place and of great usefulness to the community. He was one of the
first trustees of the Wappingers Savings Bank, and acted as its
secretary and treasurer until it obtained a substantial footing; he
was afterwards elected vice-president of the institution. For seven
years he was postmaster of the village under President Grant. He was
also a director of the Fallkill National Bank of Poughkeepsie, and a
vestryman of the Zion Episcopal Church of Wappingers Falls. Since
1876 Mr. Sweet, as head of the firm of Sweet, Orr & Co., has given
his whole attention to the manufacture of overalls. This firm are the
pioneers in this business and their product the largest in the
country. Mr. Sweet has served as a trustee of the Newburgh Savings
Bank and vestryman of St. George's Episcopal Church. He is president
of the Newburgh City Club and a director of the Newburgh National
Bank. He married in 1860, Chattie Louise, daughter of Hon. James
Manning, of Bethany, Pa., and a lineal descendant of Captain Bazaliel
Tyler, a soldier of the Revolution, who was killed when leading the
advance guard at the battle of Minisink.
LYMAN H. TAFT, editor and proprietor of the _Montgomery Standard and
Reporter,_ has resided in Orange County since 1888. Previously he
made his home in Warren, Pa.
October 23, 1888, Mr. Taft bought the _Montgomery Reporter,_ a
four-page sheet, founded May 30, 1887, by George H. Young. January 1,
1899, Mr. Taft purchased the _Montgomery Standard_ from the Winfield
family, who had owned the paper since 1868. He consolidated it with
the _Reporter_ under the above title. It is a four-page blanket
paper, republican in politics. Mr. Taft, the popular editor, is a
member of the Knights of Pythias, the Maccabees and the Foresters.
CAPTAIN THOMAS TAFT, senior member of the Taft-Howell Company,
successor to the firm of Mead & Taft, contractors, builders and
manufacturers, at Cornwall Landing, N. Y., is a lineal descendant of
the colonist, Robert Taft, who came from England to Massachusetts in
1677. He is the oldest son of Daniel Taft, the sixth in line of
descent from the colonist Robert and his wife Emeline Smith,
descendant of a family of Pennsylvania Quakers who, escaping the
massacre at Wyoming, settled near Woodbury Falls in Orange County.
Captain Taft was born in the town of Cornwall, September 28, 1840;
was educated in the A. C. Roe Collegiate School at Cornwall, and at
the outbreak of the Civil War was engaged in the building business
with his father and brother-in-law, C. H. Mead. In response to
Lincoln's appeal for three hundred thousand additional volunteers, he
enlisted as a private in Company C, 124th Regiment, New York
Volunteers, and in recognition of ability, fortitude and bravery
displayed in camp, on the march and in battle, was promoted from
grade to grade to the captaincy of his company.
In the desperate charge of the 124th at Devil's Den on the field of
Gettysburg, in which Colonel Ellis, Major Cromwell and so many of his
brave comrades were killed, he was disabled by wounds received at the
most advanced point readied, and was captured by the enemy. Four
months later he had been exchanged and was again on duty with his
regiment. With the exception of these and the battle of Boydton Road,
he was never absent from the 124th when it was under fire.
In 1866, the year after the close of the war, Captain Taft engaged in
the building business with his brother-in-law, Charles H. Mead, under
the firm name of Mead & Taft, employing from eighteen to twenty
hands. In 1906 the company had in its employ over five hundred men,
a majority of whom were skilled mechanics. Its plant at Cornwall
Landing, on the west bank of the Hudson, is one of the most complete
and extensive of its kind in the State. The building operations of
the firm have extended from Northern New Hampshire to San Antonio,
Texas. Since 1866 it has erected some eight hundred or nine hundred
buildings, nearly all of which have been expensive structures. In the
building up and successful management of this extensive business
Captain Taft has been the leading factor.
In 1883 a movement looking to the incorporation of the village of
Cornwall was defeated. Two years later the proposition was again
brought before the people and carried, and Captain Taft was elected
the first president of the newly incorporated village, and was
retained in office until 1889. Immediately on assuming office he put
in operation a system of road improvement which in less than two
years gave to Cornwall the reputation of having the best streets of
any village in the county. Under a changed administration the
taxpayers soon became dissatisfied, Captain Taft was petitioned to
again stand for president, and in 1891 was elected without
opposition, serving until 1895.
Realizing that the natural beauties of the Highlands of the Hudson
were at last awakening public interest, Captain Taft began several
years ago, as opportunity offered, the purchase of lands in the
Storm King region, where he now owns several rather extensive tracts,
which it is believed will at no distant day be so improved as to
enhance the attractiveness of his native town.
He was married in 1881 to Mary G., eldest daughter of Dr. James E.
Knapp, of Marlborough, Ulster County, N. Y. They have two sons,
Thomas Knapp Taft and Royal M. Taft.
WILLIAM G. TAGGART, for many years county clerk of Orange County, was
born in Newburgh, N. Y., November 20, 1856. After graduating from the
academy he engaged with his father, Archibald Taggart, in the meat
business. In 1891 he resigned the postmastership of Newburgh to
accept the office of clerk of Orange County, to which he had been
elected, and was re-elected in 1894, 1897 and 1900. He is a member of
several secret societies, including Newburgh Lodge, F. and A. M.;
Highland Chapter, R. A. M., and Hudson River Commandery, K. T.
Mr. Taggart is secretary of the Orange County Traction Company.
H. R. TAYLOR, of Pine Bush, N. Y., who conducts an extensive trade in
lumber, building materials, etc., established this business in 1895.
His father, Archibald R. Taylor, was a native of Ulster County, and
in 1849 located in Pine Bush, where he purchased a large tract of
land, and began the erection of buildings. He was largely identified
with the prosperity of this village and associated with its business
interests. In 1856 he married Miss Mary, daughter of John Colwell
Rainey, of Crawford. The following children were born: Archibald,
Hamilton R., Emily, Anne and John C, now state senator.
GEORGE W. TEN EYCK was born in Rockland County, N. Y., May 8, 1824.
His mother, Mary Youmans Ten Eyck, died December 4, 1884, in the
ninetieth year of her age. David Ten Eyck, his father, was a cooper
by trade, and a descendant of the early settlers by that name, who
came from Holland, locating in Rockland County, some of them serving
in the Revolutionary struggle. When George was a mere lad his father
died, and the boy was bound out to service until he was twenty-one
years old to a farmer near Sugar Loaf. He served his apprenticeship
and in the course of a few years the thrifty young farmer had
accumulated a fine farm of one hundred and thirty-two acres. It was
on this farm (known as Maple Grove farm for years) that he reared his
family, remaining there during the remainder of his life, nearly half
a century, his demise occurring December 13, 1900. Mr. Ten Eyck was a
self-made man, he secured an ordinary education, was noted for his
integrity and just dealing, was engaged in various enterprises
outside of his farm, and much of his means he lost by helping others,
endorsing notes, etc. He was endowed with great muscular strength,
having performed many lifting feats in his earlier life. He was
always a staunch republican, working hard for the cause. He married
Christien Peterson, of Warwick, January 11, 1850, a most estimable
woman, who passed away on her seventieth birthday, February 7, 1897.
Five children were the result of this union, Coe H., who owns the
Valley House, Greenwood Lake; Hutson G., deceased at thirty-eight,
was a noted architect for several years previous to his death at
Newark, N. J.; George W., a carpenter and builder at Elizabeth,
N. J.; Mary L., wife of Francis G. Knapp, and Andrew, both residing
at their home, "The Anchorage," at Middletown.
FLOYD E. TETHER was born February 22, 1872, on a farm between Amity
and Edenville, Orange County. He attended the Warwick Academy after
leaving the district school, and then took a course in Eastman's
Business College at Poughkeepsie. Soon afterward he became identified
with the Clyde Steamship Company of New York City, with which he
remained one year, and then clerked in a general store in Edenville
two years. He entered into a mercantile partnership in 1894 with
G. S. Everett at Florida, Orange County, where they conducted a
general store. In the fall of 1896 C. M. Knapp, of Goshen, purchased
Mr. Everett's interest and the firm became Tether & Knapp. This
partnership continued until March, 1900, when Mr. Tether became the
sole proprietor. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church and of
Warwick Lodge No. 544, F. and A. M. Mr. Tether was married to Mary A.
Knapp, of Pine Island, Orange County, February 4, 1896. They have
four children, James E., Clifford F., Russell K. and Beatrice M. Mr.
Tether's parents were Edward J. and Sarah A. Tether. Their children
are Floyd E., Eva J., who married Louis B. Williams, of Florida, and
Harry L., who is a farmer on the homestead. A daughter, Hannah, died
in her sixteenth year. The father died July 17, 1907. The mother is
still living. They resided on the homestead over forty years.
REV. JOHN TETREAU is pastor of the Church of St. Mary,
Washingtonville, N. Y. Previous to 1872 this parish was under the
direction of Newburgh pastors, but in that year a small chapel was
built and Father Keogh paid monthly visits. He was followed by Father
Mackin, and then came Rev. William Ward, who was the real founder of
the congregation and continued until 1887, when Rev. Henry J. Gordon,
of Cornwall, was given charge of the mission until 1892. Fathers
Carr, Hannigan and Ward, of Chester, were the next pastors until
1898. The parish was then re-annexed to Cornwall, and Father Currie
given charge until May, 1901, to be followed by Father Fenton until
October 4, 1902, when Rev. John Tetreau became resident pastor, and
it is due to his energy and management that the parishioners now have
a beautiful place of worship. During his first year he enlarged the
home from one room to a commodious rectory. This was followed by the
erection of modern sheds with accommodations for forty carriages.
August 5, 1906, the cornerstone was laid by Father Sally, of
Newburgh, for the enlargement of the church from 40 by 23 feet to 76
by 41 feet--the dedication ceremonies occurring July 16, 1907. This
church is equipped with a fine pipe organ, comfortable pews and
heated by steam. Father Tetreau was born and educated in Canada.
Since 1889 his pastorates have been in the United States. For twelve
years he was connected with St. Jean Baptiste Church in New York. He
is much beloved by his parishioners, for whom he has accomplished
such extensive improvements. He also has charge of the Maybrook
mission.
WILLIAM THAYER was one of Newburgh's oldest and most successful
merchants. He came there from Brooklyn, Conn., in 1809. His ancestors
came from England in 1636 and settled in Massachusetts, where their
descendants have been among the most prominent men of that State. As
recorded in history this family dates back in England many centuries,
and were people of wealth and influence, holding offices of trust,
and having towns named in their honor.
John Thayer, William's brother, came with him to Newburgh. John never
married. William married in 1812 Elizabeth Carpenter, daughter of
Leonard and Bridget (Belknap) Carpenter, and grand-daughter of
Captain Isaac Belknap. Their children were William L., unmarried;
John S., married Catharine Stearns; Elijah Carpenter married Mary J.
Morrison, daughter of Hamilton Morrison, of Montgomery, N. Y.;
Charles F. married Anna F. Miller; Anna B. married Henry Dolson;
Elizabeth C. married O. L. Sypher; George A. and Caroline M.,
unmarried.
In 1826 William Thayer built a house on the corner of Montgomery and
Second streets, where he lived until 1837, when he retired from
active business life and removed to his large estate of three hundred
acres on the heights of Balmville. There he built a large stone
mansion, one of the finest and most substantial homes in that section
of the county; as it stood on a bluff it commanded a magnificent
river view for miles. There he lived until his death in 1855.
John Thayer died in 1861. Both of these men, having been very
fortunate in business, accumulated fortunes. They were progressive
and very influential in their time and place, and were held in the
highest esteem by all who knew them.
The descendants of William Thayer are his daughter, Mrs. O. L.
Sypher, the only member of the family now living; his grandchildren
are the children of John S., living in Los Angeles, Cal.; the
children of Charles F., living in Washington, D. C.; the Thayer
family at Burnside and Mrs. Elmer Tibbetts, of Newburgh; children of
Elijah C. and Mrs. Marsh, daughter of Mrs. Sypher, of East Orange,
N. J.
ALEXANDER THOMPSON, a prominent farmer in the town of Crawford,
Orange County, was a son of Augustus and Catherine (Hunter) Thompson,
was born on the homestead near Thompson Ridge in 1850, and died
January 17, 1908. He was afforded the opportunity to secure a good
education and in 1871 graduated from Williams College with the degree
of A.B.
Mr. Thompson married Miss Abbie Beattie and they are the parents of
seven children. He was for fifteen years an elder in the Hopewell
Presbyterian Church. The family resides on the ancestral acres.
Augustus Thompson, the father of our subject, was for many years
identified with public affairs in Orange County. He filled the
offices both of bank and railroad director and was one of the bonding
commissioners of the town of Crawford, until his death in 1874. In
1849 and 1850 he was supervisor and in 1865 was elected justice of
the peace.
CHARLES HUDSON THOMPSON was born November 11, 1877. His parents are
Horace Decker and Sarah (Millspaugh) Thompson. He received his early
education at a private school at Goshen, known as the Goshen
Institute of Professor William Galdthwaite, the Middletown High
School, and the University of Pennsylvania, graduating from the
dental department of the latter institution in 1900. After graduating
he returned to Goshen and was associated with Dr. Parker for three
years. In 1903 he was interested in business in Brooklyn, N. Y., and
returning to Goshen in 1904 opened a dental office. He is a member of
Goshen Lodge, F. and A. M., No. 365; Midland Chapter No. 240; Cypress
Commandery No. 67; and Ajamoore Chapter, Order Eastern Star. For
three years he has been a member of the board of governors of Goshen
Social Athletic Association, and is assistant foreman of the Cataract
Fire Company; member of Second District Dental Society; also a
charter member of the Ninth Judicial Dental Society. In politics Dr.
Thompson is a republican.
JAMES RENWICK THOMPSON, JR., attorney of Newburgh, N. Y., was born in
Newburgh, 1874. He is a graduate of the academy, and the law
department of Cornell University, with the degree of LL.B., in 1896,
and was admitted to the bar in 1897.
Mr. Thompson married Miss Julia, daughter of James Dickey, in 1906.
He is a son of Rev. J. R. and Mary F. (Lawson) Thompson. Rev. Dr.
Thompson has been pastor of Westminster Church, Newburgh, N. Y.,
since 1856.
WILLIAM M. THOMPSON was born in Hamptonburgh, September 20, 1865, on
what was known as the Charles M. Thompson farm. He married Mary H.
Corwin, daughter of W. S. and Cornelia Corwin, of New York City. Mr.
and Mrs. Thompson have had four children, one of whom died at the age
of four. Those living are: Ruth, aged fourteen; William M., Jr., and
Roland Harlon. Mr. Thompson is a democrat, and has been elected town
collector three times. He is a member of Grange No. 950 of
Hamptonburgh, trustee and clerk of the Presbyterian Church at
Campbell Hall, and trustee, secretary and treasurer of the
Hamptonburgh Cemetery Association. For ten years he has been
energetic and useful in local and church work.
JOHN W. THORN was born in Mount Hope, February 17, 1864. After his
education in the district and a private school, he engaged in the
feed and coal trade, and in 1894 started a creamery near Middletown,
which he recently sold, and is now conducting a creamery at Westtown,
N. Y. He is a member of Hoffman Lodge No. 412, F. and A. M.; Midland
Chapter No. 420, R. A. M.; Cypress Commandery No. 67, K. T.; and of
the Commercial Travelers' Middletown Council. His father is A. D.
Thorn, a Mount Hope farmer, and his mother's maiden name was Lucinda
Moore.
HON. HOWARD THORNTON, attorney of Newburgh, N. Y., was born on
Governors' Island, New York Harbor, on February 25, 1849, where his
father, General William A. Thornton, was stationed at the time.
Mr. Thornton comes of old Revolutionary stock. His paternal
grandfather was Major John Thornton, of the Continental and
Revolutionary Army, and his paternal grandmother was a daughter of
Colonel Samuel Clyde, of Cherry Valley. Matthew Thornton, one of the
signers, was an uncle of his grandfather. On his mother's side his
ancestors run back to the De Witts, who were prominent in the
Revolutionary period in the Hudson Valley.
Mr. Thornton attended the public schools of New York City, and the
College of the City of New York. Later he entered Union College, from
which he graduated in 1872. He entered the office of Eugene A.
Brewster, of Newburgh, as a law student in the year of his
graduation, and subsequently the Albany Law School, from which he
graduated in 1874. Returning to the office of Mr. Brewster he
remained there until 1883, when he opened his present office.
A staunch republican, Mr. Thornton has long been identified with its
affairs in this city. In 1891 he was elected a member of assembly
from the first assembly district of Orange County, and re-elected in
1892 and 1893. During his third term he was chairman of the judiciary
committee of the assembly.
He has been prominently connected with the Masonic organizations of
Newburgh; is president of the board of trustees of Washington's
Headquarters in Newburgh; a member of the board of education of that
city, and vice-president of the National Bank of Newburgh.
SAMUEL V. TIDD was born February 1, 1842. His parents were John and
Hulda Tidd. Five children were born to this union. Samuel acquired
his education at the district school and in after years became a
mechanic. He enlisted in the 124th Regiment, the famous "Orange
Blossoms," September 2, 1862, and was engaged in many important
battles. He was taken prisoner in 1864 and confined in the
Andersonville prison for eleven months. He married Harriet Reeves, of
Howells, N. Y., March 6, 1866; five children were born to this union,
Addie L., born February 25, 1867; Harriet E., born August 26, 1868;
Nettie W., born March 17, 1870; Elizabeth, born February 10, 1872;
John S., born October 23, 1873. Nettie is the wife of Harry Miller,
of Middletown, N. Y., and John married Julia McWhinnie, of New York
City. Mr. Tidd is a republican, has been collector of the school
district four terms and constable one term. He is a member of Lyon
Post, G. A. R., No. 266, of Middletown, N. Y.
CHARLES E. TOWER, postmaster at Maybrook and member of the firm of
Tower Brothers, general merchants, is a native of Oneida County,
N. Y., where his brother Fred. W. was also born. Their father, Albert
Tower, moved to Orange County in 1870, locating at Campbell Hall,
where he was engaged in the milk business for twenty-five years. He
established the store at Maybrook in 1889, where he served as
postmaster fourteen years. He also held the office of justice of the
peace for three years. His death occurred in 1904. Inheriting the
industry and enterprise of their father the Tower brothers are
numbered among the progressive business men of Orange County. They
are members of the Order of United American Mechanics.
THOMAS POWELL TOWNSEND, son of Jacob P. and Mary Ann (Barrett)
Townsend, was born at Milton, Ulster County, N. Y., November 26,
1836. His father was a prosperous merchant of Milton, and young
Thomas remained in his employ acquiring the requisite training for a
successful business career until 1860, when he located in Newburgh
and engaged in wholesale merchandise and general freighting business
until 1876, when with the exception of a period in 1881, in which he
was interested in the wholesale grocery house of James A. Townsend &
Co., he has lived in comparative retirement. Mr. Townsend has
steadfastly declined to hold public office, directorships,
membership in clubs and fraternal organizations, preferring to enjoy
the seclusion and privacy of his home. He married Mary Augusta,
daughter of Hon. George Clark. They have one daughter, now Mrs.
Florence C., wife of Charles T. McKenzie, married October 22, 1890.
FRANK T. AND A. G. TRIPP, publishers of _The News of the Highlands_
at Highland Falls, N. Y., established this bright weekly eight-page
newspaper, March, 1891. A valuable feature of the paper is the
chronicling of the news of West Point. A modern job printing plant is
also conducted, and it has a large advertising patronage in Newburgh.
Messrs. Tripp are from the State of Ohio, and their progressive
western spirit is apparent in the management of the enterprise in
their adopted village.
JOHN TURL'S SONS--This company occupies the buildings in South Water
street, Newburgh, formerly known as the Washington Iron Works. The
business consists chiefly of general machine and boiler shop work.
The company deals extensively in sugar machinery, railroad tracks,
rails and industrial cars. They employ a force of one hundred men.
The industry was founded in New York City in 1845 by John Turl and
the works removed to Newburgh in 1905. The officers of the company
are Joseph H. Turl, president; Charles H. Pratt, secretary; Harry C.
Turl, treasurer.
HIRAM TUTHILL, born November 30, 1837, in Elmira, Chemung County,
N. Y., attended school there until sixteen years old, when he moved
to Chester, Orange County, and became clerk for Charles S. and J. B.
Tuthill. This was in February, 1854, and in May, 1855, he changed to
clerk in the Chester Bank, and remained there as bookkeeper and
teller thirteen years. He then went to his birthplace, Elmira, and
was in the dry goods business there a year, when he returned to
Chester and purchased the dry goods and grocery business of Tuthill
& Jackson, which he carried on from 1869 to 1900. In August of the
latter year he was elected president of the Chester Bank, and still
holds the responsible position. He married Miss Pauline W. Conklin,
of Elmira, February 24, 1869, and their only son, Leddra W. C.
Tuthill, is engaged in an advertising business in New York City.
There was another son, who died in December, 1879, at the age of ten.
Mrs. Tuthill died March 15, 1903. Mr. Tuthill has been active and
energetic in local public affairs as well as his more private
mercantile and banking pursuits.
HARRY TWEDDLE, son of John and Phoebe (Comfort) Tweddle, was born in
the town of Montgomery, Orange County, N. Y., in 1868. He obtained
his education at the schools of Montgomery, and is now engaged in the
cultivation of a farm of two hundred acres.
Mr. Tweddle is master of the Montgomery Grange, and a director of the
Patrons of Husbandry Fire Insurance Company of Ulster and Orange
Counties. Mr. Tweddle married Miss Mary E. Burch and they are the
parents of two children, John P. and Robert K.
GARRETT H. TYMESON, postmaster at Otisville, N. Y., was born February
22, 1847, at Wayne County, Pa. His parents were Truman and Elsie
Tymeson. His father was one of the pioneer lumbermen locating in
Pennsylvania when the lumber interests were at their best. He was
identified many years with this business, retiring in 1866. Garrett
attended the district school in his locality, after which he attended
the academy at Monticello. His early life was spent in the lumber
business, after which he entered the mercantile business. He was
married May 2, 1871, to Miss Mary Carey, of Middletown, N. Y. Four
children were born to this union, one still living. Howard, born
September 6, 1872, married Miss Mary Dempsey, and now resides in
Paterson, N. J.
Mr. Tymeson went west in the spring of 1877, settling at Frederick,
Kans., remaining there twenty years. He served eight years as
justice of the peace at that place. In 1897 he returned to New York
State, locating at Otisville, Orange County, was appointed postmaster
July 11, 1899, and still holds that position. In 1907 the Otisville
post-office was made a third-class office. In politics he is a
republican. He is a member of the Otisville Presbyterian Church.
Socially, he is a member of Hoffman Lodge No. 412, F. and A. M., of
Middletown, N. Y. His son Harry died in infancy; Arthur married
Helen Clark, of Middletown, and died March 31, 1905; and Elsie, wife
of Dr. L. A. Summers, of Wheaton, Kans., died August 2, 1902. Their
one son Waller resides with Mr. Tymeson.
BENJAMIN F. VAIL, supervisor of the town of Warwick, N. Y., was born
October 23, 1843, at Chester, Orange County. His early education was
obtained at the district school and the Seward Institute at Florida,
N. Y. He moved to Honesdale, Pa., where he remained for three years,
engaging in the dry goods business. In 1868 he removed to Warwick,
entering the grocery business, and later engaging in general
merchandise. He was postmaster at Warwick during the Cleveland
administration. In 1890 he purchased the business of R. and R. J.
Wisner, dealers in lumber, paints, etc. This concern was established
in 1884. Mr. Vail was married to Miss Jane C. Cline, December 31,
1868, of Warwick. Two children were born to this union, Cora C. and
Pauline F. Mr. Vail takes an active interest in matters pertaining to
Warwick. He is a member of Warwick Lodge, F. and A. M., No. 544.
HARRY VAIL was born at New Milford, Orange County, N. Y. He attended
the district school there and at Amity, and then engaged in the meat
business at Amity. He continued this two years, and bought a small
farm of thirty-five acres at New Milford, and leased the Sutton farm
of one hundred and sixty acres, which he purchased in 1903. He is one
of the most extensive peach growers in Orange County, having 9,000
trees. June 15, 1899, he married Miss Celia Utter, daughter of J. W.
Utter, of Amity. Their children's names are Harry, Jr., Roy and
Emily. Mr. Vail, in his specialty of fruit growing, has been
successful, and therefore prosperous. He is secretary of Warwick
Lodge No. 544, F. and A. M.
JOHN CARPENTER VAIL was born in Chester, Orange County, May 13, 1846,
and educated in the Chester district school and academy. He was clerk
for Dr. C. P. Smith about a year, and then at D. H. Roe's grocery two
years. Next he was in the commission business in New York City two
years, when he returned to Orange County, and in Warwick engaged in
the occupation of breeding high-class hunting dogs, for which, he
obtained a somewhat exclusive trade in the metropolis and elsewhere,
his specialty being English setters.
Some of his dogs are shipped to Cuba, Halifax, California, Florida
and other parts of the United States. He married Mary Reed Van Duzer,
of Warwick, April 6, 1864. Their three children are Hazel Clark,
Christine Reed and Robert Cornell.
WILLETT VAIL, of Florida, N. Y., was born at Hughsonville, Dutchess
County, now known as Fishkill-on-Hudson, July 11, 1848. He obtained
his early education at the district school, later attending a private
school at Hughsonville. He learned the mason trade at Poughkeepsie,
and later worked on the State Hospital at Middletown, N. Y. From
Middletown he came to Florida, where he has since resided and for
twenty years conducted his business. He married Georgiana Eliza
Thompson, of Florida, when twenty-seven years of age. Four children
have been born by this union; two died in infancy. Those surviving
are: Hattie E., wife of LeRoy Davis, of New York City, and Ira V. K.,
now of New York City. Mr. Vail is a member of the American Society of
Equity and was commissioner of highways of Warwick township one year.
He erected the Vail opera house at Florida in 1895, and this, the
only amusement place in Florida, enjoys a good business. Both his
father and mother died of old age, each being nearly eighty years of
age at their death. There are eight children in his parents' family
still living. Mr. Vail has taken an active interest in matters
pertaining to the welfare and betterment of the village of Florida.
AYMAR VAN BUREN, who has been a resident of New Windsor, Orange
County, since 1851, was born in New York City, January 10, 1837. Mr.
Van Buren, as his name indicates, is of Holland descent. His
great-grandfather, his grandfather and his father, Colonel John D.
Van Buren, were all natives of the American metropolis.
He was educated at public and private schools, and began business
life in 1862, by purchasing a portion of the farm property of Edmund
Morton, of the town of New Windsor. In 1863 he married Miss Margaret,
daughter of Mr. Morton. They resided on this farm of ninety acres
until 1882, when Mr. Van Buren sold out and became a resident of the
old Morton homestead.
He is a firm believer in the principles of the Democratic party, and
although not an office-seeker, he has for years been very active in
the public affairs of the town. He has been trustee of School
District No. 1 since 1871; has served as a member of the board of
health, and for many years was road master. In religious matters he
is a member of the Episcopal Church, serving as warden, vestryman and
treasurer.
JOSEPH VAN CLEFT, merchant and banker, Newburgh, N. Y., was born in
the town of New Windsor, Orange County, 1836. The Van Cleft family
were early settlers in Minisink Valley. His mother was a member of
the Cooper family of Blooming Grove. From 1855 to 1860 he was
employed in the hardware trade in New York City, and for two years
following pursued the same business in Kansas City, Mo. In 1863 he
returned to Newburgh and established his present hardware and
agricultural implement business. Upon the organization of the
Columbus Trust Company in 1892 he was chosen vice-president, and
since 1896 has served as president of that institution. He was one of
the original members of the board of trade and for a number of years
was member of the consistory of the American Reformed Church. In 1869
he married Edwina Storey Smith, grand-daughter of Judge Storey. She
died April, 1891.
ISAAC VAN DUSER, the Pioneer of the Ramapo Pass, by Elizabeth Crissey
Van Duzer--The beautiful country along the Ramapo River between
Sloatsburg and Suffern, is well known to Orange County people. It is
wild and beautiful still, though the mills have been running there
more than a century, and the Erie trains through the valley for
sixty-six years.
Nearly two hundred years, with their attendant changes, have passed
over that region since Isaac Van Duser--the first white man to settle
in the Ramapo Pass--came from Tappan and located with his family in
the "Throat of the Cloff," as that narrow part of the valley was then
called.
He bought four hundred acres that John Van Blarcum had recently
purchased of the Indians, and there built his homestead. East and
west rose the mountains densely wooded, and the narrow valley was
filled with the music of the little river. Here, he lived in the
midst of the forest, the Indians his only neighbors, and began his
work of opening up the Pass, which proved to be the natural entrance
to the Orange County of to-day.
His son, Isaac, Jr., and his wife, were living there in 1724. Isaac,
Jr., afterward purchased the Van Gelder tract which joined the Van
Duser land, and extended northward. When he came in possession of his
father's land, he became owner of the whole valley from the Romopock
line below Ramapo to Stony Brook, north of Sloatsburg.
He was living there with a large family just at the time the present
Orange County was being settled, principally by people from Southern
Orange County--now Rockland. As the young settlers came up through
the Pass, Isaac Van Duser was able to supply each one with a wife
until his ten daughters were all married. They were the maternal
ancestors of many old Orange County families.
Wieberch married Benjamin Demarest. Agnes married Samuel Sidman, to
whom Isaac Van Duzer deeded the original homestead--the Van Blarcum
tract. The valley was called "Sidman's Pass" during the Revolution,
and the fortifications there--"The Post at Sidman's."
Marietje married Steven Sloat, to whom Isaac transferred the Van
Colder tract, upon which they founded Sloatsburg. Their son John was
killed in the Revolution. His son, John Drake Sloat, was Rear Admiral
of the United States Navy. He took possession of the territory now
called California for the United States at the beginning of the
Mexican War. His monument stands at Monterey.
Leah married a Galloway and located further up the Pass. Autie
married Major Zachariah DuBois (Woodhull's Regiment). Mary was the
wife of Lieutenant William Roe (same regiment). Martha married Mr.
Rose; Elizabeth, a LaRoy; Catherine an exiled Polish nobleman named
Zobrisky; and Jane married Mr. Williams.
Before 1748 Isaac Van Duser bought the Andrew Nicolls patent at
Cornwall, and afterward moved there with his three sons, Isaac, Jr.,
Tjerck and Christopher. In 1772 he divided this land equally among
the three. The whole family appear to have been living on the patent
during the Revolution. Erskine's map, made for General Washington's
use, shows the location of Van Duzer's house at Cornwall. His son,
Isaac, Jr., had sons, Isaac 3rd, Adolphus and Benjamin. Alexander Van
Duser, of Gardiner, N. Y., is a descendant of Isaac 3rd, and Letitia
Mills. Adolphus moved to Sullivan County. Benjamin has descendants
near Cornwall.
Tjerck had wife Catherine. His family has not been traced.
Christopher was captain in Colonel Woodhull's Cornwall Regiment. He
was commissioned September, 1775, and served all through the war. He
was at Fort Montgomery at different times, served at Haverstraw,
Ramapo and in the Jerseys, at New Windsor, Butter Hill, Nicolls Point
and eight weeks at Fishkill. He was stationed at West Point
immediately after Arnold's treason was discovered. He was described
by his neighbors as "an ardent, zealous Whig." He married first
Juliana Strong, who left one child, the wife of Jacob Mandeville.
Their daughter married first Nathaniel DuBois Woodhull, second Joseph
Young.
Captain Van Duzer married second Juliana Tusten, sister of
Lieutenant-Colonel Tusten, who was killed at Minisink. In 1807 they
moved to Warwick, having purchased the farm where the fourth
generation of their descendants now live.
They had sons Isaac, Benjamin Tusten, William, John and Selah and six
daughters, Elizabeth, Ann, Mary and Susan were the wives of Selah
Reeve, Nathan Wescott, Ebenezer Crissey and John Dolson,
respectively.
Christopher's son Isaac was prominent in business at Cornwall.
Afterward located in Warwick, where his grand-daughter, Mary Burt,
now lives. His daughter Juliette, married Colonel Wheeler. He had a
son, Isaac Reve, a member of the Legislature, and a very gifted
lawyer of Goshen. J. W. Gott, of that place, is his descendant.
Benjamin has no descendants living. William moved to Chemung County
and left a large family. John was a member of the Legislature. He had
sons Joseph Benedict, of Bellvale; Charles Reeve, of Warwick, and
James, whose descendants live in Illinois. Of John's seven daughters
two died young. Lanor died unmarried. Harriet Fancher, Mary Lazear
and Nancy Fish left descendants in Dundee, N. Y. Julia Ann married
Abner Benedict, of Warwick.
Selah was a banker in New York. He left a large family. The late
S. R. Van Duzer, of Newburgh, was one of his sons.
The farm of Captain Christopher Van Duzer at Warwick, descending from
father to son, has been the home of Christopher, John, Charles Reeve
and George Morehouse (the present owner), who Has a son, Christopher
Tusten. At this old homestead on April 25, 1907, was celebrated the
one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Van Duzer family in
Warwick.
Shadrack Van Duzer lived in Cornwall during the Revolution. His two
sons, Isaac and Henry, served in Captain Van Duzer's company. Henry's
grandson, 'Squire Henry Van Duzer, of Cornwall, still lives on a part
of the land bought by Isaac Van Duzer in 1748, and has the original
patent in his possession.
Shadrack is supposed to be a descendant of Isaac of Ramapo, though
no proof can as yet be found. On the other hand, several
grandchildren of his son Isaac, who married Martha Tusten and moved
to Goshen, claim that Shadrack came from Holland when his son Isaac
was twelve years of age, that is, 1767. This may be true, as no
record of him in Cornwall or elsewhere has been found prior to that
date, though I have searched for it during the past ten years and
will now leave the question to his descendants, who are very numerous
in Orange County, to determine for themselves.
Isaac Van Duzer, of Ramapo, was a grandson of Abraham Pietersen Van
Deursen, the original ancestor of the Van Dusen and Van Duzer
families in America. We find him mentioned first in a Holland
document complaining of the English, which says: "They encroach
westerly below Cape Cod, on the Dutch limits, absorbing Rhode Island
and Martin's Vineyard, howbeit possession had been taken thereof for
this Company in 1636 by Abraham Pietersen Van Deursen."
He was the miller of New Amsterdam in 1638, one of the "Twelve Men"
in 1641, was afterward elected one of the "Eight Men," and was also a
Burgher. In 1664 he took the oath of Allegiance to England.
HENRY VAN DUZER, justice of the peace of the town of Cornwall,
resides on a farm near Cornwall Station. Mr. Van Duzer is a
descendant of one of Orange County's old and prominent families. His
great grandfather, Isaac Van Duzer, secured the patent to the
homestead farm in Cornwall in 1735. This document is in the
possession of Henry Van Duzer, who has been identified with public
affairs in his native town for thirty-five years. He was born in 1835
and educated at public and private schools. His father, John S. Van
Duzer, died in 1830 and Henry learned the trade of piano maker, which
he followed for a number of years both in this section and in the
west. He has served thirty years as justice of the peace; three years
justice of sessions; thirteen years as U. S. loan commissioner, and
one term as supervisor. In 1860 he married Miss Catherine Cox and
three children were born to them; his son, Henry J., is agent for the
Erie Railroad at Cornwall Station.
JAMES HARRY VAN DUZER, son of Isaac Van Duzer and Mary Case, was born
in the town of Chester, N. Y., December 12, 1839. At the age of
eighteen he entered as clerk in a general store with the firm of
Woodhull and Vandervort at the corner store, Warwick, N. Y.; he
became a member of that firm in 1864; he succeeded to the business in
1873, continuing until 1883; in 1884 he engaged in the wholesale
hardware business at Newburgh, N. Y.; in 1895 William E. Sayer and
F. Clinton Van Duzer (his son) became members of the firm, and it is
known as J. H. Van Duzer & Co. He was married to Sarah A. Taylor
December 20, 1865. daughter of Isaac Taylor and Margaret Smith,
Warwick, N. Y. Their children are Ella T. (deceased), F. Clinton and
Marie L., wife of Thomas Welling.
DR. SOLOMON VAN ETTEN, one of the most prominent physicians and
surgeons in the county, was born in the town of Deer Park, Orange
County, N. Y., July 30, 1829. He was the son of Levi Van Etten and
Eleanor Carpenter.
The family was of Dutch descent and the doctor was of the eighth
generation in the direct line, from Jacob Van Etten, who came from
North Brabant, Holland, about 1656, and located at Wiltwyck, now
Kingston, N. Y. He grew up on the farm, attended the district school,
and later the Farmers' Hall Academy at Goshen, and was graduated from
the Albany Medical College, June 12, 1855.
Locating in Port Jervis, he soon acquired a fine practice, but when
the Civil War broke out the traditions of the family and the staunch
loyalty and patriotism which had been its characteristic for
generations would not permit him to stay at home.
His two grandfathers, Levi Van Etten and Benjamin Carpenter, served
in the Third Orange County Regiment in the Revolution. His
great-grandfather, Anthony Van Etten, was so active a patriot that he
was killed by Tories in 1778. His great-grandfather, Johannes Decker,
was the famous Major Decker who protected the frontier of the
southern part of the State throughout the Revolution, and his
grandmother, Margaret Decker, was one of the children at school in
the old log schoolhouse, near the farm house where the doctor was
born, on that July day when Brandt surprised them at their lessons
and killed and scalped their teacher. He entered the service
September 3, 1861, as surgeon of the Fifty-sixth Regiment of New York
Volunteers. He rose step by step from regimental surgeon to the rank
of division surgeon of the Third Division of the Eighteenth Army
Corps. After the war he returned to Port Jervis.
On September 7, 1865, he was united in marriage with Maria, daughter
of Nathan Bristol, of Waverly, N. Y.
Two children were born of this union, Dr. Nathan B. Van Etten, a
practicing physician in New York City, and Eleanor B. Van Etten, who
resides with her mother in Port Jervis.
Dr. Van Etten died suddenly at his home in Port Jervis, July 7, 1894,
from concussion of the brain, the result of a fall.
CHARAC J. VAN INWEGAN was born April 14, 1851, in the town of Deer
Park. He has always followed merchandising, succeeding to the
business which his father established in Huguenot, which he still
carries on. In 1880 he opened a store in Port Jervis in connection
with his brother, John C., who took charge of the latter
establishment. Charac J. has dealt extensively in wood and each
season has shipped thousands of cords to New York. For a time he
owned the Huguenot Springs Hotel, and he owns two store buildings in
Port Jervis, N. Y. He has been twice married. His first wife was
Catherine, daughter of Isaac and Catherine (Rose) Cuddeback, and
after her death he married Ellen S., daughter of Peter P. Swartwout.
By the first union one son was born, Willard. The children of the
second marriage are Lyman C., Harold B., Allen J. and Ralph S. Mr.
Van Inwegan is a member of the Masonic Lodge of Port Jervis. In
politics he is a democrat and has served as postmaster at Huguenot
for some years. His wife is a member of the Reformed Church.
HENRY NEWTON VAN KEUREN, son of Henry L. and Eleanor (Crawford) Van
Keuren, was born in the town of Shawangunk, Ulster County, N. Y., in
1842. Mr. Van Keuren was educated at the district schools of his
native place, and at the age of twenty-seven engaged in business in
the town of Crawford, Orange County.
In 1869 Mr. Van Keuren married Helen, only daughter of John Hill, Jr.
She died in 1870. In 1873 he married Miss Catherine Ronk, of the town
of Crawford, who died in Newburgh in 1888. Mr. Van Keuren acquired a
competency in business and lived for many years in retirement in
Newburgh. He was fond of travel and visited all the countries of
Europe, Egypt and the Holy Land, and made a tour around the world in
1897-1898. He died in Germany in 1907.
Mr. Van Keuren's ancestors came from Holland in 1864, and were among
the early settlers of New York. The homestead in Ulster County, in
which four generations were born, was a house of shelter and refuge
in the days of contests with the Indians.
CLARENCE C. VAN NESS was born in Edenville, Orange County, March 28,
1869, and after finishing his schooling was in the meat business for
six years, and then engaged in the milk business. He has become a
breeder of fine horses. His father, John J. Van Ness, died in 1891,
aged seventy-three, and his mother, whose maiden name was Anna A.
Barrett, died in 1904, aged sixty-three. The father had been a hotel
man in Edenville twenty-seven years. A daughter, Mamie E., is the
wife of John F. Knapp, of Newark, N. J.
JOHN W. VAN NESS was born in Bellvale, Orange County, October 29,
1852; was educated in the district school, and then assisted his
father, Peter Van Ness, who was a wheelwright until he died in 1884,
when John continued the business. For eight years he was a partner of
John Hazen in the Hotel Windemere at Greenwood Lake, and was
postmaster four years by appointment of President Harrison. Hazen &
Van Ness purchased George E. Reed's general store in Warwick and
continued it four years. He then came to Warwick and leased the
Demorest Stables, and after seven years, in 1900, bought the
Campbell and Longwell Stables with five horses and is now running
them with forty-five horses and at the same time interesting himself
in agricultural pursuits. On December 9, 1880, he married Miss Mary
A. Hazen, of Greenwood Lake. They have one child, Maud, born
September 23, 1881, who is at home. Mr. Van Ness was collector of the
town of Warwick one year.
WILLIAM VAN NESS was born April 26, 1836, at Pompton, N. J. His
father was Peter S. and mother Eliza Jane (Brown) Van Ness. There
were twelve children in his parents' family. William came with his
parents to Warwick, this county, when three years of age. The father
was a farmer and took an interest in matters pertaining to the
democratic party. He acquired his early education at the district
school and Warwick Academy. At an early age he learned the butchers'
trade and followed the business for thirty-two years. He married
Miss Jane Stidworthy, of Warwick. She was of English parentage and
came to America with her parents when three years old. There were two
children born to this union, Emma B., wife of Harry J. Bogart, of
Passaic, N. J., and Sarah Ann, wife of Burt Edsall, of Goshen. In
1900 Mr. Van Ness sold his business and removed to Goshen, where he
purchased the Orange Hotel, which he still conducts.
SAMUEL C. VAN VLIET, JR., was born in the town of Blooming Grove,
December 29, 1833, and reared upon a farm until seventeen years of
age. Subsequently he was a clerk and later was in business in a
general store under the firm name of Seaman & Van Vliet, of Monroe.
In March, 1861, he came to Oxford Depot and has been engaged in
merchandising, being the principal business man of the vicinity. On
December 29, 1858, Mr. Van Vliet married Miss Euphenia Jenkins, of
Monroe, the youngest daughter of Ira and Millie (Smith) Jenkins. Two
daughters have been born to them. Elsie J. is the wife of S. G. Lent
and has one child, Helen Grace, now the wife of William H. Smith, of
Chester. Effie is the wife of Fred L. Conklin, of Chester, N. Y. The
Van Vliet family originated in Holland. Politically Mr. Van Vliet is
a republican. For thirty years he was postmaster and is now agent for
the Erie Railroad. From 1868 to 1872 he was a member of the board of
supervisors of Orange County, and for twenty years an elder of the
Presbyterian Church of Monroe.
DR. EDWIN R. VARCOE, one of the leading dentists of Orange County,
located at Goshen, was born near Honesdale, Pa., November 4, 1850.
His parents, Francis and Mary (Hocken) Varcoe, were natives of
England and descendants of a long line of substantial English
ancestry. Both were educated near Liskeard, in the county of
Cornwall, where they grew to maturity and were married in 1846. They
came to America on their wedding tour, settling in Honesdale, Pa.
They engaged in farming pursuits, and remained there until their
death, the father dying in 1895 and the mother in 1865. Both were
devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Their eight
children, three sons and five daughters, are all living.
The father of Francis Varcoe, Samuel Varcoe, was an English gentleman
and a landed proprietor in the county of Cornwall. The maternal
grandfather of Francis Varcoe was Rev. Charles Hicks, of the Church
of England. One of Samuel's sons, Rev. R. Varcoe, came to this
country and filled several important charges in the Methodist
Episcopal Church in Pennsylvania, where he died. The father of Mrs.
Varcoe was Rev. Edward Hocken, a minister of the Church of England,
who for fifty years filled important pulpits in his native land. He
reared a family of seven children, of whom Edward, Jr., became a
clergyman under the celebrated John Wesley in the Methodist Church,
during the pioneer era of that organization.
The great-grandfather of our subject on the maternal side was Rev.
William Geake, of the Church of England. The children of Francis and
Mary Varcoe are as follows: Lavenia, wife of Isaiah Scudder, of
Middletown, N. Y., died May, 27, 1908; Sophia, widow of Ira S.
Baxter, of Wallingford, Conn.; Edwin R.; Elizabeth, wife of Frank
Sagendorph, of Jersey City, died February 22, 1896; Selina; Mrs. T.
Edson Harding, of Howells, N. Y.; William F., a practicing physician
in New York City; Carrie, who married Herman Groffell, of Jersey
City; and Charles W., a dentist of Walden, N. Y.
In 1875 Francis Varcoe married for his second wife Mrs. Elizabeth
(Onger) Glenn, and they had one daughter, Kittie, now the wife of
Charles Webb., of Bethany, Pa. Politically Mr. Varcoe was a
republican, and was a staunch Union man during the Civil War. He was
identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church. He died September 6,
1895, aged eighty years, near Honesdale, Pa.
The subject of this sketch, Dr. E. R. Varcoe, received his literary
education in the schools of Wayne County and Wyoming Seminary at
Kingston, Pa. At the age of twenty-one he began the study of his
profession under Dr. J. W. Kesler, of Honesdale, Pa., with whom he
remained for two years. He then practiced at different places in
Orange County for five years. In 1880 he was graduated from the
Philadelphia Dental College, carrying off the highest honors of his
class and receiving the prize awarded, an S. S. White dental engine.
In June, 1880, he established himself in practice in Goshen, where he
has since remained.
The doctor is a trustee and member of the Presbyterian Church of
Goshen. He is also an honorary member of the Second District Dental
Association, the Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and
Encampment of Patriarchs. In politics he is a republican. He has made
several trips to Europe, visiting Scotland, Ireland, England, France,
Switzerland, Italy, Mexico, Cuba and Sandwich Islands, besides
traveling in all the States and Territories in this country. For the
benefit of the church and charitable interests he has frequently
lectured on his travels.
HENRY O. VELTMAN, of the town of Mount Hope, was born December 31,
1847, in the town of Wallkill. His father Albert and mother Eunice
(Howell) Veltman had ten children, seven girls and three boys. They
are all living but one son. His father was a mason by trade. He
attended the district school, where he acquired his education while
assisting at home on the farm. He was in Jersey City, N. J., three
years in the milk business and was engaged in teaming there for two
years, when he returned to the farm. He married Miss Helen Kennedy,
of Howells, Orange County. She is of Scotch descent and came to
America when seventeen years of age. Mr. Veltman is a member of the
Grange and a republican in politics; both he and his wife are members
of the Otisville Methodist Church.
MONTGOMERY H. VERNON was born April 7, 1846, in the town of Monroe,
Orange County, N. Y. His parents were Elvin and Catherine Vernon, and
they had ten children. He was the ninth child, and he attended school
at Satterleytown schoolhouse and Sugar Loaf, meanwhile working for
his board. He worked on a farm until he was nineteen years of age,
and then clerked for D. H. Roe, of Chester, one year, and Burchard &
Smith nearly three years. He then engaged in the meat business at
Washingtonville with W. H. Hallock. Mr. Vernon was united in marriage
to Mary A. Goble, of Florida, December 20, 1870. To this union six
children were born, two died in infancy. The other children are
Russell M., attorney at Middletown, N. Y.; Emma A., wife of Robert W.
Anderson; Sarah L., wife of Richard M. Ferries, an attorney of New
York City, and George Herbert, residing at home. After Mr. Vernon's
marriage he continued in the meat business and the manufacturing of
brick for seventeen years, and in 1888 he disposed of the meat
business. He is a large shipper of onions to all parts of the United
States. Mrs. Vernon died April 27, 1906.
ANDREW K. WADE, of Walden, who conducts a stove and tinware
establishment, was born at Montgomery in 1845, a son of Jabez P. and
Susan (Millspaugh) Wade. This business was established by his
brother, Joseph G. Wade, in 1857, who died in 1862. E. B. Tears
continued the business until 1887, when our subject succeeded to it.
Mr. Wade has served three terms as supervisor, and also justice of
the peace and police justice. Politically he is a democrat, and a
member of the Knights of Pythias. In 1879 he married Sarah Frances
McVey. They have one daughter living, Frances Willard Wade.
CHARLES D. WAIT, a leading and very successful business man of
Montgomery, N. Y., is a descendant of one of Orange County's old and
respected families. He is a son of Thomas and Mary (Mould) Wait, and
was born at the Wait homestead in the town of Montgomery. In 1887 he
erected the buildings he now occupies for business purposes, dealing
extensively in flour, feed, coal, lumber and cattle, his cattle trade
exceeding ten carloads monthly, which he markets in New York, while
his trade in hay averages eighty carloads annually. Mr. Wait is a
director in the Montgomery National Bank, and an elder of the Dutch
Reformed Church. In June, 1897, he married Miss Eliza Seymour, of
Walden, daughter of James Seymour.
GEORGE W. WAIT, son of Thomas and Mary (Mould) Wait, was born at the
homestead, where he has always resided, in 1853. This farm, which was
the property of his grandfather, Samuel Wait, is situated some two
miles east of Montgomery village and comprises two hundred acres of
improved and valuable land. Mr. Wait has been engaged in its
cultivation since finishing his studies at the Montgomery schools,
and is one of the more prosperous and progressive agriculturists in
the county. He is also an extensive dealer in cattle. He married Miss
Cornelia, daughter of J. Egbert Kidd, a descendant of an old Orange
County family. They have had two children, Charles D., Jr., who died
at the age of five, and Helen Marguerite. Mr. Wait is a member of the
Montgomery Grange.
DR. WESLEY WAIT, surgeon dentist of Newburgh, N. Y., was born in the
Wait homestead near the village of Montgomery, Orange County, May 15,
1861. He is a son of Thomas and Mary (Mould) Wait, and a grandson of
Samuel Wait, who came from Somersetshire, England, in 1821, and
engaged in farming in Orange County. He married Miss Mary Welch
before leaving his native land, and they became the parents of nine
children, of whom Thomas was the fifth in order of birth.
Dr. Wait was educated at Montgomery Academy and a New York
preparatory school, and in 1881 entered the New York College of
Dentistry. Eight months later he was appointed first assistant to
Professor J. B. Littig. He graduated a year ahead of his class, and
has practiced continuously in Newburgh since 1885, becoming
identified with a number of local enterprises.
From 1890 to 1893 Dr. Wait represented New York State in the National
Association of Inventors and Manufacturers and in 1891 he represented
this Congressional District at the Patent Centennial at Washington,
D. C, being the inventor and owner of several valuable inventions.
In 1885 Dr. Wait married Emily S., daughter of General John A.
Pawlins, chief of staff to General U. S. Grant, and ex-secretary of
war. Mrs. Wait died March 25, 1897, leaving a daughter Lucille R.,
now the wife of Mr. John Springstead Bull. Mr. Wait chose in 1905
Miss Annie E. Knapp, daughter of Samuel T. Knapp, of New York City,
for his second wife. Their mansion is located at Grand avenue and
North street, overlooking the Hudson.
CHARLES N. WALTON, of Monroe, N. Y., who is engaged in the furniture
and undertaking business, is a native of Pennsylvania and has resided
in this village since 1901, when he purchased the business from J. T.
Horrick. This business was originally established by Charles Maples.
Mr. Walton is identified with many fraternal organizations, including
the Masons, Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias. He married Miss Alice
Bond, also of Pennsylvania, and three children have been born to
them, Raymond, Minnie and Russell.
DR. GEORGE N. WARD, dentist of Walden, was born in the town of
Crawford, Orange County, N. Y., a son of James and Elizabeth (Crans)
Ward. He graduated from the Montgomery Academy in 1886 and acquired
his dental education in the University of Maryland. He has practiced
his profession in Walden since 1895. He married Miss Bradnack, of
Middletown, and they have one daughter. Possessed of literary and
historical inclinations, Dr. Ward has accumulated a valuable
collection of books and has many relics of aboriginal and
Revolutionary days. James Ward, Sr., his grandfather, was born in the
town of Newburgh in 1797. In 1826 he purchased the farm in Crawford
township, which has been the homestead for two generations.
J. ERSKINE WARD, supervisor of the town of Crawford, has for many
years been prominently identified with business and public affairs in
this part of Orange County. He was born in this township March 4,
1864, a son of James and Elizabeth (Crans) Ward. His education was
obtained at the schools of his native place and Middletown. In 1888
Mr. Ward engaged in the feed business at Thompson's Ridge, which he
continued successfully for a period of ten years, when he sold the
business and property to Messrs. Clark Bros. In 1898 he engaged in
the hardware business at Pine Bush, in partnership with Mr. J. L.
McKinney, disposing of his interest to Mr. McKinney in 1904, and
shortly thereafter established his present saw-mill, which gives
employment to about fifteen men. In political belief Mr. Ward is a
staunch democrat. In 1900 he was appointed supervisor of the town and
elected to the office in 1901, and has been continuously re-elected
to the present time. In January, 1908, he was chosen chairman of the
board. Socially Mr. Ward is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Sons
of the American Revolution, Knights of Pythias, Maccabees and
Grangers.
CORNELIUS L. WARING was born at Balmville, a suburb of Newburgh, in
1852. He read law with Judge Hirschberg, and was admitted to the bar
in 1873. Later he formed a partnership with ex-District Attorney
Russel Headley, which continued until 1878, when Mr. Waring was
elected recorder of the city of Newburgh. He was re-elected in 1882
and again in 1886, retiring from office December 31, 1890. He served
as corporation counsel of the city of Newburgh continuously from
1892, resigning the office February, 1907.
Mr. Waring is a director and attorney for many of Orange County's
leading corporations. He is a member of the City Club, Powelton Club
and Republican Club of the city of New York. Mr. Waring is unmarried
and resides at the Palatine Hotel.
WILLIAM SAYER WATKINS was born on the homestead farm in the town of
Hamptonburgh, August 3, 1820, and the date of his death was November
7, 1884. He was an energetic farmer, and lived for his neighbors as
well as himself, winning their respect and esteem by his kindly and
thoughtful interest in their welfare. He married Miss Emma Monell, of
Hamptonburgh, September 15, 1859, and their three children are all
living. Juliana B. was born July 12, 1860, and is the wife of B.
Seward Carr, of Chicago; William Sayer, born November 7, 1866, lives
on the homestead; John Evans, born December 25, 1867, married Anna
Eliza Blake, March 9, 1905, and they have two daughters, Elizabeth,
who was born January 2, 1906, and Emma Adeline, born October 1, 1907.
The house on the homestead was burned in 1886, and rebuilt in 1887.
J. N. WEED was born in the hamlet of Gardnertown, town of Newburgh,
November 20, 1825. He has always resided in the town, except when
away at school. On April 1, 1833, the family moved from Orange Lake
to North Newburgh on the west bank of the Hudson River, three and
one-half miles north of the village of Newburgh. It was found to be a
beautiful location, back from a fine sandy beach just far enough to
escape the highest tides, with a bay extending seven or eight miles
in front bounded by the mountains of the Highlands. April 1, 1833,
was one of the loveliest days imaginable and the house had been
reached by a road coming down from a hill, five hundred feet high, in
numerous zig-zags. Such hills were new to the life of our subject, as
also was the river bay and the river craft and naturally made an
impression.
This continued to be the home of Mr. Weed until May, 1845, when he
came to the village as a clerk of the Highland Bank. He left that
bank, of which he was then teller, in January, 1852, having been
appointed cashier of the Quassaick Bank, then organizing. Mr. Weed
was cashier of the latter bank during its entire history and of the
Quassaick National Bank of Newburgh, into which it was converted May
1, 1865, until February 4, 1895, when he was elected president and
now holds that position.
The principal business events of his life have been given heretofore
in the local histories. There is, however, a side to the life of this
man but little known, and we propose to say something about it.
As an amateur geologist he has thoroughly explored the territory
about Newburgh, a region rich in glacial and drift phenomena.
Scattered over its surface are huge blue sandstone boulders, some of
extraordinary size and sure to attract the attention of even the
un-observing. They are generally, but not always, scattered in
_groups._
At the time of the publication of the Natural History of New York, in
1843, these and other boulders were supposed to have been transported
from their source to their present place in icebergs, the glacial
theory at that time being undreamed of. Now it can safely be declared
established and readily explains many things involved in obscurity.
The glacial markings in the Hudson River valley are found from the
present surface of the water up to the mountain tops and afford an
index of some of the conditions existing on the earth at that time.
To illustrate: a surface now polished must have been a surface when
the glacier did that work. There are glacial polishings very near
Newburgh at the river surface and they also are found on the top of
the Palisades, a trap rock thrown up from below in a molten state at
some remote period of the earth's history. How long ago cannot be
told, but this can be confidently said, the catastrophe of the
Palisades antedated their being polished by the ice of the Great
Glacier. The polished slate rocks at the surface of the present river
show that the river valley then existed and that the Palisades were
then, also, a geological feature of the region, as the footprints of
the same artisan is left on both.
Our subject was attracted by the size and numbers of these blue stone
boulders about Newburgh, and persevered in an attempt to ascertain
from whence they came until success finally crowned his efforts with
the sure conclusion that their source was the Marlborough Mountains,
and that the explanation of their being found in groups was that they
came from the precipitous cliffs of the mountains from which they
were detached by the action of frost and gravity, and falling upon
the ice were slowly transported by it until the ice melted and
dropped its burden at the places where now found. The same natural
forces continuing to act, at long intervals the falls from the cliffs
would recur, the rocks take up their journey in the moving ice and
find their resting place where the ice melted, and the direction and
distance of these groups from the source would afford some clue to
the movements of the glacier itself.
Some of these boulders are found as far south as Central Valley, and
some high up on the slopes of the Cornwall Highlands, as high even as
one thousand feet. Two professional geologists have gone over this
ground with Mr. Weed and confirmed his conclusions. The basement
walls of the Imperial Flats in South street and the stone wall built
by B. Franklin Clark on the east side of the highway to Woodlawn
Cemetery are of big boulder origin. Specimens of other drift rocks
have been found near Newburgh and traced to their source as far north
as fifty miles.
A more interesting subject, however, to Mr. Weed, is the Aurora
Borealis. In the cold winter of 1837, a chum of his brother was
visiting at the house and in the early part of the evening had
started for home, but almost immediately came running back and in a
terrified manner declared "Granny Theall's barn is on fire!" The
entire household rushed to the door and confronted a scene that was
indeed alarming. The landscape was covered with snow, the snow was
as red as blood and the air filled with flames. The brother and his
chum ran for half a mile toward Granny Theall's barn to find when it
came into view that it was not the barn but the world that was on
fire, at least that was the impression of most of the persons who saw
this extraordinary display of the Aurora Borealis, the flames seemed
so real and the danger so imminent. It made such an impression on Mr.
Weed that ever since he has been a student and observer of the
phenomenon.
During the sun spot maximum of 1868-1873 the Aurora occurred so
frequently that in May, 1871, he resolved to keep a close nightly
watch and record of his observations, and this he kept up for seven
years.
In the first four months of observation forty-four Auroras were seen
by Mr. Weed. The whole number of days on which Auroras were seen in
the whole United States other than Newburgh was sixty-eight, and the
largest number reported from any one place was twenty-five, from
Duluth; followed by seventeen from Chicago, sixteen from Marquette,
fifteen from Boston, fourteen from Grand Haven, fourteen from Oswego,
twelve from Davenport, ten from Buffalo, ten from Burlington, nine
from Detroit, eight from Rochester, nine from St. Paul, seven from
Mount Washington, six from Cleveland, six from Milwaukee, six from
Toledo, three from Indianapolis, New London and Portland, Me., each,
two from New York, and one each from Cape May, Cheyenne, Escanala,
Leavenworth, San Francisco, St. Louis, Washington, D. C, and
Wilmington.
Special attention is called to the number reported at New York, only
sixty miles south of Newburgh, due in part no doubt to the artificial
lights of the great city.
One hundred years ago auroras were regarded as most abundant near the
poles, and as very rare in our latitude, but we now know that they
are most brilliant and probably most numerous in the medial zones
between the poles and the equator, that is in _the zones of the earth
having the greatest diurnal range of temperature,_ say, in the
temperate zones on their polar sides.
Mr. Weed has been led by his observations to believe that the
phenomenon is purely meteorological. In support of this view he has
witnessed many a time the aurora on the top of the clouds, and in one
instance on the top of a detached rain-cloud going southeast, the
existence of which was brought to his attention by the rain falling
upon him. It was then noticed that the cloud was surmounted by a fine
display of auroral streamers physically connected with it and
directed toward the coronal point.
The three features, cloud, rain and streamers, kept on together to
the horizon, affording the best possible conditions for establishing
their physical connection. In connection with this there occurred
another remarkable appearance and standing alone among his many cloud
observations.
When the auroral rain-cloud reached the mountains, on the area where
the rain fell the mountains were covered by an exceedingly brilliant
white fog blanket, conforming to all the irregular forms of the
slopes and passing when the cloud passed. During the same evening a
little later heavy showers occurred, the clouds going in the same
direction, and in the inter-cloud spaces auroral streamers were
abundant, but the openings were not large enough to determine their
physical connection with the clouds, but taken in connection with the
preceding cloud there can hardly be a doubt but that the same
relation existed between the rain, cloud and streamers.
On two different occasions a gleam of lightning appeared in the
middle of the dark segment north, half way between the horizon and
the crown of the segment, and in both cases, instantly, there rose
from that identical spot a single fine auroral streamer. The apparent
physical connection in these two cases is supported by the fact that
the streamers usually have their origin in the arch of light
surmounting the dark segment; that they do not ordinarily appear
singly even there, and that in a long experience our observer does
not remember ever having seen a single lonely streamer originate in
the dark-segment. Quite frequently sheet lightning is seen in the
south with an aurora in the north, and sometimes both are seen
together in the north, but they never seemed physically connected,
except in these two instances. The fact that both of these gleams had
the same position in the dark-segment, and were both instantly
followed by the rare eruption of a single streamer would seem to
remove the phenomenon from the possibility of having been a
coincidence.
On one occasion during a great aurora which lasted the whole night
and out into the full twilight of the morning, another observation
was made tending to show kinship of the aurora with meteorology.
First, let us mention that the crowning glory of the aurora and its
highest point is regarded as the corona, a point just south of the
zenith toward which all of the streamers converge when the aurora has
passed further to the south. Several times the corona formed under
the clouds during the night of this great exhibition, a singular
feature of the phenomenon being the invisibility of the clouds except
when illuminated by the light of the corona. The clouds were
cirro-stratus going rapidly southeast. They were specially looked for
at other times, but could not be seen. Does not this prove that the
whole of a first-class aurora was within the cloud-bearing regions of
the atmosphere? Its highest part was below the clouds, and therefore
it was below the clouds in its entirety. It was a great aurora, as
shown by the repeated formation of the corona. It was a great aurora
also because it continued through the entire night into the morning
twilight and it suggests a meteorological origin.
Another appearance occurring occasionally during an aurora is the
"Luminous White Cloud Band" crossing the sky from east to west,
cutting the horizon about east and some north of west, and when fully
formed crossing the meridian near the coronal point. Our observer has
seen this arch a number of times and regards it as one of the most
instructive features of the aurora. Some observers have doubted its
connection with the Aurora Borealis, but Mr. Weed does not share in
this doubt, he having, on April 13, 1871, witnessed its entire
formation, and having seen the most convincing evidence of its
connection with the aurora. This is what he saw: At 10 P. M. a dark
segment north by east crowned with the ordinary auroral arc of light
and with streamers above this; in other words, an Aurora Borealis.
Then another segment of seventy degrees altitude of the most
fascinating, bright, attractive luminosity, bounded by a perfectly
sharp outline. The sky was cloudless throughout, and south of this
line, of normal hue. The perfection of the line of demarcation
between the normal and auroral sky was a most extraordinary thing,
and it teaches this, that the aurora had a clearly defined and
definite border on its advancing side. Then, in this cloudless sky,
streamers-like cloudlets began to form on the upper side of this line
in the normal sky at both the east and west horizon, rapidly
succeeded by others until they met on or near the meridian completing
a white cloud band. The base of these cloud-streamers blended
together on the curved line and were pointed above and directed
toward the coronal point of the aurora. After the band was completed
it was noticed that it was moving south and this motion continued
until it came to rest at the star Delta Leonis in the region of the
coronal point of the ordinary auroral exhibitions. As the cloud arch
moved south from its initial point it brightened into an intense
luminosity, was much agitated internally, and showed a motion to the
west, as it always does, and, in dissolving, showed a wavelet
structure and cloud-like aspect.
Half of the journey of the band was made before the line separating
the base of the cloud-arch and the auroral sky was in the least
disturbed.
That this cloud arch formed on and moved with the luminous auroral
segment on its journey and rested at the coronal point proves it to
be auroral, and the formation of this luminous cloud in contact with
the aurora, in an otherwise cloudless sky, also proves the close
relationship of the aurora and clouds and here bring in actual
contact with cloud, that the aurora was in the cloud bearing region
of the atmosphere, and again suggests a meteorological paternity for
the Aurora Borealis.
BENJAMIN WELCH, of Little York, Orange County, was born October 11,
1832. His parents were Gabriel and Eliza Welch, and they had nine
children, three of whom are living--Benjamin; Susan, wife of Martin
V. B. Horton, of Warwick; and Mary, wife of Edsal Stage. Benjamin
learned the carpenter's trade when he was twenty years of age, and
followed that occupation several years. He was connected with the
Brown & Bailey Creameries of Amity and Edenville five years. On March
1, 1871, he removed to Pleasant Valley and managed his father's farm
until the death of the latter, when he became its owner. To this he
added by purchase the Rynear Stage farm of one hundred and twenty-six
acres, which increases his lands to two hundred and sixty acres. He
has a large dairy, and is one of the extensive peach growers in
Orange County.
July 9, 1863, he married Miss Mary E. Davenport, of Warwick. Their
three children, all living, are George, born March 26, 1864; Olive,
born October 8, 1865, and Daniel, born January 22, 1867. George was
married to Mary F. Feagles, of Pine Island, December 31, 1904. The
father was an Odd Fellow many years. His homestead farm has belonged
to the family since 1844.
ALANSON Y. WELLER, president of the Newburgh Planing Mill Co., was
born in the town of Crawford, Orange County, N. Y., in 1837. He was
educated at Montgomery Academy, and in 1857 became a clerk in the
store of the late A. K. Chandler, Newburgh, where he remained until
1863, when the dry goods firm of Schoonmaker, Mills & Weller was
formed. In 1886 Mr. Mills retired from the firm and the two remaining
members continued the business until January 1, 1898, when the
partnership was dissolved, Mr. Weller retiring from a mercantile
career which had proved very successful. In 1899 Mr. Weller succeeded
to the planing mill business of Thomas Shaw's Sons, which was
established in 1837, and which is among the important industries of
the city. Mr. Weller is a director of the National Bank of Newburgh,
trustee of the Newburgh Savings Bank, and interested in many local
enterprises. Much of his time has been occupied in managing the
estate of his deceased brother, Joseph H. Weller.
GEORGE S. WELLER, wholesale and retail coal dealer of Newburgh, was
born in that city July, 1871, and is a son of A. Y. Weller. He
graduated from the academy in 1888 and entered the employ of J. W.
Matthews & Co., with whom he remained as shipping clerk until he
started his present business in 1890. He is also president of the
Highland Drug Co. Mr. Weller married Miss Constance, daughter of Rev.
J. A. Farrar.
JOSEPH H. WELLER, a prominent merchant of New York City, was born in
Montgomery, Orange County, in 1846, and died at his home in New York,
November 14, 1886. At the age of fourteen he came to Newburgh to
clerk in the dry goods firm of A. K. Chandler & Co. He went to New
York in 1868 to become salesman for the firm of Wentz, Hartley & Co.,
afterward becoming a member of the firm of J. M. Wentz & Co. He
remained a member of this firm until its dissolution. In 1879 he
became member of the firm of Teffts, Griswold & Co., and three years
later of the new firm of Tefft, Weller & Co., wholesale dry goods
merchants of New York. In 1876 Mr. Weller married Miss Frances
Cronkright, of Elizabeth, N. J., whose death occurred five weeks
prior to that of her husband. The loss of his beloved wife prostrated
Mr. Weller with grief and contributed largely to his death. Mr.
Weller is buried in the family plot at Woodlawn Cemetery.
Mr. and Mrs. Weller left surviving four children, Lillian C. Weller,
who is now the wife of Ralph S. Tompkins, of Fishkill-on-Hudson,
N. Y.; Edith M. Weller, who is the wife of Mr. Leonard M. Hills, of
New York City; Alfred E. Weller, who resides in Newburgh, N. Y.; and
Joseph Francis Weller, who is a student at Yale University.
The New York Dry Goods Chronicle of November 20, 1886, paid the
following tribute to the memory of Mr. Weller:
"His sudden death has created a profound feeling of grief and sorrow,
not only throughout the dry goods trade in which he was so prominent,
but to all commercial circles in this great commercial city. Seldom
has a man so young been so universally mourned. He left his impress
on the trade and commerce of the metropolis. He did this by the force
of his ability, his energy and affability. He was a superior man in
business and in the charm and gentleness of his manner. His judgment
was sound, his executive ability rare, his energy wonderful, and his
mastery of details complete. He possessed to an eminent degree the
qualities of a great merchant. He was ambitious but not at the
expense of others. He was helpful--never harmful. In his ascent to
success and distinction he never crowded others from the path but
rather encouraged them with sympathy and cheer. His crowning glory
was his charity, his kindness. It shone in the family, in the social
circle, at the store and elsewhere that business duties called him.
"In the brief career of Joseph H. Weller there is the history of a
busy life. It was not length of days that gave him opportunity to
rise, it was what he did and how he did it that gave him prominence.
He acted nobly and well his part."
THEODORE A. WELLER, retired merchant of Middletown, N. Y., was born
in the town of Wallkill, Orange County. He was educated at the
district schools and Middletown Academy. His dry goods career in
Middletown began with a clerkship for the firm of Hayt & Adams. At
the end of six years he purchased Mr. Hayt's interest, and the firm
of Adams & Weller was formed in 1876, which continued ten years. This
was succeeded by Weller, Demarest & Swayze, and in 1888 the
well-known store of Weller & Demarest was established, which
continued until January, 1908, when Mr. Weller's health caused him to
retire from active business.
Mr. Weller is prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity,
including membership in Hoffman Lodge, Midland Chapter, Cypress
Commandery and Mecca Temple of the Mystic Shrine.
FRANKLIN JOSEPH WELLES, an artist, for twenty-six years a resident of
Greenwood Lake, has taken a deep interest in its legendary history.
His wife Annie Estelle is a daughter of the late Professor Henri
Appy, of Rochester, N. Y. the distinguished violinist and teacher,
who at the age of twelve years graduated with the highest honors of
any pupil from the Royal Conservatory of Amsterdam, Holland. He was
given a laurel wreath decoration by William of Orange, grandfather of
Wilhelmena, the present Queen of Holland. Some years after the death
of Jean Appy, who conducted the King's Orchestra, his son Henri Appy
succeeded to the position. He later came to America and played with
Jenny Lind in concerts at Castle Garden, and the piano owned and used
by her is now in the Welles home at Greenwood Lake. Professor Appy
made many concert tours, conducted the orchestra at the old Niblo
Garden in Newport, and taught at the Convent of the Sacred Heart. His
wife was Annie Paine, a singer at Grace Church, N. Y. He later moved
to Rochester, N. Y., to conduct the Philharmonic Society there. Two
children survive him, Annie E. and Ernest Frederic, professor of
music in the college at Xenia and Granville, the latter of Newark,
Ohio. He is a musician and teacher of marked ability and has
purchased land and expects to reside permanently at Greenwood Lake.
Henri Appy died in Rochester, N. Y., November 16, 1903, at the age of
seventy-nine.
THOMAS WELLING was born April 28, 1864, on the homestead farm at
Warwick, N. Y., which has been in the family continuously for one
hundred and fifty-four years. His early education was obtained at the
Warwick High School and Polytechnic Institute at Brooklyn, N. Y.
After his schooling he returned to Warwick and took the management of
the farm where he has since resided. He married Marie L. Van Duzer,
of Warwick, May 17, 1893, daughter of James Harvey and Sarah (Taylor)
Van Duzer. Their one son, Thomas, Jr., was born April 3, 1896. Mr.
Welling is a director of the First National Bank, second
vice-president of the Warwick Savings Bank and is a trustee of the
Warwick Cemetery Association. He is identified with the Grange and
attends the Dutch Reformed Church of Warwick. His father, Thomas
Welling, was one of Warwick's representative men. He took an active
interest in matters pertaining to the town, was a director in the
First National Bank and the Warwick Savings Bank and served as
president of the Warwick Valley Milk Association. He died November 9,
1898.
JAMES EDWARD WELLS was born at Dingmans, Pa., in 1834, and died
suddenly at his home in Goshen, May 6, 1907. He married Miss Francis
E., daughter of William S. and Sarah T. (Wood) Conkling. He removed
from the farm to the village of Goshen in 1901, and lived a retired
life until his death. For years he was a director and superintendent
of grounds of the Orange County Agricultural Society, and was one of
the first members of the Goshen Grange. He was agent in New York and
Jersey City for the Orange County Farmers' Milk Company, a director
of the Milk Exchange, and a partner in the firm of Wells & Stage,
milk commission merchants, with offices in New York. In religion he
was a Presbyterian and in politics a republican. In 1894 he was
elected supervisor of Goshen, and was afterward re-elected twelve
times, which shows the confidence which his townsmen reposed in him.
He was the descendant of William Wells, who emigrated to America in
1635, whose father was the Rev. William Wells, rector of St. Peter's
Church at Norwich, England. His widow and two children survive him.
The son is William A. Wells, of the Goshen National Bank, and the
daughter Mrs. Cornelius Christie, of Watertown, N. Y. James Edward's
father, Alfred, was a native of Goshen, and his mother, Lydia W.
Nyce, was a Pennsylvanian.
FREDERICK WILLIAM WENZEL, assistant postmaster, Newburgh, N. Y., is a
son of George C. and Elizabeth A. Wenzel, and was born in Newburgh,
September 28, 1871. In 1890 he graduated with honors from the
academy; and in 1895 succeeded his father in the manufacture of plain
and fancy boxes. He was appointed to his present position March 1,
1900. Mr. Wenzel was master of Newburgh Lodge No. 309, F. and A. M.,
in 1899 and 1900; a trustee of Highland Chapter No. 52, R. A. M.;
member of Ringgold Hose Company No. 1; a member of St. George's
Church, and the Alumni of Newburgh Free Academy.
COLONEL CHARLES H. WEYGANT, ex-mayor of Newburgh, N. Y., was born in
Cornwall, July 8, 1839, and educated at Ashland and Claverack
Collegiate Institutes. In 1862 he was appointed senior captain of the
124th Regiment, N. Y. S. V., commanding Company A. He took active
part in every general engagement of the Army of the Potomac. At the
Battle of Gettysburg his superior officers were killed, leaving the
regiment in command of Captain Weygant. He was shortly after
commissioned major and July 2, 1863, was made lieutenant-colonel. In
1870 Colonel Weygant was elected sheriff of Orange County, and from
1878 to 1880 he served as mayor of the city of Newburgh. In 1886, in
company with Henry T. McCoun, he purchased and developed the property
now known as Washington Heights, Newburgh. He is trustee of Trinity
M. E. Church; ex-commander of Ellis Post, G. A. R., and the author of
the "History of the 124th Regiment, N. Y. S. V." Colonel Weygant
married Miss Charlotte Sackett in 1868 and they have one daughter.
FRANK E. WEYGANT, formerly of the firm of R. F. Weygant's Sons,
carriage manufacturers at Central Valley, N. Y., is a descendant of
one of Orange County's old and prominent families. His father, Robert
Francis Weygant, was the youngest child of Smith and Charity
(Lamoreaux) Weygant. The original progenitor of the family in America
was Michael, son of Rev. George Herman Weigand, a Lutheran minister
of the Rhine Palatinate, who received a grant of land in 1708 from
Queen Anne embraced in the territory now covered by the city of
Newburgh. In 1745 Tobias, son of Michael, bought an extensive tract
of land near the present village of Highland Mills. A number of his
descendants made their homes in this locality.
Robert F. Weygant, who died September 3, 1902, established the
carriage factory at Central Valley in 1867. This is now conducted by
his sons, Fred and William. Frank E. Weygant is at present engaged in
the automobile business at Ridgewood, N. J.
ANNIAS R. WHEELER was born August 31, 1846, in Craigville, town of
Blooming Grove, and after his school education worked five years as a
cotton spinner, then at farming, and then for the Erie Railroad. He
tried to enlist six times as a soldier for the Civil War, the first
time in 1861, and five times was rejected on account of his small
size and light weight, but was finally mustered in August 22, 1864,
in Company C, 56th N. Y. Infantry, when his weight was only ninety
pounds. He served until wounded on December 29, 1864, at the crossing
of the Tillafinny River, and was discharged in New York City, May 30,
1865. He then became a farmer until 1881, then was superintendent of
the Middletown Ice Company five years, in 1887 was appointed a U. S.
mail-carrier, and as such served the Government seven years, then was
a traveling salesman two years, then commissioner of highways for the
town of Wallkill two years, and has since been in the insurance and
brokerage business and a pension attorney in Middletown. He married
Miss Hanna Oldfield, of Amity, town of Warwick, May 30, 1869, and
they have had twelve children, only two boys and three girls
surviving--Joel B., president of the common council of Middletown;
Harrison W., driver for the Middletown Phoenix Engine Company No. 4;
Melissa, wife of D. H. Jones, of Rutherford, N. Y.; Emma E., wife of
John E. T. Clegborn, of Wellsburg, N. Y.; and Francis E., who lives
with Joel B. Mr. Wheeler's father William was born in 1815 in New
York City, and was a contractor. His mother, whose maiden name was
Sarah Braffett, was born in 1827, and died in 1896.
ISAAC V. WHEELER--The Wheeler family is of English lineage, and
originally embraced eleven brothers and three sisters, all of whom
were early residents of Long Island, and at a later period removed to
Orange County and made purchases of land. One of these brothers, Joel
by name, is the progenitor of the branch of the family from which
Isaac V. is descended. Isaac V. Wheeler was a native of Warwick, and
was born March 4, 1823. He was the son of Colonel William F. and
Juliet (Van Duzer) Wheeler, who were the parents of seven children.
On the death of his father he became the possessor of the ancestral
estate. He married June 21, 1853, Miss Phoebe, daughter of Jesse
Bull. He was the father of six children, Juliet V.; Caroline B.;
William F.; Jesse C., who died October 7, 1881; Anna M., married
William A. Hayward and died September 16, 1899 (two children survive
her, Alice W. and William H.); Frank A. (died in infancy); and Alice.
In politics Mr. Wheeler was a republican, having descended from whig
ancestry. He was one of the original incorporators of the Warwick
Valley Farmers' Milk Association, and of the Warwick Savings Bank.
His death occurred April 9, 1876, in the fifty-third year of his age.
Shortly after the marriage of her son William F., Mrs. Wheeler with
her four daughters left the farm and moved to the home in Warwick
village, now known as "The Columns," which she purchased in 1883, and
at her death bequeathed to her daughters, Juliet V. and Caroline B.
Mrs. Wheeler died January 21, 1904, in the seventy-sixth year of her
age. She was a devoted member of the Reformed Church. Her ancestor on
the maternal side, Cornelius Board, came from Sussex, England, in
1730; on her father's side she was a descendant of the historic
William Bull and Sarah Wells.
WILLIAM F. WHEELER was born May 22, 1859. He is the son of Isaac V.
and Phebe (Bull) Wheeler. He married May 22, 1882, Miss Tillie A.
Wisner, of Chester, Orange County, N. Y., and is the father of six
children, all of whom are living: William F. Wheeler, Jr., Charles
V., Jesse I., Mary A., Roe W., and Ralph. The loss of his father at
the age of sixteen necessitated his leaving school at an early age
and assuming the responsibilities of the farm, on which he now
resides. Mr. Wheeler is an ardent republican. Five generations have
lived upon the estate now owned by him, it having been in the name
for over one hundred years. The property, consisting of two hundred
and eighty-five acres, is at present known as Peach Grove Farm. The
house in which he and his family reside was built by Colonel William
F. Wheeler in 1850. The barn on this place was raised on the Fourth
of July, 1776, and was built by Samuel Ketchum, a Revolutionary
soldier, who took part in the battle of White Plains.
EDWARD WHITEHEAD, president of the Walden Knife Company, was born in
Halifax, Yorkshire, England, a son of John and Sarah (Hill)
Whitehead. His parents brought him to America when a child and at the
age of fifteen years he learned the cutlery trade.
When the Walden Knife Company was organized in 1870 as a co-operative
concern, Mr. Whitehead was one of the eighteen members, and held the
position of superintendent. In 1874 the company was incorporated, at
which time William G. Gowdy was elected president and Edward
Whitehead secretary. In 1891 Mr. Whitehead was chosen president and
the success of the industry since that time has been rapid. It is
interesting to note that he is the only member of the original
company now identified with this establishment, and his official
connection with the cutlery industry stretches over a longer period
than any other man connected with the business at the present time in
this Sheffield of America.
Mr. Whitehead also occupies a prominent position in social and
educational circles. In 1893 he was chosen school trustee and in 1896
president of the board of education, which position he held until his
resignation in 1905. He is a director in the National Bank of Walden
and of the Walden Savings Bank. Mr. Whitehead's success in life may,
in brief, be attributed to perseverance, energy, keenness of judgment
and constant devotion to an industry that has become one of the most
important in Orange County.
HENRY L. WHITFORD, of Johnson, N. Y., who is prominently identified
with the extensive creamery industries of Orange County, is a native
of Connecticut. As a young man he learned the machinist's trade. For
twenty-four years he has been connected with the Borden enterprises.
He came to Orange County in 1891, and in 1895 was appointed
superintendent of the plant at Johnson. He is now traveling
superintendent, in charge of nine creameries.
Mr. Whitford married Miss Clara Root, and they are the parents of
three sons and two daughters. Socially he is identified with the
Masonic fraternity.
JOEL WHITTEN, a highly respected citizen and retired merchant of Pine
Bush, was born in the town of Crawford, October 8, 1818. A son of
John and Mary (Moore) Whitten. He died at his residence in Pine Bush,
April 29, 1904. Mr. Whitten remained on the home farm for a few years
after his marriage to Miss M. Halstead Moore, of New York City, who
died in 1872. He was for a time engaged in the mercantile business in
New York City and also at Burlingham with his brother, Isaiah, until
the establishment of the Pine Bush store, where he continued with
Isaiah until his retirement from business in 1880. He served as
postmaster of the village a number of years. Mr. Whitten was a man of
keen discernment, sound judgment and sterling integrity. A firm
believer in the principles of the Democratic party, he took an active
interest in politics, but declined to hold public office. He united
with the New Prospect Church in 1844 and organized the Sunday-school,
in which he was active, either as a teacher or superintendent, for
over forty years.
September 14, 1881, Mr. Whitten married Miss A. Emily McGowan, of
Pine Bush, N. Y., daughter of Benjamin and Priscilla (Faulkner)
McGowan, who survives him.
SAMUEL R. WHITTEN, son of Francis and Ophelia (Rainey) Whitten, was
born in the town of Crawford in 1863. He was educated at the schools
of Middletown and the Troy Polytechnic Institute. In addition to
conducting a general store for eleven years, he was engaged in the
lumber business and management of a farm. In 1907 Mr. Whitten formed
a partnership with R. T. Brown, under the firm name of Brown &
Whitten, dealers in general merchandise, carrying on an extensive
trade at Pine Bush, N. Y.
GAVIN R. M. WILCOX, manufacturer, Newburgh, was born at Newtown
Stewart, Whitonshire, Scotland, May 16, 1849. He is of English and
Scotch ancestry, son of John and Jessie (McGregor) Wilcox, who came
to America in 1866, settling in Newburgh. Here Gavin R. M. entered
the employ of the Washington Iron Works, where he learned the trade
of pattern maker and was later employed by the Severance Paper
Machine Works; in 1871 he engaged with the Newburgh Steam Engine
Works, holding the position of foreman until 1883, when the firm of
Coldwell, Wilcox & Co. was organized, manufacturers of light
machinery, steam heating apparatus, etc. In May, 1890, the business
was incorporated as Coldwell-Wilcox Co., with a capital stock of
$53,000, and Mr. Wilcox became secretary and general manager, which
position he still occupies. He served three years as president of the
Business Men's Association, and in 1902 was appointed by Mayor Wilson
a member of the board of water commissioners, and at the following
election was elected to that office and re-elected in 1905 to another
five-year term. In 1872 he married Alice E., daughter of Henry O. Van
Duzer. Five children have been born to them.
WALTER C. WILCOX was born at Wurtsboro, Sullivan County, N. Y. He is
the son of Abraham and Marguerite (Lybolt) Wilcox, who had seven
children. Mr. Wilcox obtained his early education at the district
school at Wurtsboro and the high school at Monticello. After his
schooling he moved to Middletown and identified himself with the
Howell Hinchman Co., remaining with this firm about eight months. He
afterward worked at the same business in Newark, N. J., for three
years. In 1893 he removed to Middletown, and opened a grocery, which
he has continued since. Mr. Wilcox was married to Miss Jennie
Cameron, of Ellenville, N. Y., July 2, 1890. She is a direct
descendant of the Cameron family of Scotland. To this union one child
was born, Alonzo Potter Wilcox, born March 31, 1891, associated with
his father in business. In politics Mr. Wilcox is a democrat. His
brother Charles is a resident of Middletown, N. Y. Henry, of Port
Jervis, is identified with the Erie Railroad; Anna is the wife of
A. Dedrick, of Port Jervis; Ella, wife of Harry Miller, of Jersey
City; Ada, wife of James Monagham, of Jersey City.
VICTOR AUDUBON WILDER, the only son of Mariner Ayers Wilder and Mary
P. Smith, his wife, was born in Dennysville, Maine, on July 8, 1844,
which was also the birthplace of his father. When but a few years old
the son and his parents moved to Boston, Mass., where they lived
until the outbreak of the Civil War.
The son enlisted in the 44th Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, and
served until the end of the war. During his absence, his parents
moved to Brooklyn, N. Y., and on receiving his discharge from the
service the son joined them there, where with the exception of about
seven years, spent in the west engaged in mining operations, he lived
until 1891, when he came to Warwick.
In 1875 he married Miss Lilian Macdonald. They have one child,
Donald Wilder, born in 1888.
Mr. Wilder, in his early business experience, was engaged in New York
in the foreign trade with South America and the West Indies, and
later in railroad operations in Mexico and in the United States, and
also in coal and timber lands in West Virginia.
In politics Mr. Wilder has always taken an active part. While a
republican in his political convictions and affiliations, he has
always been of an independent turn of mind. He was a candidate for
state comptroller of New York on the Henry George ticket, and in 1904
for Congress on the Independence League ticket for the twentieth
congressional district, being defeated by Colonel Thomas W. Bradley,
of Walden.
He was the president of the McKinley Club of Warwick, and the Central
Republican Club during the McKinley campaign. He was largely
instrumental in electing a republican supervisor of the town, the
first one in a generation. He is a member of the Reformed Church of
Warwick.
SAMUEL WILKEN was born in Monahan, Ireland, February 4, 1844, and
came to America with his mother and seven children, his father having
died. They settled on Staten Island, and some of the family are still
there. Samuel came to Chester, Orange County, May 11, 1866, and the
next year married Anna S. Salisbury. Their children are Fred W.,
Albert E. and Melvin R. Mr. Wilken was a partner of Charles Christ
sixteen years. When he disposed of his interest in the business he
started a blacksmith shop, with a carriage repository and
accessories. He has been a town officer several times, and is a
member of Standard Lodge No. 711, of Chester, as are also his sons
Fred and Albert, and Melvin R., the third son, is connected with the
Standard Milling Company of New York.
JOSEPH M. WILKIN, who was elected special surrogate of Orange County
in 1904 and re-elected in 1907, is a son of the late Joseph M. and
Catherine (Copley) Wilkin. He was born in the town of Montgomery in
1878. After graduating from the Montgomery Academy he read law with
his father for one year, and then entered the law office of Senator
John C. R. Taylor, Middletown, N. Y., where he remained three years.
He was admitted to the bar in 1899, and conducts his law office in
Montgomery village. Detailed reference to his father appears in the
chapter on the Bench and Bar in this history.
JONATHAN D. WILSON, JR., assistant district attorney of Orange
County, is a son of ex-Mayor J. D. Wilson. He was born in Newburgh in
1875 and graduated from Columbia University with the degree of A.B.,
1898. He attended the New York Law School, and was admitted to the
bar in 1900. Mr. Wilson has since practiced in Newburgh. He has
always taken an active interest in the welfare of the republican
party and began the duties of his present office January, 1907. He is
a member of the Masonic fraternity and local social organizations,
including the City Club. He married Miss Edith Van Buren, of this
city.
WARD WINFIELD, editor and proprietor of the Walden _Herald,_ was born
in Montgomery in 1868 and educated at the Academy of his native
place. He learned the printer's trade in the office of his father,
Lester Winfield, who conducted the Montgomery _Republican_ from 1864
to 1890. The paper then passed into the hands of Ward Winfield, who
continued it until 1900, when he disposed of the plant and became
manager of the Walden _Herald_ for John F. Lousdale for a period of
three years, purchasing the business January, 1904. He is a thorough
newspaper man; his paper is widely read and exerts a wholesome
influence in Walden and vicinity. He is a member of the I. O. O. F.,
the Knights of Pythias, the American Mechanics and the Patriotic Sons
of America. During his residence in the village of Montgomery he
served a term as town collector. He married Miss Catherine Condon, of
Walden, and three children have been born to them. His son, Francis
Lester, assists him in the publication of the _Herald._
WINFIELD WRIGHT WINTER, who has for several years been identified
with the business interests of Middletown, was born at Winterton,
Sullivan County, N. Y., January 22, 1862. He was educated in the
schools of that place and Walden Academy, after which he was for
several years engaged in mercantile business in Winterton. In 1896
he established his present real estate and insurance business in
partnership with his brother, Clarence G., who was with him one year,
and has since conducted the business alone. In 1901 he disposed of
his business interests in Winterton and removed to Middletown. Mr.
Winter is a member of Hoffman Lodge No. 412, F. & A. M., and
Concordia Council No. 1077, R. A. M. He was joined in marriage with
Flora A. Harding, of Winterton, and four children have been born to
them, two of whom are living: Harry, bookkeeper for the N. Y. O. &
W. R. R. at Middletown, and Jay W., manager of the creamery at
Winterton.
Mr. Winter resides a portion of the year at Winterton and has held
the office of postmaster of that place since 1891, when he received
the appointment from John Wanamaker under the Harrison administration.
THE WISNER FAMILY--One of the early pioneers in Orange County was
Johannes Weasner, a native of Switzerland, who came to Long Island
about the time that a special effort was being made to settle the
Wawayanda Patent--Johannes purchased land near Mount Eve, the deed
being granted June 23, 1714, making him one of the first settlers of
the county. His son, Hendrick Weasner settled near Goshen.
Henry, the son of Hendrick, was born in 1720, and served in the New
York Colonial Assembly, 1759-1769; was a member of the first
Continental Congress, 1774; a delegate to the New York Provincial
Convention, 1775-1777, and a delegate to the second Continental
Congress, 1775-1777. He voted for the Declaration of Independence,
but was called to New York before it was engrossed on parchment and
was ready for signing. He took an active part in the manufacture of
gunpowder, having mills in both Ulster and Orange Counties. He was
also made a senator of the first legislature of New York State in
1777, serving until 1782. He died in September, 1790, and was buried
in the family burying ground near Phillipsburgh, in the present town
of Wallkill. He had two sons, Henry, Jr., and Gabriel. His son,
Ensign Gabriel Wisner, was killed in the battle of Minisink, 1779.
Henry G. Wisner, a prominent lawyer of Goshen, was a son of Ensign
Gabriel Wisner and the ancestor of the Goshen branch of the family.
John, the second son of Hendrick Weasner, was a captain in the French
and Indian War, and served as a scout in 1757. He was also a captain
in the Revolutionary War under Colonel Nicoll, of Goshen. His early
home was at Mount Eve, but later he established his home near
Wickham's Pond, having received a grant of land, direct from the
crown, consisting of more than a thousand acres, a portion of which
included the present farm of Jesse Durland, which was the Wisner
homestead for several generations. John Wisner was the ancestor of
most of the Wisner families of Warwick.
His second son, Henry Wisner 3rd (sometimes written Jr.), was born
July 11, 1742, and lived on the homestead farm. In the Revolutionary
War he was made captain of the "Pond Company," under Colonel Hathorn,
September 22, 1775, and later was made lieutenant-colonel, February
19, 1778. He was a member of the first State Assembly under the
Constitution, serving from 1777-1778 and 1788-1789. He died May 29,
1812, and his remains now rest in the Warwick Cemetery by the side of
his son, Jeffrey Wisner.
Jeffrey Wisner was a man of remarkable energy and great force of
character. He represented the township as supervisor during 1812-1813
and 1819-1823, and for several years served as justice of the peace.
His sons, Gabriel, James, Richard and Jeffrey Amherst, have done much
toward building up the interests of Warwick, and his grandson,
Clinton W. Wisner, is well known throughout the town and county.
CLINTON WHEELER WISNER was born at West Pittston, Pa., July 30, 1856,
and died in the Adirondacks August 21, 1904. He was the son of
Jeffrey Amherst and Mary Wheeler Wisner, both members of old and
prominent families of the town of Warwick, where the first twelve and
last twenty years of Mr. Wisner's life were spent.
Actively engaged for a time in mercantile business, and later in the
management of large interests, he developed great talent for
leadership and was to be found in the forefront of every progressive
movement of his time. Endowed by nature with nobility of character,
with an artistic love for beauty, educated in the school of life's
activities by hard study and with the polish of extensive travel his
was a versatile and attractive personality.
A patriot, he ever listened to the calls of his fellows to serve them
as a public-spirited Christian citizen. For many years he was the
president of his well-beloved Warwick village, which owes, in large
measure, the present beauty of its homes, its churches, its Red Swan
Inn, as well as its increasing popularity as a resort, to Mr.
Wisner's interest and efforts. His favorite pastimes were shooting,
sketching and driving.
Mr. Wisner married Martha, daughter of the late Thomas Welling and
Caroline Van Duzer, in October, 1879, and he was survived by his
widow and his children, Mrs. Burton J. Berry, John Welling Wisner,
Jeffrey Amherst Wisner, Jr., Thomas Welling Wisner, Clinton W.
Wisner, Jr., and Gladys Wisner. Besides his family and friends he
made wherever he had been the whole community of Warwick mourned the
demise of its foremost citizen and endorsed the tribute of a
distinguished clergyman who had enjoyed the hospitality of Mr.
Wisner's ideal home.
HENRY WISNER, who is a resident of Sharon, Barber County, Kansas, is
a member of an old and honored family of the Empire State. The
parents of our subject were William Roe and Eliza (Miller) Wisner.
William Roe Wisner was born March 21, 1799, and died November 19,
1886; his estimable wife was born April 27, 1800, and died July 16,
1882. To this union were born ten children, John N., born February
15, 1820; David M., born November 27, 1821, died August 5, 1879;
Henry, born August 20, 1824; Andrew D., born January 8, 1827, died
May 24, 1828; Albert A., born April 29, 1829, died May 29, 1832;
James T., born October 4, 1831; Francis L., born December 21, 1832;
Albert, born November 26, 1835; Andrew H., born July 24, 1838, died
June 19, 1854; Mary Ann, born May 21, 1841. The old Wisner homestead
is located about one mile north of Bellvale, Orange County, and a
picture of this historic house will be found on another page of this
volume. It was built before the Revolutionary War by William Wisner,
one of four sons of Captain John Wisner, Jr. William Wisner died in
this house in 1803, and his son, William Roe Wisner, who succeeded to
the ownership of the farm, and other property by inheritance, was
born in this house and lived there continuously until his death at
the age of eighty-seven years. Few men in Orange County were better
known and none were more highly respected than Mr. Wisner. He was
progressive and liberal-minded. His son, whose name heads this
sketch, obtained his early education at the district school, two
winters at the private school of the learned John K. Joline in
Warwick, and at Chester Academy, of which William Bross was
principal. He organized and taught a class in physiology, of which
our subject was a member. This was probably the first teaching of
physiology outside the medical profession.
In the spring of 1844 he entered the university at East Hampton,
Mass., where he remained until the fall of 1845, when he commenced
lecturing on anatomy, physiology, hygiene and phrenology in the New
England States. He went to Ohio in 1846, and for five years lectured
in the west on his favorite subjects, introducing physiology in
schools. His then new subjects, his quaint and original style of
presenting them, together with his marvelous faculty of delineating
human character, drew immense audiences, crowning his efforts with
great success, financially and otherwise, as the press of the day
gave evidence. Quitting the business he had served, or which had
served him so well, he engaged in other pursuits with varied success.
On March 1, 1875, he was united in marriage with Miss Sarah E. (Rowe)
Jackson, a graduate of Hahnemann Medical College, Chicago. In honor
of her that college conferred on our subject the honorary degree of
M.D. with two diplomas (having earned and received a diploma from the
"Old School" while lecturing), he declined to practice the healing
art. No children from this union.
He became interested in real estate in Iowa and Chicago. He later
removed to Kansas, engaged in cattle raising and finally settled on
one of the ranches (5,000 acres) in the State of Kansas, where he and
his wife have lived twenty-five years in the enjoyment of health and
prosperity.
In politics he is a republican, though not an office-seeker or
holder. In sentiment he is anti-war, liberal, progressive and
broad-minded.
By a former marriage he has two sons, Henry J., of Chicago, and
Charles H., of Barber County, Kansas.
RALPH WISNER belongs to one of the oldest families in the town of
Warwick. The first settler in this part of Orange County was Johannes
Weasner, and family, who settled on a tract of land near Mount Eve.
There his dust lies mingled with that of several generations of his
descendants. Johannes Weasner was a soldier in the Sioux Contingent,
in the days of Queen Anne. John Weasner was third in descent from
Johannes Weasner, being the son of Hendrick Weasner. His brother
Henry was a member of the Continental Congress, and voted for the
Declaration of Independence, and then came home to make gunpowder.
This was the most necessary thing to do, for without gunpowder the
Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, would have been of no
effect. John Weasner was a captain in Colonel Dekay's Regiment of
Orange County men in the French and Indian War of 1752. He and his
son John were captains in Colonel Isaac Nichols's Regiment of Minute
Men in 1776. The Wisner family was foremost in resisting the
encroachment of the British crown upon the rights of the people. John
Weasner died in 1778, his son John died in 1811, leaving a large
family, among whom was another John, whose son, George T. Wisner, was
the father of the subject of this sketch. Ralph Wisner was born at
Big Island, town of Goshen, March 2, 1859. Mr. Wisner is engaged in
farming. He is a resident of Florida.
He was married November 22, 1883, to Mary Greene, daughter of the
late Henry Greene. They have one son, Roy Greene Wisner. The family
are all members of the Presbyterian Church, William Wisner being
assistant superintendent of the Sunday School. Mr. Wisner is
identified with the best interests in the town. He has been a member
of the school board for twenty-four years, and is a corresponding
member of the Y. M. C. A. For one term he was assessor of the town of
Warwick. It was through Mr. Wisner's efforts that the beautiful
playground of the village was procured.
RICHARD WISNER was born on the homestead farm, in the town of
Warwick, February 4, 1824, and died January 3, 1908. He conducted a
farm in Warwick until 1883, when he purchased the beautiful residence
near the village where he lived, retired until his death. He was one
of the charter members of the First National Bank of Warwick and
served continuously as one of its directors. He was trustee of the
Warwick Savings Bank and for many years a director of the Lehigh and
Hudson Railroad. He was also trustee of the Cemetery Association and
at one time its treasurer. He was a member of the Sons of the
Revolution, and held membership in the Reformed Church of Warwick.
Mr. Wisner was a member of one of the oldest families in Orange
County and a descendant of the first permanent settler of what is
now Warwick township. He was a son of Jeffrey and Elizabeth
(Armstrong) Wisner, a man of quiet temperament, possessed of
indefatigable energy, with a genial spirit and lofty ideals. He was
twice married; his first wife was Euphelia, daughter of Thomas
Welling, to whom he was married December 20, 1853. She died in 1881.
He was again married in June, 1883, to Sarah Van Duzer. His children,
all by his first wife, are Charles E., Anne E. and Mary Euphelia,
residing in Warwick.
WILLIAM R. WISNER, one of the prominent and honored men of Orange
County, was born March 21, 1799, on the homestead farm near Wisner,
this county. He had always been identified in agricultural pursuits.
He married Eliza Miller, March 16, 1819, and resided until his death,
November 19, 1886, in the stone house now occupied by his
great-grandchildren. He was a grandson of Captain John Wisner. He was
an upright man, a good citizen and a prosperous farmer. He was a whig
and afterward a republican.
GRAHAM WITSCHIEF, attorney of Newburgh, was born in Port Jervis,
N. Y., 1875. He is a son of Peter and Florence (Graham) Witschief.
After graduating from the Port Jervis Academy in 1893, he attended
the Albany Law School one year, and then read law two years in the
office of Hon. O. P. Howell, former surrogate of Orange County. Mr.
Witschief was admitted to the bar October 29, 1896. Politically he is
a republican, and served one term as president of the common council
of Newburgh. He is past master of Newburgh Lodge No. 309, F. and
A. M. He married Miss Mary Farnum, of Port Jervis, N. Y. Mr.
Witschief has conducted some of the most important litigations in
Orange County, and is regarded as one of Newburgh's representative
attorneys.
ANDREW WOOD, station agent at Stony Ford, N. Y., was born at
Cornwell, Canada, June 7, 1850. His parents were William and Ann
(Jardine) Wood. Andrew attended the common school, after which he
assisted his father on the farm. He was connected with the Grand
Trunk Railroad as telegraph operator for a period, after which he
removed to New York State. In 1876 he served seven years at
Willsboro, N. Y., with the D. & H. R. R., as station agent. August 4,
1884, he removed to Stony Ford, Orange County, and became identified
with the
[Transcriber's Note: There appears to be some content missing from
the original at this point. (pp. 993-4)]
Kortright of Kortryk, Belgium, 1586. Casper Writer, with wife and
five children removed to the present town of Mount Hope in 1784. Here
he located and raised a family of eight children--three sons, Aaron,
John Falter and Jasper, Jr., and five daughters. Eve, the wife died
December 21, 1830; Casper's years overran the century mark. He died
November 15, 1842. His sons Aaron and Jasper were lifelong residents
of Mount Hope, where their descendants are perpetuating the family
name.
BENJAMIN F. WRITER was born on the homestead farm in the town of
Mount Hope, May 19, 1854. His parents were John F. and Phoebe
(Rosencrants) Writer. His father died in 1892 and the mother is still
living at the age of eighty years. Benjamin acquired his early
education at the district school, after which he followed
agricultural pursuits. He married Ella K. Dennis, of Sussex, N. J.,
November 8, 1882. Their four children are Coe, Frank, Elmo and Henry,
who died at the age of four years. Frank is identified with the
Borden Company at Otisville as assistant foreman, and is a member of
Hoffman Lodge No. 412, F. and A. M., of Middletown; Elmo is
connected with the Sanatorium at Otisville. The father is a member of
Otisville Grange No. 1020.
THEODORE WRITER, M.D., of Otisville, N. Y., was born in the town of
Mount Hope, Orange County, July 17, 1837. He acquired his early
education at the public schools and the Seward Institute of Florida,
Orange County. He later entered the Bellevue Hospital Medical
College, New York, from which he graduated in March, 1866. He
remained for one year in New York in the practice of his profession,
then returned to Otisville, where he has since practiced. Dr. Writer
married Miss Helen A. Green, of Mount Hope, November 3, 1869. To this
union was born one son. Dr. Writer is a republican and has served the
town of Mount Hope as supervisor. He is a member of Hoffman Lodge No.
412, F. and A. M., of Middletown.
JAMES A. WYLIE, manager of Katterman & Mitchell Co.'s silk mill at
Port Jervis, was born at Morristown, N. J. Soon after leaving school
he began work in a silk mill, and has learned the business thoroughly
under the tuition of his father, H. A. Wylie, who was manager of the
Port Jervis mill until his death in 1902.
This mill began operation in 1898, and is one of the important
industries of Port Jervis. It gives employment to about one hundred
skilled employees and produces over a quarter of a million yards of
silk annually. An addition to the factory has recently been erected,
making it possible to considerably enlarge the output.
FRANK N. YAGEL, who conducts a prosperous plumbing, roofing and
tinsmith establishment in the village of Highland Falls, N. Y., was
born in Germany in 1872. He came to America in 1883, and after four
years' schooling in this country served his apprenticeship with his
brothers, with whom he was later a partner for eight years. Since
1899 he has been engaged in business for himself. Mr. Yagel has
served as state and county tax collector and is now village trustee.
Socially he is identified with the I. O. O. F. He married Miss
Francis Wolklin and they are the parents of three children.
ARTHUR YOUNGS was born in Kingston, Ulster County, N. Y., March 10,
1872. His father, Addison Youngs, was a native of Kingston, and his
mother, Harriet E. Nestell, of Newburgh, N. Y. Mr. Youngs' family
can trace its ancestry back to the early settlers of this country.
His great-grandfather on both sides fought in the Revolutionary War
and War of 1812. His great-grandfather on his mother's side was a
member of the body guard to George Washington and a member of the
Society of Cincinnati. He was also prominently identified with
Masonic circles. When seventeen years of age he began working at
brass finishing and the moulding trade under the late G. L. Monell;
afterward he was identified with the Newburgh Ice Machine and Engine
Co. Later he was in charge of the motor mower department of the
Coldwell Lawn Mower Co., of Newburgh. Mr. Youngs is now secretary and
manager of the Newburgh Auto Shop, a company organized in 1905, which
sells, repairs and stores automobiles. Socially Mr. Youngs is
identified with the Newburgh Lodge No. 309, F. and A. M.; Newburgh
City Club, Business Men's Association, Newburgh Automobile Club, and
the Newburgh Canoe and Boating Association. He is a member of the
First Presbyterian Church.
CHARLES C. YOUNG was born in Elizabeth, N. J., January 21, 1871, and
was instructed in both public and private schools. He took a course
in a business college and quickly became connected with the Singer
Sewing Machine Co. at Elizabethport, N. J., starting as errand-boy
and rising to assistant timekeeper, in the invoice department.
Afterward he became identified with the Rising Sun Brewing Co. at
Elizabeth, N. J., and after acting as manager for the Orange County
Brewery for two years, purchased the business December 1, 1893. He is
recognized as an exceptionally capable business man. He was married
September 8, 1898, to Miss Wilhelmina Schauble, of Elizabeth, N. J.,
daughter of Philip and Marie Schauble. Their three children are
Charles Paul, William Joseph and Marguerite Marie. Mr. Young is a
member of Middletown's St. Joseph Church.
OLIVER YOUNG was born in the town of Mount Hope, Orange County,
N. Y., October 7, 1811. His family were of English extraction and
among the early settlers of the State of Connecticut in the
seventeenth century. At the age of sixteen he became a teacher and
later repaired to Milford, Pa., where, under the guidance of Richard
Eldred, Esq., and Melanethan Dimmick, he pursued the study of law,
being admitted to the bar of Pike County, Pa., in 1835, and soon
after to that of New York State, where he settled in practice in the
village of Port Jervis.
By application and fidelity to the trusts confided to him a large and
lucrative practice was soon gained. He speedily attained the
reputation of a safe and judicious counselor. He was especially
distinguished for his learning and skill in the equity branch of law.
He was also a proficient civil engineer and possessed an extended
knowledge of the boundaries and titles of much of the land embraced
in he western part of Orange County.
Mr. Young was a firm advocate of anti-slavery principles long before
any organized political opposition was manifested thereto, and
naturally affiliated with the republican party when it came into
existence in 1856, pledged to resist the extension of slavery to the
territories of the United States. Previous to that time his vote was
given to the candidates of the liberty and free soil parties, of
which he was the sole supporter in the town of Deer Park, his vote
being the only one in that town recorded for those candidates.
Mr. Young was married January 19, 1848, in Port Jervis, to Mrs. Lydia
Frances Wentworth, formerly Miss Sinclair, of Bartlett, N. H., and he
had two sons, Frank Sinclair, who died in early life, and Charles
Oliver. His death occurred October 3, 1871. The loss sustained by the
bar of Orange County was expressed in a series of resolutions,
commemorative of his career and marked abilities.
ROBERT YOUNG, one of the most prominent farmers of Orange County, was
born in the town of Montgomery in 1818, and died September 21, 1895.
He was a son of Johnson and Margaret (Barkley) Young, and for many
years was identified with the affairs of his native town, holding the
office of supervisor for eight consecutive years, 1879 to 1886, and
again for one term in 1890. He was a candidate for the Assembly on
two occasions, but the factions were against him. He was a charter
member of the Masonic Lodge of Montgomery and the last captain of a
company of state militia in this town under the old law.
In 1890 Mr. Young traveled abroad, visiting the home of his ancestors
in the North of Ireland, who were Scotch-Irish. In June, 1862, he
married Miss Emily Arnott, of Coldenham. Six children were born to
them, one of whom, David A., conducts the homestead farm of one
hundred and sixty acres. He was born in 1863 and educated at the
schools of Montgomery. He is a member of the Grange and numbered
among the most progressive citizens of the town.
FRANK J. ZINT, son of Daniel and Mary (Lorentz) Zint, was born in
Highland Falls, N. Y., in 1862. After finishing his schooling he
engaged with his father in the shoe and grocery business, also
handling coal. Politically Mr. Zint is a staunch democrat and active
in promoting the interest of that party. He is a member of the
Knights of Columbus, the C. B. L and a director in the First
National Bank of Highland Falls. In 1888 Mr. Zint was married to
Miss Nellie N. Conway, of Newburgh and four children have been born
to them. Daniel Zint, who died in 1892, was a native of Germany. He
came to America when a young man and shortly after the Civil War
established a boot and shoe store to which he soon added a stock of
groceries. This was the nucleus of his son's present extensive
business.
End of Project Gutenberg's The History of Orange County New York, by Various