colgate died, in 1857, and
was laid to his last repose in Greenwood cemetery. He left to his descend
ants not only the wealth which was the result of his commercial ability and
energy, but also the still richer legacy of an unblemished reputation; and all
who knew him were willing to unite in the testimony that he was a man of
upright life and free from guile. Like his father before him, he was a devoted
member of the Baptist church and deeply interested in all that could increase
its welfare and advance its usefulness. He married Mary, daughter of
Edward Gilbert and their children were Robert, Gilbert, Sarah (who died
unmarried), James B. (of the well known banking company of James B. Col
gate & Company), Joseph (who died in Berlin, Prussia, in 1864), Samuel (of
Orange, New Jersey), William (who died unmarried in 1838) and Mary (wife
of Robert Colby).
Robert Colgate, the oldest of his family and the subject of this sketch,
was born in the city of New York, January 29, 18 12. In his early youth he
attended school at Rhinebeck, during two years, and then went to Hamilton,
Madison county, New York, where he attended an academy under the care
of Zenas Morse, who held a high reputation as an instructor. Upon his
return to New York he attended the high school under the care of Daniel H.
Barnes, a well known teacher. His introduction to business was as clerk in
the employ of Samuel Hicks & Son. One of the most important episodes of
this period of his life was his experience during the cholera of 1832, when
he was the only one of the employees who remained at his post during that
fatal time. Upon one occasion he, in company with a carman in the employ
of the firm, left the building at the same time. Within four hours his com
panion was dead and buried; Mr. Colgate himself was seized with the disease,
but fortunately survived the attack.
In 1833 he went into business on his own account, in company with his

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 909
uncle Charles and George P. Pollen, under the firm name of Colgate, Pollen
& Colgate, manufacturers and dealers in dye-stuffs and paints, their place of
business being at 177 Water street. In 1845 he built the Atlantic White
Lead Works in Brooklyn, having previously purchased the store property at
287 Pearl street, New York, which at that time was surrounded by the private
residences of many wealthy and prominent citizens. To the works in Brook
lyn he added the manufacture of linseed oil, and the firm, which is now known
by the name of Robert Colgate & Company, are among the most extensive
dealers in paint and oil in the country, and bear a high reputation in the com
mercial world. They have stood unshaken through all the financial reverses
which have visited the city, and never failed to meet all obligations with
promptness. It has always been the policy of the firm to secure the services
of trustworthy and faithful employes and to retain them as long as they are
willing to remain. As an illustration, it may be mentioned that the book
keeper, James B. Carr, has been in the employ of the firm for fifty years, and
the cashier for thirty years. By a failure of health, Mr. Colgate was com
pelled at length to retire from active labor and finally died.
He purchased an estate in Westchester county, at Riverdale, which he
greatly improved, and under his care Stonehurst was made one of the finest
residences on the Hudson. Its elevated position commands one of the most
extended views on the river, while the resources of wealth and refined taste
have been joined to make it a thing of beauty.
Mr. Colgate married Cornelia F., daughter of Abner Weyman. They
were the parents of two children, — Abner W. and Georgiana. Mrs. Colgate
died in 1842, and Mr. Colgate subsequently married Mary E., daughter of
Romulus Riggs, of Philadelphia.

WILLIAM H. MURRAY.

William H. Murray, the present efficient trustee of the village of New
Rochelle, New York, and a well known dairyman, was born in the town of
Mamaroneck, Westchester county, February 14, 1864, and is a son of
William and Margaret (Coffee) Murray. The father was a native of Ireland,
born in Kings county, where he grew to manhood and was married, and on
his emigration with his family to the New World he settled in the town of
Mamaroneck, Westchester county, New York, making his home there for a
number of years, while he followed his chosen occupation, that of farming.
Later he removed to New Rochelle, and there his death occurred, in 1873.
In much the usual manner of farmer lads, William H. Murray, of this
review, passed his boyhood and youth in Mamaroneck, acquiring an excellent
knowledge of agricultural pursuits, which has been of great benefit to him in.

¦910 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
later years. He was first sent to the public schools, but completed his liter
ary education in the high school at Mamaroneck. He continued to reside in
his native town until he attained the age of twenty-three years, and then was
employed at New Rochelle, Mamaroneck and other places in Westchester
county. For the past eight years he has successfully engaged in the dairy
business, keeping a number of cows on the Clifford farm, which is usually
known as the John Stephenson farm, the owner being Mr. Stephenson, the
noted street-car builder.
As an ardent Democrat, Mr. Murray takes quite an active and promi
nent part in local political affairs, and is a recognized leader of the party in
his town. In the spring of 1897 he was elected trustee of the village of New
Rochelle for a term of two years, and is now most capably and satisfactorily
filling that office.
JAMES STEWART, Jr.
In a history of the industrial and commercial interests which have led
to the present prosperity in Westchester county, the name of James Stewart,
Jr., cannot well be omitted, for he has been the promoter of some of the
leading enterprises of the county.
He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on the 19th of February, 1842,
and is a son of James and Euphemia (Douglas) Stewart. The Stewart family
originated in Scotland, and the grandfather, who also bore the name of
James, was a resident of Glasgow, where he took a prominent part in public
affairs and held a number of official positions. James Stewart, father of him
whose name heads this sketch, was a stationary engineer, and when a young
man came to the United States, locating in Boston, whence he subsequently
removed to Danbury, Connecticut, where his last days were passed. He
was a Whig and Republican in his political affiliations, was a Presbyterian in
his religious faith, and belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Both he and his wife have passed away. They were the parents of six chil
dren: Jennie Frances, James, Catherine Douglas, Margaret, Euphemia Smyth
and John Stewart.
James Stewart, of this review, now a resident of Yonkers, attended the
grammar schools of Boston until his seventeenth year, and then learned the
cutter's trade in a tailoring establishment. He subsequently followed that
business for several years and in the meantime removed to Danbury, Con
necticut. After the breaking out of the civil war he enlisted in June, 1861,
as a private of Company A, Fifth Connecticut Infantry, and served first under
General Banks. This regiment was an active fighting body of brave soldiers,
and a brief summary of its history must be incorporated here.
The Fifth Regiment of Connecticut Infantry was mustered into the

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 911
United States service at Hartford, Connecticut, left the state for the front in
July, 1861, and joined the command of General Banks at Sandy Hook, Mary
land. During the heat of the summer and the inclemency of the ensuing
winter it was actively employed in watching the various fords of the Potomac
for the distance of nearly a hundred miles, marching to and fro as the occa
sion required. In the spring of 1862 it crossed the Potomac into the Shenan
doah valley and advanced to Harrisburg, Virginia, and was with Banks on
that memorable retreat through the valley. On the last day it engaged
Stonewall Jackson at Winchester for three hours and was cut off from the
main column, but finally cut its way through the rebel lines and marched forty-
five miles in one day, reaching and crossing the Potomac the following
night. Reorganizing, it re-entered Virginia and participated in the disastrous
campaign under General Pope, who was operating under Major-General
McClellan. Recrossing the Potomac into Maryland, in pursuit of Lee's forces,
it received a number of recruits and was assigned to the Twelfth Army Corps
under General Slocum, and took part in the various campaigns of the Army
of the Potomac, until the fall of 1863, when the Eleventh and Twelth Army
Corps were transferred to the southwestern department and formed the
Twentieth Army Corps, under General Hooker.
In 1864 the regiment re-enlisted and joined the army of Sherman near
Chattanooga, and afterward took part in all the campaigns in Georgia and
the Carolinas, including the memorable march to the sea. Besides numerous
skirmishes, the regiment participated in the following engagements: Winches
ter, Virginia, March 23, 1862, and May 25 following: Cedar mountain, same
state, August 9, 1862; Chantilly, Virginia, September 1, 1862; Chancellors
ville, Virginia, May 1, 2 and 3, 1863; Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 1 to 3,
1863; Resaca,. Georgia, May 13 to 15, 1864; Cassville, Georgia, May 19,
following; Dallas, same state, May 25; Lost mountain, June 15; Kenesaw
mountain, June 17; Kulp's farm, Georgia, June 22; Peach Tree creek, July,
20; siege of Atlanta, August, 1864; Monteith station, December, following;
Savannah, Georgia, same month; Chesterfield Court House, South Carolina,
February, 1865; Averysboro, North Carolina, March 16, 1865; Bentonville.
same state, March 19; and a portion of the regiment also took part in the
severe fight at Nashville, Tennessee, under General Thomas.
The regiment finally took part in the great review at Washington, D. C,
as the culmination of the nation's joy at the victorious close of one of the
greatest and bloodiest wars in the history of the world.
At the time the regiment veteranized in 1864, and Mr. Stewart arrived
at his home in Danbury, Connecticut, the citizens subscribed for a fine
-sword and presented it to Mr. Stewart in token of their appreciation of his

912 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
character as a soldier. Upon his return to the front he took it with him and'
continued with renewed encouragement to do his full duty as a defender of"
the Union, and in such a manner that his fellow citizens could have no cause
for regret that they had made the gift. Mr. Stewart actually used the sword
and he still retains possession of it, and it shows the service in which it has
been employed.
During the engagement at Kulp's Farm, June 22, 1864, Mr. Stewart
was wounded in the hip by a musket ball, which he still carries. He was
sent to the hospital at Lookout mountain, where the surgeon insisted upon
amputation; but he refused to have the operation performed, and before his
wound had healed he made his way to Chattanooga to rejoin his regiment.
He traveled thither with the aid of a crutch and a cane, but on reaching his
destination he was not allowed to rejoin his command, and he fell back to
Nashville, taking part in the hard-fought engagement there. On the third
day of the battle he was again wounded in the same leg that had been
injured before, the ball striking him above the ankle. He fell from his horse,
but while his comrades were carrying him to the rear he prevailed upon them
to return to their position in the line of battle. After investigating the
nature of his wound he determined to remount and enter the engagement,
which he did, fighting until hostilities had ceased at that point.
At the battle of Chancellorsville he had been promoted to the rank of
second lieutenant; subsequently was made first lieutenant, and returned
home as captain of company A, the command with which he had gone to the
front. At the battle of Chancellorsville he had the shark-skin cut off the
handle of his sword by a bullet, but he escaped personal injury there. In
the same engagement he was taken prisoner, but managed to get away from
his captors, who were busy dodging Union bullets, and after several thrilling
escapes he made his way through our picket lines to his regiment. For
meritorious conduct at Gettysburg, he and two other officers and four enlisted
men were granted furloughs to go to their homes, and carried with them
their regimental colors, which Captain Stewart had the honor of presenting
to Governor Buckingham, of Connecticut, who received them with much
feeling. After a long and faithful service the Captain was mustered out at
Hartford, Connecticut, at the close of the war, and returned home with a
military record of which he may be justly proud.
Locating in Danbury, Connecticut, he became engaged as a machinist
in experimenting upon sewing-machines adapted for special lines of work.
He also worked at the hatter's trade for a time there, and in 1867 came to
Yonkers, where he was employed by the John T. Waring Hat Manufacturing
Company. He was later with the firm of Waring & Belknap, and then
spent twelve years in manufacturing hats on his own account as a partner in

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 913
the Yonkers Hat Manufacturing Company, located on Chicken island. He
was a trustee of that company and superintendent of one of its depart
ments. Business was carried on in Yonkers until 1894, when their plant
was largely destroyed by fire and they removed to Peekskill, where opera
tions were resumed under the style of the Peekskill Hat Manufacturing Com
pany, of which corporation Mr. Stewart has since been president, and is also
manager of the plant by virtue of being the heaviest stockholder. Employ
ment is furnished to about three hundred operatives, and all kinds of soft
hats, tourist and alpine hats are manufactured. They have a daily capacity
of four hundred dozen, and while the factory is not the largest in the coun
try, it is unsurpassed for its superior equipments of machinery, as well as for
the skill of its employes. The plant is equipped almost entirely with new
machinery, much of which is of Mr. Stewart's own patents. The ground!
covered by the factory comprises seven acres.
The Captain is a man of marked business ability, executive force and!
inventive genius, and he carries forward to successful completion whatever
be undertakes. He is president of the John Stewart Machine Company, of
New York city, manufacturers of all kinds of special sewing-machines. He
is also vice-president and a director in the Metallic Trace Company, and is
the author of many patented inventions. The United States government had
on exhibition at the World's Columbian Exposition the first sewing-machine
models for banding hats, exhibiting the inventions of Mr. Stewart, without
his solicitation, and at the Atlanta Exposition he had two original special
sewing-machine models for sewing the leather in hats, — a work which was
formerly done by hand. All of these were of his invention, and in connec
tion with George Peene, of Yonkers, he invented a brake for a hand truck.
He has many other important inventions used on sewing-machines, and his
labors have largely revolutionized methods of sewing.
Mr. Stewart was united in marriage to Miss Charity Mosher, a daughter
of Daniel Mosher, of Poughkeepsie, and they have two children, James D.
and George Thomas, both of whom are associated with their father in busi
ness. They maintain their home in Yonkers, where they have many warm
friends. In politics, Captain Stewart has always been a stalwart Repub
lican and formerly took an active part in political work, but has never sought
or desired public office. He is a member of Union Lodge, No. 40, F. & A.
M., of Danbury, Connecticut, was at one time active in promoting the Yonk
ers Debating Society for young people, and at all times has been deeply
interested in every movement or measure calculated to advance the general
welfare, prosperity and happiness of the city. For a number of years he was
a member of the board of managers of the St. John's Riverside Hospital, of
Yonkers. He was a charter member of Retching Post, No. 60, G. A. R., o£
58

"914 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Yonkers, also a charter member of John C. Fremont Post, No. 590, and thus
maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades. At the dedication
of the soldiers' monument in Yonkers, September 17, 1891, John C. Fremont
Post, No. 590, G. A. R. , entertained several of the visiting Grand Army
posts. After the ceremonies, when the comrades sat down for lunch,
instead of the usual fare of hard-tack, sandwiches and coffee, they were
agreeably surprised to find a regular course dinner furnished by a celebrated
New York caterer. It is needless to add that they were surprised and appre
ciated the change. Mr. Stewart, our subject, was the chairman of the enter
tainment committee.
Mr. Stewart has delivered a series of lectures on General Banks' cam
paign in the Shenandoah valley, and his vivid and well-worded descriptions
of the movements of the army proved of especial interest to his auditors.
For thirty-two years he has participated in the business life of Westchester
county, and during that entire time has so conducted all affairs entrusted to
ihim as to merit the confidence and esteem of the entire community, and no
•word of censure has ever been uttered against his actions.

PETER SHERIDAN.

A literal "builder" of the beautiful city of Mount Vernon, and one of its
reliable and efficient business factors, is the gentleman whose name heads this
article. He was born in this city, May 20, 1855, a son of Peter and Matilda
(McNight) Sheridan, educated in the public schools here, but was obliged to
quit the halls of learning at an early age and be thrown upon his own
resources for a livelihood. For seven years he was employed upon a farm,
when he began taking a few contracts for sewer construction and street pav
ing. His business grew upon his hands until he has become one of the lead
ing contractors in his line in the city. He has probably contracted for more
street work than any other man in Mount Vernon, and certainly has done
more macadamizing of streets than other party. He is the proprietor of the
Sheridan Hotel on Fourth avenue, and also of other valuable real-estate in
this city. He is a thoroughly self-made man, a substantial business man,
and one of the most reliable contractors in the place.
Politically, he is an active Democrat, has been street commissioner of
Mount Vernon, and is a member of the Niagara Fire Company and of the
Improved Order of Red Men.
In 1877 he was married to Margaret Casey, of Mount Vernon, and
they have seven children, — Mary, Emma, Everett, Samuel, Joseph, John and
William.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 915

ZIBA CARPENTER.
The proprietor of the Carpenter House at White Plains, the gentleman
whose name appears above, was born in the town of Harrison, this county,
February 6, 1834, and was the son of Isaac W. and Amy (Ackerman) Car
penter. His father, also born in the town of Harrison, was a drover, dealer
in live stock, farmer and a general business man. His wife, a native of
Westchester county, was a daughter of William Ackerman. John Carpenter,
a grandfather, was also born in Harrison, was a wheelwright by trade and
interested in agricultural pursuits. He married Mary Webber, of an old
Westchester county family, and they had twelve children. Her brother,
Dayton Webber, served one term as sheriff of Westchester county. The
Carpenter family originated in Wales.
Mr. Ziba Carpenter, in his youth, was educated at the common schools
of the town of Harrison, remaining with his parents upon the farm until he
was sixteen years old, when he began to assist his father in the live-stock
business. Arriving at his majority he went to New York city, where he con
ducted a meat market for a time; next he became a salesman for Henry
Ward, of One Hundred and Forty-ninth street, that city, and remained in
his employ for several years; the ensuing six years he was a passenger con
ductor on the Harlem River Railroad; next he became proprietor of the Cen
tral Hotel at West Albany, New York, where he built up a large business and
made money; selling out this property, he moved to White Plains, purchased
the Orawaupun Hotel and conducted that for three years; then, in 1873, he
was elected sheriff of Westchester county, for the term of three years, being
nominated on the Republican ticket against John Bussin on the Democratic,
and although the county was strongly Democratic in general Mr. Carpenter
was chosen by a handsome majority.
In 1879 Mr. Carpenter kept the Westchester House on Forty-second
street, New York city, the hotel occupying a part of the ground which is now
the site of the Grand Union Hotel. For a time he also kept the Franklin
House at Tarrytown, New York. In 1870 he came to White Plains and pur
chased the Carpenter House, which he has conducted to the present time, as
one of the principal hotels at the county seat. His long experience in cater
ing to the public in the capacity of a host enables him to keep in the front
rank as a hotel-keeper, and his popularity in this respect insures him a per
manent patronage.
He has been married twice, first, in 1857, to Miss Caroline Sniffen, of
the town of Harrison, this county, and she died, leaving four children, viz.:
Caroline M. , wife of Frank White; Lottie, at her parental home; Elmer E.,
and Kate, wife of James Andrews. Secondly, Mr. Carpenter was united in

916 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
marriage with Miss Lenord, of Port Chester, New York, and by this marriage
there are two children, namely: Jessie and George L.
In 1 89 1 Mr. Carpenter was nominated, on the Republican ticket, as a
candidate for county clerk, and was defeated by John M. Digney, a Dem
ocrat. The above list of items, according to the rough outline to which we are
confined, brings the history of the life of our subject up to date; but it is cer
tain that if he lives longer a more marked career will characterize his useful
and honorable life.

WILLIAM N. FERRIS.
In the death of Willian Nelson Ferris, Mount Vernon and Westchester
county lost one of their most prominent and highly respected citizens. As
the day, with its morning of hope and promise, its noontide of activity, its eve
ning of completed and successful efforts, ending in the grateful rest and quite
of the night, so was the life of this honored man. His career was a long,
busy and useful one. But although an earnest business man, devoting his
whole daily time and attention to the further development of his commercial
interests, he never allowed the pursuit of wealth to warp his kindly nature,
being to the end of his life a kindly, genial friend and gentleman with whom
it was a pleasure to meet and converse. He attained the advanced age of
ninety-five years, and at the end of a long, honorable and useful life passed
to the home beyond.
He was born in Tarrytown, New York, January 23, 1804, and was con
nected with one of the old historic families of the state. His paternal grand
father resided at White Plains while the war of the Revolution was in prog
ress, and suffered heavy losses, his stock and personal property being con
fiscated by the opposing forces. One of his sisters married William Popham,
son of the noted Colonel Popham, of Revolutionary fame. The parents of
our subject were Richard and Winnifred (Purdy) Ferris. The father was a
boat-builder by occupation and constructed the celebrated privateer "Hor
net." He resided in Tarrytown, New York city and White Plains, dying at
the last named place when he was about seventy-five years of age. He
served under General Harrison during the Revolution, having the rank of
first lieutenant, and subsequently he aided his country by valiant service in
the war of 1812, in which two of his sons, Elijah and Jacob, also manifested
a spirit of marked patriotism.
The parents of William N. Ferris were very poor and when a child of
five years he ran away from home. He went to his uncle, William Purdy,
at White Plains, and remained as a member of his household for seven years.
He had entered into an agreement to work for this uncle until he had*

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 917
attained his majority, but as he could not obtain from his senior a written
paper stating the terms of the contract, he ran away from him at the age of
twelve years. It had been verbally agreed between them that the youth
should be given twenty acres of land, a horse, saddle and bridle and a suit of
clothes when he reached manhood, but at the age of twelve years he again
started out alone, and making his way to New York city secured employ
ment as errand boy at the celebrated old hostelry, Bull's Head, where he
remained, however, only a few weeks. He then began learning the tailor's
trade and spent two years in mastering the business, becoming an expert
workman. The fascination of life on the high seas, however, appealing very
strongly to him, he and another lad shipped aboard the " Jane," a privateer
ing vessel, for a four-years cruise in the smuggling business. Numerous thrill-
ling, experiences and a number of narrow escapes characterized this period of
his life, but the ship on which he sailed met success in every hazardous ven
ture in which she engaged. At last Mr. Ferris landed in Philadelphia,
whence he journeyed by rail to South Amboy, New Jersey, and there went
aboard the ill-fated Aetna, which, on the voyage to New York city, was
blown up, four hundred of her passengers being killed and injured. Young
Ferris, as usual, seemed to bear a charmed life, and escaped unhurt. After
ward he served for two years with Commodore Porter's squadron, in the
Gulf of Mexico. He was assigned to the brig Bainbridge, one of the largest
ships in the fleet, joining it at Fort Morgan, on Mobile bay. This squadron
was detailed by the government to clear the Gulf of Mexico of pirates, and
this task was successfully accomplished in about two years. On the same
mission Mr. Ferris visited ports in Cuba and various European and Asiatic
ports. When his service for the government had been concluded he resumed
the quiet life of a tailor in New York city, and devoted his energies earnestly
and untiringly to the prosecution of his chosen calling. He was also engaged
in the teaming and transporting business for a score of years in the metrop
olis, but finally disposed of his interests there and invested his money else
where. Having purchased fifteen acres of land of Charles Archer, of Mount
Vernon, he sold three acres of the tract some fifteen months later, receiving
therefor twenty-three hundred and fifty dollars. He then erected a substan
tial residence on the remainder of his property, but disposed of it several
years later to Mr. Barnes, president of the Atlantic Insurance Company, of
New York. Returning to the city, Mr. Ferris resided there for a few years,
and then purchased two tracts of land in Mount Vernon, where he has since
made his home until his death. He there resided for over three decades,
and although he reached the advanced age of ninety-five years he enjoyed
good health in his old age and was active and ambitious, looking after his

918 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
business investments, not caring to relegate his affairs entirely to others.
He was truly a remarkable character, and when nearing the century mark put
to shame many a man of half his years who, grown weary of the struggles
of business life, rests from his labors, content with little or nothing for old
age. His early life was replete with incident and adventure, and his spirited
accounts of these enriched his conversation and made him a very entertain
ing companion. Mr. Ferris married Miss Rice, and for the long period of sixty-five years
they pursued the journey of life together, sharing with each other its joys and
sorrows. Mrs. Ferris was a devoted wife and mother, and all who knew her
loved and admired her for her sweet womanly qualities. She was summoned
to her final rest January 31, 1893, when she had attained the ripe age of
eighty-seven and a half years. Of the five children born to this worthy
couple, two, Mary and James, are deceased, and John, Sarah and Fannie
survive. The daughter remained at home and with kind and filial devotion
cared for her father until he, too, passed from the scene of earth's activities.

CAPTAIN ALFRED NUSKEY.
Among the most prominent and esteemed citizens of Sing Sing is Cap
tain Nuskey, who is accorded the veneration and respect which should ever
accompany old age. He has passed the eighty-fourth milestone on the jour
ney of life and has made for himself a record which is worthy of all com
mendation, being the account of a life faithful to every duty, honest at all
times and loyal to every trust. He is now living retired, but for many years
was prominently identified with the business and military interests of this
locality. He was born August 2, 18 15, in New York city, a son of Rinard and
Elizabeth (Lewis) Nuskey. His paternal grandfather, Baker Nuskey, was a
native of Poland and a very scholarly gentleman who made school-teaching
his profession. He had one son and two daughters, one of the latter being
Mrs. Greene. The father of our subject was a hatter by trade and for many
years resided in Brooklyn, but died in New York city. His family num
bered two sons and three daughters, namely: John, Alfred, Mrs. Eliza
Greene and two who died in infancy. The father passed away when about
sixty-five or seventy years of age.
In the public schools near his home Captain Nuskey acquired his edu
cation, which has been largely supplemented by the knowledge gained in the
practical affairs of life. He was only nine years of age when bound out to
a farmer, but not liking his occupation he ran away, coming to Sing Sing,
where he has since lived. He worked at the mason's trade for a time and

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 919
then entered the employ of the Brandreth Medicine Company, with which
he was connected throughout the remainder of his active business career.
He was twenty-four years of age when he sought and obtained employment
in their grinding department, and for fifty-eight years he remained with the
firm, acting as their foreman for half a century. What higher testimonial
of faithful service could be given than the fact of his long continuance with
one house? He had the implicit confidence of the company and not a little
of their success was directly attributable to his well directed efforts and capa
ble management. Realizing this fact, in 1897 the company retired Captain
Nuskey upon full pay and thus he is enabled to spend his declining years in
the enjoyment of a rest which he has truly earned and richly deserves. He
had direct charge of the manufacturing department, and had thirty-seven
men under his personal supervision. He was alike popular with employers
and employes, and enjoyed the high regard of the patrons of the company.
Captain Nuskey was also very prominent and active in military circles,
being for twenty-one years in the military service of the state as a member
of the Eighteenth Regiment, Seventh Brigade, Lockwood Guards, under
command of Colonel Ryder. He enlisted as a private, but after three
months was made a non-commissioned officer, and a year later was elected
second lieutenant. When eight more months had passed he was made first
lieutenant and by his next promotion was made captain. He took a very
active part in military affairs, and was justly proud of the proficiency which
his company attained. His command was called out on various occasions
of local disturbances requiring military power, and at the time of the civil
war he organized a company of eighty men for service at the front, but was
persuaded by his employer, Dr. Brandreth, to remain at home. How
ever, he rendered important service at the prison in Sing Sing, doing guard
duty. He became very proficient as a tactician and was widely known in
military circles.
Captain Nuskey married Sarah A. Tillottston, a daughter of William
Tillottston, and to them were born six children. Catherine, the oldest, be
came the wife of Hubert Knapp, of New York city, who died in that city in
1889. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, took an active
part in its work and was an earnest Christian gentleman. In his family
were four children, but only one is now living, — William Richardson, — who
is a naturalist or osteologist, and has one child, Esther Mary. Granville B.,
the eldest son of Captain Nuskey, was engaged in the painting business in Sing
Sing, but is now deceased. Clorinda was the next of the family. Rachel is
the wife of Aaron Ward, a carpenter of Sing Sing. Eliza is the wife of A.
H. Tompkins. Emma A. died at the age of seventeen years, and William
died in infancy. The mother of these children died December 15, 1887, at

920 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
the age of sixty-eight years. She was a consistent and faithful member of
the Methodist Episcopal church and her death was mourned by all who knew
her. In an obituary notice appeared the following: "Mrs. Nuskey was a
Christian lady of sober, calculating intelligence and refined manner. She
was a devoted, exemplary mother, an affectionate, true wife. For years she
was the female superintendent of the Sunday-school, treasurer of the Ladies'
Aid Society and president of the Ladies' Camp Meeting Association. Her
death was a heroic triumph and peaceful departure, worthy of a devoted
Christian life."
Captain Nuskey was formerly a member of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, and for fifty-eight years has been a loyal and leading member
of the Methodist church, in which he has served as trustee, class-leader and
superintendent of the Sunday-school. Almost his entire life has been passed
in Sing Sing and he is to-day one of its most popular citizens, honored for
his fidelity to principle, the truth and the right, esteemed for his genial man
ner and loved for his many admirable qualities.

JAMES A. THORNE.

James A. Thorne, a prosperous farmer and one of the most influential
and substantial men of the county, was born in Putnam county, New York,
October 2, 1825. His parents, Green and Sarah (Anderson) Thorne, now
deceased, were both natives of Putnam county. His grandfather, Samuel
Thorne, came to this state from Long Island and was a farmer, as were his
parents. They were Democrats in early life, but afterward affiliated with
the Republican party.
James A. Thorne is the only survivor in a family of four children, Gra
ham, Gilbert and Emalinda having entered their long sleep. He was reared
on his father's farm and educated in the public schools. He early developed
an aptitude for farming, which was but natural, as he had come from a fam
ily who in their occupation were then as now, wedded to the soil, and were
among the substantial farmers of their time. When twenty-five years of age,
he purchased a tract of land in his native county, and started in business for
himself. In 1871 he came to Westchester county and purchased two hundred
and twenty acres in Somers township, to which he afterward added forty
acres, making him the owner of two hundred and sixty acres, which were
devoted to general farming purposes. About three years ago the New York
City Water Shed Company condemned about twenty-eight acres of his land
upon which his home was situated. These buildings they destroyed, leaving
Mr. Thorne without a home, and keeping him out of the money due him on

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 921
the land and buildings, which has practically driven him from his own prop
erty to seek shelter elsewhere.
He was married to Miss Matilda Strong, daughter of John Strong, and a
native of this county. She was a member of the Presbyterian church and a
most worthy, kind-hearted lady. She died in the fall of 1893, leaving four
children, namely: Sarah Ella, wife of Caleb Green, deceased; James I., a
farmer of Somers township; Jerrard, deceased; and Nelson S., also a farmer of
this township. The oldest son, James I., is justice of the peace of his town
ship, while the youngest, Nelson, was elected collector of Somers township
for 1896-7. Both sons are Republicans, as is their father, and all take an
active interest in the success of their party, Nelson, especially, being one of
the most prominent young politicians in this part of the county. Nelson
S. Thorne was united in the holy bonds of matrimony to Miss Maggie Dick
son, a daughter of John and Julia (Robin) Dickson, of Brooklyn, at which
place she was born. They have one child, Ellsworth.

WORTHINGTON WHITEHOUSE.
Worthington Whitehouse is a gentleman of culture and inherited wealth,
a student of the best schools of this country and Europe, and a descendant
of an old and highly respected family. He is a native of Westchester county,
New York, and the son of Edward M. and Amelia Stuart (Worthington)
Whitehouse, both natives of New York city. The paternal grandfather,
Edward Whitehouse, married Julia Commaren, and was one of three broth
ers — Edward, John and Henry Whitehouse — who came to America from
England. The Worthingtons trace their ancestry back to 1632, when a
branch of the family came from York, Yorkshire, England, and made their
home at Colchester, Massachusetts. The maternal grandfather, Henry
Worthington, was a son of Asa Worthington, of Irvington. He married
Sarah Newton, a daughter of Commodore John Thomas Newton, of the
United States Navy.
Mr. and Mrs. Edward M. Whitehouse were the parents of two sons:
Worthington, the subject of this biography, and Edward, deceased, whose
only child, Edwina, survives him. Among her ancestors was one Martling,
who was noted for his bravery in the French and Indian wars and whose
body reposes in the old Dutch cemetery at Elmsford, within a half mile of
the Worthington farm. This farm is still in the possession of the mother,
who, after the death of her husband, contracted a second alliance, this time
with Thomas Whiteside Rae, of the United States Navy. Mr. Rae is also
deceased and his widow resides on the farm with her .sons, Worthington
Whitehouse and Izard Newton Whiteside Rae. The farm is situated in

922 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
the town of Greenburg, this county, and contains one hundred and ninety-
five acres of fine land, well improved and provided with a large, roomy resi
dence, with beautiful surroundings. Near by, on a suitable elevation, is the
Worthington Memorial church, a fine stone edifice erected by the grand
mother, Mrs. Sarah Worthington, in memory of Henry Rasstler Worth
ington. Worthington Whitehouse received his education in New York city, tak
ing a course in St. John's school, that city, and then went abroad to com
plete his studies. He spent three years in travel, visiting Africa and many
other places of interest. He then returned to his native land and accepted
a clerical position with W. Lanman Bull, banker, remaining with him three
years. He then engaged in the real-estate business with E. L. Hall, and
later formed a partnership with Mr. Mills, the firm being known as Mills &
Wbitehouse. This partnership was dissolved and the firm is now White-
house & Porter, his partner, Clarence Porter, being an only surviving son of
General Horace Porter, ambassador to France. This firm is located at 509
Fifth street, New York, and is well and favorably known as straightforward
and trustworthy. Mr. Whitehouse is of social and pleasure-loving disposi
tion, as well as an energetic business man, and is a member of a number of
social organizations. He is a member of the Knickerbocker Club, the Metro
politan, Tennis, and the Traspell Clubs of New York city, and is prominent
in the Knollwood Country Club and the Casino Club of Westchester county.
He is an admirer of blooded horses, and is the owner of some very fine dogs-
of the Great Dane and Dachshund breeds. He is quite a sportsman, an
adept with rod and gun, and a favorite spot in which to take recreation is at
his fishing camp at Millsite Lake, near the St. Lawrence river.

SAMUEL HALL, M. D.

Dr. Samuel Hall, who owns an attractive country home at Milton Point,
Westchester county, is one of the honored old physicians of the Empire state.
His life has been, in a special and peculiar sense, devoted to the alleviation
of sickness and suffering, and rich and poor have been ably administered to
by him, without discrimination in regard to rank or station. He has always
realized to the full the nobleness of his mission and has never hesitated to
give his services where duty and humanity called, though by so doing his own
interests were often sacrificed.
The Doctor was born in the city of New York, October 5, 1819, his
birthplace being on what was then known as Pump street — one of the most
aristocratic localities of the metropolis, but now sadly changed and going
under the name of Walker street. His father, Joseph Hall, was a native of

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 923
the northern part of Ireland, a Protestant and a member of the Presbyterian
church. He came to America when a young man, in 1810, and took up his
abode in the great eastern metropolis. By untiring energy and industry he
amassed a comfortable little fortune, and was a man of influence in the com
munity for a number of years prior to his death. He was a patriot, serving
in the war of 181 2, and early identified himself with the Whig party. His
death, which occurred when he was about three-score years and ten, was the
result of a fall.
In his youth Dr. Hall attended private schools in his native city, as at
that day the public schools amounted to but little. In 1843 he was gradu
ated in the medical department of the University of New York and
at once entered upon the practice in New York city. At the end of
two years he went to Dublin, Ireland, where he pursued a special
course of study for a year or more, and then, returning home, he resumed
his interrupted practice, and was subsequently appointed physician in the
city dispensary. He continued actively engaged in professional work until
1873, when he retired to private life. In one sense, however, the Doctor
has never given up public work, for he has never lost his deep interest in the
welfare of his fellows, and has given much of his time and means for years to
various charitable and public enterprises. He was one of the original found
ers of the Academy of Medicine, which was established in New York city in
1847, and is one of the four surviving incorporators of that well known insti
tution, which, as it is conceded, has played a very important part in the
medical world in the past half century.
In 1 86 1 his love for his country led Dr. Hall to leave his large and
remunerative practice in New York, in order to volunteer his services as a sur
geon. This was early in the war, before the medical staff had been enlarged to
the necessary proportions for properly attending to the wounded and suffering
soldiers. Dr. Hall went to the front after several of the great and disastrous
battles, when he knew surgeons would be in demand, and cheerfully gave his
aid to those who needed his ministry. In recognition of his heroic work and
unselfish devotion to the poor boys who " wore the blue" he was granted a
commission as major. For many years he was accounted one of the leading
and representative physicians of New York city; he is one of the trustees of
the American Savings Bank of New York city; for one term acted as park
commissioner, and was one of the Brooklyn bridge commissioners. In 1877
he served as trustee and secretary, and was appointed consulting surgeon, for
over twenty years, of the Northern Dispensary, and in 1887 was president of
that institution, serving in that capacity for one year. Was one of the found
ers of the Society for the Benefit of Widows and Orphans of Medical Men.
Religiously he is a Presbyterian, as was his father before him. Though now

924 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
in his eightieth year, he is hale and hearty, bidding fair to live to enjoy a
score more of years. His genial, kindly disposition makes him a general
favorite, and his friends are indeed legion. During the winter months he
spends his time in the city, where the major portion of his life has been
passed, and in the summer he enjoys a season of quiet, amid the beauties of
nature, at his pleasant country home at Milton's Point, New York.

JOHN G. PEENE.

John G. Peene, capitalist, farmer and president of a transportation com
pany, has for many years been a prominent factor in the business and public
interests of Yonkers. He was born in this city on the 23d of February,
1843, and is a son of Captain Joseph and Caroline (Garrison) Peene. The
father was for many years closely connected with the business of river navi
gation. He was born in the village of Lydd, Rent, England, where his
father, Joseph Peene, was also born and where the family had lived for
many generations. From a very early age he followed the sea, and his first
visit to America was made as a sailor on a passenger vessel which landed in
New York in 1834. The following year he again came to the shores of the
New World, and resolved to make his home in the United States. Accord
ingly he secured employment on a sloop and in 1839 began boating from
Yonkers, which was the beginning of the extensive transportation business
now carried on by the well known firm of Peene Brothers. With the pass
ing years his patronage increased and he enlarged his facilities until he was
at the head of the Benjamin Franklin Transportation Company. He con
tinued his active connection with the business until 1873, when he retired,
being succeeded by his three sons, — John G., Joseph and George, — who have
since been associated with the management of the transportation line under
the firm name of Peene Brothers.
Captain Joseph Peene was married to Miss Caroline Garrison, a daugh
ter of Captain John Garrison. She is descended from one of the old families
of Holland. Her grandfather, Garrett Garrison, was a native of Holland and
married a Miss Fowler. He founded the family in America, and his son,
John Garrison, was born and reared in Yonkers, where he became a promi
nent and influential citizen and a successful business man, largely interested
in sloops and other boats plying on the Hudson river between Yonkers and
New York city. He married Sarah Fowler and among their children was
Caroline, who became the wife of Captain Joseph Peene. By this marriage
were born seven children, four sons and three daughters: John G. ; Joseph;
George; William, deceased; Emma, wife of Thomas Moore, a resident of
Yonkers; Mary A., wife of Benjamin W. Stillwell; and Katie, wife of

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 925
George Farnham, a resident of Saratoga, New York. The father of these
children died in March, 1897, but their mother is still living and is now in
her seventy-sixth year. He was for many years a leading citizen of Yonkers,
and while not a politician in the common acceptation of the term he served
for several years as police commissioner and street commissioner, discharg
ing his duties with marked promptness and fidelity. He was for many years
a member and officer in the Reformed church at Yonkers, and was always
most liberal in his support of every measure calculated to advance the gen
eral welfare. He started out in life a poor boy, but by determined purpose,
laudable ambition and indefatigable energy, he attained a position among the
substantial citizens of Yonkers and was enabled to surround his family not
only with the necessities but also many of the luxuries of life. In 1870 he
erected a beautiful residence on Warburton avenue, and his last years were
spent in the enjoyment of a well earned rest in the home that his labors had
procured. John G. Peene spent his boyhood days under the parental roof and
acquired his literary education in the public schools. Diversified experiences
in the affairs of life, keen observation and a retentive memory have also-
greatly added to his fund of knowledge, bringing him that practical wisdom
so essential in the business world. When only fourteen years of age he
began earning his own livelihood, being employed as cook on a boat running
on the Hudson river. Later he was engaged in the draying business for two
years, — a foreshadowing of his extensive and profitable transportation busi
ness of the present day. In 1863 he joined the Union army in the capacity
of quartermaster, and, returning to Yonkers on the close of hostilities, he
became connected with a transfer company of this city. Subsequently,
however, he became interested in river transportation, and in 1873, in con
nection with his brothers, Joseph and George, succeeded to the business
established by his father. He is now president of the company, and thus in
control of a very extensive enterprise. The brothers have added to the line
the lighter City of Yonkers, the steamer Caroline A. Peene, named in honor
of their mother, the barge Hudson River and the tugboat Frank A. Sears.
These boats all make daily trips to New York city, the Caroline A. Peene
with passengers and freight and the others with freight alone. They carry
many hundreds of tons of freight each week, transporting all the products
of the Yonkers factories, markets and stores. The business is very large
and profitable, and the members of the company exert a commanding influ
ence in commercial circles in this city.
In 1873 John G. Peene was appointed harbor master of New York city,
which position he filled with ability. He is a man of marked enterprise, and
his sound judgment and keen discrimination have been important factors in

926 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
carrying forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. In addi
tion to his duties in connection with the transportation company, he superin
tends the operation of an extensive farm. In 1890 Mr. Peene purchased what
was known as the Washington Hill farm, now known as Heather Bell. The
place then comprised seventy-eight acres of land, but from time to time he
has extended its boundaries until his possessions now aggregate two hundred
and twenty acres, — a valuable property, — from which he derives a handsome
income. The place is supplied with large and substantial barns for the
shelter of his stock, and all the conveniences and accessories of the model
farm are there found. Most of the land is seeded down to grass and the
verdant meadows afford ample pasturage for cattle and horses. He keeps
on hand about forty milch cows, high grades of the Jersey, Holstein and
Guernsey breeds, and is doing an excellent dairy business. He also raises
many fine horses, noted for their beauty, grace and speed. Mr. Peene is
very fond of the noble steed and takes great delight in driving a fine team.
The home of Mr. Peene is a palatial residence, surrounded by magnifi
cent shade-trees and an extensive and well kept lawn. In the affairs of the
city he has taken an active and commendable interest, doing all in his power
to advance the welfare and public progress. • For four years he served as
mayor and his administration witnessed many needed reforms and the intro
duction of some very beneficial improvements. In business he sustains an
unassailable reputation and for his success he certainly deserves great credit.
Starting out in life empty-handed, he steadily worked his way upward and
by his enterprise, indefatigable energy, strong resolution and laudable ambi
tion has won a handsome property which classes him among the capitalists
of Yonkers.
HARVEY HUSTED.
Harvey Husted, court stenographer and one of the leading and represent
ative citizens of White Plains, New York, is a native of Westchester county,
born at Tarrytown, on the banks of the Hudson river, July 12, 1854, and is
a son of Nathan W. and Amenia (Palmer) Husted. The birth of his father
occurred in the same county in 1823, and there he engaged in business as a
merchant tailor for over forty years. In his political affiliations he was a
stanch Democrat, and for two years he served as supervisor of his town.
Our subject's paternal grandfather was Samuel Husted, also a native of
Westchester county and a farmer by occupation, and the great-grandfather
was Nathaniel Husted. Robert Husted was the founder of the family in
America, having emigrated to this country from England about the year
1630. On the maternal side our subject's grandparents are Harvey and
Phebe (Husted) Palmer, the former also a native of Westchester county. It

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 927
will thus be seen that the family has been identified with the history of this
county from its earliest settlements, and they have always been numbered
among its most valued and useful citizens.
Reared in Tarrytown, Harvey Husted obtained his early education in
the public schools of that place, and finished his literary training in the acad
emy there. At the age of fifteen he entered his father's store and continued
with him for four years, during which time he commenced the study of ste
nography, devoting all his spare moments in acquiring a knowledge of that
art. His father, thinking he was wasting his time, often requested him to
lay it aside, as in his judgment it would be of no service to him; but on step
ping into an office in New York city one day, he asked what they were pay
ing a good stenographer a year, and the reply was from two to five thousand
dollars ! Returning home he told his son that he was willing he should
proceed with his studies, and our subject therefore continued until he had
completed the course. When the court stenographer resigned in 1876 he
was appointed by the court to fill the vacancy, and on the expiration of the
term was re-appointed by Hon. J. O. Dykman, continuing in the position up
to the present time, — a period of over twenty years. He is also a director
of the Home Savings Bank of White Plains. His aim in life has always
been to attain the best, and he has carried forward to successful completion
whatever he has undertaken. The thoroughness and persistency with which
he applied himself while learning stenography has characterized his entire
career, and has been supplemented by a careful attention to details and by
honorable, straightforward effort, that has gained him a most excellent and
enviable reputation. For the past twelve years he has been a member of
the board of education at White Plains and is treasurer of the same.
Mr. Husted married Miss Caddie L. Greene, a native of Tarrytown,
New York, and a daughter of Jonathan H. Greene. They had two daugh
ters and one son, of whom two are now living: Edwin Warren, aged eleven
years, and Mabel G. For his second wife, Mr. Husted married Miss G. C.
Huestis, a daughter of William H. Huestis, and to them have been born two
children, — Evellyn G. and Francis.

JAMES D. TALLEY.
One of the prominent citizens of Mount Vernon, Westchester county, is
James Dunham Talley, now president of the local board of civil-service com
missioners. He is very active and influential in the councils of the Demo
cratic party of this section, is a great worker in the local fire department and
stands well in various fraternal and social orders. Though he has made his
¦home here only for the past four years he is well known and thoroughly

928 , WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
respected by a large and ever widening circle of acquaintances and friends,
comprising some of our best citizens.
A son of Bartley and Catherine Ann (Dunham) Talley, our subject was
born in New York city December 3, 1848. He was deprived of the watch
ful love and guidance of his father when but five years of age, and thence
forth grew up under the tender care of his widowed mother, whose death
occurred June 30, 1894, when she was seventy one years of age. She was
of English descent, and for several generations her forefathers were residents
of New Brunswick, New Jersey. Bartley Talley was likewise a native of
that town, and was a ship carpenter by trade, which calling he followed in
New York city from 1845 until his death, November 4, 1853, at the age of
twenty-nine years. He was a member of the Junior Order of United
American Mechanics and was also an Odd Fellow. He left three sons and
one daughter, namely: Alexander S., James D., Charles E. and Catherine
Ann. J. D. Talley acquired a liberal education in the public schools of New
York city, and when in his sixteenth year he entered a printing-office. Aft
erward he learned the carpenter's trade, being successfully employed in that
vocation in the metropolis for some fourteen years. Since then he has held
a position as foreman in a line of mechanical work in New York, and is con
sidered an honorable, efficient, upright man, thoroughly understanding his
business and conscientious in the performance of his duties. During the war
of the Rebellion he was of service in the Union army as an assistant to a
surgeon, for he was too young to enter the regular military service as he
desired. At present he is the foreman of the Central Hose Company of
Mount Vernon, having acted in this capacity for four years, an active and
reliable member of the fire department. In this connection he is identified
with the Firemen's Benevolent Association of Mount Vernon, and the Boss
Truck Association. In the Masonic order he belongs to Hiawatha Lodge,
F. & A. M. ; Mount Zion Chapter, No. 231, R. A. M. ; and is also a member
of the O. D. O. For some time he has been financially interested in the
Home Building & Loan Association.
April 27, 1882, Mr. Talley married Miss Catherine E. Carr, a daughter
of John W. Carr, of New York city.

F. S. COOK.

The gentleman to a brief review of whose life we now direct attention —
F. S. Cook — is the third son of Thomas and Mary (Campbell) Cook, and was
born at Newark, New Jersey, April 15, 1855.
Tracing the agnatic line, we find him descended from Holland and

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 929
French ancestors, and the name was formerly Koch. His great-great-grand
father, Heinrich Koch, came to America in the early part of the eighteenth
century. He had three sons, — Barnabas, Henry and Michael, — who changed
the spelling from Koch to Cook. One of these sons settled in the western
part of New York state, another in the upper Hudson river country, and
Henry, great-grandfather of our subject, settled in what is now Caldwell,
New Jersey. He married Yanakee Peer, who was of French descent, and
among their children was a son, Isaac, grandfather of F S., who married-
Mary Spier, of Spiertown, New Jersey. He was a farmer, a justice of the
peace and in politics a Whig, and was prominent in the public affairs of Cald
well. He died at Newark.
His family comprised six children, among whom was Thomas, the father
of our subject, born near Caldwell, New Jersey, in 1821. Thomas Cook
became a merchant at Newark, New Jersey, and was also extensively engaged
for many years in railroad contracting. He built a section of the Erie Rail
road, running through Orange, New York. As a merchant he dealt in jew
elers' supplies and other goods, and ran a line of schooners along the Jersey
coast. He subsequently became engaged in developing and improving the
southern part of the city of Newark, which occupied his time until the break
ing out of the civil war. When war was inaugurated he desired to enlist his
services for his country, but could not on account of disability. For a time,
however, he was on hospital duty and rendered valued service. During the
war he moved with his family to Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, where he was
occupied in developing farm and mill property. He subsequently also devel
oped a timber tract in New Hampshire. He died in 1894, at Yonkers, New-
York, at the age of seventy-three years. In politics he was in early life a
Whig and later independent. He believed in prohibition and was an earnest
temperance worker.
On his mother's side, Mr. Cook is descended from North-of-Ireland
stock, the Campbells; also in his maternal ancestry is found a strain of French
blood. Great-grandfather Campbell served in the Revolutionary war. His
wife was by maiden name Mary Day. His grandfather, a Mr. McDermott,
was a soldier in the war of 1812. Mr. Cook's mother's people at one time
resided upon and owned the present site of Morristown, New Jersey, and
figured prominently in the history of that town, among them being Judge
Reynolds, a veteran of the civil war and a member of the New Jersey leg
islature. Of the four sons of Thomas and Mary Cook, we record that all of them
studied civil engineering and followed it for a profession, one, however, leav
ing it for the profession of law, which he followed to the time of his death.
The eldest son, Thomas V., served in the Thirty-ninth New Jersey Volun-
59

930 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
teer Regiment during the latter part of the war of the Rebellion. One of
the daughters, M. Emma Van Arsdale, is a landscape painter of considerable
talent, a pupil of the celebrated painter Gifford, and resides at Plainfield,
New Jersey.
F. S. Cook, the direct subject of this article, received his early educa
tion in the public schools of Newark, New Jersey, and after their removal,
as above recorded, to Pennsylvania, he continued his studies in private
schools, thus preparing himself for entering Cornell University, in 1871. On
account of the panic of 1873, however, he was compelled to abandon his
cherished hope, that of completing a college course, and his studies were
carried forward under the instructions of a private tutor. In this way he
fitted himself for civil engineering. He has during the twenty-seven years in
which he has been engaged in this profession been associated with some of
the best known and most celebrated engineers in the country, which associa
tion has afforded him excellent opportunities for advancement in his profes
sion. During this time he has been engaged upon some of the most difficult
and important contracts on public works of various kinds that have been
prosecuted, some of which are as follows: Construction of the Jersey City
water works, laying out of streets and other public improvements in that city,
and construction of the New Jersey Midland Railroad, and some of the coal
roads in Pennsylvania, and other improvements, — all previous to 1877. He
assisted in the construction of the New York Elevated Railroad, in 1877 and
1878; construction of the New York, West Shore & Buffalo and New York,
Ontario & Western, besides numerous private enterprises during the same
time. Since 1 884 he has been engaged upon the construction of the New York
water works, Croton dam, aqueducts and reservoirs. He is also now engaged
on the Panama Railroad designs, in which he was associated with the eminent
Captain James B. Eades, of Mississippi river fame, and E. L. Corthell,
Walter Catty and A. Fletty. In addition to the public works above referred
to Mr. Cook has laid out a great deal of real estate, covering, perhaps, more
than two thousand acres in Westchester county, New York, into plats and
building sites, much of the work in his own town and locality being done
by him. Mr. Cook was married in 1881 to Miss Josephine S. Mervin, daughter
of S. O. Mervin, of Norfolk, Virginia, she being a direct descendant of colo
nial ancestors. The first of her ancestors to settle in this country were New
Englanders and by occupation shipbuilders. Later there was one William
Arnold, of Rhode Island, a member of her family, who had a son, Benedict,
who became governor of Rhode Island and served in that capacity eight
years. Mr. and Mrs. Cook have had four daughters, Frederick, Isabelle,
Maria and Florence, all now living except the last named.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 931
Mr. Cook is a member of the City Club of Yonkers, and politically he
is independent of the great party ties. At one time he was a member of a
military company. Religiously he is identified with the Reformed church.

GEORGE E. SIMONS.

This honored veteran of the civil war and a leading citizen of Union
ville, Westchester county, was born in New York city, October 8, 1843, and
is a son of Malcolm Simons, a native of Cheshire, New Haven county, Con
necticut, and a carpenter by trade. The paternal grandparents were of Irish
descent, and in their family was one son, Thomas Simons, who died from
wounds received at the battle of Gettysburg while serving in the Union army
during the Rebellion. Malcolm Simons wedded Miss Mary Jane Vreden-
burgh, a daughter of John Vredenburgh, who fought with the American army
in the Mexican war. To this worthy couple were born fourteen children,
five sons and nine daughters.
The subject of this sketch was reared in New York city, and at the age
of seventeen years he offered his services to the government to assist in put
ting down the rebellion, enlisting on the 20th of April, 1861, in the Eighth
New York State Militia. Receiving a gunshot wound at the battle of Bull
Run, he was honorably discharged August 2, 1861, but re-enlisted February
3, 1862, this time becoming a member of the One Hundred and Ninth Penn
sylvania Volunteer Infantry. He was again discharged, August 9, 1862, as
he was wounded in the thigh and hip at Cedar mountain; but on the 21st of
April, 1864, he enlisted for the third time and was made second lieutenant of
Company K, Fourteenth Regiment Veteran Volunteers. The war being
ended, he was finally discharged October 19, 1865, and returned to his home
with a military record of which he should justly be proud.
After the war Mr. Simons followed civil engineering in the south, later
went to Mexico, and from there to California in 1869. Returning to New
York city, he worked at his trade as a steel engraver for some time, but in
1 87 1 went to Europe, visiting England, Ireland, Scotland, France and Ger
many. He also traveled in Asia, through China and Japan, and remained
abroad ten years. Returning again to New York city, in 1881, he worked
at his trade in the employ of the New York Bank Note Company; next he
spent some time in the west as a surveyor at Milwaukee, St. Paul, Seattle,
Washington, and Los Angeles, California; then he went to Washington, D.
C, where he served as adjutant at the Soldiers' National Home until 1893,
since which time he has made his home in Westchester county, New York,
an honored and highly respected citizen.
Mr. Simons was first married in New York city to Miss Abigail Shears,

932 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
of Rockland, Maine, a daughter of Isaac Shears, a prominent merchant of
that place, and by this union he had one son. After the death of the wife
and mother he married Mrs. Lucretia (Ryan) Collier, a native of Delaware
county, Iowa, and a daughter of Thomas Ryan, a veteran of the Mexican
war. By her first marriage she had two children, — Celia and Earl Collier.
While acting as Indian agent at a point in South Dakota, a son was born to
our subject, Valentine H.
Mr. Simons is now a prominent member of Crowell Post, No. 966, G.
A. R., at White Plains, New York, and also belongs to Harmony Lodge, No.
17, F. & A. M., at Orting, Washington. Travel and his social, genial nature
have made him an entertaining companion, and he is a stanch and loyal
friend, fond of good fellowship and devoted to those who have his confidence.

SAMUEL R. STOUTENBURGH.
The common-place duties of daily life, trivial though they may seem to
the casual observer, demand for their proper fulfillment the same admirable
qualities of character which in a higher degree and under other circumstances
attract universal notice and approbation. However it may seem to the
superficial mind, our rural communities furnish an excellent field for the
development of the traits which go to the making of a good citizen, and one
purpose of this work is the preservation of records which show the innate
worth and dignity of such a life. In the long and useful career of Mr.
Stoutenburgh we may learn many valuable lessons.
A representative of one of the honored old families of this state, he was
born in Dutchess county, February 3, 18 16, a son of Peter L. Stoutenburgh
and a grandson of Jacobus Stoutenburgh, who was of Holland descent. The
latter married a Miss Teller, who was born in Dutchess county, of German
ancestry, and belonged to a family which was founded on Long Island about
1720. Peter L. Stoutenburgh also was a native of Dutchess county, where
in early life he learned the tanner's trade, and after his removal to New York
city, in 1820, he engaged in the shoe business. He married Permelia Hart,
a native of Long Island, and they became the parents of eight children, one
of whom died when young, while the others reached years of maturity:
David is now living in Norwalk, Ohio, at the age of eighty-six years; Jacob
F. is deceased; Samuel R. is the next in order of birth; Wright F. is
deceased; James is a resident of Pleasantville, Westchester county; Joseph,
who was a soldier of both the Mexican and civil wars, makes his home in
Dayton, Ohio; Sarah married A. Schenck and died in Middletown, Ohio; and
Mary S. married Samuel C. Conover and died at the same place. The father
of these children died in the prime of life, and the mother when of about middle

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 933
age. Both were faithful members of the Society of Friends, were widely and
favorably known, and the father was identified with the Whig party.
The subject of this review was educated in the schools of New York city
and began his business career as a clerk. Later he was engaged in the grain
business in the metropolis for some time, and from there went to Noblesville,
Indiana, where he was in business as a partner of his cousin. Subsequently
he spent two years in Norwalk, Ohio, where he had for his neighbors Gen
eral W. T. Sherman and Charles Sherman. Returning to the east he
resumed business in New York city, where he continued to reside until 1858.
The following four years were devoted to trade in Armonk, Westchester
county, and at the end of that time he purchased his present farm in Mount
Pleasant township, to the cultivation and improvement of which he has since
devoted his energies with marked success, making it one of the best in the
locality. This beautiful home is well and tastefully furnished, is surrounded
by spacious lawns and fine shade-trees, and is situated on the north shore of
Lake Kensico, commanding a grand view.
On the 30th of September, 1862, Mr. Stoutenburgh was united in mar
riage with Mrs. Phoebe S. (Fisher) Sands, an adopted daughter of Nicholas
and Phcebe Haigh, the latter a sister of her mother. She was reared and
educated in New York city, and on the 12th of February, 1845, gave her
hand in marriage to Daniel C. Sands, a native of North Castle township,
Westchester county, and a son of Benjamin and Mary H. (Cox) Sands, promi
nent citizens of this county. Mr. Sands was a successful business man, and
for some time was engaged in the grocery trade in New York, where he died
October 8, 1849. He left two sons: Charles W. Sands, who married Vir
ginia W. Lane and had one son, Charles W., Jr., who died at the age of
eighteen years; and Daniel C. Sands, who married Martha Titus and has one
son, Daniel C, Jr.
In his political views Mr. Stoutenburgh is a Republican, and in religious
connection both he and his wife are members of the Society of Friends. This
worthy couple take an active interest in all educational, religious and temper
ance affairs, and do all in their power for the betterment of their fellow men.

BAILY B. SEARLES.

This well known and enterprising agriculturist of Somers township is a
native of Westchester county, New York, his birth occurring November 7,
1854, in Bedford township, where his parents, Benjamin B. and Caroline N.
(Young) Searles, are still living. He was reared in much the usual manner of
farmer boys, assisting in the labors of the field and attending the public schools,
but his early education was supplemented by two terms' attendance at Bedford

934 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Academy under Professor Sloat. When his school days were over he sought
and obtained employment as attendant in the Bloomingdale Asylum, where
he remained for eighteen months. For the following two years he was con
nected with the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company in Connecticut, and
then returned to Bedford township and again turned his atttention to agri
cultural pursuits, remaining there until 1888, since which time he has been a
resident of Somers township. He now manages the property known as the
old Brown farm, and is successfully engaged in general farming upon a tract
of twenty-four acres which he has placed under a high state of cultivation.
The neat and thrifty appearance of the place well indicates his careful super
vision and shows that he thoroughly understands the occupation he is now
following. Mr. Searles married Miss Alice Flewellin, who was born at Croton Lake,
this county, January 8, 1855, and is a daughter of Caleb and Charlotte (Put
ney) Flewellin. He casts his ballot with the Republican party, and affili
ates with Yorktown Lodge, No. 181, I. O. O. F., in which he is serving as
warden. By birthright he is a member of the Society of Friends.

CHARLES H. LENT.

Charles H. Lent is the well known superintendent of the Croton dam
water-works and is a man well fitted for the position he holds. In some
way he has been identified with the works from the very beginning, having
previously held a responsible position with the company's superintendent of
construction and also as paymaster for the same. At one time he was in the
employ of Smith & Brown, contractors on the works, and on the 1st of Sep
tember, 1889, was first appointed superintendent under Mr. Gilroy, serving
as such with credit to himself and to the best interests of the company until
July, 1895. On the ist of July, 1898, he was reinstated and is now filling
the position in a most capable and satisfactory manner.
A native of New York, Mr. Lent was born September 1, 1857, in Put
nam county, but belongs to an old Westchester family which has been iden
tified with the interests of this county for a century and a half and is of Hol
land origin. The first of the family to come to America settled first either
on Long Island or in New York city. Abram Lent, our subject's grand
father, was a native of Westchester county, as was also the father, Milton
G. Lent, who was born in Cortlandt township and was one of the brave
defenders of the Union during the civil war, being a member of Company G,
Fourth New York Volunteer Infantry. Later he became an honored mem
ber of the Grand Army of the Republic, and in his political convictions was
a Democrat. He married Miss Caroline Cole, a native of Connecticut, who

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 935
is now living at Brewster, New York, while he died at Croton Dam, in De
cember, 1 89 1, at the age of sixty-eight years. In the family of this worthy
couple were seven children, — three sons and four daughters.
In the public schools of this state Charles H. Lent obtained a good
practical education, and at the age of sixteen he accepted a position as book
keeper for F. E. Foster, a merchant of Brewster, New York. Later he was
bookkeeper and paymaster on the Lake Shore Railroad, and in a like capac
ity was with the Erie & Wyoming Railroad at Scranton, Pennsylvania, for
three years. At the end of that time he became connected with the water
works at Croton Dam, and has gradually worked his way upward to his
present responsible position, his success being the just reward of his
fidelity to duty, his honesty of purpose and his good business ability. Politic
ally he is a Democrat, and is an active and zealous worker for his
party's interests. Socially he is a prominent Mason, a member of the blue
lodge, chapter and commandery, and also Mecca Temple, of the Mystic
Shrine. At the age of twenty-five, Mr. Lent was united in marriage with Miss
Ida M. Hodge, a daughter of Orson Hodge and a niece of Henry Barnum,
formerly one of the proprietors of the Van Amberg circus and manager of
Howe's Great London Circus for the United States. Mrs. Lent was reared
and educated at Brewster, New York, and by her marriage has become the
mother of two children: Edna Barnum and Alma.

JAMES H. BEDELL.

There is particular satisfaction in reverting to the life history of the hon
ored and venerable gentleman whose name initiates this review, since his
mind bears the impress of the historical annals of the state from an early
day, and from the fact that he has been for many years one of the highly
respected citizens of Westchester county. He was born in Pleasant Valley,
Dutchess county, New York, February 15, 1819, and is a representative of
an old and prominent family of that county, having made their home for
generations in Washington Hollow.
John Bedell, the grandfather of our subject, was born in Washington
Hollow, conducted a hotel there for many years, and spent his entire life in
that vicinity. He also engaged in agricultural pursuits, and in his business
undertakings met with excellent success. He was one of the most active and
enterprising men of Dutchess county in his day.
In his large family was Elisha Bedell, our subject's father, who was
reared in Washington Hollow, and there made his home throughout the
greater part of his life, always following the occupation of farming and meet-

936 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
ing with a well deserved success in his labors. He was one of the most sub
stantial and reliable citizens of his community, was an earnest member of the
Methodist church, and was a Whig in politics. His last days were passed
in Pleasant Valley, Dutchess county, where he died at about the age of
sixty- three. He married Miss Phcebe German, a native of Pleasant Valley,
who departed this life at the age of seventy-three years. To them were
born nine children, namely: Harvey, a retired farmer, who died in Pough
keepsie, New York; James H., the subject of this sketch; Bethia, deceased
wife of Alonzo Titus, of Brooklyn, New York; Mary, deceased wife of George
Firman, of Pleasant Valley; Elisha, a mechanic residing in Verbank, Dutch
ess county; Sarah, deceased wife of Alonzo Titus, of Poughkeepsie; Lewis,
who died in Verbank; Alonzo, a resident of the town of Dover, Dutchess
county; and Jane, deceased.
James H. Bedell was reared and educated in Dutchess county in much
the usual manner of farmer boys of his day, and throughout his active busi
ness career engaged in agricultural pursuits, with marked success. On com
ing to Westchester county he first located in Bedford township, where he
followed farming; later he spent ten or twelve years in the village of Bedford;
from there he removed to Mount Kisco, but now makes his home with his
grandson, James Henry Bedell, of Poundridge township. He is a stanch
supporter of the principles of the Republican party, and is a consistent mem
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, his life having ever been such as to
commend him to the confidence and esteem of all with whom he has come in
contact. In 1843 Mr. Bedell was married, in Dutchess county, to Miss Eliza
beth Churchill, a daughter of Van Austin and Elizabeth Churchill. She
was born in Matteawan, that county, in 18 17, and died in 1890. They
became the parents of nine children, as follows: Isaac, who was a Union
soldier during the civil war, and married Miss Millicent E. Brown, who died
in 1877, and he is now managing engineer of a large paper-mill at Yorktown,
Pennsylvania; Edward is the next of the family; Charles also served in the
Union ranks in the war of the Rebellion, and is now a farmer of Jamestown,
Virginia; Henry, who is a resident of Silver Mine, Connecticut, and is a rep
resentative of the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company; Daniel W.,
who died at the age of five years; three died in infancy; and George is a prac
tical farmer, now managing the estate of thirty-eight hundred acres at James
town, Virginia.
James Henry Bedell, our subject's grandson, is one of a family of two
children, the other being Edith E., who married James Boyd, of Brooklyn,
New York, and died at the age of twenty-two years. He was born April 30,
1865, in Brooklyn, where he lived until twelve years of age, and then came

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 937
to Westchester county to make his home with his grandparents upon a farm,
receiving such an education as the public schools afforded. At the age of
twenty-one he took charge of the John Jay farm near Ratonah, in Bedford
township, which he successfully managed for eighteen months, and for the
following three years had charge of another estate near the Jay farm. He
then located on the Highland farm, now owned by a Mr. Judd, and conduct
ed the same for five years as a dairy farm, wholesaling the milk. At the end
of that time he settled upon his present farm in Poundridge township, which
he had purchased in 1895, and here he is also engaged in dairying. He bot
tles all the milk and retails it in Stamford, Connecticut, which is eight and a
half miles from his farm. As he could not care for his farm and look after
his milk trade, he rents the place and gives his entire attention to the dairy
business. He has one hundred and forty acres under a high state of cultiva
tion, and is meeting with a fair degree of success in his business affairs.
He is one of the stanch Republicans in the county, and in 1897 was
elected justice of the peace, which position he is now filling in a most credit
able and satisfactory manner. He is master of Rippawam Grange, No. 145,
of Long Ridge, and is a member of the Presbyterian church of Bedford. In
1886 he led to the marriage altar Miss Mary H. E. Williams, a daughter of
Isaac D. and Sarah Williams, and by this union two children have been
born, — James Luquer and Bertha E.

LEWIS M. FISHER.

Lewis Morris Fisher, an honored old resident of North Castle township,
Westchester county, is a sterling representative of one of the fine old fami
lies of this section of the state. The valuable farm which he owns and cul
tivates was the birth-place of his father and grandfather, and during the
Revolutionary war some of the forces of General Washington were encamped
for a time on these grounds. Two of the family were soldiers in the colonial
struggle for independence, and the Fishers were very generous in providing
for the troops, dividing with them such provisions, clothing and supplies as
they possessed. The old homestead still retains traces of the brief sojourn
of the soldiers here, and is in consequence one of the noted places of the
county. Many of the smaller relics have been carried away, but the large
stones which they used for fire-places can still be seen, here and there. Dur
ing their encampment here they cut down about three acres of forest for fire
wood, etc.
William Fisher, the father of our subject, was born and brought up on
this farm and became one of the most respected citizens of this locality. He
was active in all public affairs of his community, and not only occupied about

938 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
all the township offices, but also served as a member of the state assembly
during the sessions of 1836-7. He was a man of influence and authority in
his neighborhood, and he was frequently sought to settle up estates for his
acquaintances and friends. He was for ten years a trustee in the Presbyte
rian church, and for fifteen years served in the capacity of elder. He died
when in his eighty-fifth year, and his wife passed to her reward when she was
eighty-seven. Mrs. Fisher was a Miss Permelia Cudner prior to her mar
riage, her family being residents of Scarsdale township, this county. Of the
eight children born to William and Permelia Fisher but three now survive.
R. Chauncey resides in White Plains; Joseph A. lives on a portion of the old
homestead; Lewis M., our subject, was the next in order of birth; Arietta
died unmarried; William Henry died, leaving a widow; Albert died in boy
hood; Augustus died when four years old; and one child died in infancy.
The Fisher family furnished two substitutes during the civil war, and were
Whigs, and later Republicans, in politics.
Lewis Morris Fisher was born here, March 29, 1839, and received a
good education in the public schools of this vicinity. He has followed the
business of carpenter and builder for several years, with success, and is a
skillful workman. He was married in 1887, and has one child, Lewis Ralph,
born August 14, 1896. Mrs. Fisher is a daughter of Ralph and Sarah Ellis,
the former one of the oldest contractors on public works in this county. He
built a portion of the brick and stone work on the Croton aqueduct and has
been prominently connected with other great enterprises in eastern New
York. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher are the happy possessors of a beautiful home
situated in a pleasant spot, and surrounded by well-kept lawns, dotted with
flower-beds and shaded with fine old shade-trees. The homestead which he
owns and cultivates is a place of twenty-five acres, and from some points the
Sound can be plainly seen in the distance. Mr. Fisher has always been very
active in church work and for years he has been an elder in the Presbyterian
church and superintendent of the Sunday-school. Like a loyal citizen he
takes an interest in public matters and seeks to use his ballot in an intelligent
manner, supporting only the measures and nominees that best promise to
prove of benefit to the general public. He uses his franchise in favor of the
Republican party. <
DAVID N. HAVILAND.
David N. Haviland is one of the commissioners of highways in Harrison
township, Westchester county. He thoroughly understands the duties of
this responsible position and gives much of his time to the work of securing
better roadways for the traveling public. He was chosen by his neighbors
and friends to fill this office in 1894 and in the intervening period he has been

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 939-
successful in making material improvements on the roads of this section of
the county. He is zealous in the support of the interests of the Democratic
party and has always voted for the nominees and platform of the organiza
tion since he received his right of franchise.
From his earliest recollections our subject has been closely associated
with the interests of this township. He was born here, in his father's home
stead, February 10, i860. His father, James S. Haviland, is a well and favor
ably known citizen of this township. He, too, is a native of this locality
and has always lived in this vicinity. He learned the shoemaker's trade in
his youth and has followed this calling during most of his mature life. He
married a Miss Sarah A. Seymour, of White Plains, and to them were
born four children: Newberry, of Rye township, Harvey, Samuel and
David N.
From his boyhood D. N. Haviland has been accustomed to industrious
labor and persevering toil. He was wisely initiated into the principles of
business by his father and is successful in most of his financial undertakings.
His education was obtained in the public schools and since leaving his studies
he has endeavored to keep thoroughly posted in current events and matters
of public importance by a regular perusal of the leading books, newspapers
and periodicals of the day. He has turned his attention to different lines of
business and has met with success in the majority of his ventures. He
favors public improvements and reforms and is generally conceded to be just
the right man for the position of road commissioner. He was married in May,
1890, to Miss Orpha Harris, then living in Rye township, this county, and
they have a very pleasant and attractive home, where they enjoy entertain
ing their numerous friends.

JOHN L. WEINHEIMER.
From German ancestors come some of the most intelligent, progressive,
reliable and patriotic citizens of Westchester county, for the Fatherland has
furnished to America a substantial element in her citizenship. The emigrants
from that country have not only adapted themselves to their new surround
ings and conditions, but have infused into American life the resolute purpose
and determined energy of their countrymen. From humble circumstances
they have worked their way upward to positions of trust and responsibility,
and among this number is Mr. Weinheimer, who is now most capably and
satisfactorily serving as justice of the peace in North Castle township. He
was born in Germany, but during his boyhood was brought to this country
by his parents, who came to America for the purpose of giving their children
better advantages than were afforded in the Old World. They were good,

940 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
honest and industrious people, and reared their family to habits of industry
and economy. Our subject grew to manhood in New York city and obtained
a good education in both his native tongue and in English. For twelve years
he was in the editorial room with Horace Greeley, during which time he was
brought in close touch with the great editor, and from him learned many of
the great principles and truths that made the name of Greeley a household
word throughout the length and breadth of the land. His home and farm
are pleasantly located near Rensico, and here he dispenses justice in a man
ner worthy of a judge, and also takes an active part in public affairs. He is
widely known and has many friends throughout the county.

MATTHEW H. HOLBROOR.
Matthew H. Holbrook, the efficient superintendent of the Croton Lake
water works, and a highly respected citizen of Yorktown township, has made
his home in Westchester county since 1878. He is a direct descendant of
one of that little band of Puritans who came to this country in the Mayflower,
and is a son of Amariah and Helen M. (Strong) Holbrook, the latter a second
cousin of Grover Cleveland. He was born and reared in Washington county,
New York, and obtained a good practical education, attending the public
schools, and later graduating at the Union school and academy at Sandy
Hill, New York, at the age of sixteen years.
Mr. Holbrook began his business career as a clerk in the law office of
George L. Terry, of Sandy Hill, where he remained for three years, and
before he had attained his majority was appointed as one of the guards at
the Sing Sing prison, filling that position very acceptably for thirteen years.
For the following two years he engaged in the grocery business at Sing Sing,
and on the ist of July, 1895, was appointed to his present responsible posi
tion, to which he gives his entire attention, having supervision over seven
teen miles of water shed.
At Sing Sing occurred the marriage of Mr. Holbrook and Miss Annie
Griffin, a daughter of Mrs. Susan Griffin, and to them has been born one
son, Howard, who is now a student in the academy of Sing Sing.
Politically Mr. Holbrook has always affiliated with the Republican party,
and has done all in his power to promote its interests and insure its success.
He has served as chairman of the town committee, was a delegate to the
National League at Saratoga, and has been a delegate to various other con
ventions. He has always faithfully stood by his friends, and stands high in
the estimation of the people of the county. He was appointed to his pres
ent position by General Brookfield and sustained by General C. H. F. Callis,
and has proved a most capable and trustworthy superintendent. Socially he

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 941
is a member of the Knights of Honor and the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, has passed all the chairs in the latter fraternity, and is a member
of the Encampment. He took a most active part in erecting and furnishing
Sunnyside Lodge, at Sing Sing. In religious connection he is a Presbyterian,
and for several' years he has served as one of the deacons of his church,
always taking a leading and prominent part in all church work.

HARRY B. MILLER.

There are men in every community of great force of character and
exceptional ability, who by reason of their capacity for leadership become
recognized as foremost citizens and bear a most important part in the devel
opment and progress of the locality with which they are connected. Such
a man is Mr. Miller, who is prominently identified with the interests of
Cortlandt township, Westchester county.
He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 20, i860, a son of
Charles A. and Fannie A. (Stephens) Miller, the latter a native of Connecti
cut and a representative of one of the old and prominent families of that
state. The Miller family is of English origin, and is one of the oldest and
most distinguished families of Pennsylvania. Our subject's father was
prominent in both business and political circles, being a leading hardware
merchant of Philadelphia and a trustee of the Philadelphia Gas Trust. He
was one of the most influential members of the Kepublican party in the
state, and being an able financier he was called upon to serve as state treas
urer for some years. He was also connected with the board of education
of Philadelphia for some time, and was prominently identified with all things
pertaining to the good of his city or state. Socially he was an honored
member of the Masonic fraternity. He died in 1876, at the age of forty-
two years, leaving two children: Harry B., our subject; and Reuben Manley,
a resident of Cincinnati, Ohio, who is connected with the Provident Life &
Trust Company, being in the office of his stepfather, William D. Yerger,
who is general manager of the company for that district.
Harry B. Miller spent his boyhood and youth in his native state and
was educated in private schools. In 1878 he went west and for two years
traveled extensively throughout that section of the country as a correspond
ent of the New York Herald, being with Major Thornburg's command in
1879 at the Ute outbreak in Montana, at Bad canyon and Milk creek, where
they were surrounded and held for some time but were finally released by
General Merritt.
On his return east, Mr. Miller was married, at Asbury Park, New Jersey,.
to Miss Bessie Ferris, a daughter of Captain William S. and Martha J..

942 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
(Tuttle) Ferris, and one child has come to bless their union, a daughter,
Martha Jennett. They have purchased the old Ferris homestead in Cort
landt township, Westchester county, and our subject now devotes the greater
part of his time to its improvement and cultivation. For the past eight or
ten years he has also been engaged in the life-insurance business, represent
ing the Provident Life & Trust Company. He takes considerable interest
in politics, is a stanch Democrat, and has served as auditor of the town of
Cortlandt. He is one of the few who fearlessly advocates his principles
regardless of whom it may strike. Broad-minded and liberal in his views, he
is one of the most enterprising and progressive citizens of his community.

CHARLES H. HORTON.

Charles H. Horton is one of the prominent young men of Tarrytown,
New York, a leader in business and political circles, and is now most accept
ably serving as secretary of the highway commissioners at Mount Pleasant.
Whether in public or private life, he is always a courteous, genial gentleman,
well deserving the high regard in which he is held.
Mr. Horton was born in Tarrytown, in 1868, a son of Sylvester Horton,
a well-known grocer of that place, who was a member of an old and promi
nent family of Westchester county. The father died at the age of forty-two
years, leaving a widow and six children, three sons and three daughters.
Reared in his native place, Charles H. Horton received his education in
the public schools there. On laying aside his text-books he prepared himself
for contracting and building, and has already met with excellent success in
his chosen occupation, many of the public works at Tarrytown having been
constructed under his efficient supervision. He still lives on the old home
stead, where he has erected a fine modern residence, and is a prominent
member of the Odd Fellows Lodge at Tarrytown. Perhaps but few young
men are better known throughout the county than Mr. Horton, and he is
to-day one of the most popular officials of Mount Pleasant town. He is a
leader in the ranks of the local Republican organization, and possesses the
respect and confidence of all who know him.

REV. EUGENE McKENNA.
The loved and popular pastor of Saint Teresa's Roman Catholic church,
in Tarrytown, Westchester county, is the subject of this sketch. Though
he has been located here but three years he has already exerted a noticeable
influence in many directions, greatly increasing the efficiency of several of the
departments of church work and bringing thorough harmony into all. He is a

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 943
man of scholarly attainments, with a mind refined and broadened by travel,
as well as study and experience and with a heart full of love and sympathy
toward mankind in general, and his own little flock of parishioners in par
ticular. Father McKenna is a native of the Emerald Isle, his early recollections
clustering around county Monaghan, where he passed his boyhood. He was
• of a studious nature and it was his privilege to attend St. McCarta's College
for several years. In 1863 he crossed the Atlantic and entered St. Sulpice
College in Montreal, Canada, where, in course of time, he was graduated
with honors and matriculated in Grand Seminary, of the same city. Soon
afterward he was ordained by Bishop McClosky and was assigned to duty as
assistant pastor of the Church of the Transfiguration on Mott street, New
York city. There he labored with Father Thomas Treanor and James H.
McGean for about five years, when he was transferred to St. Mary's church,
of Yonkers, where also he held the office of assistant pastor.
At the close of his service in the last named charge Father McKenna
was so fortunate as to be able to spend some months in the Old World. In
the course of his extended travels, during which he visited many of the inter
esting historic places of several kingdoms, he spent much of his time in
London, Paris and Rome, and points in Switzerland and Ireland. Return
ing to America with renewed strength of mind and body and fresh zeal for
the work of the church, he was appointed priest of St. John's church, in
West Hurley, Ulster county, and remained there for nineteen years. It was
a matter of deep regret to himself and congregation, to whom he had so long
and faithfully ministered, that it was deemed advisable for him to be trans
ferred to a new field of enterprise, where he seemed to be even more needed.
Thus it was that he came to his present charge three years ago. The church
comprises a memberhip of four hundred families. There is a school, con
ducted by Sisters, in connection with the church, and it also is in a proper-
ous condition. The parents of Rev. Eugene McRenna are Patrick and Margaret
(Hughes) McRenna, natives of Ireland, where they passed their entire lives.
They were honest, industrious people, respected and highly esteemed by all
who knew them. 
JOHN H. BRIGGS.
John H. Briggs is one of the most esteemed citizens of Tarrytown, and
for many years he has been prominently identified with the leading business
interests of the place as proprietor of a general market. He is also a veteran
of the civil war and bears an honorable record for brave service in the cause
of freedom and union, and in the paths of peace he has also won an enviable

944 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
reputation through the sterling qualities which go to the making of a good
citizen. Mr. Briggs is a native of Westchester county, born August 21, 1842,
and is a representative of an old Massachusetts family, many of whose mem
bers have been prominent in peace and patriotic in war. The early home of
the family was in Bedford, Massachusetts, from which place the father of our
subject, Amos Briggs, removed to Binghamton, New York, and later in life
he became a resident of Sing Sing, Westchester county. He was a man of
fine physique, being five feet eleven inches in height and weighing one hun
dred and eighty-five pounds. He was also strong and active, was a stone
mason by trade, and was quite successful in his business affairs. He mar
ried Miss Lovice Reynolds, who belonged to a well-known and prominent
family of New Bedford, Massachusetts, which was founded in this country by
French Huguenots who left their native land on account of religious persecu
tion. To this worthy couple were born nine children, namely: Amos S.,
deceased, who was for years a well-known business man of Tarrytown; Lo
vice, deceased, who was the wife of Mr. Williams in Peekskill, New York;.
Mary, who is the widow of Ed Ackerman, of Peekskill; Noah H., who died
in Tarrytown; Mason, who has for years been a well-known hotel man;
Charles, who was a sailor on the high seas for many years and died in Penn
sylvania; Mrs. Frances Wheeler, who died at Manchester, Connecticut;
George W., a soldier of the civil war and a member of the famous "Buck-
tail" regiment of Pennsylvania, who died in New York in 1891; and John
Henry, our subject. The father was fatally injured in an accident and died
at the age of sixty-seven years, but the mother lived to the advanced age of
eighty-four years. Both were devout members of the Methodist Protestant
church, and he was a Republican in politics.
John H. Briggs spent his boyhood and youth under the parental roof,
and began his business career as a clerk in his brother Amos' store, where he
remained until after the outbreak of the Rebellion. On the 12th of August,
1862, in response to his country's call for three hundred thousand more men
to aid in the defense of the Union, he enlisted in the First New York
Mounted Rifles, under command of Colonel Charles C. Dodge, son of Will
iam E. Dodge, and Lieutenant-Colonel Underdonk as second officer. He
remained in the service until November 20, 1865, and was promoted to the
rank of sergeant for gallant service. His appointment was as follows:
The Commanding Officer of the First Regiment of Mounted Rifles, N.
Y. S. V./
To all who see these presents, greeting: Know ye, that reposing special
trust and confidence in the patriotism, valor, fidelity and abilities of John H.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 945
Briggs, I do hereby appoint him sergeant of Company C, of the First Regi
ment of Mounted Rifles, N. Y. S. V., in the service of the United States, to
rank as such from the 29th of June, 1864. He is, therefore, carefully and
diligently to discharge the duty of sergeant by doing and performing all man
ner of things thereunto belonging; and I do strictly charge and require all
non-commissioned officers and soldiers under his command to be obedient- to
his orders as sergeant; and he is to observe and follow such orders and direc
tions from time to time as he shall receive from me, or the future command
ing officer of the regiment, or oth'er superior officers and non-commissioned
officers set over him, according to the rules and discipline of war. The war
rant to continue in force during the pleasure of the commanding officer of the
regiment for the time being.
Given under hand at the headquarters of the regiment, before Richmond,,
Virginia, this ist day of December, in the year of our Lord, 1864.
By the commanding officer, E. V. Sumner,
Colonel ist N. Y. Mounted Rifles,
Jas. Fairgrieve, Commanding the Regiment.
ist Lieut, ist N. Y. Mounted Rifles,
Adjutant of the Regiment.
A. G. O. No. 103.
For some time after the war Mr. Briggs continued in his brother's
employ, and then embarked in the market business on his own account,
dealing in all kinds of meats, vegetables and fruits. For the past ten years
he has carried on business in the Masonic Hall block in Tarrytown. He is
one of the most prominent members of W. B. Burnett Post, No. 496, of that
place, in which he is now serving his fifth term as commander, and he has
been an active and zealous worker for its interests. For five years he has
efficiently served on the board of education and gives a ready support to all
interests calculated to advance the moral, intellectual or material welfare of
the community. He and his family hold their ecclesiastical membership in
the Second Reformed church of Tarrytown and take an active part in all
church and Sabbath-school work.
In 1868 Mr. Briggs was united in marriage with Miss Anna A. Delanoy,
who was born, reared and educated in Sing Sing. Her parents, Josiah and
Lucinda (Tillson) Delanoy, were residents of that place and both died in
this county, where the father engaged in business as a carpenter and con
tractor for many years. In religious faith they were Methodists. To our
subject and his wife have been born nine children, as follows: John M., who
is engaged in business with his father; Charles Ed; Jennie; George W., who
spent six years in a broker's office in New York city, but is now at home and
serving as tax collector for schools; Wilbur G., who graduated at the Naval
Academy, and in April, 1898, entered the naval service of the United States
in the war with Spain, being on board the New Orleans; Frank D., who
graduated with honors at Hamilton College, and also entered the service of
60

946 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
his country, and as a member of the Fourth Battalion was stationed at
Camp Black; Frederick F., a graduate of the Tarrytown high school; and
Susan M. and Helen Seeley, who are both attending Mrs. Buckley's private
school at Tarrytown. ELIAS Q. GRIFFIN.
This prosperous agriculturist of Yorktown township, Westchester county,
is a worthy scion of one of the old and honored families of eastern New
York. The fine old homestead which he manages and owns is an ideal
country seat, with fertile, well cultivated fields, fine groves of trees, and
many natural attractions. The house which stands on this property and now
shelters our subject's household was one of the first erected in this county,
and six generations have been born and reared within its hospitable walls.
The paternal grandfather of our subject was Jonathan Griffin, a native
of Dutchess county. He was a boy at the time of the war of the Revolution-,
and a few years later he married a Miss Johnson and settled in this county,
where he became well-to-do and influential. He assisted all his children to
get a good start in their independent careers and was respected by all who
knew him. Daniel Griffin, the father of our subject, was born on this old
homestead, April 3, 1800, and, like his ancestors, followed agricultural pur
suits. He also learned the mason's trade, at which he worked more or less.
He married Maria Ridgeway, a daughter of Daniel Ridgeway. She was born
on the Briar Cliff Farm, near Sing' Sing, New York. Daniel Ridgeway was
one of the two sons of Benjamin Ridgeway, of Philadelphia, who gave each
of his children one hundred acres of land.. He was a district attorney and a
man of high standing in his profession. The wife of Daniel Ridgeway was a
Miss Elizabeth Pugsley, of a prominent old family of Sing Sing.
To the marriage of Daniel and Maria Griffin eight children were born,
namely: Mary; Phoebe; Elias; Daniel J., who married Ellastine Hyatt and
is a resident of Sing Sing; Gilbert, who married Margaret Griffin, and died,
leaving three children, — Franklin, Ordway and Alma; and Elizabeth, David
and Emma, who have passed to the silent land. The faithful mother of
these children was called to her reward when she had attained the good old
age of seventy-nine years. The father departed this life when he was in his
eighty-seventh year. They were brought up in the faith of the Society of
Friends, and adhering to the noble, peaceful teachings of that sect, their
lives were beyond reproach, worthy "to be seen and read of men." With
such parents and the influence of such a beautiful Christian home, it is small
wonder that the children who were so fortunate as to be reared in this fine
old residence became sterling citizens and useful members of society.
Elias Q. Griffin, of this article, was born here March 3, 1842, and as

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 947
soon as he arrived at a suitable age he was set to work on the farm, early
learning lessons of industry and attention to business. He is now a practical
farmer and judiciously manages his financial affairs. Everything about his
farm is in fine condition and speaks well for the constant, watchful care of
the owner. He has spent his whole life here and is deeply attached to the
spot. His two sisters, Mary and Phoebe, keep house for him, and their home
is an ideal one, each sharing fully the other's interests, joys and sorrows.
Politically, Mr. Griffin is a Democrat.

BENJAMIN B. SEARLES.

An old and honored citizen of Westchester county, Mr. Searles has been
identified with its agricultural interests from early life. He was born on the
old Searles homestead in this county, October 14, 1818, and belongs to a
family which was founded in this state in colonial days. His father, Bailey
B. Searles, was born in Bedford township, Westchester county, in 1794, a
son of Samuel Searles, and grandson of Joseph Searles, who was of German
descent. Samuel Searles and wife, Keziah, reared a family of sixteen chil
dren, of whom ten were each over six feet in height, while their aggregate
weight was fully two thousand pounds. One daughter also was gifted with
great strength, being able to lift a barrel of cider up so as to drink out of the
bunghole. Baily B. Searles, our subject's father, followed the occupation of farm
ing throughout life, was a consistent member of the Society of Friends, and
gave his political support in turn to the Whig and Republican parties. He
married Miss Sarah Moger, also a member of the Society of Friends. She
was born in New Castle, New York, and was a daughter of Simons and
Eustacia (Gales) Moger. This worthy couple became the parents of two
children: Caroline, deceased wife of William B. Finch, of Banksville; and
Benjamin, of this sketch. The father died on the old homestead in 1867,
aged seventy-three years, and the mother passed away in 1863, aged sixty-
three. They were widely and favorably known.
In much the usual manner of farmer boys of his day, Benjamin B. Searles
passed his early life, his education being acquired in the public schools. In
1843 he was united in marriage with Miss Caroline Young, a native of Sing
Sing and a daughter of James and Elizabeth (Baldwin) Young. She is one
of a family of nine children, of whom eight reached years of maturity,
namely: Jemima, James B., Hester S., Charles, Eben, Samuel, Sarah Ann
and Caroline. The father died in Westchester county, and the mother, who
was an earnest and faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church,
departed this life in 1861, at the age of seventy-three years. The children

948 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
born to Mr. and Mrs. Searles were as follows: Adaline, now the wife of
Samuel Green, a carpenter who resides in Mount Kisco, this county; Sarah
E., the second born, who died in infancy; Bailey B., who married Miss-
Alice Flewellan, of this county, daughter of Caleb Flewellan, deceased, and
is engaged in farming in Westchester county; and William R., who married
Miss Iretta Thomkins, of West Somers, this county.
Mr. Searles has spent fifty-three years of his married life on the old home
farm, where he located prior to his marriage in 1832. Although a portion
of the original tract has been sold, it is still a large farm, and is one of the
most attractive and pleasant places in the locality. As an agriculturist he
has met with a well deserved success, and his life has ever been such as to-
win for him the confidence and respect of all with whom he has come in con
tact. He and his sons are all stanch supporters of the Republican party,
and socially he affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

CHARLES HOFFMEISTER.
This gentleman, who was for many years actively identified with the
business interests of New Rochelle, New York, was born in the village of
Hanover, Germany, October 4, 1824, a son of Charles and Henrietta (Cor
nelius) Hoffmeister. His father was a skilled mechanic and millwright, who
built many mills in the locality in which he lived. He died when his son
Charles was a boy of three years, and thus the latter was very early in life
thrown upon his own resources. However, he was able to secure a fair edu
cation, attending school between the ages of six and fifteen years; then, in
accordance with the German custom, he was placed at a trade, namely, that
of butcher, in which he became familiar with every department, but making
a specialty of the manufacture of sausage.
In 1849, at the age of twenty-five years, he decided to seek his fortune
in America, and on the nth day of May embarked for New York city, where
he landed in safety July 10. At once he began to look around for employ
ment, and after two weeks he secured a place, at two and a half dollars per
week, his duty being to pick hair from coon-skins. With these wages, how
ever, he could pay for no more than cheap board; so he continued on the
outlook for a better place, which he soon found, and the next three years he
was in the employ of Captain Otto, of the Butcher Guards, and during this
period he saved his money, which enabled him to start in business for him
self, at first with a small stand, but from the commencement he prospered
and made money rapidly. At length, however, he invested largely in pork,
which directly went down in price and he lost all he had made. This was
during the Crimean war, before he located in New Rochelle. Later he made:

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 949
another business venture, in the butchering business, and was very success
ful, but in time he sold out this situation, on account of ill health, and started
in the coal business, in partnership with a Mr. Davids, and in this enterprise
also was successful, buying in large quantities and obtaining cheap transpor
tation by water and soon controlling the business at New Rochelle; and here,
too, he was the founder of the New Rochelle Coal & Lumber Company. For
a time he dealt in lumber, in connection with his coal business, but sold this
to the firm of Grenzebach & Carpenter. Returning to the butchering busi
ness again, he opened a well equipped meat market, which he successfully
conducted, in addition to his other interests, and did a large and prosperous
business, until January i, 1899, when he sold out and retired, having been
an invalid for about nine years, confined mostly to his house. For the last
three years of this time his worthy wife took charge of his business. He died
on the 13th of January, 1899, and his funeral was attended by a large con
course of friends from all parts of the county and New York city. Being a
Freemason, a member of Huguenot Lodge, and also a member of the Royal
Arcanum and a retired member of the fire department, he was well and favor
able known throughout a large section of the country. The Masonic services
were held in Masonic Hall, in his own building. Mr. Hoffmeister was a man
of the highest integrity, honesty being his watch-word, and perhaps no man
in Westchester county was held in higher regard. Besides his pleasant home
in New Rochelle, he owned other valuable property here, and was a stock
holder in the New Rochelle Bank.
Mr. Hoffmeister was married three times. His first wife, who was a
native of Hanover, Germany, and whom he married in that country, died of
cholera, in August, soon after landing in America. In 1852 Mr. Hoffmeister
wedded Miss Margaret Lutz, of New York city, and they had one daughter,
named Amelia, who is now the wife of Julius Rusche, of New Rochelle. For
his third wife our subject chose Miss Isabelle Wendling, a native of Ford
ham, New York. Her father, Frederick Wendling, deceased, was one of the
old and honored citizens of New Rochelle, a native of Bavaria, Germany,
born in Salzhof, December 24, 18 14. He came to America when a young
man and worked at his trade of cabinet-making in New York city for a short
time, and was advised to go to the country, on account of his poor health,
and consequently he came to New Rochelle, in 1845, and took charge of the
Thomas Ronalds estate for twenty-eight years, which he conducted honestly
and faithfully until the death of the proprietor. He amassed considerable
property. For a time he conducted a soda-water business in New Rochelle.
He was active until about three years before his death. He was a man of
the highest integrity, and his counsels were sought by many, and his life was
such as to serve for an example for honesty and integrity. His death was a

950 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
serious loss to the community, although he had passed the period of activity.
He was a member of the Lutheran church. He was married in Zion's church,
New York city, August 31, 1842, to Miss Isabella Rerney, a native of Canada,
who died in 1863, after having had six children, — Isabella, Emily, Frederick,
John, Rebecca and Adam, all deceased but two, — Isabella and Emily, the
latter the wife of Henry Berger.

THE D. S. JACRSON FAMILY.
Prominent among the families that have made Yonkers their home in
the present generation are the descendants of Henry Jackson, of New York
city, and Katherine Sherwood. On the paternal side they are identified with
the annals of early New York, and they can trace their maternal line of
ancestry back to several of the most distinguished settlers of Westchester
county. David Sherwood Jackson, the grandson of Henry Jackson, married
Elizabeth Williams, a daughter of Dr. Abraham Valentine Williams, of
Fordham, and his first wife, Emeline Davia. Dr. Williams was a son of
Elisha Williams and Ann Valentine, and was thus descended from two of the
oldest and most representative families of the county. During the early
years of the present century he was among the best known physicians in
New York, in which state, at Bloomingdale, he for a long time commanded
a lucrative practice. He was connected by marriage with the Odell and
Dyckman families, of Westchester.
Of the children of David Sherwood Jackson and Elizabeth, nee Williams,
Sarah Catharine, the eldest, married Frederick Agate, the only son of the
late Joseph Agate, a prominent and wealthy citizen of Yonkers. Frederick
Agate died in Luzerne, Switzerland, and his wife in New York city. Two
children survive them, — Frederick and May Agate, — who now reside in
Yonkers. Abraham Valentine Williams Jackson, the second child of David Sher
wood Jackson and Elizabeth, nee Williams, was born in New York, February
9, 1862, and was instructed in the rudiments of knowledge in the public and
private schools of that city. Having at an early age evinced a strong pas
sion for study, he was entered as a student at Columbia College, New York,
in 1879, with the design of preparing him for one of the learned professions.
In 1883 he was graduated at that university at the head of his class, winning
thereby the prize fellowship in letters, which enabled him to prosecute a
post-graduate course of study for three years. In 1884 the degree of M. A.
was conferred upon him by Columbia College; in 1885 the degree of L.H.D.;,
and in 1886 the degree of Ph. D. In 1887 he was appointed instructor in

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 951
the Anglo-Saxon and the Iranian languages at Columbia, at the same time
that he was prosecuting a course of special study in the University of Halle,
Germany. In 1889 Professor Jackson married Dora Elizabeth Ritter, of
Yonkers, a daughter of the late John Peter Ritter, who for twenty-five years
was assistant manager of the New York Clearing House.
From 1891 until 1895 Professor Jackson filled the chair of adjunct pro
fessor of the English language and literature at Columbia, .and in the latter
year was appointed professor of the Indo-Iranian languages at the same
university. His reputation as an oriental scholar was by this time firmly
established, both in this country and abroad. He was elected a member of
the American Oriental Society, of the American Philological Society, of the
Deutsche Morgenlandische Gesellschaft, and other learned bodies, while his
services as a lecturer were in constant demand. As an author
Professor Jackson has gained a distinguished position in American
literature, and especially among learned men. Besides contributing
many articles ,to the journals and periodicals at home and abroad, he has
written several books of permanent value. In 1888 he published "A Hymn
of Zoroaster, Vasna XXXI; " in 1892, "An Avesta Grammar, in Compari
son with Sanskrit; " in 1893, " An Avesta Reader; " and in 1898, "Zoroaster,
the Prophet of Ancient Iran." The last named work is regarded by oriental
ists as a classic, and promises to hand down its author's name to posterity.
Unlike most men of learning, Professor Jackson takes an active interest in
the social and political affairs in the community in which he resides. In
recognition of his public spirit he was appointed a trustee of the board of
education of Yonkers in 1898, — a position which he has since filled with
fidelity and efficiency.
Lily Hearns Jackson, the youngest child of David Sherwood Jackson
and Elizabeth ne'e Williams, married George Edward Stevens, formerly of
New Haven, but now a resident of Yonkers. Mr. Stevens is largely interested
in the New Haven Clock Company, and is at present one of its officers.
The children of this marriage are two sons,— George Edward, Jr., and
John. 
DENNIS O'NEILL.
Mr. O'Neill, who is one of the enterprising and public-spirited citizens of
Bronxville, was born in West-Made, Ireland, in 1844, a son of John and
Julia (Loran) O'Neill, natives also of " Erin's green isle." His father died
in that country, October 18, 1846, but his mother, born in 1807, is still liv
ing and is in the full possession of all her faculties.
Mr. O'Neill, the subject proper of this sketch, was educated in his native
country, in the common schools, until he was fifteen years of age, when he

952 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
commenced to learn the carpenter's trade, which he completed and followed
until he came to America, in 1866. His first two years in this country he
spent in New York city, at his trade. In August, 1868, he moved to Bronx
ville and entered the employ of Frederick Opendyke, a superintending car
penter, and remained in his service for thirteen years. Then he began con
tracting and building on his own account, in Bronxville, South Woodland,
Port Chester and other towns in the vicinity, completing buildings from cellar
to roof. As an evidence of his public spirit we may refer to the fact that he has
been one of the principal advocates of good roads, so changing much of the
adverse sentiment of the community that he rejoices to-day in witnessing the
great results in the improvements of the highways, which are now among the
best in the state.
In his political views he is a stanch Democrat, doing much efficient work
for the advancement of his party. He has held many local offices, and is
now justice of the peace, having been three times elected. He has long since
established a good reputation for a judicial character, and is in every way
highly esteemed by the community.
In matrimony he was united with Miss Ellen Brown, daughter of John
Brown, by whom he has one daughter living, named Margaret E. The family
are members of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Roman Catholic,
at Tuckahoe, in which beautiful village they have a fine residence, on one of
the principal streets.
JOHN I. THOM.
For almost a quarter of a century John I. Thorn has been prominently
associated with the business interests of Pleasantville, meriting the high
praise which is cordially extended him by every one who enjoys his acquaint
anceship. He is a native of Mount Pleasant, New York, his birth having
occurred October 28, 1847. He comes from a sterling, honored old family of
this state, his parents having been Isaac and Emeline (Roswell) Thorn, the
latter a daughter of John and Esther (Rogue) Roswell. They all followed
agricultural pursuits, leading quiet, industrious lives, without fear or reproach,
as they endeavored to perform their daily duties in a conscientious manner
and were loving and just to their associates and all with whom they had
dealings. After having reared seven children to maturity, seeing them
take useful places in the busy world, Isaac Thorn and wife passed to their
reward, he dying at the age of seventy-seven years, while she was just three
score years old at the time of her demise. He was a Republican in his polit
ical attitude, believing firmly in the superiority of that party. Of his fam
ily but four are now living, namely: Mariette; Deborah; Abbie Jane, wife

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 953
of Ed Conklin, of Hudson, New York, and John I.; George, Samuel and
Esther have passed into the silent land.
Upon the home farm John I. Thom was reared and educated in the
manner common to boys of the agricultural class in his day. By the time
that he had arrived at his majority he found himself possessed of a fair gen
eral education and a thorough knowledge of the proper way to carry on a
farm. However, his tastes did not lead him to continue as a farmer and he
eventually drifted into business. Coming to Pleasantville, he proceeded
to devote his talents to various enterprises and for a number years has
been the proprietor of a finely equipped livery stable. His horses are
of an unusually high grade, comprising good roadsters and saddle animals;
and a full line of first-class vehicles of different kinds may be found here.
As a business man he has met with success and has acquired a comfortable
competence. Upon arriving at man's estate, John I. Thom was united in marriage
with Miss Fanny Wheeler, who was born at North Salem, this county, a
daughter of Ira Wheeler, of that place. By this union five children were
born: Lillie W. , May Rose, Edith O., Ernest and Thomas. The wife and
mother was called to her final rest in 1880, and Mr. Thom subsequently wed
ded Miss Esther Odell, a daughter of Leonard and Martha Odell. One son
graces the second union of our subject, John Leonard by name. Mr. and
Mrs. Thom are members of the Presbyterian church. Following in the
political footsteps of his father, he is an unswerving Republican, patriotic
and public-spirited.
ALBERT FINCH.
Albert Finch, a skillful mechanic and expert electrician, is one of the
respected citizens of Yonkers, Westchester county. He is a native of the
city of New York, born December 7, 1844, his parents being Robert T. and
Deborah (Bridgeman) Finch. He is of English ancestry, and his paternal
grandfather was a resident of Berkshire and an adherent of the Episcopal
church. He lived to attain the ripe age of four-score years. Robert Finch,
the father of our subject, was born in Berkshire and there learned the trade
of cabinet-making, which calling he followed throughout his life. On attain
ing his majority he came to the United States and took up his residence in
New York city, where he married a daughter of Thomas Bridgeman, a well
known florist. Mr. Bridgeman was possessed of considerable wealth, owning
much valuable property on Broadway, and his greenhouses and flower gar
dens were located at Eighteenth street and Broadway, where he occupied an
entire square. He was connected with various horticultural and agricultural
societies, and his opinions were received as authority upon subjects relating

954 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
to his line of business. He was an earnest member of the Baptist church
and was noted for his many acts of kindness and benevolence. Politically
he was a Democrat. His children were seven in number, and were named as
follows: Joseph, John, Alfred, Angela, Deborah, Martha and Emily.
Albert Finch received an excellent education in the schools of the
metropolis and Yonkers, and after completing his studies worked for four
years upon farms in Rockland county, New York. Being too ambitious to
settle down to the routine of an agricultural life, he then began learning the
business of a machinist with Otis Brothers & Company, of this city. He
remained in the employ of that firm for eight years, during which time he
thoroughly mastered the business, and in 1871 he entered upon his long term
of service with the firm of Eickemeyer & Osterheld, covering a period of
twenty-two years. The firm controls one of the large hat-manufacturing
establishments of the country, and Mr. Finch had charge of their construc
tion and experimental work. With his able assistance the electric motor for
trolleys, an invention of the senior member of the firm, was placed in suc
cessful operation and has since been introduced in many sections of the coun
try with gratifying success. Many lines using this system are now in pros
perous and flourishing condition, both financially and mechanically. When
in 1893 the electrical branch of the business was sold to the Otis Electric
Company, Mr. Finch was sought by the latter firm to fit up their new plant
with machinery and to act as foreman of the enterprise. Accepting the prof
fered position, he is now connected with this well known corporation, and
under his supervision has from seventy-five to one hundred and sixty men,
according to the amount of contracts on hand.
In 1866 Mr. Finch was united in marriage to Miss Mary Ann Smith, a
daughter of John Smith, of England. They became the parents of three
children, two of whom died before receiving a name. The other child, Ida,
is now the wife of Charles Thompson, and is a resident of King's Bridge, New
York. In political matters Mr. Finch is entirely independent of party ties
and exercises his franchise in support of the men and measures which he
believes will most promote the public good. He is identified with the
Masonic order, the Exempt Firemen's Association and the Otis Mutual Ben
efit Association.
WILLIAM PATEMAN.
William Pateman, senior member of the firm of Pateman & Lockwood,
lumber dealers, of Irvington, has thus been prominently connected with the
business interests of the city for twenty-three years, and sustains an unsullied
reputation in commercial circles. A native of New Jersey, he was born in
the city of Newark, July 2, 1827, and is a son of John and Sarah J. Pate-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 955
man. The father was likewise a native of New Jersey, but the mother was
born in England in the year 1800. After their marriage they located in the
town of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, where Mr. Pateman engaged in contract
ing and building for a number of years. Later he took up his abode in
Newark, where he spent the residue of his days. His wife passed away in
1878. In his youth William Pateman pursued his education at night in a pri
vate school conducted by Dr. Howland, at Tarrytown. He is strictly a self-
made man in the best sense of that term, for at an early age he started out
upon an independent business career, first serving an apprenticeship at the
brick and stone mason's trade. He also learned the business of lathing and
plastering, and having worked in those lines to some extent in Newark he
afterward became interested in freighting on the Hudson, which pursuit he
followed until 1866. He then turned his attention to the lumber business, in
which he was engaged, as a member of the firm of Taylor & Pateman, at
Dobbs Ferry for six years. The opportunities of the west next attracted
him, and he purchased a farm in Morris county, Kansas, continuing its opera
tion and development until 1875, when he returned to the east and purchased-
the interest of Andrew Storm in the lumber business at Irvington. Prior to 1876
he had entered into partnership with S. B. Lockwood, under the firm name
of Lockwood & Pateman, and the new firm dealt in lumber and mason's
materials. In 1888 the style of the company became as at present, Pateman
& Lockwood, and the firm is one of the best known and most reliable rep
resentatives of the lumber trade in this section of the county. A large and
well selected stock of lumber and all kinds of mason's and builder's materials
and supplies are kept constantly on hand, and as the yards are conveniently
located near the New York Central Railroad tracks, the firm does an exten
sive and constantly increasing outside business. By intelligent and well direct
ed energy Mr. Pateman has made a success of his commercial enterprises, and
at the same time he has won an enviable reputation for uprightness and hon
orable dealing in all his transactions.
In 1849 Mr. Pateman was united in marriage to Miss Harriet F. Weeks,
a daughter of Absalom Weeks, of North Tarrytown, and by this union two
sons and four daughters were born, namely: Sarah E., who died in May,
1875; Irene, wife of H. J. Parnell, of Tarrytown; Mary Viola, wife of Will
iam S. Mack; William Thomas, Albert and Edna Hester. The mother died
in May, 1874, and in 1878 Mr. Pateman was again married, his second union
being with Mary M. Miller, of Bedford, Westchester county, a daughter of
Charles M. and Sarah (Holmes) Miller. They have two children, Edith A.
and Charles M., who are attending the schools of Irvington. The name of
Mr. Pateman appears on the membership roll of Diamond Lodge, No. 555,.

956 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
A. F. & A. M., and he is regarded as a valued representative of the order.
He and his wife are members of Christ church, of Tarrytown, and are active
in all good works whereby their fellow men are to be benefited and elevated.
They have many sincere friends in the community in which they reside, and
are highly respected by all who know them. Since starting out in life for
himself Mr. Pateman has steadily worked his way upward and as the result
of his capable management, untiring energy and keen discretion in business
affairs has won a most creditable success.

RICHARD G. BENNETT.

Mr. Bennett, who was appointed postmaster of Tuckahoe, Westchester
county, New York, January i, 1898, as the successor to Isaac B. Lent, was
born in Staffordshire, England, January 6, 1841, and while an infant his
father died. His mother, whose name before marriage was Sarah Webber,
was a native of England, and for her second husband married John Massey.
In i860 they emigrated to America, when the family consisted of the step
father, the mother and a step-brother. They first settled on Long Island,
New York, upon a farm, where they remained until 1863.
Early in the war of the great Rebellion Mr. Bennett enlisted for the
Union and the government, joining Company H, Fourth Regiment of Massa
chusetts Cavalry, under the command of Colonel Washburne, who was
killed near the close of the war. The regiment to which Mr. Bennett was
attached was sent to South Carolina and stationed for a time at Beaufort,
and thence went to Fortress Monroe and to Newport News, where it was
placed under the command of General B. F. Butler, who had been in com
mand of the Army of the Gulf and was now in charge of the Army of
the James. The regiment remained there until the fall of Richmond,
when it was assigned to duty under General Charles Paine, and after
ward General Terry. With this regiment Mr. Bennett participated in the
battle in front of Richmond, and during that engagement he contracted a
"cold" from' which he never fully recovered; however, he continued in the
service until the surrender of General Lee and the virtual end- of the war.
With four others, he was the first to enter Richmond, and was also one of
the guards of honor selected to escort General Robert E. Lee across the
lines after his surrender. Mr. Bennett was often detailed to carry important
dispatches to commanding officers. He was honorably discharged from the
army December 14, 1865. His stepfather, John Massey, was also a soldier
in the same war, a member of the Eleventh New York Heavy Artillery,
and during the last portion of the period of his service he was at Boston
Harbor.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 957
After his- discharge Mr. Bennett visited his old home in England, and,
returning, settled on Long Island, where he married Miss Charlotte Webber,
of Long Island, a daughter of Thomas Webber. She was a native of Nova
Scotia, and when she was a little girl was brought by her parents to Long
Island in their emigration to that section of New York. His children are
Ellen S., Edna F., Lillie G., Richard A., Anna G., Geraldine L., Emma
and Irene. In 1867 Mr. Bennett moved to Tuckahoe, where he has since
resided. From that year until 1898 he was a contractor and builder, and in
January, 1898, he was appointed postmaster, as already mentioned, for a
term of four years.
In his political principles Mr. Bennett is a Republican. For the past
fourteen years he has served his village as a trustee, five years of which time
he was president of the board. He is a member of Farnsworth Post, G. A.
R. , at Mount Vernon; and of Marble Lodge, No. 702, F. & A. M., of which
he was master for three years. He is also one of the wardens of St. John's
church, Protestant Episcopal, at Tuckahoe. He is a trustee of the Building
and Loan Association and of the Tuckahoe Lyceum.

FRANCIS P. TREANOR.

An enumeration of those men of the present generation who have won-
honor and public recognition for themselves, and at the same time have hon
ored the state to which they belong, would be incomplete were there failure
to make prominent reference to the one whose name initiates this paragraph.
He holds distinctive precedence in Democratic circles in Westchester county,
in fact is an important factor in the party in connection with its state man
agement and policy. He has held positions of prominence, in all of which
his course has been characterized by a masterful understanding of the prob
lems presented, and by a patriotic devotion to those measures which he
believed for the public good. Over his political record there falls no shadow
of wrong or suspicion of evil and he is popular among the political leaders
of the Empire state.
Born in New York city, on the nth of May, 1856, he is a son of Patrick
and Margaret (Tammany) Treanor. His father, who was born in 18 10, died
in 1875, at the age of sixty-five years. In the family were three sons and a
daughter. James J., the eldest, is a graduate of St. Francis Xavier's Col
lege, which has conferred upon him the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Mas
ter of Arts, and had the honor of being valedictorian of his class. He is now
engaged in the stone business in New York city, and is one of the prominent
and brilliant men of the metropolis. John A., the second of the family, was
a graduate of St. Francis Xavier College, became a member of the Jesuit

958 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
order of Catholic priests and vice-president of St. John's College, of New
York city. He was also vice-president of St. Francis Xavier College, of New
York, and pastor of St. Lawrence church, on Eighty-fourth street. In 1 88 1,
in company with Judge Donahue of the supreme court, he made an extended
trip through the west. While descending the Yosemite valley in a carriage
the vehicle was overturned and he was killed. He was a man of great learn
ing and one of the most distinguished priests in the city. Margaret, the only
daughter of the family, was graduated in the convent of the Sacred Heart,
then became a sister in that order, and there died in 1884.
The other son of the family is Francis P. Treanor, of this review. He
was educated at Montreal, Canada, and in St. Francis Xavier's College, in
New York city, receiving from the latter institution the degree of A. B. upon
his graduation in 1877. Three years later he was selected by his alma mater
to address the graduating class of 1880, at Chickering Hall, New York city.
This is considered a great honor by the alumni, and the recognition of Mr.
Treanor's ability in this manner was most fitting and well deserved. On
leaving school he became associated with his father in the stone business, a
connection that was continued for several years. Later he was a member of
the firm of Hurst & Treanor and is now the junior member of the firm- of
J. J. & F. P. Treanor. Their business has grown to extensive proportions
and brings to them a handsome income. They are accounted among the
leaders of the stone trade in the metropolis, and at the present writing, in
the spring of 1899, Mr. Treanor is in the employ of the corporation counsel,
Mr. Clark, of New York city, in charge of the construction of the Empire
City Trotting track, at Yonkers, which will be the finest track in the world
when completed. He possesses keen discrimination in business affairs,
marked enterprise and sound judgment and his well directed efforts have
brought him a most creditable and gratifying success.
But while Mr. Treanor enjoys a most enviable reputation in commercial
circles, he is probably better known throughout the state in connection with
his political labors. His knowledge of the issues of the day is broad and
comprehensive, and his opinions are the result of careful deliberation. In
1879, when only twenty-three years of age, he was elected a member of the'
general assembly from the seventeenth district of New York city, receiving
a majority of two thousand, when the year before there had been a Repub
lican majority of seven hundred and one. He served as the only Democratic
member on the committee of cities from New York, that year, and with the
exception of Theodore Roosevelt, the present governor, was the youngest
member of that legislature. He was the only Democratic member appointed
by the speaker on the committee to investigate the street-cleaning depart
ment of New York city, and following their report many changes and

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 959
reforms were effected. In 1881 he was elected as a Tammany candidate
from the old eleventh senatorial district, of New York, the largest district in
the city at that time, extending from the thirtieth district to Harlem river,
including the whole of the annexed district from the Harlem district to
Long Island sound and the Yonkers line. His opponents were Senator T.
E. C. Ecclecine, the regular Democratic nominee, and Steve Van Rensselaer,
the Republican candidate, known as the "silver-tongued lawyer." He was
elected by a majority of five thousand, when the year previous the district
had given a Republican majority of thirty-five hundred. He was at that
time the youngest man ever elected state senator in New York, being only
twenty-six years of age. He served as chairman of the committee on com
merce and navigation, also of internal affairs, and was a member of the com
mittee on cities. In connection with Senator Grady, he was credited with
accomplishing the famous deadlock which lasted for seven weeks before the
organization of the senate. In 1884 he was again tendered the nomination
for senator, but declined to accept on account of business reasons. He was
once appointed a member of the police board by Mayor J. H. Bell, and
was offered re-appointment by Mayor J. H. Weller. He refused the honor,
but continued a member of the board of health, being three times re-appoint
ed to that board and serving throughout all the legislative changes which
occurred from the time of its organization. Upon the retirement of W. H.
Paddock from the presidency of the police board, Mr. Treanor was elected
his successor, in which capacity he has served up to the present time, hav
ing been reappointed in October, 1897, for another term of four years, which
will continue until 1901. At the last election he received thirteen out of
fourteen votes cast, a fact which indicates in no uncertain manner the faith
fulness which marked his discharge of duty.
In 1880 Mr. Treanor was a delegate to the Democratic national con
vention, which nominated Hancock for the presidency. In 1882 he was a
delegate to the state convention which nominated Grover Cleveland for the
position of governor of New York, and was again a delegate in the state con
ventions of 1884, 1885 and 1898. He has frequently been a delegate to the
county conventions, and was chairman thereof in 1896. He was a member
of the original commission which drafted the bill for the creation of the pres
ent department of public works of Yonkers, organized in 1894. By Mr. Clark,
corporation counsel of New York city, he was appointed a member of a com
mission of three members to appraise claims for damages amounting to over
a million dollars done to property along the Bronx river, due to drainage for
Kensico dam. The first award, as decreed by the court of appeals, required
the city to pay only one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. He was also a
member of the board of health that destroyed the notorious unsanitary dams

960 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
on the Nepperhan river. He is now chairman of the third-ward Democratic
general committee and also of its executive committee, and belongs to the
Democratic City Club, of New York city. Mr. Treanor was governor of
the Palisade Boat Club for eight years and vice-president for three years,
and is a gentleman of social qualities and genial disposition, popular in club,
commercial and political circles. Of scholarly attainments, broad culture
and genuine worth, he has risen to a position of prominence in the Empire
state and is accorded the admiration and respect which he justly deserves.
In October, 1882, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Treanor and Miss
Agnes O'Connor, and to them have been born two sons and two daughters:
Mary, William J., Gladys M. and Frank P.

Mrs. FLORENCE HILL.

The Florence Hotel of Tarrytown, unquestionably one of the most pop
ular hostelries of Westchester county, is finely situated upon a height over
looking the Hudson river and much of the town, and its advantages of loca
tion are obvious, as, at the same time it is on Broadway, a macadamized
and well kept street, along which many of the most beautiful and attractive
homes of the wealthy are built. The peculiar beauties of Tarrytown have
often been told, in song and story, and visitors delight to haunt the scenes
made immortal by Washington Irving. From the great metropolis come
hither the busy people, wearied with the ceaseless struggle for wealth and
position, and find in the quiet peace and loveliness of nature hereabouts the
rest and solace they crave. Among these throngs are to be found many of
the patrons of the Florence Hotel, — many, too, who are periodical guests,
for, having once come, they are almost certain to do so again, finding, as
they do here, all of the accustomed appointments of modern ways of living.
The Florence Hotel is owned by Colonel William J. Ryan, of Tarry
town, well known here and in New York city, as he deals extensively in real
estate and is the possessor of numerous choice pieces of property in the
metropolis. He is a native of the Empire state and grew to maturity here.
Commencing his business career with but little means, he nevertheless
accumulated a snug fortune within a few years, by the exercise of unusually
good judgment and enterprise. For years he dealt extensively in fine horses
and live stock, and from time to time he made judicious investments in real
estate. He leased the old Franklin House in Tarrytown, and after thor
oughly renovating and changing it from cellar to garret, and refurnishing it
with modern fittings, changed the name to the one which it now bears — the
Florence Hotel. All kinds of expensive, practical improvements in the way
of plumbing, steam and gas fitting are to be found in the establishment, and

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 961
everything about the place tends toward the comfort of the guests. Over
ten thousand dollars has recently been expended in the re-fitting of the
house, and it is the intention of the proprietor to maintain a high standard
of excellence in every department. During the summer of 1898 it was noted
that numerous distinguished citizens of New York and other places stayed
for a period at the Florence, and among the number, a few names, taken at
random, from the hotel register, may be mentioned: Lieutenant Kleck, of
the Seventy-first New York Regiment; Calvin W. Smith; Lieutenant Reene,
of the Fourteenth New York Volunteer Infantry; Captain Evans; Hon. J. R.
P Hull, of Ridgeway Park; E. M. C. Elbert and J. Fisher, of New York
city. Much of the popularity of the Florence Hotel is due, without doubt, to
the lady who has it in charge as manager — Mrs. Florence Hill. She is a
native of New York city, receiving her education in its superior public schools,
and, upon arriving at womanhood, became the wife of Mr. Hill, who died
several years ago. Their only child, Charles Hill, a bright, promising boy,
is now attending school at Tarrytown. Mrs. Hill's mother is now the wife
of Colonel Ryan, who, as previously stated, is the owner of the Florence
Hotel. Mrs. Hill personally supervises the various departments of the hotel, and
to her keen foresight and genuine business ability the success of the enter
prise must be attributed. Everything which can be done, conducing to the
comfort and pleasure of visitors is promptly attended to, and the neatness
and homelike appearance of the rooms is frequently commented upon.
While the hotel is especially patronized in summer, when the beautiful scen
ery of the river and neighborhood is charming to any one, but particularly so
to the inhabitant of the hot, dusty cities, each season of the year has its own
peculiar loveliness here, the dainty, fresh greenness of the spring-time, the
autumnal tints, and the pure snow and ice of winter along the Hudson,
attracting fully as much admiration from the sight-seer and traveler as the
full-blown glories of mid-summer.

JAMES ROSS.

The popular and efficient postmaster of New Rochelle, New York, has
for several years been connected with the post-office and held other local
offices of trust and responsibility, and is one of the leading and most public-
spirited young men of the town.
Mr. Ross is a native of New Rochelle, was born December 19, i860, and
is a son of James G. and Catherine M. Ross, natives of Scotland, who have
for many years made their home at New Rochelle. Here for a long term of

61

962 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
years the senior Mr. Ross has been superintendent of the Beechwood ceme
tery. In the public schools of his native town James Ross received a good edu
cation, and on leaving school accepted a position in the New Rochelle post-
office, under Benjamin Badeau. He continued in the office under Postmas
ters A. M. Dederer and William V. Molloy, serving as assistant postmaster.
In January, 1898, he was appointed postmaster, his appointment was con
firmed April 12, 1898, and May ist he assumed the duties of the office, for
which his long term of service has so ably fitted him. Other offices filled by
him are those of clerk of the village, trustee and assessor, and in the last
named office he is now serving bis third term, each term covering a period of
three years. For the past seven years he has been chief of the fire depart
ment. Fraternally, he is identified with the Masonic order, and is a worthy
member of Huguenot Lodge, No. 46, F. & A. M. Mr. Ross is unmarried.

LEMAN B. TREADWELL, Sr.
As a member of the law firm of Scott & Treadwell, the subject of this
review is enjoying a successful and lucrative practice at the bar of New York
city, with office at No. 91 Nassau street. He is a native of Westchester
county, born in Hartsdale, December 24, 1842, and is a son of David and
Mary H. (Underhill) Treadwell, who also were born in the same county, the
former in New Rochelle, March 8, 181 1, the latter in the town of Green
burg, in May, 1804. The father was first a farm laborer, then a cartman in
New York city, then a butcher, and later turned his attention to agricultural
pursuits. He died at White Plains, New York, in December, 1875, having
gained a decided financial success. On both sides our subject is descended
from good old Revolutionary stock. His maternal grandfather, Gilbert
Underhill, a native of Westchester county, was a baby in the cradle during
the Revolutionary war, and was wounded by a British trooper. Captain John
Treadwell, the paternal grandfather, held a captain's commission in the Con
tinental army, and was one of the men Benedict Arnold tried to surrender at
West Point. He was born at Long Island, and was one of the early settlers
of East Chester, this county. He was descended from Thomas Treadwell,
\who at one time was lieutenant-governor of New York and judge of one of
tthe higher courts. His wife bore the maiden name of Mary DeVeau.
Leman B. Treadwell, whose name introduces this sketch, was princi
pally educated in the common schools, but also attended a private school
taught by a Mr. St. Clair, an Episcopal clergyman. He then learned civil
engineering, and also took up the study of law, in Moline, Illinois, and later
with Charles Whitaker, of Davenport, Iowa. At the latter place he was

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 963
admitted to the bar in 1875, and three years later returned to New York
state and opened an office in Tarrytown, remaining there two years and a
half. For the same length of time he also engaged in practice in Purdy, New
York, but in 1884 removed to New York city, and from that time until 1886
was in partnership with James Henderson. In 1897 he formed a partnership
with Henry W. Scott, ex-United States district judge of Oklahoma territory,
and they are now enjoying an excellent practice, which is well merited. As a
lawyer Mr. Treadwell understands the underlying principles on which law is
founded, and as an advocate he is earnest, forcible, logical and eloquent.
Socially he is a member of Dobbs Ferry Lodge, No. 555, F. & A. M., and
Mount Vernon Chapter, No. 228, R. A. M.
Mr. Treadwell was first married, in 1866, to Miss Augusta Ward, of White
Plains, New York, who died leaving one son, Adrian U., now a resident of
Rahway, New Jersey. In 1876 he married Miss Phcebe Dayton, of Chap
paqua, Westchester county, a daughter of Joseph Dayton, and to them have
been born two sons: Leman B., Jr., is now an editorial writer on the East
Chester Citizen-Bulletin, of Tuckahoe, New York. This son was born Feb
ruary 28, 1877, was educated in the common schools, and remained with his
father until 1895, when he began work in the office of the East Chester Citi
zen-Bulletin, and in the absence of the proprietor he was managing editor.
Jesse Dayton, the second son, is also employed in the office of the Citizen-Bul
letin, at Tuckahoe. JUDGE SMITH LENT.
Judge Smith Lent is a prominent member of the Westchester county
bar and has been a resident of Sing Sing since 1875. He was born in Cort
landt, Westchester county, New York, December 1, 1850, a son of Isaac H.
and Jane (McCoy) Lent, both now deceased. He received his early training
in the district schools of his native county, and after completing the course
therein prescribed he entered the State Normal School, where he graduated
in due time, his diploma bearing date 1873. Following this he accepted a
position as teacher in a high school near New Brunswick, New Jersey, and
taught there and at Highland Falls, Orange county, New York, and in 1874
he entered a law school, in which he was graduated in 1875. That same year
he came to Sing Sing and continued the pursuit of his legal studies in the
office of Wilson & Baker. He was admitted to the bar in May, 1875, and
in October, 1876, opened an office of his own.
Judge Lent is a Republican and has always been active in politics, hav
ing at heart the best interests of the people. He was in 1895 elected to the
office of county judge.
The subject of our sketch was married, in 1879, to Miss Elizabeth Car-

964 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
rick, a native of Albany, New York, and their union has been blessed with
two children, Rosmond and John.
The Judge has for a number of years been affiliated with several fra
ternal organizations, including the Masonic, the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows and Rnights of Pythias. In the Masonic order he has advanced to
the thirty-second degree and has been an ardent Mason from the time he
took his initiatory degrees in the blue lodge. He is a member of Trinity
Episcopal church.
GEORGE F. ALLEN.
This gentleman, a successful merchant of . Millwood, finds an appropri
ate place in the history of those men of business and enterprise in Westches
ter county whose force of character, sterling integrity, fortitude amid discour
agements and good sense in the management of complicated affairs have not
only advanced individual interests, but have materially promoted the welfare
of the community in which they reside. He is truly a self-made man, being
the architect and builder of his own fortune.
Mr. Allen was born in New Castle township, this county, September 30,
1858, and is a son of Andrew Jackson Allen, a well known merchant of Chap
paqua, who also is a native of Westchester, born in 1829. His grandparents
were Henry and Hester (Brady) Allen, the former a son of Robert and Mary
(Funk) Allen, and the latter a daughter of Reuben and Elizabeth (Kniffin)
Brady. Henry Allen followed the occupations of blacksmithing and farming,
was a strong Democrat in politics, and held several offices, including those
of school superintendent, township clerk and supervisor. Religiously, he
was a member of the Society of Friends. In his family were four children,
namely: Andrew Jackson; Henry, a farmer of New Castle township; Mary,
a resident of the same township; and Jeremiah, deceased.
A. Jackson Allen, father of our subject, was educated in the district schools
of New Castle township, and in 1861 embarked in merchandising at Chappa
qua, where he engaged in business in that line until his death, in February, 1 899.
He had always been an active supporter of the Democratic party, served as
a delegate to its various conventions, and was honored with a number of
local offices, being township clerk, commissioner of highways, and in the
spring of 1898 elected justice of the peace, a position he filled in a most
creditable manner. With his family he attended the Friends church. In 1857
he married Miss Almira Reynolds, a daughter of Alva and Phcebe Ann
(Field) Reynolds, and to them were born four children: George F. , of
this review; Jeremiah, a farmer of Yorktown, Westchester county; Alva, a
resident of Millwood; and Hester, wife of David Hunt, of Williams Bridge.
During his boyhood and youth George F. Allen received a good educa-

SV

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 965
tion, which has well fitted him for the responsible duties of business life.
In 1883 he began business in a small way at Millwood, but now enjoys an
extensive and profitable trade as a dealer in general merchandise, flour and
feed, and he is also successfully engaged in the livery business, having a barn
twenty-eight by sixty feet, and carriage room twenty-eight by thirty feet.
He has a fine line of carriages and some excellent roadsters. He carries a
full and complete stock of general merchandise, and occupies a building
twenty-five by fifty feet and two stories in height. Besides these he has
three feed stores, and a new store house forty by fifty feet in dimensions and
built in 1899; another, twenty-five by thirty-two feet; and the third, twenty-
five by thirty feet. He has on hand at all times from one to ten car loads of
feed, conducts a large coal yard, and does over six thousand dollars' worth of
business per annum. He is an enterprising, wide-awake business man of
known reliability, and the success that he has achieved in life is certainly
well deserved.In 1886 Mr. Allen was united in marriage with Miss Anna Vantassel, a
daughter of Samuel Vantassel, and three children grace their union: Ruth,
George F. , Jr., and Anna. In his political views Mr. Allen is a Democrat,
and in religious faith he is a member of the Presbyterian church.

REV. JOHN B. CREEDEN.
Rev. John B. Creeden, the rector of St. Augustine's Roman Catholic
church, in which charge he has been for nearly ten years, was born in the
city of New York, February 27, 1856, his father and mother being James
and Mary Barry Creeden, who came to this country from Ireland in the
year 1845.
The subject of this sketch was educated in St. Briget's school at the
corner of Eighth street and Avenue B, New York, and opposite Tompkins
square. After finishing his course there he went to De la Salle Academy, in
Second street, New York, which was the pioneer academy of the Roman
Catholic denomination and under the charge of the Christian Brothers. He
completed a full course there and then entered Manhattan College and was
duly graduated in the class of 1874. After spending two years enjoying a
rest, he entered St. Joseph's Seminary at Troy. This was the seminary for
the archdiocese until that at Dunwoodie was established a few years ago.
He remained there four and a half years, and was ordained December
18, 1880. Father Creeden's first appointment was St. Mary's church, in Pough
keepsie, where he remained eight years. At the end of that time he was
appointed, in February, 1889, pastor at Warwick and Florida, two towns in

966 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Orange county, near Goshen, where he remained one year, when he was
transferred to St. Augustine's church, in this village, in February, 1890, suc
ceeding Rev. P. W. Tandy. After being here a year or so he found it
necessary to make certain repairs to the church edifice, which he had made,
and decorated it inside and out, at an expense of about ten thousand dollars,
making it one of the handsomest edifices on the Hudson river. Before he
quit the task the church was put in perfect condition. It was found neces
sary to put in several new stained-glass windows, two of which came from
the celebrated Meyers at Munich, at a cost of about sixteen hundred dollars.
The putting in of new pews and floors and the repainting of the interior and
exterior occupied considerable time. A steam-heating plant was also con
structed to heat the church, school and residence.
In September, 1892, he established the parochial school, which has
proved a very great success. It was opened with the Sisters of Charity as
teachers, with about two hundred and seventy-three pupils. It now has
three hundred and twenty-five pupils, and the steady increase has made it
necessary to enlarge the accommodations by building an addition to the old
school building, which now contains six commodious class-rooms. This
school saves the village a large sum of money yearly, since if they were not
being educated by the Sisters they would have to attend the village schools,
which now have about all the children they can take care of. The cost of
all this teaching, etc., of three hundred and twenty-five pupils — which is
considerable, estimated by what the same number cost in our public schools
— is entirely borne by the Catholics of the parish, who also cheerfully pay the
taxes to support the public schools, which they do not use. Of course this
comes very high to a great many of the Catholic taxpayers, all of whom are
not blessed with much of this world's riches, but "where there's a will
there's a way."
Since Father Creeden has been in this charge he and his assistants have
baptized about eighty converts and administered the first sacraments to and
prepared for confirmation about seven hundred. An average of about fifty
a year have died, including infants. Father Creeden has had the hearty and
cordial support of his people in everything he has undertaken, and says they
have subscribed liberally for the improvements, repairs, etc. One year the
church's income was twelve thousand dollars. This is a very large sum when
it is considered that his flock is made up almost entirely of people in very
moderate circumstances.
Father Creeden is ably assisted by Rev. William T. St. John and Rev.
Thomas Smyth, the latter having been a popular curate in the church some
years ago, but, being broken down in health, is stopping with Father Creeden
to recuperate, and we are glad to report he is now almost his former self

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 967
again. Only one curate is allowed the parish. The number of Catholics in
the parish of St. Augustine's is about two thousand, the number of families
over four hundred and the Sunday-school has over five hundred pupils. The
societies connected with the church are the Holy Name, for men; the Chil
dren of Mary, for young women; the St. Aloysius Sodality, for boys; and the
Sodality of the Holy Angels, for the girls; besides the League of the Sacred
Heart and the Rosary Society, intended for all the parishioners.
In addition to the regular church or parish work, Father Creeden is
the chaplain of the Catholics at the prison, and either he or his curate
attends there every Sunday morning to celebrate mass and administer the
sacraments. They also attend those of the Catholic faith who are doomed
to the electric chair.
From this it will be seen that Father Creeden is a very busy man. He
is a gentleman of fine scholarly attainments, and one with whom it is a pleas
ure to converse. May he long be blessed with good health and strength to
continue his good work in this parish!

ELLWOOD BURDSALL.

In past ages the history of a country was the record of wars and con
quests; to-day it is the record of commercial activity, and those whose names
are foremost in its annals are the leaders in business circles. The conquests
now made are those of mind over matter, not man over man, and the victor
is he who can successfully establish, control and operate extensive business
interests. This being so, the name of Burdsall should be found among the
foremost in the history of Westchester county, where it has long stood as the
representative of one of the largest industrial concerns in this part of the
state. Ellwood Burdsall was the senior member of the well known firm of Rus
sell, Burdsall & Ward, bolt manufacturers of Port Chester; and his connec
tion with the establishment of American manufacturers on the markets of the
world, the development of an important industry, his wide acquaintance in
the trade and his personal worth gave him a position of exceptional promin
ence in business circles. His reputation was unassailable and he commanded
the respect of all with whom he came in contact.
A native of New Jersey, he was born in New Brunswick on the 18th of
July, 1 8 14. His ancestors were among the early English settlers of this
country, and on his father's side they were members of the Society of Friends,
while on his mother's side they were of the Presbyterian faith. His maternal
grandfather served in the Continental army during the Revolutionary war
and participated in the ever memorable battles of Trenton and Monmouth.

968 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
After receiving a common-school education, such as was afforded in the
neighborhood in which he lived, Ellwood Burdsall, whose father had died in
1823, when he was but nine years of age, left his native state and went to
Philadelphia, where he began learning the carpenter's trade. This was in
1829, and he was a youth of fifteen years. In 1835 he went to Appalachi-
cola, Florida, where he erected a number of residences and warehouses and
made his home for some time. In 1837 he was elected a member of the city
council of that place. Shortly afterward the yellow fever broke out and
prevailed for some time with unusual fatality. Many of the inhabitants
became panic-stricken and fled from the city, among the fugitives being all
the members of the city government with the exception of Mr. Boot, city
treasurer, and Mr. Burdsall. The latter organized a hospital outside the
town, and with the aid of other courageous men gathered the sick together
and placed them in wards, where he attended them more or less frequently
every day. For nearly two months the fever continued to rage, little busi
ness being transacted during the time, and the dead were buried without
funeral services. Mr. Burdsall certainly displayed great bravery and forti
tude in his noble work, but providence seemed to watch over him and he
was spared. Leaving Florida in 1844, he came to New York and in partnership with
William E. Ward founded the bolt-manufacturing business at Port Chester.
The original name of the firm was Burdsall & Ward, which was changed to
Russell, Burdsall & Ward by the addition of Isaac D. Russell to the firm,
and under that style operations have been carried on extensively and success
fully since 1845. There has never been a strike in the shops nor the mani
festation of any discontent among the employes, a fact which indicates fair
treatment on the part of the proprietors, the payment of good living wages,
and courteous consideration from all. A library and hall were built and
equipped by the company for the benefit of the employes, and a guild was
formed in the shop by which a benefit was paid to the families of deceased
employes. Other business interests also prospered and grew under the capable man
agement and direction of Ellwood Burdsall. At the organization of the First
National Bank, of Port Chester, he was elected president and was re-elected
annually, serving in that position up to the time of his death. Owing to his
wise, conservative methods the bank attained an enviable position in finan
cial circles and to his efforts is attributable much of its success. It was also
through his instrumentality that the new bank building was erected. He took
a deep interest in education, social and moral interests and movements tend
ing to the betterment of mankind, and his labors largely promoted their wel
fare. In 1863 he was elected a manager of Swarthmore College, located

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 969
near Philadelphia, an institution under the care of the Society of Friends,
and filled the office ten years, when he resigned. He was also the manager
of the Chappaqua Mountain Institute, near Chappaqua, Westchester county,
belonging to the Society of Friends, and served in that position from 1867
until his death. He was likewise connected with a number of other enter
prises, some of which were in the neighborhood of his home; others located
elsewhere. His influence was widely felt in social and business circles
throughout the county, and especially among the Friends, of which religious
organization he was a prominent member. He accumulated a handsome
property, and his charities were many and unostentatious. The esteem in
which he was held by his employes and the people of Port Chester and sur
rounding towns is evidenced in the many affectionate tributes which have
been paid to his memory. He died December 30, 1889, honored and
respected by all who knew him. Thus passed to his reward a man of noble
character, one who acted well his part in life, and who gained and retained
the confidence, respect and esteem of his fellow men.
In 1 85 1, Ellwood Burdsall was united in marriage to Miss Hannah G.
Haviland, a daughter of John Haviland, a member of one of the oldest fam
ilies of the town of Harrison, Westchester county. She, too, was a faithful
member of the Society of Friends. In the family were three children: Rich
ard H. and Ellwood, twins; and Anna C, now the wife of John D. Griffin,
of New York. The sons seem to have inherited their father's business ability
and are now prominent and influential citizens of Port Chester.
Richard H. and Ellwood Burdsall were born in the town of Harrison,
September 20, 1856, and having attended the public schools continued their
education in Swarthmore College at Philadelphia. Later they entered Cor
nell University, taking a thorough course in mechanics as well as in other
branches. They then entered the extensive works of the firm of Russell,
Burdsall & Ward. Richard H. is now treasurer of the bolt and nut
works, which is one of the largest industries of the kind in the United States.
He also succeeded his father in the presidency of the First National Bank,
at Port Chester, and is equally prominent in social circles, being very popular
among his many friends and acquaintances. His twin brother, Ellwood
Burdsall, at their father's death, succeeded him as secretary and general
agent of the firm of Russell, Burdsall & Ward, and now devotes the greater
part of his time to the construction of machinery. He is also president of
the Cambridge Manufacturing Company, at Cambridge, Maryland, and has
marked mechanical ability, while his management in business affairs and his
ability and integrity are all in conspicuous evidence. He is a director of the
First National Bank at Port Chester and trustee of the Savings Bank there.
Ellwood Burdsall was united in marriage to Miss Luella T. Morris, of

970 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Milton, Indiana, and they have two children, — Richard Lloyd and E. Morris.
In manner he is quiet and reserved, but his sterling worth has won the recog
nition of many friends. He is deeply interested in the cause of education
and has been officially connected with several educational institutions, whose
interests have been promoted through his efforts in their behalf. The broth
ers are both public-spirited, progressive citizens, giving a commendable and
practical support to all the measures tending toward the betterment of man
kind and the promotion of the material interests of the community in which
they reside. Succeeding to their father's business, they have manifested
superior executive force, keen discrimination, marked energy and sound
judgment in the management of the mammoth interests now under their con
trol and bear an unassailable reputation in industrial and financial circles.

HENRY A. SIEBRECHT, Jr.
Henry A. Siebrecht, Jr., one of the most enterprising and progressive
business men of Westchester county, is the junior member of the well-known
firm of Siebrecht & Son, florists and floral decorators, whose main office is on
Fifth avenue, New York city. They also have a branch office at Newport,
Rhode Island, while their home nurseries, known as the Rose Hill Nurseries,
are located at New Rochelle, Westchester county, New York, and their
nurseries are at Trinidad, West Indies. The present business was established
by the father, Henry A. Siebrecht, Sr., in 1867, and conducted by him until
18-87, when the son was admitted to a partnership, under the firm name of
Siebrecht & Son. Their local nurseries are situated about a mile and a half
from the village of New Rochelle, on the old post road leading to White
Plains, and with the farm they cover an area of about two hundred and fifty
acres. There are twenty-eight houses of palms, one of these, which is twenty
by two hundred and forty feet, being filled with the Rentia Belmorana, show
ing the largest stock of this palm in the United States. Among the roses
they have developed is the Belle Siebrecht, which has become very popular,
they having sold over two hundred and thirty thousand plants since it has been
put upon the market. They also have the largest variety of ferns, flowers
and plants in the United States and ship to ali parts of the world, doing a
large export business. Many orders are received by telegraph and all receive
prompt attention.
Henry A. Siebrecht, Jr., who is one of the most thoroughly versed men
of America in the care and culture of flowers and plants, was born in New
York city, November 26, 1870, and is the oldest son of Henry A. and Emma
(Ried) Siebrecht. The father, a native of Gottingen, Germany, came to the
United States at the age of sixteen years, having previously received a good

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 971-
education in his native land. After his arrival in New York, he was employed
by different parties until 1867, when he started. his nurseries, and he has since
been most actively engaged in his present business, with an office in New
York, from which the greater part of the business is done. In his line he is per
haps more widely known than any man similarly engaged in the United States.
On the farm during the busy season employment is furnished to from fifty to
seventy-five men. The facilities for heating by steam are of the latest and
most improved; the new power house and machine shop is constructed of
stone, and supplied with three large boilers, the pipes running through a six-
foot tunnel to the various houses. There is also a water tower and every
convenience for conducting the business on the most approved methods.
Henry A. Siebrecht, Jr., married Miss Julia Acker Thompson, a grand
daughter of the late William Acker, of the firm of Acker, Merrell & Condit,
of New York city, and to them has been born a daughter, Gertrude M. L.
Socially Mr. Siebrecht is a member of Huguenot Lodge, No. 46, F.
& A. M., and Mt. Vernon Chapter, No. 228, R. A. M., while religiously he is
a member of St. John's Methodist Episcopal church, to which his parents
also belong. In business circles father and son stand deservedly high, and
those who know them personally have for them the highest regard.

OSWALD SANDERSON.

For the past eighteen years the gentleman whose name heads this sketch-
has been a resident of the beautiful town of Larchmont, formerly called
Larchmont Manor. Favored by nature beyond most of the picturesque-
places adjacent to Long Island Sound, it has been wonderfully improved
within the past decade, and its well laid out streets and avenues, fine drive
ways and mansions make this one of the most desirable of sites for a home.
Mr. Sanderson has been one of the most influential factors in bringing this
result to pass, and his faith in the future of the town was manifested in 1880,
when he erected a modern residence here for his own little household. From
that time on he did all within his power to promote the welfare of Larch
mont, nor has he ceased in his patriotic interest in whatsoever tends to bene
fit the place or its citizens.
Mr. Sanderson is in the prime of early manhood, his birth having
occurred in London, England, in 1863. The parents of Mr. Sanderson were
Richard and Sarah (Hicks) Sanderson, both of whom were natives of Eng
land and spent their entire lives in that country. Our subject received his
education in his native land, chiefly in private schools, and was a bright,
keen student, standing at the head of his classes. In 1880 he came to the
United States, and, soon after his arrival in New York city, was employed;

"972 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
by the Continental Insurance Company. He next became connected with
steamship lines and gradually advanced in the business until he is now the
manager of several ocean transportation companies. He has an office in
New York city and makes the trip from his home to the metropolis twice a
day. Possessing unusual business ability, thorough knowledge of his line,
and that courtesy and desire to accommodate and please his patrons so essen
tial to success, he has won the esteem of all with whom he has had dealings,
and has brought credit upon the various large concerns which he ably rep
resents. For his wife the subject of this article chose Miss Beatrice Biddall, then
of New York city, and a daughter of E. F. Biddall, now a prominent citizen
of Larchmont. Two sons and a daughter have blessed the union of Mr. and
Mrs. Sanderson and brighten the attractive home of the family by their pres
ence. Mr. Sanderson and his estimable wife are members of Saint John's
Episcopal church of Larchmont, and they are always foremost in all chari
table enterprises in the neighborhood.

JOHN J. CLAPP.

John Jacob Clapp, one of the leading attorneys of his day, in West
chester county, and the father of John H. Clapp, was born in October, 1818,
and died at the age of forty-seven years. He was a graduate of Rochester
University and studied law under Warren Tompkins. He built for himself a
very large law practice and was thoroughly known in all parts of this county,
as well as many of the adjoining ones. Though he was cut down while yet
in manhood's prime, he had become a leader in his chosen profession, He
was known far and wide, for his persistency, always fighting a case to the
finish, regardless of the pay there might be in it. Law for him had a principle
and for this he ever contended. Politically, he was a Jacksonian Democrat
originally, but upon the formation of the Republican partyin 1856, he voted
for Fremont and had the honor of being a delegate to the Fremont and
Lincoln conventions. He was also frequently a delegate in the state conventions.
He was a hard worker, possessing strong personal traits, and was universally
esteemed. The most of his time was employed in his profession, but he
served White Plains as its supervisor for one term.
He was ever true to his clients and was a man of upright character. Of
his religious life, it may be said that he was an elder in the old Broadway
Presbyterian church, of White Plains. Besides his large criminal practice
and general law business, he did much in a public way to build up his county
and was always active in political matters. John Clapp, the founder of the Clapp
family in America, was a Hessian officer, who came to America during the

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 978
Revolutionary war. Deciding to become a citizen of the New World, he
purchased a large, farm on Staten Island, making that his home until he
died. In connection with his farm operations, he also conducted a country
store, and while in New York city purchasing goods he contracted yellow
fever and died about 1800.
Regarding the domestic relations of John Jacob Clapp, it may be added
that he was born in Osling township, Westchester county. His boyhood
days were spent at home, his early schooling being acquired in Dr. Prime's
private school. He married Miss Maria Caroline Banta, who was born in
William street, New York city, August 30, 18 19, and died in November,
1896. Their children were John H. and Oscar, of whom this work speaks
at length in the next sketch.

JOHN H. CLAPP.

John H. Clapp, a prominent representative of the legal fraternity, who
has been successfully engaged in the practice of his chosen profession in Port
Chester, New York, for many years, is a native of Westchester county, born
in White Plains, September 6, 1847, and is of an old and highly honored
family, whose founder in America was John Clapp, a sketch of whom
appears above. Our subject's grandfather was John Clapp, who was prob
ably born on Staten Island, but at an early day came to Westchester county,
locating at Sing Sing, where he engaged in business as a shoemaker. He
died there in 1867, after having passed the ripe old age of eighty years.
John H. Clapp, of whom we now write, began his education at White
Plains, and later attended Roe's school at Tarrytown, this county, and Union
College, of Schenectady, New York. Deciding to enter the legal profession,
he commenced the study of law under the direction of Judge J. O. Dykman,
of White Plains, and was admitted to the bar at Poughkeepsie, soon after
attaining his majority. He began practice with Judge Dykman, and later
formed a partnership with Amherst Wight, having an office in Port Chester
and also in New York city. This partnership continued until after the death
of Mr. Wight, in 1877. Soon afterward Mr. Clapp associated himself, as a
partner with Charles H. Ropes, and after a successful practice with that gen
tleman he was connected for some time with Jarvis W. Mason. Since 1880
he has had an office in New York city, and in connection with a lucrative law
business is also engaged in the real-estate business, owning considerable
property in Port Chester. He is numbered among the most successful and
prominent members of the Westchester county bar and enjoys a liberal prac
tice. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party, but aside from
voting he takes no active part in politics, preferring to give his entire time

974 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
and attention to his large business interests. Working faithfully for his
clients, he has advanced his own interests, but be it said to his credit, whether
beneficial to himself or not, no trust imposed in him is ever in the least
slighted. Without the least flattery, in justice to this member of the West
chester county bar, it should be recorded that notwithstanding the fast age
in which we live, and the great volume of legal and private business which he
personally attends to, there is never a time when he forgets to be a con
siderate and courteous gentleman, and the most humble in life receives the
same at his hands as those in higher and more exalted positions. Indeed,
he is, an honor to the profession and one truly fit to serve as an example to
any young man desiring to achieve an enviable reputation in the city and
state in which he expects to live and labor and be honored among his
fellowmen.
FRANR A. CURRY.
The subject of this review occupies the responsible position'of passenger
and freight agent for the New York Central Railroad Company, at Yonkers.
It is not difficult to conjecture what manner of a man he is. In a repub
lican country where merit must win, we can tell much of his life. Wealth
may secure a start, but it cannot maintain one in a position where brains and
executive ability are required. But Mr. Curry did not have wealth to aid
him in the beginning of his business career. His reliance has been placed in
the more substantial qualities of perseverance, untiring enterprise, resolute
purpose and commendable zeal, and withal his actions have been guided by
an honesty of purpose that none have questioned.
Frank A. Curry is a son of John M. and Jane M. (Treadwell) Curry,
and was born in New Brunswick, Canada, April 31, 1865. The family name
is of Scotch origin. A relative has prepared the following ancestral history
of the Currys, which in this connection cannot fail to prove of interest.
"About the year 1720, there came from England a nobleman, who settled
in New York, and with him an orphaned boy whose name was John Curry.
When he became a man he wooed and married the nobleman's daughter.
The young couple went up the beautiful Hudson river, settling in Peekskill,
one of the famous Highland of the Hudson, about forty miles above New
York. As time went on the fertile soil yielded him abundant increase, and
he became a wealthy colonial farmer. Three sons were born to him and his
wife, one of whom was named Joshua. When Joshua grew to years of under
standing he married, the object of his affections being Miss Travis, the
daughter of one of the good old families. War broke out between the colo
nies and the mother country, and Joshua Curry, ever loyal to the land of his

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 975
ancestors, boldly took up arms for the British. His neighbors were on the side
of independence, and he had to flee from home under cover of night. Three
hundred miles lay between him and the nearest British camp; however, he
reached there in safety, and enlisted as a soldier. Ere long he was promoted
to the office of lieutenant. His family supposed he was dead as they did not
hear from him till the war was over. In the fall of 1783, rather than be dis
loyal to England, he, with his family, left his beautiful home and went to
New Brunswick, landing at the mouth of the St. John river, in November.
They spent the winter there, and in the spring went up the river and pur
chased land in the parishes of Gagetown and Canning.
From another writer we quote the following paragraphs:
' ' Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Curry were the parents of five sons and one daugh
ter. One of these, David, who was sixteen years of age at the time of their
arrival in New Brunswick, married Dorothy, a daughter of Zebulon Estey.
The ancestors of the Esteys emigrated from England with the Puritans in
the Mayflower in 1620. About the year 1760, before the landing of the
Loyalists, a settlement was made at Majorville by a company of New Eng
enders. My informant is not certain as to whether Zebulon Estey was
among those settlers, or whether he came five or six years later. He was
one of the few magistrates of New Brunswick at that time. He got this
appointment in an interesting way. The story is that he had built a mill on
a brook near Gagetown, when some one tried to wrest it from him on the
grounds that he had no claim to the land on which the mill stood. At that
time New Brunswick was not a separate province, but was a part of Nova
Scotia. Acordingly Estey had to go to Halifax to gain redress. The gov
ernor kindly listened to his greviance and not only gave him a title to the land
for which he asked, but added much more to it. He inquired of Estey if
there were no magistrates on the St. John river. On being answered in the
negative he then and there appointed him a justice of the peace.
" David and Dorothy took up their abode in Canning, and God pros
pered them exceedingly. They owned nearly two thousand acres of land on
both sides of the river. There were born to them ten sons and two daughters.
The fifth son, whose name was John, and who was born in 1788, married
Anna Upton and had nine children. He carried on a large tanning business
and was quite wealthy. He died in 1876. His brother George is the only
surviving member of the family (1897) and he has lived to see seven genera
tions, both ancestors and descendants. One of the nine children, whose name
was John, married Jane Treadwell, and had three daughters and three sons,
Bertha, Lillian, Nettie, Henry, Arthur and Frank."
The paternal grandfather of our subject, John Curry, was an extensive
lumber merchant and tanner, at Gagetown, Canada, where he resided until

976 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
his death, which occurred in 1883, when he had reached the age of eighty-
two years. His wife died in 1888, at the age of eighty-six years. Their
children were John, Albert, David, Charles, Henrietta, Barbara and Ann, all
of whom lived in Canada. John M. Curry, father of our subject, was born
in Canning, New Brunswick, in 1833, was a man of spendid intellectual
endowments, was highly educationed and for twenty-one years was a minister
in the Baptist church. He served as pastor of the churches in Gagetown,
Frederickstown and Hillsboro, New Brunswick, and died in the last named
place in 1883, at the age of fifty years. His wife passed away, in 1879, at
the age of forty years. Her father, George Treadwell, was a prominent
farmer of Majorville, New Brunswick, and possessed considerable property.
He died when about eighty-five years of age. He had three children, —
George, Melissa and one who died in infancy.
In the public schools of Hammond and Hillsboro, New Brunswick, Frank
A. Curry pursued his studies until fifteen years of age, when he began clerk
ing in a grocery store. He afterward learned telegraphy, which he followed
for six years, spending a part of that time in Boston, Massachusetts, and at
points along the line of the Boston & Maine Railroad, acting as telegraph
operator and station agent. In 1891 he came to Yonkers as passenger agent
for the New York Central Railroad, in which capacity he served until 1893,
when the passenger and freight agencies were combined and he was given
charge of both. This is the most important station between New York and
Albany. In the two departments are nineteen men under his immediate
supervision, and the large volume of business there transacted is under his
care. The company's criticism of his conduct of the office has ever been
most favorable, and he certainly deserves their highest approbation and
approval. He has made many important changes and improvements in the
manner of handling the immense business of the company at this point,
thereby avoiding much friction and guaranteeing much more satisfactory
service to the company as well as to the patrons of the road.
On the 2 ist of July, 1888, Mr. Curry was united in marriage to Miss
Grace Warren, a daughter of Dr. Thomas Warren, who for forty years was a
prominent physician in West Boston, Massachusetts. He died at the age of
eighty years. To Mr. and Mrs. Curry have been born four children, Nellie
Grace, Warren Frances, Frank Howard and Ellen Margery.
In his political views Mr. Curry is a Republican. He belongs to Nepper
han Lodge, No. 736, A. F. & A. M., and to Ivanhoe Lodge, No. 75, I. O.
O. F. , in Nova Scotia. He is a man of good address and gentlemanly
bearing, which impresses all with whom he comes in contact, possesses supe
rior intelligence, genuine ability and force of character, and at all times
commands the respect and confidence of those with whom he is brought in

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 977
contact. A laudable ambition has enabled to him to attain to his present
responsible position in connection with the railroad company, and the same
progressive spirit and faithfulness will bring him still greater success in the
future.
FRANR V. MILLARD.
Frank Vincent Millard, one of the native sons of Tarrytown, Westches
ter county, is a leading member of the bar of this section of New York. In
political circles, as well, he occupies an eminent position, and in all public
affairs he takes an active and prominent part. His family has long been
numbered among the substantial and representative ones of New England,
many of its members having become famous for statesmanship and financial
ability, or, having entered the arena of professional life, made names for
themselves and posterity.
The parents of the subject of this review were James Slade and Eliza
beth A. (Purdy) Millard, who were of English and French extraction. The
father, a gentleman of exceptionally fine mental powers, was a graduate of
Yale College and of Columbia College, in the law department. For years he
was one of the valued members of the Tarrytown bar, and held numerous
important trusts in this locality. His busy and useful career was brought to
a close by death in the month of December, 1890.
The birth of Frank Vincent Millard took place in Tarrytown, February
27, 1867, and here he passed his boyhood, receiving good educational advan
tages in our excellent public schools. He was the eldest son in his parents'
family, and from his early years it was his ambition that he might be per
mitted to follow in his father's footsteps and become a partner with him in
law. He prepared for college at Irving Institute, in this county, and, having
matriculated in due course of time at Yale University, he was graduated in
its classic halls in 1888. Then for a year and a half he read and studied law
in his father's office, and, after attending the Columbia Law School for a
period, was admitted to the bar, in Brooklyn, in February, 1890. He at
once established himself in practice in his home city, his office being with his
honored father, whose death, about eight months later, left the entire busi
ness in his hands. He has been very successful in the practice of his chosen
profession, and, although he makes a specialty of real-estate and surrogate's
work, he has given his attention to nearly every phase of general jurispru
dence. Since March, 1895, he has been corporation counsel for Tarrytown,
and is counsel for Greenburg also, and counsel for the highway commis
sioners and assessors of Greenburg and Mount Pleasant, for the superin
tendent of the poor of this county, and, for three years prior to the abolish
ment of the office, held a position as legal adviser to the excise board of
62

978 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Greenburg. Succeeding his father, he became counsel for the Westchester
County Savings Bank, and has acted in a similar capacity for the Greenburg
Savings Bank for some time. Recently he was appointed corporation coun
sel for the village of Hastings; was elected town clerk of Greenburg in 1889,
and again in 1890, and in 1891 was elected supervisor. Always devoted to
the welfare of the Republican party since he became a voter, he is chairman
of the committee of the same in his congressional district, and was selected
as a delegate to the national convention of his party, at St. Louis, in 1896.
That fall (in October) he was elected chairman of the Republican county
committee of Westchester county, to succeed Hon. William H. Robertson,
who had officiated in that responsible position for twenty-one years. The
cause of education finds in Mr. Millard an earnest friend, and while he has
been on the school board he has used his influence in the direction of secur
ing better advantages for the rising generation. For years foreman of one
of the best volunteer fire companies in this state, he has also been a director
of the Exempt Firemen's Association for several years. Thirty years ago
the well known literary organization, the Young Men's Lyceum, was founded
here, and it has ever since been one of the beneficial clubs of the city. Much
of its success of late years is justly attributed to the fact that Mr. Millard has
been acting as president of the society, giving to the work the results of his
ripe experience and judicious guidance.
The marriage of Mr. Millard and Miss Grace Requa was celebrated at
the home of the bride's father, Isaac Requa, in Tarrytown, in December,
1891. Mrs. Millard, a most charming and highly cultured lady, comes from
a good old family of this region, and some of her ancestors were residents of
Tarrytown prior to the war of the Revolution. The pleasant and hospitable
home of our subject and wife is brightened by the presence of two children.

REV. ARTHUR H. GOODENOUGPI.
The present pastor of St. John's church, Methodist Episcopal, New
Rochelle, Mr. Goodenough, isa native of England, born in Devonshire, Feb
ruary 5, 185 1, a son of Joseph aud Penelope (Allen) Goodenough, natives
also of Albion's Isle. He received his education at a private school at Clo-
villy and Shelbar, the latter now being known as North Devon College, at
which he graduated in 1872. Immediately after his graduation he was
ordained to the ministry at Baxter, England, and in 1879 he emigrated to
America and was soon admitted as a member of the East New York confer
ence at Trinity church, and was appointed pastor at Nicholas, Connecticut.
From Nicholas he was called to Astoria, then Long Island City, and thence
to New Haven, Connecticut, Brooklyn, N. Y. , and New Rochelle in 1895,

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 979
-where he has since remained, in charge of St. John's church, and here he
has a large and growing congregation. The house of worship is one of the
finest in the town, costing about sixty thousand dollars, with a seating capac
ity for twelve hundred persons. It is known as the "greenstone church"
on account of the greenish hue of the outside material of which it is built.
The Sunday-school has a large attendance, superintended by Wesley
Harmer. Mr. Goodenough was married in 1878 to Miss Ellen Taylor, of Illinois,
and they had four daughters and one son, namely: Arthur Trumbull, Lillie
P. , Flora S. , Marjorie A. and Mavis Clare.

JOHN H. CORDES.
John H. Cordes, who is now serving his third term as assessor of Mount
Vernon, was born in New York city, June 30, 1861, a son of Christopher
and Elizabeth (Faatz) Cordes. Arriving at the designated age, he pursued
his studies in the public schools, where he remained until 1871. The family
then removed to Mount Vernon and he continued his education in this city,
being graduated in the high school at the age of sixteen. Immediately after
ward he entered upon his business career and for seven years devoted his
energies to floriculture, after which he turned his attention to carpentering.
He followed that trade in the employ of others for some time and then began
contracting and building on his own account. His patronage steadily
increased and the excellence of the workmanship executed under his direc
tion, combined with his fidelity to the terms of a contract, brought him a
large and profitable business. He employed thirty-five men during the busy
season and erected many of the fine residences in the city which now stand
as monuments to his skill and enterprise. While thus engaged he had excel
lent opportunity to become acquainted with land values and to learn of realty
that was upon the market. He therefore began real-estate speculation, and
his judicious investments have added not a little to his income. He is a
member of the Co-operative Building Board, of New York city, and in his
business methods displays a steadfast purpose, a sagacity and ambition that
are alike commendable and productive of excellent results.
On the 4th of October, 1887, Mr. Cordes was united in marriage to
Miss Clara A. O'Malley, and to them have been born five children: Amy,
John H., Walter Columbus, Arthur and Agnes. Mr. Cordes' mother also
made her home with them for some years prior to her death, which occurred
in 1891. In his political affiliations our subject has always been a stanch Demo
crat, and in 1892 was elected assessor of Mount Vernon, receiving one of the

980 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
largest majorities given any candidate on the ticket, — about one hundred
and seventy-five. That term continued for two years, and in 1894 he was
again elected, being the first assessor under the new city organization. This
time he ran ahead of his ticket, receiving a majority of three hundred and
thirty-two. For the third term he was elected in 1897, again receiving a
majority of more than three hundred. This fact stands in evidence of his
faithful service and of the confidence reposed in him by his fellow towns
men. He discharges his duties without fear or favor and-iias thus won the
commendation of the public.
At all times Mr. Cordes is a public-spirited and progressive citizen, doing
what he can to advance the welfare of Mount Vernon. For fourteen years
he was a member of the fire department. He belonged to Washington En
gine Company, No. 1, was for four years its foreman and for three years its
president. He is now a member of the Exempt Firemen's Association, and
the Firemen's Benevolent Association, and from the organization of the latter
has served as its secretary. He is also a charter member of Alexander En
campment, No. 76, St. John of Malta, belongs to the Mount Vernon Turn
Verein and the Mount Vernon Quartet Club. He is a popular member of
Mount Vernon Lodge, No. 195, I. O. O. F. , and has twice filled all of the
chairs. He is also connected with Guiding Star Encampment, No. 83,
I. O. O. F., is a charter member of Aquanock Tribe, No. 369, I. O. R. M.,
and the Haymakers, connected with the Red Men. In these various organ
izations he takes an active interest and is highly esteemed by the members
of the fraternities.
THOMAS O'HERN.
It has been stated that the man who each week pays a hundred employes
does more for his country than the commander who leads an armed force
forth to battle. While circumstances sometimes make the latter necessary,
and too much praise cannot be given to the soldier who battles for his prin
ciples and his country, yet the man who promotes the industrial and com
mercial interests of the country is no less deserving of the gratitude of his
fellow men. "Peace hath her victories no less renowned than war," and
each day demonstrates the truth and wisdom of this statement. The utili
zation of animate and inanimate forces, the control of large capital and the
management of many men, — all these require a marked generalship. In the
conduct of his extensive business interests Mr. O'Hern displays such quali
ties, and has thus risen to a position of eminence in the industrial world.
He is a son of Thomas O'Hern and was born in Utica, New York,
August 15, 1856.' He attended the public schools of that city until twelve
years of age, and afterward remained at home with his father for several

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 981
years. He then became employed on the construction of the New York,
Oswego & Midland Railroad, and later on the Welland Canal, between Lake
Ontario and Lake Erie. He was thus engaged until 1879, when he went to
the west, locating at Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba, when eighteen years of age.
He then began taking contracts on his own account, first in getting out tim
ber. Subsequently he began railroad contracting upon the construction of
the Yellowstone division of the Northern Pacific Railroad, which he completed
in 1882, during that time employing one hundred and fifty men. He left
there in June, 1883, and in partnership with Michael Logan went to Port
Arthur, on the north shore of Lake Superior, to execute a contract on the
construction of a section of the Canadian Pacific Railroad. This was one of
the most difficult and important sections of the road, and, added to the
peculiarly arduous work, they had to endure many hardships from lack of
supplies, tools and other facilities for railroad building, and also for want of
food for the men and for the horses. They did this work for the govern
ment and continued the same until 1886, when, having suffered considerable
annoyance in getting their money from the Canadian Pacific, they gave up
government work.
Mr. O'Hern then severed his business relations with Mr. Logan and
came to Yonkers, New York. Soon afterward he entered into partnership
with J. B. Pennell and Jules Breuchaud, two well known contractors promi
nent throughout the east. In this new relation they took a contract for the
construction of section 8 of the Croton aqueduct, a section beginning at
Yonkers and extending about three miles north of the city. In 1895 Mr.
Breuchaud withdrew from the firm, which has since conducted business
under the style of Pennell & O'Hern. They control the largest contracting
business of all firms in Westchester county. They have constructed large
sections of the sea wall on Gunner's island, executed four contracts under
the New York Aqueduct Commission and built the Catskill Mountain sec
tion of the Elevated Railroad. They took the contract for making a large
section of the Harlem depression, were the contractors having in charge the
Rinzer cut-off on the Pennsylvania Railroad, at Lancaster, Pennsylvania,
took a one-hundred-thousand-dollar contract for street macadamizing at
Avon-by-the-Sea, and built the Warburton avenue extension at Yonkers.
In 1898, Mr. O'Hern was personally concerned in the construction of
thirty-five hundred feet of the Lake avenue sewer, of Yonkers, at a depth of
from sixteen to thirty-one feet. He received for this thirty-five thousand
dollars, and employed about four hundred workmen. The firm of Pennell &
O'Hern is the most thoroughly equipped of all firms in this part of the coun
try for the successful prosecution of their labors. These partners own their
own hoisting engines, steam rollers, steam shovels, locomotives, cars, a com-

982 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
plete plant of modern excavating machinery and from sixty to seventy horses.
They have surpassed all other firms in the amount and importance of street
paving and execution of public contracts in Yonkers. Among other con
tracts which they have had in Yonkers was the paving of Main street with
blocks; the macadamizing of the Sawmill River Railroad and Tuckahoe
Road, of North Broadway to Hastings, Brodwick's Speedway, the extension
of Park Hill avenue and Valentine's lane, besides considerable work for the
New York Central Road. Mr. O'Hern is also individually interested in a
one-hundred-and-twenty-thousand-dollar contract from Springtown drive to
Broadway, about a mile and a quarter. In connection with Mr. Pennell he
engaged in the manufacture of dynamite in Yonkers and later in Kingston,
New York. Their business has assumed mammoth proportions and has
brought them deserved prominence and success.
On the 5th of October, 1887, Mr. O'Hern was united in marriage to
Miss Mary J., daughter of John Gibbons, of Irvington on the Hudson. They
have seven children. Their residence is the finest on South Broadway. It
was recently erected by Mr. O'Hern and is a most imposing edifice, con
structed of brick, with stone trimmings, at a cost of twenty thousand dollars.
In his political affiliations he is a Democrat, but has never been an aspirant
for office. He is a member of the Yonkers fire department, the Protection
Engine Company, and of St. Mary's Catholic church. Viewed in the light
of his success, the business career of Mr. O'Hern seems most marvelous, yet
his prosperity is but the natural sequence of common causes. Systematical
and methodical in business, quick to note and take advantage of favorable
business openings, energetic and progressive and possessed of sound judg
ment and rare discrimination, he stands to-day at the head of extensive and
important industrial interests, and is a recognized leader in his line.

THEARON B. DEAN.

Thearon B. Dean, a prominent representative of the business interests
of Somers township, has spent his entire life here, his birth having occurred
June 19, 1853. He is descended from one of the old and honored families
of southeastern New York, his great-grandfather having settled near Carmel,
Putnam county, at the time that he came to America from England.
Nathaniel Dean, the father of our subject, and son of David Dean, was born
in the county mentioned, in 1802, being one of ten children, who were
named, respectively, Silas, Charles, Elijah, David, George, Maria, Matilda,
Julia, Cynthia and Betsey. Most of these became the heads of families, and
their descendants are widely scattered. Six of the cousins of our subject
were soldiers in the war of the Rebellion.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 983
Nathaniel Dean spent his boyhood and youth near the town of Carmel,
and, as he began earning his own livelihood when he was quite young, his
educational privileges were quite limited. At length he took up the study of
medicine, with Doctor Barnum as his preceptor, who was a botanic physi
cian, having intimate knowledge of the curative properties of herbs. Then,
until 1868 or 1869, he successfully engaged in the practice of the healing art,
acquiring much more than local fame, as patients came to him from far and
near, even from the neighboring counties of Columbia and Dutchess. Nor
was his fame limited to the regular line of family practice, for he became an
adept at surgical work, and was especially expert in dealing with fractures.
About 1830 he removed to Westchester county, where he made his home
until summoned to the silent land, in 1876. He was very successful as a
financier; was one of the founders and stockholders of the Bank of Kent and
held stock in the Farmers & Drovers Bank of Somersville. He was a man
of high moral character, was a great reader and a deep thinker, and was
thoroughly worthy of the high regard in which he was uniformly held.
The wife of Dr. Nathaniel Dean was Elizabeth Ann, daughter of Moses
and Martha (Powell) Havaland, and sister of William and Jane. The Hava-
lands were of French descent and were prominently identified with the
Society of Friends, several of the number being ministers. Moses Havaland
was a carpenter by trade, as were his brothers also, but in his later years he
followed farming. His daughter, Jane, married a Mr. Dean, a relative of
Doctor Dean. To the marriage of Doctor Dean and wife three children were
born, namely: Moses H., a stock dealer and farmer of Peekskill, New York;
Augustus N., a farmer living near Peekskill; and Thearon B.
Reared upon a farm, Thearon B. Dean obtained his early education in
the district schools of the neighborhood and later attended the Chappaqua
Mountain Institute. When he was in his nineteenth year he began farming
on the homestead which he still occupies, and for eight or ten years he gave
his whole attention to general agricultural pursuits. In connection with his
farming operations he then engaged in the wholesale feed and coal business,
shipping by car-load lots throughout the eastern states. He still does an
extensive business in this line, having an office in the Produce Exchange
building, and is recognized as one of the most progressive, enterprising and
energetic business men of the county. His farm, comprising one hundred
and thirty-five acres of valuable land, is chiefly devoted to dairying, though
considerable live-stock also is handled by him. For five or six years he was
engaged in the grain elevator business at Port Richmond, but sold his inter
ests there. He is a man of sound judgment, sagacious and far-sighted, and
the success which he has achieved is certainly well deserved.
On the 4th of December, 1878, Mr. Dean was united in marriage with

984 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
Miss Annie E. Purdy, and they are numbered among the most highly
respected citizens of this county. In his political views Mr. Dean is a stanch
Republican. ALBERT W. MOTT.
The name Mott is of Knickerbocker Dutch origin and is a very old one
in this country, traceable back to Jefferson and Herkimer counties, New
York. John Mott, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a
native of Jefferson county, a farmer owning a considerable amount of land.
He was a Democrat in politics and served as postmaster. He was a mem
ber of the Universahst church. Our subject's paternal grandfather, also a
native of Jefferson county, was a shoemaker by trade and during the latter
part of his life resided at Gloversville, New York, where he was a boot and
shoe merchant. He also was a Democrat and a member of the Universahst
church. He died at the age of sixty-five or sixty-six years. His children
were seven in number, as follows: John, Thomas, Silas, George Washing
ton, Nancy, Lucy and Mary.
George Washington Mott, the father of Albert W., was a native of Jef
ferson county, New York, born December 13, 1832, attended school to the
age of eleven years, and from the age of twenty to fifty-five was a seafaring
man, who during his service on the sea was captain of sailing vessels of all
classes and traveled widely throughout the world. After retiring to his native
land he followed painting for two years; then went to Seattle, Washington,
where he engaged in the lumber trade, and finally died, May 7, 1895. in
his politics he was an enthusiastic Democrat, and in religion a prominent
Universahst. He married Catharine Glover and had two children: Esther
A., wife of J. E. Tibbits, a contractor at Mount Vernon, and Albert W.
The last mentioned, the subject of this sketch, was born in the village
of Kirksville, Onondaga county, New York, November 28, 1863, and
attended the public schools of Syracuse, this state, until his mother died,
when he went to New York city, where he was employed as an errand boy
by R. F. Tyson & Company, stock-brokers, at three dollars per week. He
remained with that firm for six years and' a half, being finally promoted to
the position of loan clerk at a salary of twenty-five dollars a week; and he
also frequently operated on the floor of the Stock Exchange in the interests
of his company. Subsequently he became second teller in the Garfield Bank
in New York city, at a reduced salary; but not being contented with this
position, he took up carpentering, with the view of engaging in the business
of contracting and building as soon as he had mastered the trade. After
serving two years in New York city he came to Mount Vernon and undertook
the business to which his ambition had led him, erecting thirteen houses on

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 985
Terrace avenue the first year, the contracts amounting to seventy thousand
dollars. At that time he was the youngest man in the business, but he did
more work than any other man. Altogether, he has erected about one hun
dred and eighty houses in this place. Some of the buildings he has put up
on his own account, on lots of his own, for speculation. He is now con
sidered one of the oldest contractors in the place, and he is still prepared to
erect all kinds of structures and also to put down street paving, etc. He has
now on hand contracts amounting to forty thousand dollars.
He is a member of the Co-operative Building & Loan Association, and
was formerly a member of the Home Building & Loan Association. Fra
ternally he is a member of Hiawatha Lodge, Royal Arch Masons, and of the
O. D. O. Mr. Mott is one of the leading builders of the city of his choice,
is enterprising and progressive, and is a competent, safe business manager,
affable in manner and companionable in disposition.
On the 1 2th of October, 1887, he was united in marriage with Miss
Emma L. B., daughter of Theodore Kohlmann, a lithographer of New York
city, and they have two children, — Albert G. and Elmer Theodore.

WILLIAM RYAN.

The influence of such a career as that of Mr. Ryan on the business and
political life of a community cannot be estimated.. A man of great force of
character and unquestioned integrity, his honorable record has commanded
the confidence of all and left its impress for good on the commercial and leg
islative interests with which he has been connected. If those who claim that
fortune has favored certain individuals above others will but investigate the
cause of success and failure, it will be found that the former is largely due to
the improvement of opportunity, the latter to the neglect of it. Fortunate
environments compass nearly every man at some stage of his career, but the
strong man and the successful man is he who realizes that the proper moment
has come, that the present and not the future holds his opportunity. The
man who makes use of the Now and not the To Be is the one who passes on
the highway of life others who started out ahead of him and reaches the
goal of prosperity far in advance of them. It is this quality in Mr. Ryan
that has made him a leader in the business world and also gained him prom
inence in connection with the legislative interests of state and nation.
A native of county Tipperary, Ireland, he was born March 8, 1840, and
when four years of age came to the United States with his father, John Ryan,
who located with his family at Stanwich, Connecticut, where he made his
home until about fourteen years ago, since which time he has been a resident
of Port Chester. By occupation he is a farmer.

986 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
The subject of this review was reared in Stanwich, Connecticut, and in
his youth assisted in the labors of the farm which debarred him from extended
educational privileges. However, he attended the schools of Stanwich and
of North Castle, New York, to some extent, and by observation and varied
experience in the business world he has added largely to his fund of knowl
edge, gaining that practical wisdom which enables one to meet ably the
duties of life. In the spring of 1859 he started for the gold fields at Pike's
Peak, Colorado. He went first to Kansas City and later joined a party at
Leavenworth, Kansas, where he was employed to drive an ox team to Den
ver, arriving in the latter city in June, 1859. There many of the party de
cided to return, but Mr. Ryan with a number of companions started up the-
mountain in search of gold, and opened a gold mine in what is now Central
City. Our subject aided in opening the first paying gold mine in Colorado,
and was also the first man to drive a wheeled vehicle into the gold regions in
the mountains beyond Denver. He was four days in making the trip from
Denver to Central City, only forty miles. Soon after his arrival in Colorado,
he became interested in placer mining in Russell Gulch, six miles from Cen
tral City, but after working there for two months were driven out by the Ute
Indians, and at once joined a company to go into the mountains in pursuit
of the red men. The expedition lasted three weeks, in which time three
men of the party were killed and Mr. Ryan was wounded.
Not long after this he started eastward, going down the Missouri and
Mississippi rivers to the state of Mississippi. There he recovered his health,
which had been impaired in the mines, and when he had regained his strength
he secured a position on the Mississippi levees. In April, 1866, he again
started for Colorado, but at Fort Riley he learned that the Indians were on
the war-path, and were occasioning such trouble that he returned to St.
Louis and thence made his way to his native town of Stanwich, Connecti
cut. Soon afterward, however, he came to Port Chester, where he secured
a position as a farm hand, and also gave some attention to the improvement
of his education. Subsequently he engaged in teaching in Mamaroneck and
Bronxville, and in 1870 he began business in Port Chester as a dealer in mer
chandise, coal, masons' materials and shippers' supplies. He has built up a
very extensive trade, which has grown from year to year, bringing him an
excellent income as the result of his careful management, enterprise and
straightforward dealings.
Since his arrival here Mr. Ryan has been an important factor in the
public life of the city, and is recognized as one of the most prominent and
influential residents of the place. In 1870 he was elected a trustee of Port
Chester, and held the office for six years. As a member of the school board
for many years, he has done most effective service in the interests of educa-

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 987
tion, and for three years he served as president of the board, during which
time the present school buildings were erected and the present school system
was inaugurated. He has been justice of the peace for one term, was super
visor of the town for five terms, and was chairman of the county board of
supervisors for two years. But still higher political honors awaited him.
His marked ability and fitness for leadership led to his selection for the legis
lature, to which he was elected, in 1890, on the Democratic ticket, and again
in 1891. He was chairman of the committees on taxation, retrenchments,
public lands and forestry and public roads, etc. He was the author and
secured the passage of the bill known as the Adirondack Park bill, providing
for a state park in the mountains. In 1892 he was elected to congress, and
was one of the active members of the house, serving on the committees on
invalid pensions, labor, and railroads and canals. He introduced and had
reported the bill for the suppression of international commerce in all prison-
made goods; advocated the construction of a cable to the Hawaiian islands,
and the construction of the Nicaraguan canal. He also supported a measure
providing for the construction of a canal from the great lakes to the Atlantic,
and from the head waters of Lake Superior to the Mississippi river. He was
a candidate for re-election in 1895, but declined the nomination in 1896,
owing to the pressing demands which his business interests made upon his
time. He is known throughout the state as a man of pleasing personality,
of courteous nature and genial disposition, of sound judgment and unques
tioned business ability, and enjoys the high regard of all with whom he has
been brought in contact through business, political or social relations.
In 1875 Mr. Ryan was united in marriage to Miss Mary O. Malley, who
died in 1879, since which time he has remained single.

FRANKLIN D. PAGAN.

Franklin David Pagan, architect, New Rochelle, New York, is one of
the prominent and popular young men of this place. He was born in New
Rochelle, May 22, 1871, and here passed his boyhood days, receiving his
early training in the public schools and in a private school of the town. His
father being a contractor and builder, the son early showed a taste for archi
tecture and was sent to the Architectural School, of New York, where he
diligently pursued the course of study laid down and gained both a theoretical
and practical knowledge of the science of building. Returning to New
Rochelle, he assisted his father in the office, and later they were in New York
city. Since 1890 he has had an office in New Rochelle, his first office being
in the Charles G. Banks building, on Huguenot street, and his present loca
tion being at No. 211 Main street, where he has office rooms complete in all

988 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
their appointments. He has drawn the plans for many of the best residences
in New York city, New Rochelle, Larchmont, Pelham and surrounding towns
in Westchester county, New York. He is doing a prosperous business, and
enjoys the reputation of being a first-class, up-to-date architect.
Mr. Pagan is a member of the New Rochelle Yacht Club, and the New
York Athletic Club, and also has membership in the Relief Engine Fireman's
Club, the "crack" club of New Rochelle.

CAPTAIN SAMUEL REQUA.
The name of Requa has long been interwoven with the history of West
chester county, and to-day is borne by one of the most prominent and
esteemed citizens of Tarrytown, Captain Samuel Requa. For many years
he was connected with the river transportation interests of this section of the
state, but is now living a retired life, resting in the enjoyment of the compe
tence acquired through his former toil. His paternal grandparents were
Samuel and Maria (Van Wart) Requa, and the former was one of the early
settlers of Tarrytown. Here occurred the birth of his son, Captain Jacob
Requa, the father of our subject, who for many years was captain of a sloop
which conveyed market produce from towns along the Hudson to the metro
politan markets. He married Miss Eliza J. Lawrence, daughter of Isaac
Lawrence, and to them were born seven sons and two daughters, of whom
the following are still living: Maria, wife of Isaac Van Wart; John R.;
Jacob; Samuel; Isaac R. ; James M. ; and Eliza J., the wife of ex-Senator
Valentine M. Hugson, now of White Plains, New York.
Captain Samuel Requa, whose name introduces this review, was born
May 26, 1826, in Tarrytown, where he now occupies a pleasant home. His
education was obtained in the public schools, one of his instructors being
Allen G. Newman, for whom he entertained great respect and fondness.
While still a young child the delights of life on the water appealed strongly
to him and many a trip he took with his father on the trim little sloop, the
James Benedict, of which his father was captain. When the son had com
pleted his literary education he became his father's assistant and thoroughly
learned how to manage the craft on which they sailed as well as to transact
the other business connected with their trading ventures. They would col
lect the farm produce from the various agriculturists along the river and sell
it for them in New York. Before his father's death, in 1864, Samuel Requa
became the captain of the James Benedict, but soon afterward sold it and
purchased a propeller, the Armitage Brearley. In this business he was asso
ciated with Captain Lewis, and together they carried on business for nearly
thirty years, when Captain Requa sold his interest in 1893 to Captain James

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 989
Duell. He is now passing his declining years in his pleasant home in Tarry
town in the enjoyment of a well earned rest and freedom from business care.
On Christmas day of 1849 Captain Requa was united in marriage to Miss
Sarah Brundage, who was born in Rensico, Westchester county, and is a
daughter of Ightmon Brundage. Five children were born to them but only
one is now living, the daughter, Emma F. , who is now the wife of Walter
A. Connell, of Tarrytown. Those who have passed away are Millard F., a
young man of brilliant prospects, who died in 1882, at the age of thirty-one
years; Charles A., who died in 1871, in his nineteenth year; Henry Clay,
who died in 1893, at the age of thirty years; and Ida May, an accomplished
young lady, who was called to the home beyond in 1886, at the age of
twenty-six years.
Captain Requa gives his political support to the Democracy, with which
he has affiliated since attaining his majority. He is now serving as water
commissioner for the village of Tarrytown and is president of the Sleepy
Hollow Cemetery Association. He has always performed his full duty as a
citizen, lending his aid and co-operation to every movement for the public
good, and his well spent life has gained him the friendship and regard of a
large circle of acquaintances.

GEORGE W. HARRIS.

Practical industry wisely and vigorously applied never fails of success.
It carries a man onward and upward, brings out his individual character, and
acts as a powerful stimulus to the efforts of others. The greatest results in
life are usually attained by simple means and the exercise of the ordinary quali
ties of common sense and persevering industry. The every-day life, with its
cares, necessities and duties, affords ample opportunities for acquiring exper-
rience of the best sort, and its most beaten paths provide a true worker with
abundant scope for effort and for self-improvement. The subject of this review
has attained marked success in one of the most important lines of industry which
has potent and practical bearing upon the progress and material upbuilding
of any community; and it is ever gratifying to note, as in his case, a success
that has been won by well directed personal endeavor, guided by judgment
and knowledge conjoined to inflexible integrity and high business principles.
The Harris family has been long identified with the annals of American
history, the original representatives having been numbered among the early
residents of Connecticut, from which state James Harris, the grandfather of
the immediate subject of this review, removed to Long Island, New York,
where he passed the residue of his days, being a man of sterling rectitude.
His son, John Robert, was the father of him whose name initiates this

'990 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
-sketch. By occupation he was originally a seafaring man and was for
many years a captain of a vessel which plied the beautiful Hudson river.
Eventually, however, he abandoned nautical pursuits and repaired to a farm,
where he was employed in the capacity of foreman or manager. In his polit
ical adherency he was arrayed in support of the Democratic party, and in his
religious views he held to the faith of the Baptist church, of which he was a
devoted and zealous member.
John R. Harris was twice married. By his first wife ten children were
born, six of whom yet survive, namely: Robert A., Andrew J., Sarah, Lizzie,
Leonora and George Washington, who is the subject of this sketch. The
devoted wife and mother was summoned into eternal rest in 1872, at the age
of thirty-nine years, eleven months and eight days. By his second wife there
were no children. He died on the 25th of January, 1891, at which time he
had attained the age of sixty-one years, ten months and three days. He was
a man of inflexible principles and sterling worth of character, being held in
high esteem by all who knew him.
George Washington Harris, with whom this article has mainly to do,
was born at the parental home on Long Island, on the 17th of November,
1866, receiving his educational discipline in the excellent public schools of his
neighborhood, which he attended until he had attained the age of seventeen
years. He then prepared himself for the practical duties of life by serving
an apprenticeship of three years at the mason's trade, at Greenport, Rhode
Island, after which, being thoroughly familiar with all details of the business
and recognized as a skilled and conscientious workman, he was employed as
a journeyman at his trade until 1891, in which year he engaged in contracting
on his own account, at Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he remained for one
year, after which he came to Mount Vernon, Westchester county, New York,
where he has received a representative patronage and built up a most suc
cessful business, ramifying throughout this and adjacent towns, he being one
of the extensive contractors and builders of the county and holding distinct
prestige by reason of his unvarying fidelity to the terms of every contract and
by his pronounced ability in his line. These are elements that never fail to
insure success, and Mr. Harris has gained the confidence and esteem of those
with whom he has had dealings, being known as a young man of much enter
prise, discerning judgment and genuine worth of character. He has in his
employ about fifty men, and at the present time is engaged in extensive build
ing operations at Bronxville, this county, where he has secured contracts
aggregating fully ninety thousand dollars. He has been indefatigable in his ¦
efforts, and his success, which has been worthily achieved, stands as an ear
nest of still farther progress in his chosen field of endeavor.
In political matters Mr. Harris follows in the footsteps of his father in

WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 991
so far a national issues are concerned, supporting the Democratic party, but
in local affairs of a political nature he maintains an independent attitude.
His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal
church. Fraternally he is identified with Mount Vernon Council of the Junior
Order of United American Mechanics.
On the ist of June, 1892, Mr. Harris was united in marriage to Miss
Maggie A. Davis, of Laurel Hill, Long Island, and their attractive home in
Mount Vernon is a center of refined hospitality, which is enjoyed by a con
stantly widening circle of friends.

HENRY W. BISCHOFF.

No foreign element has become a more important part of our American
citizenship than that furnished by Germany. The emigrants from that land
have brought with them to the New World the stability, enterprise and per
severance characteristic of their people and have fused these qualities with
the progressiveness and indomitable spirit of this country. Mr. Bischoff is a
representative of this class. He came to the United States a poor boy, hop
ing to benefit his financial condition, and his dreams of the future were more
than realized. He occupied a prominent place in the business circles of
Westchester county, being extensively engaged in the manufacture of ladies',
misses' and children's shoes.
Mr. Bischoff was born in Minden, Prussia, Germany, November 13, 1834,
a son of William and Wilhelmina (Steckam) Bischoff. His father, who was
a farmer by occupation, died in that country, in 1 841, .but his mother's death
occurred in Westchester county, New York, in 1872. In their family were
four children: William, deceased, who was a hotel proprietor in New York
city; Henry W., our subject, who also is deceased; Christopher, who is now
living retired in New York city; and Wilhelmina, deceased.
The subject of this sketch spent the first twenty years of his life in his
native land, where he was interested in the grocery business, first as a clerk
and later as proprietor of a store. Crossing the Atlantic he came to West
chester county, New York, in January, 1862, and purchased a hotel at Chap
paqua, conducting the same successfully for about five years. He also filled
the position of ticket agent for the Harlem Railroad at that place in 1863,
1864 and 1865. Selling his hotel in 1867 he embarked in the shoe business,
in company with R. Ferrington and William Bird, under the firm name of
Ferrington, Bischoff & Bird, having purchased a small plant at Pleasantville,
which they removed to Chappaqua. At the end of about eight years Mr.
Bischoff purchased the interests of his partners and carried on operations
alone for three or four years, the business then being merged into a stock
company, under the name of the Chappaqua Shoe Manufacturing Company,
remaining as such until 1888, when our subject purchased the plant and

992 WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
again became sole proprietor. The business was afterward conducted under
the firm style of Henry W. Bischoff, and employment was furnished to from
one hundred to one hundred and seventy-five hands, according to the season.
Except when closed for repairs the factory is still kept running all the year
around, by the sons, and three hundred pairs of shoes are turned out per day,
these being sold mainly in New York state, Boston, Massachusetts, Wash
ington, D. C. , New Jersey, Rhode Island and Illinois. It is one of the lead
ing industries of the county, and by its operation Mr. Bischoff materially
advanced the general welfare of the community. Since the death of Mr. Bisch
off the business has been sold to Mr'. Bache, who is settling up the estate.
He was married in New York city, in 1858, to Miss Maria Hamm, and
the children born to them were as follows: Wilhelmina, who is the wife of
Edward Johnston, a farmer of Mount Pleasant, and they have three chil
dren — Henry W., Herbert and Roy; Anna is the wife of Richard F. Carr, of
Chappaqua, a custom-house officer of New York city, and they have three
children, — Frankie, Robert and Walter; Louisa is the wife of William Bischoff,
a real-estate broker of New York city, and they have one child, Mildred;
Henry W., Jr., is the superintendent of his fathers shoe factory at Chappa
qua, where he makes his home: he is a member of the order of American
Mechanics, and takes an active part in promoting the interests of the
Republican party in this county; he is prominent in public affairs; he mar
ried Miss Lola Crak, and has two children — Margaret and Dorothy; and
William H., the younger son of our subject, is also a resident of Chappaqua,
and is serving as salesman, collector and buyer for the establishment. He
has held the office of township clerk for three consecutive years, and is one
of the rising young men of the county. He married Miss Estella Quimby,
and has one child, Robert. The sons are both intelligent, enterprising and
energetic young men, who are destined to make their mark in the affairs of
the county. Their father died November 12, 1898, and their mother was
called to her final rest in 1880. They were earnest members of the Lutheran
church. As a business man Mr. Bischoff gained an enviable reputation. At the
early age of eight years he started out to make his own way in the world,
and the success that crowned his efforts was due entirely to his industry,
perseverance and good management. In politics he was a stalwart Repub
lican, was chairman of the township committee of New Castle, and for years
a delegate to various county and state conventions. He filled the office of
commissioner of highways and other positions, was postmaster of Chappaqua,
and was appointed special expert witness on the water-shed by the city of
New York; he took a deep and commendable interest in all things for the
public good, and his counsel was often felt in the affairs of the county.
Socially, he was a member of Mount Kisco Lodge, No. 708, F. & A. M. , of
which he was treasurer for the last twenty-seven years of his life. While a
resident of New York he was a member of Troop A, First Regiment of Cav
alry, and was commissioned second lieutenant by Governor Fenton, resigning
at the end of five years on his removal to Westchester county. In all the
relations of life he was always found true to every trust resposed in him, and
justly merited the esteem in which he was held.