years in the employ of the New York Knife Co., serving the last
twenty-five years as president and treasurer, during which time he
made the plant of this company the largest and most successful of its
kind in the United States; was for some time president of the Walden
National Bank and has been for many years a director and
vice-president thereof; was one of the original trustees of the
Columbus Trust Co. of Newburgh; has been for many years a trustee of
the Walden Savings Bank; was a member of the State Assembly in 1876,
chairman of the committee on military affairs and assistant inspector
general of the National Guard; was a delegate to the national
republican conventions of 1892, 1896, 1900 and 1908; was elected to
the national house of representatives for the 58th, 59th and 60th
Congresses, and served with the committee on military affairs, and
the committee on invalid pensions; was married in 1867 to Josephine
Denniston, daughter of Colonel James Denniston, of Little Britain;
entered the Union Army as a private soldier, September 5, 1862; was
promoted through every intermediate grade, and became a captain in
the 124th New York Infantry Volunteers, served as personal
aid-de-camp to Major General Gershom Mott, 3d Division, 2d Army
Corps, was brevetted major United States Volunteers "for meritorious
service," and was awarded the congressional medal of honor for
gallantry at Chancellorsville, where he "volunteered in response to a
call, and alone, in the face of a heavy fire of musketry and
canister, went out and procured ammunition for the use of his
comrades;" was severely wounded in action at Gettysburg, July 2,
1863, was wounded in action at The Wilderness, May 6, 1864, and
wounded in action at Boydton Plank Road, October 27, 1864; is a
member of the Society of the Army of the Potomac, a companion of the
first class in the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United
States, and a member of the New York Chattanooga-Gettysburg Battle
Fields Commission; is affiliated with Wallkill Lodge, F. and A. M.,
Highland Chapter and Hudson River Commandery; is a member of the City
Club, Newburgh, and the Army and Navy Club, New York City; he has for
many years been connected with the First Reformed Church of Walden;
is a member of the Bradley Hose Co. of Walden, and of Enterprise
Steamer Co., of which he was for some time the first foreman.
JOHN B. BRADNER, of Bellvale, Orange County, N. Y., was born in 1849.
His early education was acquired at the district school in Bellvale.
At the age of fourteen he began working on the farm. When eighteen
years of age he clerked in a general store at Bellvale and after a
period of seven years was taken into partnership, the firm being Burt
& Bradner. This partnership continued for about three years, when Mr.
Bradner withdrew and erected the first store at Greenwood Lake, where
he continued in business for nine years. Mr. Bradner also owns a
productive and valuable orange grove in St. Petersburg, Fla. He was
united in marriage to Miss Clara R. Hunt in 1873. There were four
children to bless this union, only two of whom are now living.
In politics a democrat, Mr. Bradner has served as postmaster at
Bellvale, was school trustee and has acted as trustee of the Warwick
Savings Bank.
WILLIAM A. BRADNER is one of the six children of Jacob Howe Bradner
and Sarah C. Vandervoort Bradner, four of whom are living. He was
born on a farm near Warwick, May 23, 1867. The other living children
are John H., of Olean, N. Y.; William A., of Warwick: Carrie, wife of
S. D. Tilt, of Warwick, and Samuel Blain Dolson, of Bowie, Arizona.
William A., after his schooling, which ended in Warwick Institute,
assisted his father on the farm until his father's death in 1901. It
is a dairy farm of one hundred acres, with one thousand peach trees,
on which the Indians camped in pioneer days and near which
Washington's army was camped for awhile. The house was built in 1810
of timber brought from Connecticut, and Mr. Bradner's grandfather
bought the place of James Bell. Mr. Bradner is a skillful farmer, and
in practical matters generally is up with the times.
GEORGE RICHARD BREWSTER, attorney, of Newburgh, was born in Newburgh,
N. Y., November 17, 1873. He is a son of Eugene Augustus and Anna W.
(Brown) Brewster. The family ancestry is traced through the Brewsters
of Long Island and Connecticut, to Nathaniel Brewster, a member of
the class graduated from Harvard (1642), whose father, Francis
Brewster, came to America from London, England, and settled in New
Haven, Conn. Mr. Brewster was educated at Siglar's Preparatory
School, Newburgh, and Yale University, from which he graduated in
1894 with the degree of Ph.B. He read law in the office of his
father, the late Hon. Eugene A. Brewster, and was admitted to the bar
in 1896. He is a member of the Democratic Club of New York; Yale Club
of New York; Transportation Club, New York; a director of the City
and Powelton Clubs, Newburgh; director of the National Bank of
Newburgh, and vestryman of St. George's Church; he is also a director
of a number of local corporations.
Mr. Brewster was married January 18, 1899, to Margaret Conley Orr,
daughter of the late James Orr, of Newburgh.
NATHANIAL R. BREWSTER, whose farm is situated at East Coldenham in
the town of Newburgh, is a descendant of one of Orange County's old
and prominent families. His ancestry dates back to William Brewster,
who came over in the Mayflower and was the progenitor of the
Brewsters in America. He is a son of William C. and a grandson of
Nathaniel Brewster, who previously cultivated this property.
Considerable interest is attached to this farm from the fact that
Nathaniel Brewster near his home unearthed the skeleton of a
mastodon, which was purchased by Dr. Warren, of Boston, and later
sold to J. Pierpont Morgan, who presented it to the New York Museum
of Natural History.
In 1896 Mr. Brewster established here a school for nervous and
backward children, and the methods of training adopted have proved
very successful.
WALTER H. BREWSTER, supervisor of the town of Blooming Grove, is a
descendant of one of Orange County's old families. He is a son of
Henry S. and Harriet (Halsey) Brewster and was born on his father's
farm in Blooming Grove in 1869. He has always been engaged in
agricultural pursuits, in which he has achieved much success. He was
appointed a member of the board of supervisors to fill a vacancy in
1902 and in 1903 was elected to the office and re-elected in 1905 and
1907. Mr. Brewster married Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. Warren
Hathaway, and they have one son, Henry.
GEORGE E. BRINK, agent, L. & H. R. Ry., at East Chester Station,
village of Chester, N. Y., son of Geo. E. Brink, of Franklin, N. J.,
and Lucretia Trusdell, of Vernon, N. J., was born December 7, 1879,
at Franklin Furnace, N. J. His mother moved to Warwick, N. Y., when
he was three years old. He got a common school education, and after
working at odd jobs entered railway service as clerk in the general
office, November 1, 1898. He also learned telegraphy, proved a good
operator and has held various positions on different railroads in the
capacity of agent, yard master, assistant train master, operator and
train dispatcher. For the last two years and over he has been at East
Chester, N. Y., where he has built up business in one year from $300
to $1,200 monthly. Mr. Brink has many friends in the vicinity and is
well known by all as a thorough all-around railroad man.
LEANDER BRINK was born in the town of Shawangunk, Ulster County,
N. Y., January 30, 1833. He is a son of James Brink, who was born in
the town of Wallkill, Orange County, N. Y., in 1804. The family is of
Dutch lineage. At the age of two years Mr. Brink's parents removed to
Schuyler County, and his younger days were spent on the farm. In 1854
he came to Middletown and clerked for his uncle, Hiram Brink, a
furniture dealer, with whom he remained until October, 1857. He was
then taken in the firm as partner, the firm name becoming H. & L.
Brink. In 1864 he went to Saginaw, Michigan, engaging in the
manufacture of salt, Mr. Brink being superintendent of the works.
He continued in that business until 1867, when he returned to
Middletown, retaining his interest in the salt works until 1876. In
politics Mr. Brink is a republican and is a man of strong temperance
sentiment. He was married to Miss Mary Horton in 1857, daughter of
Hiram Horton, of Wallkill township.
T. HUNT BROCK, proprietor of the Hotel Erie at Port Jervis, was born
at Scranton, Pa., in 1870, at which place he obtained his education.
He first became identified with the hotel business in 1881 at the
Hotel Windsor at Scranton, Pa., where he remained for a period of ten
years. He removed to Port Jervis, N. Y., in 1901 and purchased the
Erie Hotel, which he still conducts.
Mr. Brock is a member of the following social and fraternal
organizations: F. and A. M. No. 291, of Scranton, Pa.; Neversink
Chapter, Delaware Commandery, and Mecca Temple, Mystic Shrine of
N. Y.; B. P. O. E. No. 645, of Port Jervis, and the Sons of Veterans,
Camp No. 8.
CHAUNCY BROOKS, contractor and builder, of the village of Montgomery,
N. Y., was born in 1842 at Eagle Valley in what was then the town of
Monroe. His father traded Monroe Village, depot and all, for four
hundred acres of land at what is now called Tuxedo. He still has a
brother, Malcom Brooks, there, who is ex-supervisor of Tuxedo. As a
young man he taught school for a while in his home district, and then
learned to be an architect and builder. In 1867 he came to
Montgomery, where he has achieved much prominence both as a
contractor and in the affairs of the village. He was president of the
board of water commissioners for six years during the time of its
construction, and a member of the school board for nine years. In
1869 Mr. Brooks married Martha, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Mould)
Wait, and three children have been born to them. Charles W., a civil
engineer and graduate of Brown's University and also of Philadelphia
University, resides at Washington and is in the employ of the
government in the War and Navy Department. Alida W. is a graduate of
the Emerson College of Boston and of the College of Albany, and is
still attending the University of New York City and teaching at
Bayonne, N. J. She is a teacher of elocution and physical culture.
His youngest daughter, Minnie M., is a graduate of Montgomery High
School, also of the Metropolitan College of Music. She resides at
Montgomery, where she is giving instruction in music. Mr. Brooks has
erected most of the substantial buildings in Montgomery and vicinity
and gives employment regularly to a large force of men.
F. B. BROOKS, bookkeeper for C. T. Knight and assistant postmaster at
Monroe, N. Y., was born in this village in 1872. He has been
associated with Mr. Knight for the past eleven years and is actively
identified with public affairs of his native place. He is president
of the board of education and director and treasurer of the Fire
Company. He is also director of the local building and loan
association. Socially he is a member of the Masonic fraternity. Mr.
Brooks deals extensively in real estate and has effected the sales of
many valuable farms and choice country seats in Orange County.
GEORGE H. BROOKS was born at Mountainville, and his education was in
the district school. From his youth until nineteen years of age he
assisted his father on the farm. In 1875 he went to Turners, N. Y.,
and worked at blacksmithing four years, came to Chester in 1879, and
was with Joseph Gavin two years; then went to Sugar Loaf, Orange
County, and opened a shop there, which he conducted ten years. In
1891 he came to Chester and purchased of S. Hadden the establishment
in which he had been manufacturing buggies for thirty-five years. He
enlarged it, added new and improved machinery, making of it one of
the best appointed manufactories in the county. He is a Methodist in
religion and a republican in politics. In September, 1885, he was
married to Eliza Litchult. Their seven children's names are Dora L.,
Lena C, Elsie, Helen, Merry, Clarence and Phoebe J. Mr. Brooks'
father is still living at the age of ninety at Little Britain in the
town of New Windsor.
DAVID BROWN, who is engaged in the express business in New York City,
maintains a country place in the town of Newburgh, situated on the
State road, known as the Cochecton turnpike. Mr. Brown purchased this
farm, which comprises forty acres, in 1903. Commencing in a small
way, Mr. Brown by industry, enterprise and the wise counsel of his
wife has built up a very prosperous business in the metropolis. He
married Miss Mary J. Baxter and they have one daughter, Genevieve.
EBER L. BROWN, owner of a seven-hundred-acre farm in the town of
Minisink, and much valuable real estate in the village of Unionville
and the cities of Middletown and New York, was born in Sussex County,
N. J., in 1828. As a boy he clerked for a number of years and
subsequently became a member of the wholesale grocery firm of
Stillwell, Brown & Co., of New York City, for five years. In 1848 he
went to California and engaged in mining with much success. On his
return East he was connected with a wholesale dry goods house in New
York and a wholesale grocery house.
Business cares affected his health and he came to Unionville and
settled on the farm where his father was born. There he made his home
and supervised the farm for twenty years. He then opened a wholesale
and retail feed store in Unionville, and here organized a silk
manufacturing establishment, giving employment to fifty hands. The
plant was destroyed by fire in 1894. Mr. Brown now devotes his time
principally to his real estate holdings in Unionville and Middletown.
He is one of the directors of the Sussex Bank and has served as
supervisor of the town.
Mr. Brown was twice married, his first wife being Miss Sarah E.
Lewis. His second wife was Miss Caroline M. Lain, and they became the
parents of twelve children, of whom five are living.
EDWARD ALLEN BROWN, proprietor of the Brown Hotel at Middletown, is a
native of Orange County, having been born in the town of Greenville
on December 7, 1840. His residence in Middletown dates from 1888,
when he purchased the Russell House and conducted it under that name
until the spring of 1908, when the new brick building, erected on the
site of the old structure, was completed. This hotel now known as the
"Brown," is one of the largest and best equipped hostelries in
eastern New York, and has a large patronage. Mr. Brown has owned and
conducted hotels in New York City, New Orleans, La., Logansport,
Ind., and Port Jervis, N. Y. For two years he held the office of
under sheriff of Orange County; was sergeant-at-arms in the Assembly
during a part of the Tilden administration; was assistant journal
clerk the first year of Cleveland's administration, and was
purchasing agent for the New York State Prison under Warden W. R.
Brown.
R. T. BROWN, senior member of the firm of Brown & Whitten, merchants
at Pine Bush, N. Y., is a native of New York City. The firm continued
the business established by Taylor & Howell. Mr. Brown was associated
for two years with Mr. Howell under the firm name of Howell & Brown.
Mr. Brown then conducted the business alone five years, and in 1907
the present partnership was formed.
Socially Mr. Brown is a member of the Knights of Pythias, he married
Miss Elizabeth Decker and they are the parents of three children.
U. GRANT BROWN is of Welsh descent, his ancestors coming from Wales
to America in 1650, settled on Long Island at a place then called
Oyster Bonds and now Glen Port. He was born July 28, 1863, at
Burnside, Orange County, and farming has always been his occupation.
His education was obtained at the district school of Burnside. His
parents were Daniel T. and Lucretia Brown. Of their five children
only two are living, U. Grant and Linus W. The latter resides in New
Orleans, La. U. Grant was married to Anna Sinsabaugh, of Cornwall,
N. Y., March 27, 1889, and three children have been born to
them--Edna, Josephine and Helen.
WILLIAM WISNER BUCKBEE has the distinction of having been born at
Wisner, Orange County, in the old stone house, which has been in the
family one hundred and forty years. The date of his birth was July
12, 1861. He was educated in the district school, began active life
as a farmer, and remained a farmer until his death, November 19,
1886. He also dealt in coal and feed at Wisner. He was postmaster
there twenty years, was treasurer of Locust Hill Cemetery, and being
a popular republican and good citizen, held several town offices at
various times. He was a grandson of Captain John Wisner. He was
married to H. Elizabeth Wisner, October 7, 1885, and their seven
children are all living--Emma, Albert, Anna Buckbee, William,
Francis, Henry and Louise.
AUSTIN C. BULL, who was born in the Governor Clinton homestead in the
town of New Windsor in 1855, has always made his home at this
historic spot, superintending his farm of three hundred and nine
acres. He is a descendant of an old and honored Orange County family.
William Bull, the first of that name in this county, was born at
Wolverhampton, England, in 1689. He came to America in 1715 and a
year later married Sarah Wells, of Goshen, which was the first
marriage ceremony performed in the old town of Goshen. He died in
1755 and she died in 1796, aged one hundred and two years. In 1868
an appropriate monument was erected over the remains of the venerable
couple near Hamptonburgh Church by their descendants. The father of
Austin C. was John Springstead Bull, a son of Isaac and grandson of
John Bull, a native of Hamptonburgh. J. S. Bull was born in the town
of Monroe in 1809. When a boy he entered the employ of David H.
Moffat, a merchant of Washingtonville, and in 1832 purchased the
business. He married the daughter of Samuel and Bethiah (Reeder)
Moffat, of the town of Blooming Grove. He purchased the Clinton
property in 1840 and the couple resided there until their death, the
former in 1876 and the latter in 1889. Mr. Austin C. Bull is a member
of Blooming Grove Congregational Church and is identified with
Washingtonville Grange.
CHARLES R. BULL, a prominent citizen of Orange County, residing near
Oxford Depot, is a descendant in the fifth generation of William Bull
and Sarah Wells, the pioneers who settled in this county in the
middle of the eighteenth century, to whom frequent reference is made
in this history.
Charles R. was born at the Blooming Grove homestead in 1838 and is a
son of Jesse and Caroline (Board) Bull. After completing his studies
at Chester Academy he attended a private school at Bloomfield, N. J.,
for three years. He then engaged in the management of his farms,
which comprise four hundred and forty-eight acres. In public life Mr.
Bull has served as supervisor four years. He was appointed by
Governor Odell, during his second term, loan commissioner of Orange
County and is the present incumbent of that office.
Mr. Bull is a director of the Chester National Bank, of which his
father was one of the incorporators. He is also a director of the
Columbus Trust Company, Newburgh, and vice-president of the Orange
and Rockland Electric Company of Monroe.
Mr. Bull married Harriet, daughter of Jesse Roe, of Chester, and they
are the parents of one son and two daughters: Jesse, who resides at
home; Caroline, now the wife of Clarence S. Knight; Mary, the wife of
S. B. Patterson.
EBENEZER BULL was born March 3, 1846, in the old stone house at
Hamptonburgh, Orange County, erected in 1722, which is still
standing. Mr. Bull is the fifth direct descendant who has resided in
this house. After his schooling he returned home and assisted in farm
work and has always been identified with farming. He married Anna,
daughter of Byard Walling, of Middletown, N. Y., October 17, 1894.
Mr. Bull's parents were Ebenezer and Jane Bull. There were thirteen
children born by this union. He is a member of Hamptonburgh Grange
No. 950 and largely identified in the dairy business. Tradition says
the barn on Mr. Bull's farm is older than the stone house, but the
date of erection cannot be verified. Purgatory swamp, near the Bull
stone house, derived its name from a messenger of the revolutionary
period, who was sent from the army of New Jersey with papers to
Washington's headquarters at Newburgh. He had instructions to stop
over night at this historic stone house of William Bull, became
confused and stopped at William Bull's son's house opposite the
swamp. In getting through at night he made the remark "out of
Purgatory," and it has always maintained this name.
HARRY BULL--The parents of Harry Bull were William and Phoebe Bull,
of Stony Ford, Orange County, and here he was born on the old Bull
homestead, May 25, 1872. There were eight children, five of whom are
living. He attended the district school at Franklin Square and
Friends Academy at Locust Valley, and then took a three months'
course in the Agricultural College at Cornell University, Ithaca, as
a preparation for the farming to which he has always devoted himself.
He is a republican, and has been justice of the peace for the past
eight years. He is a member of Hamptonburgh Grange No. 950, of which
he was one of the organizers, and of the Modern Woodmen of America.
Mr. Bull married Miss Lucille Pierson, of Hamptonburgh, daughter of
W. H. and Elizabeth Pierson. They have two children, Keturah, aged
seven, and Henry, aged six.
IRVING CRAWFORD BULL was born in Middletown, Orange County, N. Y.,
January 24, 1879. Father's name was Albert Bull and mother's name was
Ella B. Crawford. Father was druggist for thirty years. Graduated
from Middletown High School in 1898 and was president of his class.
Graduated from the Sheffield Scientific School, Yale University, in
1901, receiving the degree of bachelor of philosophy. Graduated from
Columbia University Post-Graduate, in 1902, receiving the degree of
master of arts. Dividing the years of 1902-1903 was assistant to
Professor Henry M. Howe, professor of metallurgy, Columbia
University, assisting in the experimental works in connection with
publications by Professor Howe, also giving frequent lectures at the
University. In October, 1903, he formed a partnership with Alfred E.
Roberts, of Hartford, Conn., under the firm name of Bull & Roberts,
analytical and consulting chemists and metallurgists, with offices
and laboratories at 100 Maiden Lane, New York City; also branch
offices and laboratories at Middletown, N. Y. They are the consulting
chemists and metallurgists for many transportation companies
centering in New York, also for large contracting companies. He is
also a member of the Yale Club, New York City; honorary member of the
Excelsior Hook and Ladder Company, Middletown, N. Y.; member of the
Society of Chemical Industry, American Chemical Society, American
Leather Chemists' Association, America's Institute of Mining
Engineers. He has been chemist to the board of water commissioners,
Middletown, N. Y., for five years; he is also a Son of the
Revolution, and a member of the University Club, Middletown, N. Y.
On April 20, 1904, he married Mabel Dorothy Horton, youngest daughter
of the late James Horton, Middletown, N. Y., former president of the
United States Leather Company. On July 7, 1905, a son was born, whose
name is Irving Horton Bull.
RICHARD BULL, son of Daniel Harlow Bull and Mary Ann Board, was born
in the homestead at Campbell Hall, the house being built previous to
1800; no record can be found of anyone having occupied it but the
Bull family. Mr. Bull's late school education was at Farmer's Hall
and Montgomery Academy, two years in each. He has always been
identified with farming and is a member of Hamptonburgh Grange No.
950, and also a member of National Grange, and also of the New York
Mill Exchange. He is one of the trustees of the Burial Hill Cemetery
Association at Hamptonburgh. The Bull family have held an annual
picnic for forty years on the one-hundred-acre tract granted to
William Bull and Sarah Wells by Christopher Denn, who were the first
settlers in Orange County. Mr. Bull was treasurer of the picnic for a
number of years, and president for one term.
He married Annie Wells, of Newburgh, whose mother was the daughter of
Mehetable Bull, and her father was Captain William Bull, who was an
officer in the Revolutionary War. Their one child, Charles Wells
Bull, is a wholesale jeweler in Maiden Lane, New York City. He is the
sixth generation on his father's side from the first William, and
seventh on his mother's.
STEPHEN M. BULL, wholesale grocer and representative citizen of
Newburgh, N. Y., was born in the Clinton homestead. Little Britain,
N. Y., July 14, 1844; he was educated at district schools and by a
private tutor. In 1864 he located in Newburgh and was engaged
successfully with Johnston & Alsdorf and Thomas H. Skidmore & Son as
bookkeeper and salesman. In 1879 the wholesale grocery house of
Skidmore, Bull & Co. was formed. Since 1891 Mr. Bull has been sole
proprietor. Married May 26, 1869, Martha, daughter of Samuel Oakley.
Two children have been born--Emily Grace and John Springstead. Mr.
Bull is a direct descendant of William Bull, who was born in England,
February, 1689, and came to America in 1715. The family occupied a
prominent place in the early history of Orange County.
THE BULLS OF SOUTH CAROLINA--Stephen Bull and Barnaby Bull, sons of
Josias Bull, of Kingshurst Hall, emigrated to South Carolina in 1670
in a ship named Carolina. They were uncles of William Bull, who
emigrated in 1715, settling at Hamptonburgh, Orange County, N. Y.
From Mrs. Haxtum's Genealogical Column in the New York Mail and
Express we read:
"The Bulls were among the very earliest settlers of South Carolina,
and have always borne a high record in the public life and in social
relation. Stephen Bull, the founder of the family, was deputy
proprietor for Lord Ashley in 1674 to 1682. After that date he
represented various other proprietors until 1699. He was almost
continuously in the grand council, where his discreet judgment and
high personal character were greatly esteemed. He held in turn and
together many high offices, civil and military, and was an
adventurous explorer and trader among the Indians. He was buried at
his beautiful seat, Ashley Hall, still in its decadence, one of the
chief attractions of the historic river. His son, the Hon. William
Bull, saw service as an officer in both the early Indian wars, and in
civil life was active in the commons and council. He assisted General
Oglethorpe in laying out Savannah, and was lieutenant-governor,
acting from 1738 to 1744. His home in Charleston was the old 'Hayne
House,' now owned by Mr. Henry Picken. His son, Stephen Bull, was
distinguished in military and civil public life, and was the father
of General Stephen Bull, of the Revolution. His home was Sheldon, one
of the old family estates. The Hon. William Bull, of Ashley Hall, was
the first American to graduate in medicine, which he did at Leyden,
in 1734. Returning, he served the province in various capacities,
civil and military, until appointed lieutenant-governor in 1759. He
administered the province with great vigor and ability at various
intervals, acting five times as governor. Loyal to the crown, but
without creating animosity, he left Charleston with the royal troops
in 1782, dying in London in 1791, an exile for conscience sake from
the land he loved and served so well."
A few miles beyond the Ashley River is the Bull dominion, where once
stood Ashley Hall, the country home of Governor Bull, the last
colonial governor of South Carolina. A large monument of marble
appropriately inscribed and bearing the Bull coat-of-arms stands on
the grounds, commemorative to his memory.
WILLIAM BULL was born July 25, 1830, on the homestead farm near Stony
Ford, Orange County, N. Y. The present owner, William Bull, of this
historic old house, which was built in 1791, is the fifth of that
name to occupy the homestead. The third William Bull, who erected the
house, was with Washington at Valley Forge and at the battle of
Monmouth. Our subject acquired his education at Mount Pleasant
Academy at Ossining. He entered Princeton College in 1847 and
graduated in 1851. He returned to the farm and has always followed
agricultural pursuits. He married Phoebe Bull, one of eight daughters
of Ebenezer Bull, of Hamptonburgh, November 22, 1859. Their children
are: Elizabeth Green; Sarah, wife of Charles F. Wells, of Newburgh,
N. Y.; Ebenezer Henry, and Bartow W. In politics Mr. Bull is a
republican and has served the town as justice of peace for fourteen
years, has been post master at Stony Ford, and held other town
offices. He is a member of the Zeta Psi college fraternity, Stony
Ford Grange No. 951, and Pomona Grange. He attends the Presbyterian
Church of Campbell Hall.
WILLIAM EDGAR BULL, of Charleston, S. C, is a son of Edmund Llewellyn
and Mary Evelina (Bruen) Bull. Edmund Bull was born in Orange County
in 1817, removed to Charleston in 1832, and died there in 1892. His
marriage with Mary Evelina Bruen occurred in March, 1844, and fifteen
children were born to them. The progenitor of this branch of the Bull
family was William Bull, who emigrated from Kingshurst Hall,
Wolverhampton, England, in 1715, settling at Hamptonburgh, Orange
County. William was a nephew of Stephen and Barnaby Bull, who
emigrated to America in 1670, and was the progenitor of the Bull
family of South Carolina. Edmund Bull was a son of James D. Bull and
Nancy Rogers. James D. was a son of Chrisie Bull and Elizabeth Case.
Chrisie was a son of John Bull and Hannah Holley. John was a son of
William Bull and Sarah Wells. The marriage of William Bull and Sarah
Wells was the first ceremony performed in the old town of Goshen.
They made their home in a log house from 1719 until 1722, when they
built the stone house which is still standing. A view of this old
house appears on another page in this volume.
ISAIAH BUNN was born at North Church, N. J., July 22, 1808, and is
one of six children, all living, of Obadiah Bunn and Hanna I. Wilson
Bunn. He attended the district school, mostly in the winters, until
he was twenty-two years of age, when he operated a threshing machine
for four years. He then went to New York City, worked there a year,
and went from there to Hamburgh, N. J., where he engaged in the
bottling business. He came to Warwick in 1887, and started a small
bottling plant. The business was so successful that he now has one of
the most up-to-date bottling plants in this section of the State. He
is the owner of a well producing the purest water for carbonated
drinks, and is manager of the Spring Lake Ice Company. His wife was
Miss Minnie Vanderhoff, of Warwick, and their children are Minnie and
Howard, who are living at home. He is a member of Deckertown Lodge
No. 98, F. & A. M.
E. R. BURROUGHS, president and manager of the Abendroth & Root
Manufacturing Company, has resided in Newburgh since 1901, when the
plant was moved from Greenpoint, N. Y., to this city. The factory
buildings are distributed over twelve acres of land and have a total
floor space of four acres, modern in every way, and thoroughly
equipped for the work produced. The property has a frontage of 800
feet on the Hudson River, with deep water docking facilities. A
private switch from the West Shore Railroad bisects the plant,
enabling connections with the New York Central, the Erie and N. Y.,
N. H. and H. Railroads. Machinery utilizing 600 horse-power of Root
water tube boilers are in operation. Among the departments are a gray
iron and brass foundry, forge shops, boiler erecting department,
spiral pipe mill, sheet iron, plate metal and drum shop. The company
has recently placed on the market the Frontenac touring car, which
ranks among the foremost makes of automobiles in this country.
Branches are maintained in New York, Pittsburgh and Chicago.
W. J. BURROWS, son of Alexander and Jennette (Todd) Burrows, was born
in New York City in 1856. When he was two years of age his parents
removed to the town of Newburgh, and it was here he received his
schooling. He then engaged in farming with Fenton Cosman, where he
remained eight years and then purchased his present fruit farm of
twenty-two acres. Mr. Burrows has been trustee of the Marlborough
Presbyterian Church fifteen years, elder two years and superintendent
of the Sunday-school two years. He is a member of Cronomer Valley
Grange and has served as its secretary. He married Miss Nancy E.
Morrow and five children have been born to them.
GRINNELL BURT was born in Bellvale, Orange County, N. Y., on November
7, 1822. He was a grandson of James Burt, who for twenty years was a
prominent legislator of the State. An orphan at fourteen, he was
thrown on his own resources. With unusual ability for mechanical
construction, and a mind that quickly grasped all opportunities for
developing the resources of the country, he became interested in
railroad projects. Meanwhile his love for the law prompted a course
of reading and study which proved of great value when corporate
interests were committed to his charge.
With others he organized, in 1859, the Warwick Valley Railroad. The
growing needs of the valley called for various extensions of the
line. Mr. Burt's pluck and rare executive ability served his
constituents well. By the last consolidation the road was merged into
and known as the Lehigh & Hudson River Railway Company. He was its
continuous and only president forty-two years, dying in office. He
was identified with various projects for bridging the Hudson. His was
the vision to project the Orange County Railroad--"the missing
link"--between the West and Southwest and New England, via the
Poughkeepsie Bridge. This dream of his old age he pushed through
with indomitable energy, enduring many anxious hours in its
consummation, but which to-day justifies all his sagacious commercial
foresight. The record of this Warwick railroad, while under his care,
was that it never had a strike, never was in the hands of a receiver,
never defaulted in the payment of the interest on its bonds, and no
passenger lost his life during Mr. Burt's long administration. He
selected his subordinates with rare judgment. At his death the new
president retained to a man the entire corps that had served under
Mr. Burt. No better choice could be made.
The other roads he served for varying terms as director, reorganizer,
superintendent or president, were the Pittsburgh & Western;
Cincinnati, Van Wert & Michigan (now the Cincinnati, Jackson &
Mackinaw); New Jersey Midland (now the New York, Susquehanna &
Western); Kanawha & Ohio; New York & Greenwood Lake; Middletown,
Unionville & Water Gap, which he brought out of its chaotic condition
and placed on a sound footing, and the Toledo & Ohio Central,
generally conceded to be one of the most successful reorganizations
of a bankrupt company ever effected.
In 1875 Governor Tilden appointed him one of three commissioners to
remove obstructions from the Delaware River. The commission served
without pay, and after their work was thoroughly done a balance was
returned to the State treasury--a result so unusual in the
expenditure of public money that it excited no little comment.
No public work was ever dearer to Mr. Burt than the establishment of
the Middletown State Homeopathic Hospital. Serving as chairman of the
building committee he saved the State much money by his watchful
care. He was appointed by Governor Dix on the first board of trustees
of this noble institution, and gave twenty-seven years of ungrudging
service; acting first as vice-president, he eventually became
president for the eleven successive years before his death. All this
he did amid the stress and strain of conflicting business cares in
behalf of suffering humanity.
In Warwick his name was coincident with its progress. He was one of
the agitators for incorporating it under a special charter; an
incorporator of Warwick Institute, serving thirty-two consecutive
years on the board of education; one of the founders of Christ
Church; on the committee of three to bond the town to pay volunteers
in the late rebellion; on the first board of trustees of the Warwick
Cemetery Association, active in building the reservoir and
water-works; on the first board of directors of the First National
Bank, where he served as vice-president for fifteen years.
The American Trossachs trip, which he inaugurated, was one of his
many-schemes to bring our valley's beauties into a wider recognition.
This excursion as planned by him would challenge comparison for
varied interest and charm with any one day's excursion taken in any
part of the world. Mr. Burt also did much for the development of
Greenwood Lake. The artistic station and his own stately home, both
built under his direction and out of our native McAfee limestone,
are evidence that Grinnell Burt was a man of taste and culture as
well. If you would see his monument, look about you in the little
village he so loyally loved and served.
In 1849 he married Miss Jane S. Van Duzer, daughter of Isaac Van
Duzer, of Warwick, by whom he had one son and four daughters: Frank
Howard, who died in infancy; Kate V. D., who married Charles
Caldwell, of Newburgh; Lily, wife of Frederick Halstead, of Brooklyn;
Jane, who died in 1903, and Mary Herrick Burt, who resides in the old
homestead. Mrs. Burt died in 1870. In 1886 he married Miss Louise
Pierson, daughter of Samuel V. Pierson, of Middletown, N. Y. By this
marriage he had twin sons, Grinnell, Jr., and Howard Pierson. Mr.
Burt died August 3, 1901.
Surely a few words of tribute should be added in honor of this man
whose unfaltering honesty, ability and enthusiasm called to his side
noble helpers and the capital necessary to carry out these difficult
public works. Personally he was possessed of most genial social
traits--to see him in his home was to see him at his best. Here he
dispensed the widest hospitality. He held high national ideals free
from party lines. He was capable of long hours of unremitting
physical and mental toil. He did not waste his energy talking about
things he would like to do--he did them. He was acknowledged to be a
winning and witty public speaker, and, when occasion demanded, a
formidable antagonist, as he was absolutely fearless and not to be
shaken from his convictions; and yet being {?} so fair withal that
his warmest personal friends were among those with whom he differed
on many occasions. In every walk of life he was a man.
When death came it seemed only a momentary interruption and to point
back triumphantly to his long and honorable life of service.
THOMAS BURT, of Warwick, was born January 5, 1821. Both of his
parents died when he was about fifteen years of age. He then lived
with his uncle, Thomas M. Burt, in Albany, who sent him to an academy
for one year. The next year he was employed in the printing office of
Packer and Van Benthuysen. The next three years, he was employed in
farming in central Ohio. In 1841 he returned to his native place,
Bellvale, and soon after bought his father's farm and sawmill, which
he operated until 1868, when he moved to his farm in Warwick, where
he now lives. In 1846, he married Hannah Sayer, and lived a married
life with her over fifty-four years. His surviving children are
Elizabeth, Lydia, Annie, and Mrs. Vernon B. Carroll.
The next seven years he was in the lumber and coal business in the
firm of Taylor, Burt and Pierson. In 1876 he organized the Warwick
Savings Bank and has served as secretary and treasurer to the present
time. As secretary and treasurer of the Warwick Cemetery Association
he has had the care of its records and funds for twenty-six years. He
was one of the commissioners who introduced public water into the
village. He has served as trustee in the district school, academy,
and Union Free School for many years, and as executor and
administrator of estates and of trust funds.
He is independent in politics, has never held public office, has
supported free soil, anti-slavery, and republican candidates, as well
as Grover Cleveland.
FRANK V. BURTON--Among the many private residences which grace the
banks of the Hudson River at Balmville, none is more imposing in
appearance than "Woodbine," the beautiful summer home of Mr. Frank V.
Burton, located on Big Hill on the river road. In 1850 Mr. Josiah H.
Burton, who is now in his eighty-second year and father of the
present owner, purchased a tract of land of about one hundred acres
and resided in a handsome home nearer the river than the present
mansion is situated. The property was afterward purchased by his son,
Frank V., who in 1895 constructed his present ideal residence. The
building is a three-story structure, 125 by 40 feet in dimensions and
of Normandy style of architecture, with a covered piazza extending
the whole length of the east side. The residence is surrounded by
spacious lawns, filled with the choicest flowers and ornamental
shrubs, while the river view from the house is one of the most
magnificent to be found in the country, extending a distance of ten
miles.
GILLMORE O. BUSH, who has held various public offices in what is now
the town of Tuxedo, was born at Arden, Orange County, in 1863. After
attending the district and parish schools he took a commercial course
at the Paterson Business College. Mr. Bush then spent five years in
Connecticut, and in 1886 came to Tuxedo Park and was appointed a
member of the newly organized police force. After serving four years
as patrolman he was promoted to chief of the department, which
position he still retains. He has been deputy sheriff of the county
of Orange since 1886. In 1899 Mr. Bush received the appointment of
postmaster at Tuxedo Park and was reappointed in 1904. He has acted
as assistant chief of the fire department since 1901. He is a charter
member of Lorillard Lodge, F. and A. M.
Mr. Bush is a son of James S. and Eliza J. (Minerly) Bush, old
residents of Orange County.
HORACE G. BUSH, son of Peter B. and Harriet (Ford) Bush, was born in the
town of Monroe, Orange County, N. Y., March 13, 1863, on the farm
where he has always resided. The Bush family have long been prominent
in the affairs of Orange County and in 1905 Horace G. was elected a
member of the board of supervisors. Socially he is identified with
the Masonic fraternity. He married Mary F. Smith, and two sons, Peter
and Horace S., have been born to them.
The early representatives of the Bush family emigrated from Holland.
Henry, the great-grandfather of Horace G., was a native of Orange
County. He was the father of five sons, of whom Peter H., by his
marriage to Abigail Smith, became the father of Peter B., referred to
above.
CHARLES CALDWELL was born in the town of New Windsor, March 31, 1839,
the son of John R. and Ruth Nicoll Caldwell, and grandson of Richard
Caldwell, the Irish patriot.
After graduating from Albert Roe's School of Surveying and Civil
Engineering at Cornwall, Mr. Caldwell opened an office in Newburgh,
and in 1863 was appointed corporation surveyor, and later was
annually appointed city surveyor, holding the office for nearly forty
years. He was known to be a republican in politics, having no
influence with democratic mayors or boards of aldermen.
Mr. Caldwell laid out all the streets of Newburgh opened since 1867,
planned and superintended the building of twenty miles of sewers,
laying the twenty-four-inch conduit from Washington Lake and building
the large stone arch bridge spanning Quassaick Creek.
Mr. Caldwell's reputation as an expert surveyor and engineer was well
known throughout the State, and his services in important and
complicated surveys were always in demand, especially where suits
were brought before the court for decision. He planned and
superintended the building of the dams and water-works of Goshen and
Warwick, building the large stone skew arch bridge at Wappingers
Falls; was in 1876 engineer in charge of the work done by the State
in removing obstructions from the Delaware River; did much careful
work at the Hudson River, Matteawan and Long Island State Hospitals,
did the grading and designed and constructed the water supply system
for the State Camp Ground at Peekskill.
He was also for many years chief engineer of the Lehigh and Hudson
River Railroad. He was a trustee of the Newburgh Savings Bank,
vice-president of the Woodlawn Cemetery and Historical Society, and a
vestryman of St. George's Church.
Mr. Caldwell was the generous promoter of every public and
philanthropic work undertaken in his home city, a genial, lovable man
who made friends wherever he traveled. Being himself absolutely
incorruptible, he was intolerant of any dishonesty or unfaithfulness
in others, particularly in the discharge of public trusts.
In 1874, Mr. Caldwell married Miss Kate Van Duzer Burt, daughter of
Grinnell Burt, of Warwick, N. Y.
For twenty-eight years he was associated in business with Mr. Everett
Garrison.
Mr. Caldwell died May 8, 1902.
DANIEL G. CAMERON, lumber merchant, Newburgh, N. Y., is a son of the
late William T. Cameron, who for a quarter of a century was engaged
in the lumber trade in that city under the firm name of Cameron &
Sloat, established in 1866. Daniel G. entered the employ of his
father's firm and upon the retirement of Mr. Sloat was entrusted with
the management, becoming proprietor at his father's death in 1899.
Kenneth M. Cameron is associated with his father in this business.
FRANK H. CAMPBELL was a man of honored lineage; he was the only son
of William and Grace Hamlinton Campbell, and was born in Vernon,
N. J., February 9, 1850. He was educated at the Newton Collegiate
Institute and a private military school in Poughkeepsie. He married
Miss Emma Jayne, only daughter of Lewis Jayne, of Florida, Orange
County. Mr. Campbell was one of the largest farmers of the county. He
owned and controlled ten farms, aggregating twenty-five hundred
acres, in the town of Warwick and northern New Jersey. He was long a
buyer of cattle for dairy purposes, and was at times in the
mercantile and feed business. More recently he was engaged in a
wholesale milk business in New York, in which he received the
products of eight creameries. He was a director of the First National
Bank of Warwick, and the board paid him a high tribute as a citizen
and business man after his death. He was an ardent sportsman, making
hunting trips annually to the Adirondacks, or Maine woods. He was an
active Mason, in politics a democrat, and in local improvements a
zealous helper.
Mr. and Mrs. Campbell had three children--Lewis Jayne, Grace
Hamlinton and Frances Edith. When Mr. Campbell died the son was in
the Philippines, having enlisted in the United States Army.
PETER CANTLINE, a prominent young attorney of Newburgh, N. Y., was
born in that city, November 8, 1882. After graduating from the
Newburgh Academy in 1900, he entered the law office of Hon. A. H. F.
Seeger, where he pursued his professional studies and was admitted to
the bar in May, 1904.
Mr. Cantline served as special deputy county clerk in 1904 and 1905.
Socially he is a member of the Masonic fraternity, St. George's
Church and the Wheelmen's Club of Newburgh.
GEORGE WICKHAM CARPENTER was born January 15, 1847, and resides on
the homestead farm, which has been in the possession of the family
since 1764. His parents were Oliver R. and Phoebe J. Carpenter; of
their seven children George Wickham was the eldest. He was educated
in the Middletown High School and Academy, a private school and the
Fort Edward Institute. He married Hattie Bennett, of Middletown, in
1882, and both are members of the First Congregational Church of
Middletown. In politics Mr. Carpenter is a democrat, but never
aspired to office.
GILBERT CARPENTER, a progressive citizen of Monroe, was born here in
1850. In 1867 he was a member of the grain, feed and coal firm of
Carpenter, Webb & Company, which was later merged into the firm of
Carpenter Brothers. Since the death of his brother William, in 1877,
Mr. Carpenter has continued the business alone. He is a director of
the National Bank of Monroe, trustee of the Dairy Association and
trustee of the school board. Mr. Carpenter has always taken an active
part in matters pertaining to the welfare and progress of his native
place. His energy and foresight as president of the board of water
commissioners during the construction of the plant has furnished to
Monroe a water system that is un-excelled. He organized the first
telephone system in the village and his son Louis erected the line.
Mr. Carpenter married Irene, daughter of John K. Roe, and three sons
and one daughter have been born to them, of whom Lewis R. is cashier
of the Monroe Bank. He is a son of Dr. Ethan B. Carpenter, who served
as member of Assembly in 1853.
SOLOMON CARPENTER--In 1714 Solomon Carpenter, one of the pioneers of
Orange County, settled at Goshen on Main street, at the intersection
of the Newburgh and Montgomery roads, which became known as
Carpenter's Corners, and is now called Johnson's Corners. He was one
of the company who bought the Minisink patent from England. He was
made captain of the Goshen Colonial Militia in 1724 and was afterward
made colonel. His royal commissions are still retained by his
descendants. The old colonial house at Carpenter's Corners was built
about 1724 and was remodeled by James Carpenter before the
Revolutionary War. The property has remained in the family ever
since. Jeromus Johnson, brother of General Jeremiah Johnson, of Long
Island, married Mary Carpenter in 1802. The property has descended to
its present owner, Mary E. Johnson, who married Seymour S. Peloubet,
a law book publisher, of New York. The house contains some fine old
mahogany furniture, which was brought from England in colonial times
in sailing vessels owned by James Carpenter. These vessels sailed
from Newburgh to all parts of the world, bringing wine and spices
from Spain and the islands of the Mediterranean Sea; cloth, dishes
and furniture from England, and molasses and sugar from the West
Indies.
Nehemiah Carpenter, a son of Solomon, was quartermaster in the 5th
Brigade, New York State, during the Revolutionary War. He was at the
siege of Yorktown and his letters, written just before the battle,
are now in possession of the family. After the war, because of
ill-health, he went to the West Indies on one of his brother's ships
and has left a very interesting diary of his journey.
James W. Carpenter, son of James Carpenter, was major in the War of
1812, and S. S. Peloubet, who now lives in the old home, was in the
Civil War.
FRED C. CARY--Isaac Cary, the father of Fred C. was a descendant of
John Cary, who came from Somerset, England, in 1634, and joined the
Plymouth Colony, was born in Mendham, N. J., March 22, 1823, and died
October 13, 1893. He was educated in the district school, the
Fairchild Private School and later took a course in the Medical
Department of Harvard College, from which he graduated. He practiced
medicine in Brooklyn for some time, removing from there to Warwick,
Orange County, in 1853, where he became one of its leading physicians
and continued his professional practice until his death. He was a
member of the Reformed Dutch Church, and in politics a democrat. He
was a member of Warwick Lodge No. 544, F. & A. M. He married Harriet
Roe, of Warwick, in 1854. Their children were a daughter, who died in
infancy, and two sons--Frank W. and Fred C. The former is in the
office of the N. Y. C. & H. R. Railroad in New York.
Fred C. Cary, the younger son of Dr. Isaac Cary, is a resident of
Warwick, and prominent in its business and public affairs. He was
educated in Warwick and a few weeks before the graduation of his
class in Warwick Institute was offered a clerkship in the First
National Bank of Warwick. This was in 1881, and he was then only
sixteen years of age. His faithfulness and ability in the bank are
attested by the facts that in 1890, at the age of twenty-five, he was
made its cashier, and later one of its directors, which office he
still holds to the satisfaction of business associates and bank
patrons. The year that he was promoted to cashier he was also
appointed clerk of the village and clerk of the water-works, and
these positions he has continuously retained. He has been a member of
Warwick's board of education several years and served as president
two years, and is a director in the Warwick Valley Telephone Company
and the Warwick, Monroe and Chester Building and Loan Association.
ADELBERT L. CASE--Plattsburgh, Erie County, N. Y., February 3, 1877,
were the place and time of Mr. Case's birth. His parents were Dell
and Sarah J. Case, and they had one other child, Pearl. A part of the
son's education was obtained in the Franklin Institute in Delaware
County. For some years he assisted his father in his hotel, and then
engaged in the restaurant business in Greenville, Pa. He has been
landlord of the Burnside Inn near Burnside, Orange County, since
July 2, 1904. He is a zealous and active democrat, a member of the
B. P. O. E. No. 145, of Greenville, Pa., and of No. 805 Chenango
F. O. Eagles, of the same place. He is a lover of good horses and is
owner of Fleetwood, No. 37,907, trial 2:30, when two years old, and
of Baron Sturdy. Mr. Case is a Methodist and his wife an
Episcopalian. He married, at East Sidney, Delaware County, February
28, 1903, Miss Jennie A. Floyd. Their son, Howard L., is two years of
age.
WILLIAM F. CASSEDY, attorney, was born in Newburgh. N. Y.. October 4,
1862; he graduated from the Newburgh Academy in 1880; graduate of
Cornell University in 1884; entered law office of A. S. Cassedy in
the same year, and was admitted to the bar in 1886. January, 1887, he
became a member of the firm of A. S. and W. F. Cassedy, which
continued until the death of A. S. Cassedy, April 29, 1896. Formed
partnership with Hon. Charles F. Brown, ex-justice Supreme Court,
under firm name of Brown & Cassedy, January, 1897, which partnership
is now existing. Mr. Cassedy is local counsel for the West Shore
Division N. Y. C. &. H. R. R. Co. He is a director of the Quassaick
National Bank of Newburgh; a trustee of the Newburgh Savings Bank; of
Washington's Headquarters and Cedar Hill Cemetery Association; member
of the Historical Society of Newburgh Bay and the Highlands; member
of vestry of St. George's Church; ex-president and now director and
vice-president of the Powelton Club; director of Newburgh City Club;
non-resident member of the University and Transportation Clubs, New
York City. Mr. Cassedy married Miss Frances M., daughter of James A.
Townsend. They have two children--J. Townsend and William F., Jr.
CHARLES E. CASTERLIN was born at Rockport, Sussex County, N. J., May
25, 1854, and received his schooling at Unionville, Orange County,
where his parents lived many years. About 1875 he went to Middletown
and worked two years in the dry goods store of B. C. Woodward & Co.,
removing to Little Falls, Passaic County, N. J., where he clerked in
a grocery store, after which he conducted a grocery of his own until
1888, when he returned to Unionville and managed the Minisink Hotel
two years. While in Little Falls he served as town clerk for five
terms. He purchased the American House at High Bridge, N. J.,
remained there one and a half years, and in October, 1893, returned
to Orange County and purchased the Aspell Hotel in Florida, which he
still operates, and which is said to be the oldest hotel in Orange
County. He is a member of Star Lodge No. 113, K. of P., of Clinton,
N. J., and of Shabbekong Tribe No. 46, of Junction, N. J.
January 14, 1880, he married Mary E. Kellogg, of Little Falls. Of
their three children one only is living--Harold M., born October 15,
1887.
Richard Casterlin, his father, was born at Rockport, N. J., August
10, 1828, conducted a large wagon shop at Unionville, N. Y., and in
1874 opened the Minisink Hotel, which he still conducts. His mother,
whose maiden name was Mahala Rogers, was born in Rockport, June 7,
1830. They had five children, three of whom are dead. The father is
living in Butler, N. J., with his other son, Fred, who conducts a
hotel.
R. HARRY CATHCART, JR., president and treasurer of the Yuess Gardens
Company, was born in Newburgh, N. Y., in 1884. After graduating from
the Newburgh Academy he attended the Wilson Preparatory School and
graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1907 with the degree
of B. S. C. Mr. Cathcart is a member of Delta Upsilon Fraternity and
of the Blue Lodge, Chapter, Consistory and Mecca Temple of the
Masonic Order; Lawson Hose Company No. 5; Company E, First Regiment;
Atena Boat Club.
The greenhouses of the Yuess Gardens Company have a glass roofage of
some 35,000 square feet and are the most pretentious in Orange
County.
JOSEPH CHADWICK, manufacturer and bank president, Newburgh, N. Y.,
born Heywood, Lancashire, England, October 24, 1841; educated at
Townhead, Rochdale, Lancashire. He acquired a practical knowledge of
the present business in Manchester and at his father's cotton
spinning mill at Rochdale. In 1865 he came to America and secured a
position with the Boiling Spring Bleaching, Dyeing & Finishing
Company, Rutherford, N. J., and soon afterward arranged for a lease
of the concern and was in charge of the plant from 1868 to 1878. He
was identified with educational, church and public affairs of the
community. In 1871 the site of the Newburgh Bleachery was purchased
by the Messrs. Chadwick and the present buildings successively
appeared, which are among the largest and best equipped of the kind
in the country, bleaching and finishing the finest cotton fabrics
made. Mr. Chadwick is president of the company and head of the firm
of Joseph Chadwick & Sons.
Mr. Chadwick has been a resident of Newburgh since 1878, occupying a
prominent position in business and social circles; for many years a
trustee and vice-president of the Newburgh Savings Bank. He was
elected president of that institution in 1906. Member of the
Merchants' Club of New York and the Powelton and Wheelmen's Club of
Newburgh, and one of the incorporators of the Newburgh City Club. Mr.
Chadwick married Margaret, daughter of William Smith, of Manchester,
England, a prominent bleacher, dyer and finisher of cotton goods.
Four sons and one daughter have been born to them.
GEORGE W. CHRISTIE was born on a farm near Unionville, October 17,
1836, and died at his home at Pine Island, April 19, 1907. His early
education was obtained in district and private schools, and he
assisted his father on the farm until he was twenty-eight, being one
of eleven children born to Samuel and Jane Elston Christie. He
conducted a summer hotel at Rutherford, N. J., and afterward became
manager of creameries at Unionville, Slate Hill and New Milford. He
continued in this service eight years when, his health becoming
impaired, in 1885 he purchased a farm at Pine Island, where he lived
the remaining twenty-three years of his life. He was a member of the
Presbyterian Church of Amity. In politics he was a republican. He was
married to Miss Elizabeth Kelly, of Port Jervis, November 15, 1865.
Their two children are Sarah Adele, born August 19, 1872, and Samuel
Hayne, born March 20, 1874. Samuel's education, after he left the
district school, was obtained in the Peddie Institute, of
Heightstown, N. J., Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie, from
which he graduated, and the New York Law School, where he studied two
years. He was also in Judge John J. Beattie's office at Warwick one
year. He was admitted to the bar in 1900, and practiced law in New
York City two years.
CLARK BROTHERS, general merchants at Thompson's Ridge, town of
Crawford, purchased in 1897 the business of J. Erskine Ward. In
addition to a general store they are also dealers in coal and feed.
The firm is composed of Theodore G. and George H. Clark, sons of
Joseph H. and Mary (Hunter) Clark.
Joseph Clark was for many years actively identified with local
affairs, holding the office of town clerk and justice of the peace.
His father, Ira Clark, married Eliza Barkley. He taught school for a
time at Searsville, and then purchased the farm which became the
family homestead. For thirteen years he was superintendent of
schools. He also held the office of town clerk and served as justice
of the peace. Religiously he was a member of the Presbyterian Church,
and for years was a trustee of the same. His death occurred in 1883,
in his eighty-sixth year.
H. N. CLARK, who is a native of Cornwall and has been engaged in the
retail drug trade in that village since 1877, is one of its most
substantial and honored citizens. He purchased the business from
Clark and Vail, who established the store in 1870. Mr. Clark has for
many years been prominently identified with public affairs in
Cornwall. He has served as treasurer of the village since 1885 and is
also treasurer of the school board. He is one of the trustees of
Cornwall Savings Bank. Socially he is connected with the Knights of
Pythias.
HULET D. CLARK, for many years a progressive farmer and
representative business man of the town of Minisink, was born in
Sussex County, N. J., in 1835 and died April 2, 1897.
In 1860 he purchased a farm in Mount Hope, and six years later bought
one hundred and fifteen acres in the town of Minisink, near Westtown,
where he resided to the time of his death. In 1885 his son, Clarence,
established a flour and feed store in the village of Johnson under
the firm name of C. G. Clark & Co. The venture proved successful and
branches were started at Unionville, Slate Hill and Westtown.
In 1867 Mr. Clark married Margaret, daughter of James G. Swartwout,
of Port Jervis, a direct descendant of Roeloff Swartwout, who came
from Holland and settled at Kingston, N. Y., in 1655. Five children
were born, of whom Clarence G. was the third in order of birth. He
resides in Westtown, conducting an extensive flour, feed and coal
business, in addition to a three-hundred-acre farm. He married Mary,
daughter of H. Reeves Horton. They are the parents of two children,
Hulet D. and Julia K.
JAMES ALONZO CLARK was born March 26, 1845, at Middletown, Orange
County. His early education was acquired at the public school and at
the age of fifteen he began his business career by clerking for
Alexander Wilson, of Middletown, remaining there two years. In June,
1862, he became clerk in the hardware store of Scott Brothers,
remaining with this concern through various changes until he became
a member of the firm in 1879. The firm at that period was Vail, Brink
& Clark. In 1884 the senior member of the firm sold out and the firm
then became Brink & Clark, which name it has since retained. He
married Mrs. Emma (Cole) Dunning in 1887. One child was born to this
union, Mildred Murray, born October 23, 1888. Mr. Clark is a member
of Hoffman Lodge No. 412, F. & A. M.; Midland Chapter, R. A. M.;
Cyprus Commandery No. 67, and the Knights of Pythias. He takes an
interest in the Sons of the Revolution and is identified with the
Middletown Savings Bank as trustee. Since 1865 he has been connected
with the Excelsior Hook and Ladder Company, of Middletown.
ROBERT H. CLARK, supervisor of the town of Minisink, was born near
Westtown. He is a son of Hon. William Harvey and Emily A. (Robertson)
Clark. He has always engaged in the management of his farm of one
hundred and sixty-seven acres. Politically he is a firm believer in
the principles of the democratic party. His first public office was
that of postmaster, during Cleveland's second term. He was elected
supervisor in 1903, re-elected in 1905 and again in 1907. Socially
Mr. Clark is a member of the Masonic fraternity and Minisink Grange.
William H. Clark, father of our subject, was born in 1829 and died in
1907. He represented the Second District of Orange County in the New
York Legislature in 1881-82. He was supervisor of the town of
Minisink a number of terms and chairman of the board in 1876. He was
one of the incorporators of the Middletown, Unionville and Water Gap
Railroad, and held the office of treasurer many years. He also served
twelve years as trustee of the Middletown Asylum and was prominently
identified with public and business affairs of his native town and
county, enjoying the highest esteem and confidence of his fellow
citizens.
WILLARD M. CLARK, supervisor of the town of Wallkill, was born at
Salem, N. J., August 23, 1861. Shortly after his birth his father
removed to Greenville, Orange County, and in the district schools of
that town Willard received his early educational training. He later
attended the Albany Normal College, from which he was graduated in
1884. Mr. Clark has taught school continuously since 1880, and served
six years as school commissioner, following his election to that
office in 1890. Mr. Clark also owns and conducts a farm on the state
road near Middletown, to which he removed in 1890, coming from
Greenville. He was elected a member of the county board of
supervisors in the fall of 1907. He married Mamie Clark, of
Greenville, and they have a daughter, Ethel. William L. Clark, the
father of our subject, was prominent in the social and political life
of Greenville. He served as county supervisor for fourteen years and
for many years as town clerk.
HENRY P. CLAUSON, who for a quarter of a century has been prominently
identified with public affairs in Orange County, was born in New
Jersey in 1842. He came to Newburgh in 1868 and located on a farm a
few miles northwest of that city, where he has achieved much success
in dairying and fruit growing, his farm lands covering over three
hundred and fifty acres.
Firmly believing in the principles of the democratic party, Mr.
Clauson was elected supervisor of the town of Newburgh in 1878, and
re-elected in 1879 and 1880. In 1885 he was elected to the office of
sheriff, serving through the years 1886, 1887 and 1888. In the latter
year he was a delegate to the national democratic convention at St.
Louis, which nominated Grover Cleveland. In 1900 Mr. Clauson was
again elected supervisor, serving continuously until 1906. In 1907 he
received the democratic nomination for the office of county
treasurer.
Mr. Clauson married Miss Mary E. Monell. They have three children
living: John, Charlotte (now the wife of V. J. Kohl) and Harry.
ISAAC COCHRAN, son of Alexander and Margaret (Greery) Cochran, was
born in the town of Newburgh, October 29, 1823. He was educated in
the schools and academy of Newburgh. In 1839 he accompanied his
parents to New York City and engaged with his father in a grocery and
tea business on Broadway and Twenty-first street, where he remained
until 1860. He then embarked in the manufacture of carriages in New
York, where for a number of years he carried on a successful
business. In 1866 he returned to Newburgh and settled on a farm
adjoining the place of his birth. In 1887 he removed to his present
home, corner of Powell avenue and North street, where he lives in
comparative retirement. Mr. Cochran assisted in the organization of
the Columbus Trust Company in 1892, of which he has since been a
director. In 1850 Mr. Cochran married Miss Rachel Sommerville. She
died in 1891. Seven children blessed this union. Mr. Cochran has been
an elder in the Reformed Presbyterian Church since 1868 and has
served as superintendent of the Sunday-school over thirty years.
CHARLES C. COCKS, senior member of the grocery firm of C. E. Cocks
Sons, was born in Cornwall, N. Y., where he has always resided. He is
a son of Charles E. and Margaret (Campbell) Cocks, natives of the
town of Monroe, Orange County. The business was established by his
father at Cornwall Landing in 1850, and our subject has been
interested in it since 1870. In 1900 he and his brother, Isaac M.,
succeeded to the business. Mr. Cocks has served as trustee of the
village and school boards and is a director of the Cornwall Savings
Bank, of which his father was the president for many years. He is
also vice-president of the Cornwall Realty and Improvement Company.
WILLIAM HENRY CODDINGTON was born in Ulsterville, Ulster County,
N. Y., June 15, 1872, and was one of five children, whose parents
were William Henry and Susan Coddington. After attending the district
school he assisted his father on the farm and was engaged at
blacksmithing for six months. In 1893 he became connected with the
New York Condensed Milk Company, now known as the Borden Condensed
Milk Company, and was gradually promoted from the position of helper
to foreman, at Johnsons, N. Y. In 1905 he was transferred to the
Burnside Creamery and is now its superintendent. In politics he is a
democrat and is a member of the Jr. O. U. A. M., of Middletown. He
married Miss Delia Louise Bennett, of South Centerville, June 26,
1901, and they have three children, Frank M., Florence Elizabeth, and
Ralph B. Mrs. Coddington is a member of the Presbyterian Church, of
South Centerville.
THOMAS COLDWELL, who at the time of his death in 1905 was the oldest
manufacturer of Lawn Mowers in America, was born in Staleybridge,
Lancashire, England, in 1838, and came to this country at a very
early age. His first employment was with John and William Rothery,
who operated a file shop in Matteawan, N. Y. He was later employed by
H. W. Swift, who had a machine shop at Wiccapee, in the town of
Fishkill, and who was experimenting in the manufacture of lawn
mowers fashioned after Budding's grass cutters manufactured in
England. Mr. Coldwell, who was endowed with genius for invention,
actually made the first lawn mower produced by Mr. Swift. He became
associated with Mr. George L. Chadborn, who was also in the employ of
Mr. Swift, and in 1868 Mr. Coldwell, with the assistance of Mr.
Chadborn, invented a new lawn mower, resulting in the formation of
the Chadborn & Coldwell Mfg. Co., at Newburgh, N. Y., with Mr.
Coldwell as president, which continued until 1891, when Mr. Coldwell
organized the Coldwell Lawn Mower Co., mention of which appears
elsewhere in this work. Suffice it to say that their daily output
approximates seven hundred complete mowers for each working day in
the year and it is the largest plant in the world devoted to the
manufacture of these machines.
In this connection it is interesting to note briefly the history of
lawn mowers. There is some doubt who was the original inventor. An
old document has been found in the United States Patent Office, dated
1825, which shows that one James Ten Eyk, of Bridgewater, N. J.,
invented a mowing machine. It was simple, having a box like a wagon
box, with the forward end open, furnished with two shafts, one at the
front end, on which were placed the revolving cutters, and the other
above the center of the box on which were the driving wheels, and on
which the box was hung. The driving shaft had on it two drive pulleys
corresponding with two smaller ones on the cutter shaft and the two
were connected by means of two rope belts. It was a revolving-cutter
field mower, and is the first revolving cutter of which any record
can be found, but the inventor did not claim that it was a lawn
mower. The next authentic record of a revolving-cutter mower was one
invented by Edwin Budding, of Stroud, Gloucestershire, England.
Budding was born near Stroud in 1796. He was evidently an inventor,
draftsman and mechanic of considerable ability. He invented the
Budding wrench and various machines for use in the manufacture of
woolen cloth. He was superintendent for the late George Lister, a
manufacturer of Dursley, England. P. A. Lister (son of George), who
succeeded his father (and from whom many of these facts regarding
Budding emanate), stated that there was no doubt but that Budding
took the idea of the lawn mower from a cloth clipping machine. He was
granted a patent for his new invention, dated October 25, 1830, and a
circular owned by Mr. Budding's daughter, dated 1830, shows that he
sold three sizes of lawn mowers, manufactured by John Farrabee near
Stroud. These facts leave no doubt that to Budding belongs the credit
of producing the first lawn mower.
Previous to 1855 probably all lawn mowers used in America were of
English make. A few years prior to this Mr. H. W. Sargent, of
Fishkill, received a mower from England and sent it to Mr. Swift to
be repaired, and it was upon Mr. Sargent's suggestion that Mr. Swift
began the manufacture of these machines. His circular, dated 1835,
states that he made four sizes ranging in price from $30 to $80. For
a number of years Mr. Swift had a monopoly of the lawn mower trade in
this country.
About 1868 the Hills Lawn Mower Co. was started in Hartford, Conn.
They made the Archimedian Mower. It was the first machine made with
only two revolving cutter blades, and sold for $45. Other
manufacturers were Graham, Emlen & Passmore, of Philadelphia, who
produced the first side-wheel mower. In 1885 some patents on the best
mowers expired and many small manufacturers sprang up in all parts of
the country, who have contented themselves by making the cheaper
grades. A few lawn mowers are made in Canada, Germany and France, but
the United States produces four-fifths of all lawn mowers made in the
world, and they are exported to every part of the globe.
The business established by Thomas Coldwell is now continued by his
two sons, William H. and Harry T., both of whom were brought up in
the lawn mower business by their father. He is also survived by a
widow and daughter, the latter the wife of Mr. E. C. Ross, who is
associated with the Coldwell Brothers in the lawn mower industry.
GALEN COLEMAN was born near Mount Hope, Orange County, N. Y.,
December 31, 1859. His parents were Alfred and Catherine Coleman.
His education was obtained at Mount Hope, and at an early age he
learned the trade of blacksmith, which he followed some time. He
removed to Middletown, and learned the machinist trade, which
business he has since followed. He married Mary Alice Coleman, of
Wantage, N. J., who was born March 19, 1852. Their marriage occurred
at Spartanburg, S. C., January 7, 1880. Their one child, Frank Edson,
was born August 29, 1882. He married Eva M. Birtwistle, of
Middletown, June 5, 1907. Father and son are independent in politics
and members of Lodge No. 169, K. of P., of Middletown.
WILLIAM M. COLLARD was born in the town of Warwick, Orange County,
N. Y., August 14, 1857. His father was Jerome and mother Mary E.
(Hallock) Collard. The subject of this sketch attended the district
school at Greenwood Lake, and afterward worked on his father's farm.
He learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed for ten years. He
was married to Mary E. Robets, of Bull's Mills, in 1879. Socially, he
is a member of Wallkill Grange, and Protective Home Circle. He was
previously a member of the Maccabees. He is a democrat, taking an
active interest in local politics. Mr. Collard has been in the
grocery business for some years. He owns two hundred acres of land
near Greenwood Lake, and recently there has been discovered a fine
grade of mica on his farm, which has been leased to parties, who have
commenced operating the mines.
EDWARD J. COLLINS, attorney of Newburgh, was born in Port Jervis,
N. Y., 1876. He was educated at Port Jervis Academy and the law
department of Cornell University, from which he graduated in 1898.
Then he entered the law office of Hon. A. H. F. Seeger, and was
admitted to the bar in 1899. In November, 1905, Mr. Collins was
elected on the republican ticket member of the common council, of
which he was later president. Mr. Collins is a member of various
social and fraternal organizations, including the City and Powelton
Clubs and New York State Bar Association.
H. D. COMFORT, manufacturer of ice cream at Newburgh, was born in the
town of Crawford, Orange County, N. Y., and is a son of the late
Daniel H. Comfort. Mr. Comfort was formerly engaged in the creamery
and ice cream business in New York City, and in 1900 established his
business in Newburgh, in which he has been very successful. His plant
is located on an acre and a half of ground on South street near West
street, and covers an area of 170 by 75 feet. Steam and electric
power are utilized, and machines with a capacity of forty quarts of
ice cream every six minutes are in operation. A plant on Robinson
avenue is operated during the winter months. Mr. Comfort gives
employment to ten men and his product finds a ready market throughout
the Hudson Valley. Socially he is identified with the F. and A. M. He
was united in marriage to Miss Mary Schaefer, daughter of Jacob
Schaefer, of Montgomery, N. Y. Two boys and two girls have been born
to them. J. Edmund is engaged in business with his father.
DANIEL G. COMINGS, of Middletown, was born May 17, 1850, in Sussex
County, N. J. His parents were Gilman Taylor and Rhoda (Worthington)
Comings. To this union were born six children, two of whom are
living, Daniel G. and Mrs. Elvira La Forge, who resides at Metuchen,
N. J. Daniel attended the district school, where he acquired his
education. When he was thirteen years of age he commenced working on
a farm until he was twenty-one years old. He then learned the
millwright trade, which he followed for twenty-two years. In
November, 1878, he removed to Orange County, locating at Middletown,
and followed his trade, also engaging in the wholesale and retail ice
business and retail coal business, which he has conducted for sixteen
years. He married Louisa C. Smith, of Newark, N. J., July 9, 1884.
Their four children are Mary Viola, Bertha L., Florence A. and
William D. Bertha is a pupil at the Oswego Normal School; the others
reside at home. In politics Mr. Comings is a prohibitionist and he
and his wife are members of St. Paul's Methodist Church at
Middletown, N. Y.
THOMAS CONDON, who for many years has been identified with the public
affairs of Walden, was born in the town of Montgomery in 1865. He
attended the schools of his native place and has been a resident of
Walden thirty years, during which time he has served as assessor of
the town of Montgomery seven years, assessor of the village three
years, trustee six years, and president of the village in 1902, under
the old charter by appointment of the board of trustees. He was
elected to this office in 1906, and re-elected without opposition in
1907. He is a member of the Red Men, Foresters of America and Elks.
Mr. Condon is regarded as a faithful official and public-spirited
citizen.
GEORGE RENSSELAER CONKLIN, one of Orange County's representative
citizens and merchants, residing at Monroe, N. Y., was born in this
town in 1843, a son of Rensselaer C. and Mary E. (Howzer) Conklin.
After finishing his studies Mr. Conklin went to New York in 1860,
where he was engaged in business until 1865. He then spent two years
in the Lake Superior iron district, and in 1868 returned to Monroe
and has been engaged mainly in the coal and feed business. He is
senior partner in the firms of Conklin & Roe, of Chester; Conklin &
Cummins, of Goshen; Conklin & Strong, of Warwick; Paddleford & Co.,
of Monroe, and C. T. Nott, of Vernon, N. J. He is president of the
Groves Product Company, of Jersey City; president of the Monroe Lake
Realty Company, secretary of the Warwick, Monroe and Chester Building
and Loan Association, and a director of the Highland Telephone
Company. Mr. Conklin has served as a member of the Monroe board of
education for some twenty years. Socially he is identified with the
Masonic fraternity. He has been twice married, his first wife being
Miss Isabella Roberts, whom he married in 1869. In 1885 he chose for
his second wife Miss Mary E., daughter of the late Chauncey B.
Knight. By his enterprise and energy Mr. Conklin has achieved a large
measure of financial success and, coupled with a genial disposition,
he retains the highest esteem of his fellow-citizens.
MILTON C. CONNER, M.D., was born on a farm near Scotchtown, town of
Wallkill, September 6, 1853. He attended the Wallkill Academy at
Middletown, and then entered the Fort Edward Institute, and later was
a student in the Caze-novia Seminary, spending two years in each
institution. Meantime he taught school at Fort Ann, N. Y. Dr. Conner
entered the Detroit Medical College, remaining there two years, after
which he became a student in the College of Physicians and Surgeons
of New York City, and graduated in 1883 with the degree of M.D.
Shortly afterwards he opened an office in Middletown, N. Y., where he
has since resided. He is a member of the State and County Medical
Society and has been a member for the past eighteen years of the
American Medical Association. He is a member of Hoffman Lodge No.
412, F. and A. M., of Middletown, and Midland Chapter No. 240,
R. A. M. In politics he is a republican. Dr. Conner was united in
marriage with Miss Frances Adelaide Cox, of Middletown.
MATHIEW GRANT COOPER was born February 4, 1865, at Glenwood, N. J.,
and, after his district school education, followed the occupation of
farming six years, after which he engaged in the meat business for
eight years. He then worked at Franklin Furnace, N. J., two years. He
returned to Eden Station, Orange County, in 1900, and was engaged at
the Empire State Dairy Company three years, and three years more for
the Haynes Milk Company. The latter was absorbed by the Borden
Company, when Mr. Cooper was appointed superintendent, and has
continued in the position since. His wife's maiden name was Clara
(Van Sickle) Slaughter, of Eden, and they were married December 14,
1904. Their one child is Gerald Frank, born June 29, 1905. Mr. Cooper
is a member of Minisink Council No. 53, Jr. O. U. A. M.
PROFESSOR SANFORD A. CORTRIGHT, of Westtown, N. Y., was born in the
town of Greenville, Orange County, in 1858. He is a son of Alfred and
Margaret (Elston) Cortright. He attended the district schools of his
native town, which was supplemented by four years of private
tutoring. He graduated from the Albany Normal School and has been
engaged in educational work twenty-four years. He has been principal
of the Westtown school since 1890. Professor Cortright is a member of
the Odd Fellows, the Junior Order of American Mechanics and the
Minisink Grange. In 1893 he was united in marriage with Miss Emma,
daughter of Rensselaer and Rachael (Weygant) McKelvey. One child,
Alfred, has blessed this union.
JOHN B. CORWIN, attorney of Newburgh, was born at Middletown, N. Y.,
February 3, 1876, and removed from there to the Corwin homestead,
Balmville, in 1884. He graduated from the Newburgh Academy in 1892,
supplemented with a course at the Spencerian Business College. Mr.
Corwin read law with the late L. W. Y. McCroskery for two years, and
in 1896 entered the office of the late L. S. Sterrit. He was admitted
to the bar in 1897. He has also been admitted to practice in the
Federal Courts. Mr. Corwin was managing clerk for Mr. Sterrit ten
years, and following the death of Mr. Sterrit in April, 1907, he
succeeded to his practice.
JOHN ISAAC COTTER, M.D., although only twenty-six years of age, has
an established and growing practice at Campbell Hall, where he
resides, and is well known to the medical profession both within and
outside of Orange County. He was born at Jackson's Corners, Dutchess
County, August 22, 1881. When he left the district school at the age
of twelve, he went to Poughkeepsie, and there attended the grammar
and high schools, graduating from the latter in 1900. He took a
course of four years in the Albany Medical College, from which he
graduated in 1904, and then devoted one year to work in the Albany
Hospital. After this thorough preparation he started professional
practice at Campbell Hall in 1905. He is a member of the Knights of
Columbus No. 304, Florentine Council, of Poughkeepsie, the Nu Sigma
Nu Medical Fraternity, the Orange County Medical Society, the
Newburgh Bay Medical Society, the Middletown Medical Society, the
M. P. S. of Northern Dutchess and Southern Columbia Counties, the New
York State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. Dr.
Cotter is a lover of good horses, and owns several, among them
Bessie H., whose trial mark is 2:201/2. His father, John H. Cotter,
is a practicing physician in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and has another son
Lawrence and daughter Mary, both of whom are attending the
Poughkeepsie high school.
DANIEL J. COUTANT, of Newburgh, N. Y., bears the distinction of
occupying a public office a greater length of time than any official
in Orange County. He is a native of Newburgh and a son of Zachariah
Coutant. After completing his studies at Claverack Institute, he
became bookkeeper for the freight line of Alsdorf & Skidmore. In 1872
he was appointed city clerk by the common council, and regardless of
party has been re-appointed by each succeeding mayor, covering a
period of thirty-six years. Mr. Coutant is a member of Trinity M. E.
Church. His father was of direct French Huguenot descent.
JOHN P. COVERT--When our Civil War came, early in 1861, John P.
Covert, then a mere youth in the South, enlisted in the famous
fighting regiment of "Louisiana Tigers," and fought with them. He saw
the hardest service and was severely wounded in battle. When the war
ended he went to Chicago, and became a successful manufacturer of
tinware specialties, and after a few years retired. Soon afterward he
moved to Orange County, bought the Quackenbos farm near Neelytown,
now known as the Beaver Dam Farm, and proceeded to improve it so that
it became one of the most attractive places in the state. The farm is
rich and highly cultivated, the palatial home is surrounded by a fine
grove of hundreds of sugar maples. Here Mr. Covert lived for thirty
years, and became a famous breeder of the best Holstein-Friesian
cattle. He sold the farm in 1901 to A. Von Kilch, and established a
home in Goshen. He was a charter member of the Wallkill Farmers'
Association, for several years was its vice-president and always one
of its directors. Mr. Covert married Miss Jennie Ketcham, of New York
City, a daughter of Enoch Ketcham, one of the leading tin and
hardware dealers of the metropolis. There have been few more striking
contrasts in separate periods of individual lives than that of Mr.
Covert's severe service and sufferings in the bloody civil war with
that of his peaceful and happy life in Orange County.
WILLIAM CRABTREE & SONS, manufacturers of worsted yarns, with
factories at Montgomery and Newburgh, N. Y., is numbered among the
leading industries of Orange County. The business is now conducted by
Harry, Edmund, John A., William E. and Charles B., sons of the late
William Crabtree, who established this business at Montgomery in 1880
in company with Mr. Arthur Patchett, under the firm name of Crabtree
& Patchett. In 1897 the Newburgh plant was established. In 1902 the
present firm name was adopted. Over one million pounds of wool are
used annually resulting in a finished product of a half million
pounds of yarn shipped to all parts of the United States. About 200
hands are given steady employment in the plants of this firm. Mr.
William Crabtree was born in England in 1840 and died in England
while on a visit to his old home, June, 1903. He came to America in
1864, locating at Philadelphia, where he remained until 1880. Mr.
Crabtree was identified with the Masonic fraternity and member of the
Reformed church. In 1867 he married Miss Harriet Patchett, daughter
of Edmund and Elizabeth (Robertshaw) Patchett, all natives of
England.
GEORGE W. CRIST was born February 22, 1875, on the homestead farm in
the town of Hamptonburgh, and is a son of Theodore J. and Cecelia
(Mapes) Crist. His early education was obtained at the Grove Street
District School, and the Montgomery Academy. He has always been
identified with farming. In politics Mr. Crist gives his hearty
support to the democratic party and always takes an active interest
in local affairs. He is at present supervisor of the town. He is past
master of Goshen Lodge No. 365., F. and A. M., a member of the
Midland Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, of Middletown, No. 240; honorary
member of the Montgomery fire department, and past chief ranger of
Wallkill Lodge No. 69, Foresters of America. His father Theodore was
born on the same farm April 22, 1844. Five children were born in his
father's family. Grant died in December, 1875; Clara L. resided at
home; George, our subject; Abigail B., residing at home; Frank M.
married Emily Mortimer, of Brooklyn, N. Y., and is a member of Goshen
Lodge No. 365, F. and A. M. Mary Belle married Frank M. Cox, of
Middletown, and died in July, 1898. The great grandfather of our
subject was Nelson Crist, son of Philip Crist. Philip Crist was
engaged in driving the stage coach between Goshen and Kingston in the
early days.
CHARLES E. CROFTS, who has held the position as superintendent of the
New York Knife Company, of Walden, since 1876, was born in Sheffield,
England, where he learned the cutlery trade. In 1872 he came to
America and located at Walden, where he has since devoted his time to
the success of the knife works. Mr. Crofts has served as village
trustee for a period of two years and as a member of the board of
water and highway commissioners five years. He married Miss Emma
Marsden, and twelve children have been born to them, of which three
are now living. His son Arthur is engaged in business in New York
City, and Emma L. is a student of the Northfield Seminary.
HARRY A. CRONK was born May 20, 1877, at Binghamton, N. Y. He
attended the public schools and after his school days associated
himself with H. H. Bishop, of Binghamton, in the milk business,
during which time he learned the trades of cheese and butter making.
He afterwards connected himself with the Standard Butter Co., of
Oswego, N. Y., and was soon given charge of one of their largest
factories, situated at Truxton, Cortland County, N. Y., and remained
in their employ four years. He then took charge of a co-operative
butter factory at Brisben, N. Y., for one year.
In 1902 he associated himself with Borden's Condensed Milk Co., and
was soon promoted to the position of inspector and then to the
position of superintendent of their Brisben branch; he afterwards was
promoted to superintendent of the Florida branch, and is now
traveling superintendent for a number of factories in Orange and
Sussex counties. He married Miss Ora J. Whitlock, of Ithaca, N. Y.,
March 24, 1897. They have one child, Camilla Eleanor, four years old.
Mr. Cronk is a member of Eastern Light Lodge No. 126, F. & A. M.
JAMES CRONON, a representative business man of Tuxedo Park, N. Y.,
was born and educated in New York City, and has resided in Orange
County since 1876. He conducted a general store at Turners for a
number of years, and was the pioneer merchant in Tuxedo village. In
1886 he established his present bakery and now carries on an
extensive trade. Mr. Cronon has been clerk of the Tuxedo school
district since 1891. During this period new and commodious school
buildings have been erected, marking the progress of education in a
modern community.
Mr. Cronon has served eighteen years as justice of the peace and one
year as justice of sessions. He was collector of the old town of
Monroe for two terms and also served as town clerk of that town
several years. He is a charter member of Lorillard Lodge, F. and
A. M.; a member of Highland Chapter and Hudson River Commandery.
It was with the aid of Josiah Patterson and his wife, Mr. Cronon had
religious services held in the town hall on Sunday afternoons, the
preaching being by the Methodist minister of the Sloatsburg church.
This mission service finally culminated in the establishing of a
Methodist congregation here.
WILLIAM L. CUDDEBACK, M.D., of Port Jervis, N. Y., is a descendant of
the French-Huguenots of that name who settled in Deer Park in 1690,
coming from Caudebec, on the Seine, in that part of France known in
ancient days as Normandy.
Dr. Cuddeback was born in the town of Deer Park, April 26, 1854, and
is the son of Elting and Ann Bevier (Elting) Cuddeback, who were the
parents of six children. He received his primary education in the
district schools, and later took a special two years' course in
Cornell University. He took up the study of medicine in the office of
Dr. Solomon Van Etten, of Port Jervis, after which he entered
Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York, from which he was
graduated in 1876. He served as intern in Bellevue Hospital for two
years, and then opened his present office in Port Jervis. In 1892,
with Dr. H. B. Swartwout, he purchased the hospital in Port Jervis,
and together they have conducted it to the present time. This is a
general hospital and is patronized largely by Erie Railroad patients.
Dr. Cuddeback was joined in marriage with Miss Alice D. Malven on
October 16, 1880. She is a daughter of George and Philenda (St. John)
Malven, of Port Jervis. To our subject and wife five children have
been born: Frank E., Edgar C., Elizabeth M., Alice M. and Philenda.
Dr. Cuddeback is a member of the Orange County Medical Society, the
National Association of Railroad Surgeons, the New York State Medical
Society, and has served as pension examiner. He was president of the
Board of Education from 1887 to 1892, during which time the Main
street school house was erected. He has been president of the Library
Board since the establishment of the Free Public Library and has
served as president of the National Bank of Port Jervis since 1900.
THOMAS P. CUSHING, clerk of the town of New Windsor, and postmaster
at Vail's Gate, was born in New York City, December 31, 1863. His
father, James Cushing, moved to Orange County in 1871 and shortly
after established a general store at Vail's Gate. He served as
justice of the peace for thirty years and as postmaster eight years.
By his death, which occurred in 1903, Orange County lost a prominent
and useful citizen. Thomas P., after finishing his schooling, was
engaged by the Erie Railroad as agent and operator, where he remained
fifteen years. He was deputy postmaster seven years under his father,
and in 1905 erected the building in which he continues the business
established by his father.
JOHN DALES, senior member of the real estate and insurance firm of
John Dales & Co., Newburgh, N. Y., was born in Delaware County in
1820, a son of John and Sarah (Cavin) Dales. In 1839 Mr. Dales came
to Newburgh and entered the employ of Crawford Mailler & Co. He was
engaged in mercantile pursuits at Memphis, Tenn., New York City, and
Jordan, N. Y., conducting a flour mill at the latter place fifteen
years.
In 1865 Mr. Dales returned to Newburgh and in company with W. O.
Mailler engaged in the wholesale grocery and freighting business for
several years. Since 1870 his attention has been devoted largely to
real estate. In 1884 Hon. Charles D. Robinson, mayor of Newburgh,
1906 to 1908, became his business partner and is now the active head
of the firm, Mr. Dales having gradually withdrawn from arduous
duties.
Mr. Dales was one of the original members of the Board of Trade, a
director in Quassaick National Bank, secretary of Woodlawn Cemetery
Association and secretary of the Newburgh & Midland Railway Company
in former years. He has also served many years as elder, trustee and
treasurer of Calvary Presbyterian Church. He is prominently
identified with the Masonic fraternity, being a charter member of
Hudson River Lodge No. 607, a Royal Arch Mason, and also belongs to
Hudson River Commandery No. 35, K. T.
In 1845 Mr. Dales married Susan, daughter of Jacob Oakley. There were
two children born of this marriage: William M. Dales, who died
November 1, 1883, leaving a daughter, Helen M. Dales, and Mary
Belknap Dales, who died January 14, 1900, leaving a daughter, Julia,
from her marriage with Chas. D. Robinson.
Mrs. Susan Dales died November 24, 1890. Mr. Dales died March 26,
1908.
HERBERT S. DANA, agent for the Erie Railroad at Craigsville, N. Y.,
was born in Gardner, Maine, where he obtained his education at the
public schools. Mr. Dana has resided in Orange County since 1893,
being employed as telegraph operator in the office of the
Pennsylvania Coal Company at Newburgh. He accepted his present
position, January, 1907, and December of the same year was appointed
postmaster. Mr. Dana is well informed on the subject of horses and
has contributed news and comments to the _Western Horseman_ for a
quarter of a century, and to the _Newburgh News_ and _Goshen
Independent and Republican_ for the past fifteen years.
Mr. Dana married Miss Nellie Robinson Wheaton, of Connecticut, and
they are the parents of two sons, George Stephen and Frederick
Wheaton.
HENRY D'ARCY, who was associated with his brother Thomas in
conducting the United States Hotel in Newburgh for some years, is a
native of the town of Highland and now conducts a real estate and
fire insurance business in Highland Falls. Mr. D'Arcy was the first
town clerk at the time the town of Highland was divided from
Cornwall. He has served at various times as assessor and road
commissioner and president of the Board of Education six years.
Mr. D'Arcy has been twice married. A son was born by his first wife
and a son and daughter by his second wife.
THOMAS DARLINGTON was born at Salisbury Mills, Orange County, N. Y.,
August 29, 1826, the son of Peter and Maria Wilde Darlington. Through
his mother many lines of colonial ancestry met in him. A descendant
of Deputy Governor Bishop, of Connecticut, who was secretary of that
colony from 1661 to 1665; of Daniel Rayneau, the first freeholder of
the Huguenot colony of New Rochelle; of Richard Wilde, Esq., of
Flushing, N. Y.; and from Edward Griffin, of the Virginia colony, on
his father's side he was from the Darlingtons of Yorkshire, England,
and Edinburgh, Scotland. His father, who was one of the first paper
manufacturers in this country, died January 21, 1851, but his mother
lived to be over one hundred years of age, until August 20, 1900. He
acquired his education in the local schools near at hand, graduating
with highest honors, and at seventeen, by his own choice, was
principal of a school in a neighboring village. Resigning his school
position he went to New York City and studied law in the office of
Mr. Taggart, reciting at the same time in the evenings to private
tutors in Latin and philosophy. He was of a very religious
temperament, being a constant attendant at church and having a
Sunday-school class, of which he was very fond.
Soon after becoming an attorney and counselor-at-law he started in
business for himself, and achieved a most rapid success. The firm
name was Darlington, Spring & Russell, and some most important cases
were entrusted to their care. When Mr. Spring died, Mr. Russell went
to Cornell University as dean, and a new firm was formed of
Darlington, Irving & Hoffman.
His interest in all games and amusements was great, being the
amateur editor of the chess column in a New York weekly paper for
some years.
In politics he was a strong abolitionist, and took an active part in
the anti-slavery movement. So pronounced was his position and so well
known, that on July 13, 1863, during the draft riots in New York
City, a mob broke into his law offices and smashed all the furniture.
Mr. Darlington afterward sued the municipality for the damage
wrought, and was the first to recover in an action of this sort, the
case being referred to to-day as marking a new line of municipal
responsibility. As the mob was killing returned Union soldiers and
hanging colored people to the lamp-posts, at his own expense he sent
down a whole colored family that had been pursued, to his country
home in Kingston, N. J., and kept them there some months until the
danger was over.
At the time of the renomination of General Grant for a second term as
President, one of the general's friends offered Mr. Darlington the
appointment of chief justice of the then territory of Colorado, but
he was most devoted and adhered to his friend of many years, Horace
Greeley, who was the nominee of the liberal republican and democratic
parties, and so the appointment was not made. He resolutely and
consistently declined to engage in politics, but blamed himself for
over-leniency in the case of Guiteau, who afterward shot President
Garfield. Having a criminal suit against Guiteau, he had him shut up
in prison, but after being there some months Guiteau wrote a most
pitiful letter, saying that longer confinement meant his death, and
Mr. Darlington, thinking that he had been punished enough, signed a
paper consenting to his discharge. It was only a month or two after
his release that he murdered President Garfield, and Mr. Darlington
appeared against him as a witness at his trial.
In his religious life Mr. Darlington always attended the Presbyterian
Church, and was teacher of the Bible class in the Mulberry Street
Mission of the South Park Church in Newark, N. J., for years.
On August 1, 1850, he married Hannah Anne Goodliffe, daughter of
James Yarrow Goodliffe, and the issue was eight children; two, Alfred
Ernest and Alice, deceased, and six, James, now Protestant Episcopal
bishop of Harrisburg, Pa.; Thomas, J., now president of the board of
health of New York City; Charles Francis, counselor-at-law; Gustavus
C., a physician; Marion Goodliffe, and Mrs. Margaret Darlington-Wilde,
living. His death came suddenly, on the 18th day of May, 1903, and he
was buried from the same church in which he was married, the
University Place Presbyterian Church, University place and Eleventh
street, New York City, from which his wife was also buried about two
years before.
THOMAS DARLINGTON, M.D., was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., September 24,
1858; son of Thomas Darlington and Hannah A. (Goodliffe) Darlington.
His education began in the public schools of New York and Newark,
N. J., followed by a three years' scientific and engineering course
at the University of the City of New York. After his graduation, he
entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, from which
he was graduated as M.D. in 1880. He engaged in the practice of
medicine at Newark, N. J., for two years, holding several hospital
appointments. In 1882 he located at Kingsbridge, N. Y., and practiced
there until 1904, except for two years spent in Arizona, where he was
surgeon to several mining companies. He was appointed commissioner of
health for the city of New York in 1904, and was reappointed for the
second term in 1906. His administration has been thoroughly
efficient and has demonstrated the wisdom of the selection of a
trained medical man as head of the department of health of a great
metropolis like New York, where the sanitary problems are necessarily
very complex, and their proper solution of vital importance. Dr.
Darlington has been an extensive contributor to medical literature.
He is ex-president of the American Climatological Society, a member
of the American Medical Association, the New York State Medical
Society, the New York County Medical Society, the Medico-Legal
Society, Association of the Alumni of the College of Physicians and
Surgeons, American Public Health Association, Harlem Medical
Association, New York Physicians' Mutual Aid Association, Medical
Society of the Borough of the Bronx, Medical Association of Greater
New York, Yonkers Practitioners' Society, Society of Medical
Jurisprudence and Academy of Medicine; and until his appointment as
health commissioner of New York, he was visiting physician to several
of the hospitals of the city and consulting physician to the French
Hospital. He is also a member of the Archdeaconry of New York, the
Church Club of New York, Chamber of Commerce, Chemists' Club, The
Thomas Hunter Association of Grammar School No. 53, the Commission on
the Prevention of Tuberculosis of the Charity Organization of the
City of New York, Sons of the Revolution, Society of Colonial Wars,
New York University Alumni Association, Kingsbridge Council No. 1082,
Royal Arcanum; the Parish Club, Church Temperance Society, trustee of
the Bronx Savings Bank, the Huguenot Society of America, Pilgrim
Society, Fordham Club, North Side Board of Trade, the National
Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis, New York
Athletic Club, Seabury Society, Jefferson Tammany Hall, director
Crippled Children's Driving Fund, and the National Geographic
Society, Lotos Club, American Geographical Society and Society of
Tropical Medicine. Address, 48 West 59th street. New York City.
GEORGE DART, general manager of the Tuxedo Stores Company at Tuxedo
Park, N. Y., is a native of Ulster County, N. Y., and has resided at
Tuxedo since 1886, when he established his pharmacy. Mr. Dart had
previously been engaged in the drug business at 30th street and
Broadway, New York City. He discontinued that store in 1888.
Mr. Dart was instrumental in the establishment of the Tuxedo Stores
Company, and has been identified with various movements for the
improvement and advancement of Tuxedo in material, moral and
religious matters. He is president of the Board of Education,
director of the Tuxedo Library and trustee of the Methodist Episcopal
Church.
THOMAS WESLEY DAVEY was born in the town of Greenville, N. Y., on
January 6, 1850. Mr. Davey received his early education at the
Chester Academy. His first work after leaving school was on a farm
where he worked for three years. He was associated with various
factories in Middletown and spent two years in the oil fields of
Pennsylvania. Returning to his native State, Mr. Davey located in the
metropolis and engaged in the milk business for two years. Since that
time he was with the Middletown State Homeopathic Hospital for
fourteen years as assistant engineer. Here in Middletown he has
labored effectively for the past ten years as superintendent of the
Middletown Water-Works. He married Miss Maria Wood, of Haverstraw,
N. Y. Three children have been born to them, Irving W., Mina May and
Lewis Jacob. Mr. Davey belongs to a number of societies, among them
being Hoffman Lodge No. 412, F. & A. M.; Middletown Lodge, I. O. O. F.,
No. 112; Orange Encampment, I. O. O. F., No. 93. He is a member of
the American Water-Works Association and honorary member of Eagle
Hose & Chemical Co. No. 2, of Middletown.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN DECKER was born at Newburgh, Orange County, January
16, 1865. His parents were John H. and Elsie (Fullerton) Decker. He
attended the schools in Middletown until twelve years of age, when
his father died and Mr. Decker went to work in a drug store at
Paterson, N. J., where he remained six years. He was identified with
the _Times_ at Middletown as city editor for a period of twelve
years. He enlisted in the 1st N. Y. Vol. Inf. in 1898 during the
Spanish-American war, and accompanied his regiment to Honolulu as
first lieutenant of Company I. He returned to Middletown and took up
newspaper work on the _Press,_ remaining until the _Times_ and
_Press_ were merged. He was coroner for twelve years, and in 1907 was
elected sheriff of Orange Comity. Mr. Decker was united in marriage
to Miss Natalie Weygant, October 31, 1890. To this union two children
were born, Richard Stivers, born 1892, and John Weygant, born 1896.
Mr. Decker is a republican in politics. Socially he is a member of
Hoffman Lodge No. 412, of Middletown. He is captain of Company I,
1st Inf. (24th Sep. Co.), National Guards of New York.
ISAIAH W. DECKER, president of the Wallkill Valley Farmers'
Association is now retired from active agricultural pursuits and
makes his home in Walden, N. Y. Mr. Decker's ancestors were of Dutch
extraction and at an early period sought the rich lands of Orange and
Ulster counties. He is a grandson of Levi Decker and a son of William
D. and Ellen Jane (Crans) Decker and was born in the town of
Montgomery, Orange County, N. Y. In his younger days he rented farms
upon which he fully demonstrated that success could be won in this as
well as in other pursuits. He later purchased a desirable farm near
Walden which he provided with modern equipment.
Mr. Decker is identified with social and public affairs of his native
town and has occupied different positions of trust and responsibility.
JOHN E. DECKER was born May 1, 1860, at Dwaarskill, Ulster County,
N. Y. His parents were Ezekiel and Anna Decker. Our subject attained
his education at the district school in his locality. He married
Martha Jane, daughter of Abraham Vernooy, April 2, 1895. Their one
son, Adrian Vernooy Decker, was born August 11, 1897. Mr. and Mrs.
Decker are members of the First Congregational Church of Middletown,
N. Y., and both are active members of Wallkill River Grange. Mr.
Decker is a member of I. O. O. F., of Gardner, Ulster County, N. Y.
He occupies the C. H. C. Beck's farm near Middletown, N. Y., and has
always been an agriculturist.
SAMUEL DECKER was born March 12, 1851, on his father's farm near the
village of Amity, Orange County, N. Y. His parents were John and
Maria (Smith) Decker. John Decker was a descendant of a Holland Dutch
emigrant who located and became a large land owner at what is now
Glenwood, N. J., but who late in life removed to central New York,
leaving a son at Glenwood. Maria Smith's father, Abram Smith, was a
school teacher of Orange County for fifty years and her two
grand sires were Revolutionary soldiers. Mr. Decker's school days were
passed at Amity, and upon reaching his majority he removed to the
town of Greenville, N. Y., and purchased a farm of one hundred and
forty acres in the upper Shawangunk valley. He has since added an
adjoining farm to his original purchase. For about ten years he
conducted the farm and taught school. On October 16, 1878, he married
Cornelia Sergeant, only daughter of Jeremiah Sergeant, a well-known
cattle dealer and farmer at Gardenersville. Shortly after this he
began dealing in cattle, which in connection with his farming he
engaged in continuously for twenty years. Mr. Decker is a democrat
and has held a number of public offices. At present he is filling his
second term as justice of the peace. Their children number four:
Margaret, wife of Frank Neail, of Mount Hope; Phebe, wife of Hiram
Tyler, of New York City; Frank and Effa, at home. In spite of his
many enterprises Mr. Decker has found time to devote several hours
each day to reading and study, is a fine Shakespearian scholar and,
having a phenomenal memory, is an authority on ancient and modern
history and literature.
JOHN DEISSEROTH, supervisor of the Fifth Ward, Newburgh, N. Y., was
born in that city, January 17, 1876. After finishing his studies at
the public schools he learned the blacksmith and horseshoeing trade
and has been engaged in business for himself for the past ten years.
A firm believer in the principles of the democratic party, Mr.
Deisseroth was elected to the office of supervisor in 1907 by a
majority of 96. Socially he is a member of the Knights of the
Maccabees and Columbian Hose Company, and vestryman in the Church of
the Good Shepherd.
FRANK H. DE KAY was born in the town of Warwick at New Milford, August
11, 1866. He is a son of Francis M. and Nellie (Sisson) De Kay. There
were three children in his parents' family: One died in infancy;
Lucille, wife of James H. Vealey, and Frank H. The subject of our
sketch acquired his early education at the district school at New
Milford and Warwick public school, later attending Eastman's Business
College at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. At an early age he identified himself
in the furniture and undertaking business with Mr. Burt, the firm
being Burt and De Kay. In 1893 Mr. De Kay, taking over Mr. Burt's
interest, continued the business until 1899. At this period James H.
Vealey took an interest in the establishment, the firm being then
known as De Kay & Vealey, which continued until 1903, when Mr. De Kay
retired. He married Miss Marguerite Pelser, of Paterson, N. J., April
14, 1891. To them were born two children, Elwood Frank, born March 5,
1893, died July 10, 1902, and Doris Pelser, born June 5, 1896. He is
an honorary member of Excelsior Hose Company No. 1 and treasurer of
Christ Episcopal Church, of Warwick. In politics he is independent.
CORNELIUS HENRY DEMAREST was born in Warwick, June 25, 1820, and died
December 10, 1889. He lived all his life on the farm he inherited
from his father, Cornelius C. Demarest, which now belongs to his son,
Henry Pelton Demarest. He was for thirty years presiding officer of
the board which controlled the Warwick Academy and the public school.
He was one of the original stockholders of the First National Bank of
the village and its president from 1878 until his death. He was also
a founder of the Warwick Valley Farmers' Milk Association and an
officer of the Warwick Valley R. R., and of its successor, the Lehigh
and Hudson River Road. He was a consistent Christian and for some
years before his death was a member of the Consistory of the Reformed
Church. In 1845 he married Elizabeth A. Pelton, daughter of Henry
Pelton, of Warwick, and seven children survived him: Charles M., who
was born February 5, 1848, and died January 8, 1905 (he married Annie
E. Armstrong, daughter of Rensselaer Armstrong, of Warwick); DeWitt
Clinton, born February 18, 1852, who married Hattie Hudson, of
Denver, and lives at Passaic, N. J.; Mary Elizabeth, born April 29,
1854, who married Christie Romaine, of Hackensack, N. J.; Henry
Pelton, born October 25, 1856, who married Ella J. Toland, of
Florida, N. Y.; Julia, born May 29, 1858, unmarried, living at
Warwick; David, born February 27, 1860, unmarried, and living in
Boston, Mass.; Anna, born April 24, 1862, unmarried, and living at
Warwick.
The Demarests are of Huguenot extraction. David Demarest, a native of
Beauchamp, a little village of Picardy in France, with his wife,
Marie Soheir, and five children sailed from Amsterdam, April 16,
1663, on the ship _Bouchoc_ (Spotted Cow) for New Amsterdam. For two
years he resided with the Huguenot colony on Staten Island; from
there he moved to Harlem, where for twelve and a half years he was
one of the first citizens of the place. He purchased of the Indians
several thousand acres of land in New Jersey, in the vicinity of
Hackensack. Just before and during the Revolution a number of
Demarest families left New Jersey and went to Orange County, N. Y.
Among these was Cornelius Demarest, the grandfather of Cornelius H.
He settled on a ridge a few miles out of Warwick on the Florida road,
but during his later years he purchased the farm now owned by his
great-grandsons, Henry Pelton and Henry Pelton Demarest. Cornelius
Demarest fought in the war of the Revolution under Col. John Hathorn
in a company of Major Wisner's Scouts. He was one of the organizers
of the Reformed Church of Warwick and a member of its first
Consistory.
GEORGE HOUSTON DEMAREST, always a farmer, was born at the homestead
about two miles from Wisner, June 26, 1873. He is of the seventh
generation on this farm, which is now chiefly devoted to dairying. He
is active in local matters, politically he is a republican and
belongs to the Grange. His wife was Miss Edith May Stevens, of Sugar
Loaf, and they were married November 2, 1898. They have had four
children, only two of whom are living, namely, James Henry, six years
old, and Agnes Wood, three months old.
HON. AUGUSTUS DENNISTON, president Orange County Agricultural
Society, was born in the town of Blooming Grove, the youngest son of
Robert and Mary Denniston. His farm of about two hundred and thirty
acres has come down to him by inheritance from his great-grandfather,
James Denniston, son of Alexander Denniston, who arrived in this
country from Ireland in 1729 and settled on a farm in the town of
New Windsor, about two miles north of Washingtonville. The
grandfather of Augustus was James Denniston, who died in 1825,
leaving several large farms, most of which was bequeathed to his son
Robert, who died in 1867, and who was the owner of about six hundred
acres of land, beside a large estate, all of which was managed by his
son Augustus, for the benefit of his mother until her death in 1898.
Augustus was educated at home by tutors in a private school. When his
father was elected State comptroller in 1860, he went to Albany and
served for two years as his confidential clerk. In 1862 he went to
war, and was appointed by Col. Ellis quartermaster of the 124th
Regiment, N. Y. S. Volunteers. After a few months' service he was
taken sick, and after months of illness in hospital and at home he
resigned. In 1893-94 he represented the First Assembly District of
Orange County in the Legislature. Afterwards for two years he was
State cattle commissioner, having been appointed by Governor Cornell.
In 1893 he was elected a director of the Orange County Agricultural
Society, and since that time has been continuously connected with it
officially, four years as director, two as vice-president, and since
1899 its president. He has been a director of the Highland National
Bank of Newburgh since 1873, and for seven years was its president.
In 1901 he was appointed by Governor Odell one of the State Fair
commissioners. He resides in the old home, which was built by his
father in 1824, is engaged extensively in the milk business on his
large farm and has been president of the Washingtonville Farmers'
Creamery Association since its organization in 1876.
WALTER DENNISTON, supervisor of the town of New Windsor, is engaged
in farming near Rocklet. He was born in this township in 1857, and is
a son of George and Agnes (Stewart) Denniston. He has been identified
with public affairs of the town and county since 1884, when he served
as justice of the peace until 1892. With the exception of the
1896-1897 term he has been continuously elected a member of the Board
of Supervisors since 1891. Mr. Denniston is a member of Little
Britain Grange and takes an active interest in all matters pertaining
to the welfare of Orange County.
WILLIAM L. DICKERSON, attorney, of Montgomery, is a son of Jacob and
John B. (Millspaugh) Dickerson. His ancestors settled in Orange
County previous to the Revolutionary war. Mr. Dickerson attended
Montgomery Academy and Cornell University, following which he read
law in the office of Hon. A. S. Cassedy and was admitted to the bar
in 1892. His legal studies were supplemented by a course of lectures
at the University of Minnesota. He has enjoyed an extensive practice
in Montgomery since 1895. Mr. Dickerson is secretary and a director
of the Montgomery & Erie Railroad and secretary and a director of the
Riverside Cemetery. He is a member of Walden Lodge, F. & A. M.; past
assistant grand lecturer of the Thirteenth Masonic District; a member
of Midland Chapter, R. A. M., of Middletown, and a member of the
First Presbyterian Church of Montgomery.
JAMES NATHANIEL DICKEY, bank cashier, Newburgh; son of William and
Esther (James) Dickey. Born at Newburgh, July 12, 1840. After
finishing his studies at Newburgh Academy entered office of Judge
J. J. Monell as clerk, remaining two years. In 1856 accepted
clerkship with Quassaick National Bank; was promoted to teller and in
1895 became cashier. Served as city treasurer of Newburgh for thirty
years. First vice-president Newburgh Historical Society; member City
Club and the Newburgh Canoe and Boating Association. He married Miss
Eve Brown in 1866 and three daughters have been born to them.
EDWIN J. DIKEMAN, a successful pharmacist of Goshen, N. Y., was born
in that place in 1876. After graduating from the Goshen High School
he entered Columbia University and graduated from the Department of
Pharmacy of that institution in 1897. He is a son of Edwin and
Elizabeth (Jay) Dikeman. Edwin, the father, was a native of Goshen.
He established the drug store now owned by Edwin J. in the early
fifties and was one of the prominent business men of that place. He
served the village as president for several years. His death occurred
July 19, 1895.
Edwin J. married Henrietta Coleman, daughter of Hon. Roswell C.
Coleman, of Newburgh, N. Y., and they have a son, Edwin J., Jr.
Mr. Dikeman is a member of Goshen Lodge No. 365, F. & A. M.; the
Goshen Club, an honorary member of Cataract Engine and Hose Company
No. 1, and a member of the New York State Pharmaceutical Association.
He is also secretary of the Orange County Chapter, Sons of the
Revolution.
BRICE L. DREW was born at Vernon, Sussex County, N. J., March 6,
1866. His parents were Gilbert and Elizabeth Drew, and they had five
children. Mr. Drew is a practical farmer, and now conducts the Eden
fruit and dairy farm of one hundred and forty-two acres. He is a
member of Warwick Lodge No. 544, F. & A. M.; Wawayanda Lodge No. 34,
I. O. O. F., and Junior O. U. A. M. No. 207. He is a member of the
Glenwood Methodist Church. Politically he is independent. He married
Miss Lillie Morehouse, of Amity, daughter of Linn and Emily
Morehouse. Their three children are: Ernest, born June 24, 1892;
Emily, born July 17, 1895, and Albert George, born May 1, 1902.
WILLIAM J. DUFFY, vice-president and a director of the First National
Bank of Highland Falls, N. Y., was born in Providence, R. I., in
1867. He was educated in the city of Rochester, N. Y., and has been a
resident of Orange County since 1897. Mr. Duffy is endowed with
characteristic New England enterprise and his spirit has exerted a
healthy influence in public affairs at Highland Falls, where he is
president of the Village Improvement Society. He is superintendent of
the U. S. Government Stables at West Point and is proprietor of the
entire livery. He is district deputy of the Knights of Columbus. His
wife was formerly Miss Fanny Au, of Highland Falls.
WALTER DUMVILLE, farmer and dairyman, was born in the town of
Newburgh, May 9, 1843. His father, Benjamin Dumville, was a native of
England and came to America in 1827, a few years later locating in
Newburgh, where he married Miriam Harris. He was the first wholesale
butcher in Newburgh. After Walter finished his education he engaged
with his father in that business, and later conducted it alone
successfully for many years. He at one time served as collector of
the town of Newburgh. Mr. Dumville is a director of the Columbus
Trust Co., also the Milk Producers' Association and the Horse Thief
Detecting Society. July 16, 1873, he married Josephine, daughter of
John and Catherine O'Brien, of New York City. Mr. and Mrs. Dumville
are members of the Unitarian Church.
WILLIAM FULLERTON DUNNING, a member of the New York City Bar
Association and for several years immediately preceding his death a
member of its committee on admissions, died on April 1, 1907, after
an illness lasting only a few days. He was born in the city of New
York on May 29, 1856. His father was the late Benjamin F. Dunning,
for many years the law partner of Charles O'Conor, and his mother was
Ruth Seely, of Orange County, New York.
From his father Mr. Dunning inherited a predilection for the law, and
doubtless his early association with his father's firm helped to
develop in him his high ideals of professional ethics.
He was prepared for college in Dresden, Saxony, and was graduated
from Princeton University in the class of 1877. He devoted himself
with more than usual assiduity to his studies, and was particularly
interested in the classics. He was graduated from the Columbia
College Law School and admitted to the bar of this State in 1879.
Upon his admission to the bar he entered the firm of Dunning, Edsall,
Hart & Fowler, of which firm his father was senior partner. In 1883,
upon the death of Mr. Hart, the firm of Dunning, Edsall & Fowler was
organized, and in 1886, upon the retirement of Mr. Edsall, the firm
became Dunning & Fowler. Of these three firms William Fullerton
Dunning was a member. In 1900, upon the dissolution of the firm of
Dunning & Fowler, Mr. Dunning joined the firm of Boardman, Platt &
Soley; on Mr. Soley's retirement from the firm in 1906, the firm
Boardman, Platt & Dunning was organized and continued until November,
1906, when Judge Morgan J. O'Brien became one of the members, the
name being changed to O'Brien, Boardman, Platt & Dunning.
William Fullerton Dunning was a man of modest and retiring
disposition. Although a learned and sound lawyer, he did not seek
the contention and strife of the courts, but preferred office
practice. His faithfulness and devotion to his clients' interests
gained for him their confidence, and many of them became his warm
friends. He had a cheerful, happy disposition. His relations with his
professional brethren were always marked with great consideration,
and while he jealously guarded the interests of his clients, an
opposing attorney could never justly complain that Mr. Dunning had
not shown to him the courtesy demanded by the most exacting
professional etiquette. While not ambitious for position or office
which would bring him prominently before the public, he was greatly
interested in his professional work and desirous that it should be
well done. His relations with the various partners with whom he was
associated during his career have always been most cordial and
friendly.
In 1883 he married Clara Frost, of New Orleans, La., and the years
that followed were filled with domestic happiness. His wife and six
daughters who survive him mourn the loss of a kind and loving husband
and a wise and affectionate father. His life is a continuous record
of high ideals and work well done. He died in the prime of life,
respected by all who knew him, and loved by those who knew him best.
In this age of excitement and greed, such a life as his should be an
example and an inspiration.
THE DUNNING FAMILY--General Benj. Dunning (married Isabel Wilson);
Benjamin Franklin Dunning, Esq. (married Ruth Seely); William
Fullerton Dunning, Esq. (married Clara Frost).
These three Dunnings were descended from an old and well-known
English family and were closely interested in Orange County.
General Dunning's children: Virgil, Benjamin Franklin, William T.,
Angeline.
Benjamin Franklin Dunning's children: Isabel (Mrs. Thos. P. Fowler),
Frank, William Fullerton (dead), Frederick Clark (dead), Alice (Mrs.
M. Allen Starr).
William Fullerton Dunning's children: Aline Frost (dead), Ruth Seely,
Marceline Randolph, Clara Frost, Isabel Fowler, Elizabeth Belcher,
Willielmine.
FRANK DURLAND was born in the Yelverton Inn in the old village of
Chester, N. Y., on March 25, 1860. The family sprang from the
emigrant Jan Garretse Dorlandt, who came from Holland to the New
Netherlands in the year 1652, settling in Brooklyn, later, in the
year 1657, removing to Bedford, of which village he was for many
years a commissioner.
His father, Joseph Durland, is the great-grandson of Charles Durland,
who came from Long Island and settled in Chester in the year 1754.
His mother, Nancy Kingsland Board, was a daughter of Major James J.
Board, of Boardville, N. J., afterward residing in Sugar Loaf valley,
Chester, N. Y.