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GENEALOGI CAL
AND
FAMILY HISTORY
OF
SOUTHER N NEW YORK
AND THE
HUDSON RIVER VALLEY
A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a
Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation
COMPILED UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF
CUYLER REYNOLDS
Curator of The Albany Institute and Historical and Art Society, since 1898; Director of
New York State History Exhibit at Jamestown Exhibition, 1907; Author of
"Albany Chronicles," "Classified Quotations," etc., etc.
VOL. II
ILLUSTRATED
NEW^ YORK
LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY
19 14
1136098
PUBLISHERS' NOTE
In addition to Mr. Cuyler Reynolds, Supervising Editor, the publishers would
express their obligations to the various estimable gentlemen who have rendered valu-
able aid in the production of this work — Mr. William Ruchard Cutter, A. M., His-
torian of the New England Historic-Genealogical Society, of Woburn, Massachusetts;
Mr. William A. Woodworth, A. B., LL.B., Law Librarian, of White Plains, New York;
Mr. Edmund Piatt, Editor of the Daily Eagle, Poughkeepsie, New York; Mr. Joseph
Van Cleft, of Newburg, New York, of the Newburg Bay and Highlands Historical
Society ; Major John Waller, of Monticello, New York, Editor and Publisher of The
Sullivan County Republican ; Miss Ida M. Blake, Editor of the Putnam County (New
York) Republican; Mr. Benjamin M. Brink, of Kingston, New York, former Editor of
The Leader, publisher of "Olde Ulster" ; Mr. Alonzo Bedell, of Haverstraw, New
York : Rev. James H. Robinson, D.D., of Delhi, New York ; former Senator Clar-
ence E. Bloodgood, A. B., of Catskill, New York; Mr. Willard Peck, A. M., LL.B., of
Hudson, New York.
OTHER GENEALOGICAL PUBLICATIONS BY THE LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING
COMPANY :
"New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial" ; "Genealogical and Personal Memoirs, Massa-
chusetts," also similar separate works on Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, Worcester County, and
Middlesex County; "Genealogical and Family History of Connecticut"; "Genealogical and Family
History of Maine"; "Genealogical and Family History of Vermont"; "Genealogical and Family History
of Northern New York," also similar separate works on Southern New Y'ork, on Western New Y'ork,
and on Central New York; "Genealogical and Family History of New Jersey," etc., etc.
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
507
As previously shown, the
VAN NAME name of Van Name is an
old and honored one on
Staten Island, and derives its origin from the
locality whence came the founder of the family
to America. The church records of Staten
Island contain many references to David Van
Name, and record several marriages, but none
corresponding to that given in the family rec-
ords of this branch of the family. There can
.be no question, however, that it belongs to the
old family of that name.
(I) David Van Name, born 1799, on
Staten Island, died there in 1879, at the age
of eighty years. He was a builder and con-
tractor, and operated exclusively on the
Island. In early life he was a member of
the Dutch Reformed church, but later affiliated
with the Methodist Episcopal denomination.
Politically he is described by his descendants
as a Whig, and it is presumable that he acted
with the Republican party, successor of the
Whigs. He married (first) Catherine John-
son, and (second) x\bigail Jane Conklin.
Children of first marriage were: i. Mary,
wife of William Cuddy, who had a son Her-
bert Burton. 2. Cornelius, married Nettie
Tuttle, and had a son Myers Ludington. 3.
George Edgar, mentioned below. 4. John,
died at the age of fourteen years. Children
of second marriage were : 5. William Conk-
lin. 6. John Frederick.
(II) George Edgar, second son of David
and Catherine (Johnson) Van Name, was
born August 24, 1839. on Staten Island. He
was a wholesale and retail dealer in oysters
for many years at Hartford, Connecticut, and
is now living there, retired. He enlisted in
October, 1862, as a member of the One Hun-
dred and Seventv-sixth Reg-iment New York
Infantry, under Captain William B. Coe, and
took part in several engagements, receiving
his discharge in February, 1864, with the rank
of corporal. He is now a member of Robert
O. Tyler Post, Grand Army of the Republic,
of Hartford, and of the Methodist Episcopal
church of that city. Politically he has always
sustained the Republican party. He married
(first! September, T862, Antoinette Bray,
born in 1844, in Brooklyn. He married (sec-
ond! Francps McCune. Issue of first mar-
riage: I. Frances, born 1864; married Dr.
F. Taylor. 2. Antoinette, born 1866. died
in infancy. 3. Frank, twin of Antoinette,
born 1866, died in infancy. 4. George Edgar
Jr., born July, 1868; married Emma Hewitt.
5. Holley, born 1871, died in infancy. 6.
Joseph Mason, mentioned below. Child of
second marriage : 7. Frank, born February,
1884, died in childhood.
(Ill) Joseph Mason, son of George Edgar
and Antoinette (Bray) Van Name, was born
May 27, 1874, in Hartford, Connecticut. He
was placed in a private school in Brooklyn,
New York, at the age of six years, and two
years later entered the public schools of Hart-
ford, where he continued until fourteen years
old. He was then apprenticed to George Den-
nison, of Hartford, a builder, and continued
five years, after which he entered the employ
of Herman Mohl, a builder and contractor.
He later formed a partnership with Peter Zyk-
kie in the building business, which continued
two years, and after this Mr. Van Name be-
gan dealing in coal and building materials in
the City of New York, and later organized the
firm of Van Name & Company, which con-
tinued the business five years After selling out
his interest, he was appointed superintendent
of construction for the American Tobacco
Company. This position he resigned to become
the general manager of the Church Construc-
tion Company, of New York City, and con-
tinued in that position six years. Many pri-
vate and public buildings in and around New
York City have been erected by this firm, as
have also a number of Carnegie libraries in
various portions of the state of New York.
Under the recent appropriation of twelve mil-
lion dollars by Congress for improvements at
West Point, the firm were employed in the
construction af new buildings at the Military
Academy. After resigning, he again organized
the firm of Van Name & Company, which
engages exclusively in building construction,
with offices at No. '80 Wall Street, New York
City.
Mr Van Name and family still retain mem-
bership in the Methodist Episcopal church of
Hartford. Connecticut, and he is a member of
the American Society of Civil Engineers, and
the Engineers Club, of New York. Thou.gh
he has given little time to politics and has no
desire for official station, he gives consistent
support to the principles and policies of the
Republican party.
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
He married, June 6, 1894, at the Dutch Re-
formed church, in Brooklyn, New York, Net-
tie AmeHa Hansbrough, born January 22,
1873, in Woodside, Long Island, daughter of
Charles Hansbrough. The last named was
born June 3, 1845, in Manchester, England.
As a boy he came to America, and served as
a soldier in the latter part of the civil war.
Later he became a painter and decorator. He
married, October 21, 1871, in Red Bank, New
Jersey, Anne Eliza White, born October 6,
1849, in Red Bank, daughter of Robert White,
a native of Birmingham, England, and Mary
(Coles) W^hite, born at Wadesden, in Buck-
inghamshire, England. Mr. White emigrated
to America and settled in Red Bank, New
Jersey, where he had the following children:
George, died October 8, 1851 : Harriet Jane,
wife of Jacob Antonias, of Red Bank; Sarah
Elizabeth, married (first) George McQueen,
(second) Thomas Swannell; Mary Hannah,
married (first) Jeflferson Hillier, (second)
Oscar Leith ; John R., married Catherine
Way; Anne Eliza, wife of Joseph M. Van
Name; William Henry and Lucy Ann, twins,
the former died October 16, and the latter,
October 31, 1857; Henrietta, wife of William
Conklin Van Name. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph
M. Van Name had a daughter, Edna, born
May 17, 1896, died in infancy.
A branch of the Goelet family
GOELET being Protestants, to avoid per-
secution, removed from Ro-
chelle in France in the year 1621 and settled in
Amsterdam where they remained until 1676,
and Francis Goelet, the youngest son of the
family, having lost his wife, with an only child.
Jacobus Goelet, a boy about ten years of age,
came to New York. He left his son in the
care of Mr. Frederick PhilHpse, a merchant
of New York, and sailed for Amsterdam with
the intention of returning with his effects, but
as he was never afterwards heard of, it was
supposed that he was lost at sea, after which
Jacobus Goelet married Jannetie, daughter of
Mr. Coesaar, likewise a Rochelle refugee fam-
ily, and had six children: i. Jacobus, the
eldest, married Miss Buller and had children.
2. James, who died at about twenty years of
^S^- 3- Jannetie, who married Mr. John
Dies. They had several children. This family
moved from New York and settled at Kaats
Kill. 4. Francis, was a surgeon on an Eng-
lish man-of-war and was lost in the river
St. Lawrence in the expedition against Can-
ada, under Sir Hovenden Walker, a. d. 171 i.
5. John, married Jannetie Cannon, of a
Protestant refugee family from France (from
whom Peter Goelet is descended) and had
several children : Raphael, married Miss
Pelse and died without issue. Phillip, married
Miss Buller, had one son and two daughters.
The son died in St. Eustatia at about thirty .
years of age and was not married. Jannetie,
married Alderman Abraham P. Lott and had
no children. The other daughter, Catherine,
married Peter Cartenius and had several
children. 6. Effe, married Mr. Burger and
had children.
It is related, that about 1710, Jacobus Goelet
went to Amsterdam and was directed by his
father had built, and that he would know the
and informed him in what part of the city
they had lived and also a house his grand-
father had built, and that he would know the
house by the family arms being cut in stone
on the front of it, and to inquire for the
Spoorinburgh family into which one of his
father's aunts had married. He found the
house, it being a very large building and being
informed where the Spoorinburgh family re-
sided, he called upon them and found them
far advanced in life. They had two daugh-
ters married, and were a wealthy family,
and one of the Goelets was captain of an
Indiaman. They were all in the mer-
cantile business and in the India trade. He
found that the family in Amsterdam had
never heard of the family in New York
since the latter first left Holland, suppos-
ing them to be lost at sea, there being at
that time but one American vessel in Dutch
trade and she very irregular in her voyages,
sometimes making one in each year, some-
times one in two years and sometimes one
voyage in three years. Jacobus Goelet died
on the 20th of August, 1731, at sixty-six years
of age, and was buried in the Old Dutch
Church, about the middle of the left aisle in
the church when entered from the street,
called Garden Street.
John Goelet, the third son of Jacobus Goe-
let by Jannetie Coesaar, his wife, born Feb-
ruary I, 1694, married Jannetie Cannon,
daughter of John Cannon by Mary Le Grand,
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
509
his wife, descended from a refugee family of
Rochelle in France, and died July 13, 1753,
age fifty-nine years. Had thirteen children,
several of them dying quite young.
Peter Goelet, the fifth child, was born Janu-
ary 5, 1727, died October 11, 181 1, age eighty-
four years. He was married on April 27,
1755, to Elizabeth Ratsey and had children:
Alice, Jannetie, John, Peter P., Elizabeth
On December 6, 1770, Peter Goelet was mar-
ried to Mary Ludlow, daughter of Henry Lud-
low Esq., of New York, and had issue: Mary,
born June 17, 1773, died January 31, 1774,
age eight months. On October 26, 1775, Peter
Goelet was married to Elizabeth Farmer, the
daughter of Thomas and Sarah Farmer, who,
having inherited the estate of Bentley in
Staten Island, assumed the name of Billop,
the old proprietor. They had issue, five chil-
dren: Sarah, Thomas Billop, Mary, Cather-
ine, Christopher Billop. February i, 1792',
Peter Goelet was married to Rachael Farmer,
the daughter of the aforesaid Thomas and
Sarah Billop ; had no issue.
Peter P. Goelet, the son of Peter Goelet by
Elizabeth Ratsey, was born on August 18,
1764, and was christened on Friday morning,
August 24, in Trinity Church by the Rev. Mr.
Auchmuty. In the Year of Our Lord 1799,
on the 9th day of May, Peter P. Goelet was
married to Almy Buchanan, the daughter of
Thomas Buchanan by Almy Townsend, his
wife, at the house of Thomas Buchanan in
Wall Street. They had issue: i. Peter,
born June 22, 1800, died November 21, 1879.
2. Jean Buchanan, born February 7, 1802. 3.
Francis, born March 2, 1804, died July, 1804,
and was buried in the Goelet family vault in
Trinity churchyard. 4. Hannah Green,
born January 19, 1806, at the house of Peter
Goelet in Water Street, was married, June 30,
1830, to Thomas R. Gerry, son of Elbridge
Gerry and Ann Gerry. 5. Francis (2), born
January 12, 1808, died January 16, 1809,
buried in Trinity churchyard. 6. Robert,
born September 19, 1809. Married Sarah
Ogden, the daughter of the late Jonathan
Ogden, October 16, 1839 Married by the
Rev Berrian, rector of Trinity Church ; died
September 22, 1879. Buried in the Marble
cemetery. New York City, Second Avenue.
They had issue : Robert, born September 29,
1841. Helen, borfi March 8, 1843, died
March 15, 1844. Ogden, born June 11, 1846.
Robert Goelet was married to Harriette
Louise Warren, (the daughter of George
Henry Warren and Mary Phoenix), by the
Rev. Dr. Tucker, at No. 520 Fifth Avenue,
the 17th day of April, 1879. Died April 27,
1889, at Naples, Italy, on his steam yacht
"Nahma." Buried in the Goelet family vault
at Woodlawn. They had issue: i. Robert
Walton, born March 19, 1880, at 279 Madison
Avenue. 2. Beatrice, born December 11,
1885, died February 11, 1902, and interred in
the Goelet vault in Woodlawn cemetery.
Ogden Goelet was married to Mary R. Wil-
son, the daughter of Richard Thornton Wil-
son. He died August 27, 1897, on board his
steam yacht "Mayflower" at Cowes, England,
and was interred in the Goelet family vault
in Woodlawn cemetery. They had issue: i.
Mary Wilson, born October 6, 1878. Married,
November 10, 1903, to Henry John Innes-
Kerr, eighth Duke of Roxburghe. 2. Robert
Goelet, born January 9, 1880. Married to
Elsie Whelen, daughter of Henry Whelen Jr.,
on June 14, 1904, at Wayne, Pennsylvania.
They had issue: Ogden, born January 17,
1907, and Peter, born June 8, 191 1.
It is now a pretty well estab-
BEEKMAN lished fact that the families
in New Jersey bearing the
name of Beekman are descended from two
distinct sources, one of which is Willem
Beeckman (Beekman), of New York, who
emigrated to New Amsterdam in 1647, and
the other Maarten Beeckman, of Albany, who
is the progenitor of the branch of the family
at present under consideration.
(I) Maarten Beeckman emigrated to New
Netherland in 1638, and settled in Albany,
where he plied his trade of blacksmith, and
died before June 21, 1677. He married Su-
sanna Jans, and had at least three children:
Johannes; Hendrick, referred to below;
Metie.
(II) Hendrick, son of Maarten and Su-
sanna (Jans) Beeckman, lived for a number
of years at Schodack, near Albany, and
November 13, 1710, purchased from Octavo
Coenraats, merchant of New York, two hun-
dred and fifty acres of land on the Raritap
river in Somerset county, New Jersey, it
being a part of the tract bought by Coenraats
5IO
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
from Peter Sonmans, who in turn had pur-
chased it from the proprietors of East Jersey.
The deed for this land has never been re-
corded, and is now in possession of Mrs.
Elizabeth (Beekman) Vredenburgh, who still
owns a portion of the land described, which
she inherited from her father, Benjamin
Beekman, and her mother, Cornelia Beekman.
He married Annetje, daughter of Peter
Quackenbush and among his children was
Marten, referred to below.
(III) Marten Beekman, son of Hendrick
Beeckman, was born in 1685, died October 27,
1757. The descendants of his three sons are
very numerous in New York, Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Michigan, Oregon, and elsewhere.
He married, June 21, 1734, Elizabeth, daugh-
ter of Samuel and Neeltje fBloetjoet) Wald-
ron. and granddaughter of Resolved Waldron,
of Harlem, who was sheriff of New York City
under Governor Peter Stuyvesant. She was
born in 1700 and died November 27, 1760.
Children : Elizabeth, Hendrick, Samuel,
Annatie and Johannes.
(IV) Johannes (John"), youngest child of
Marten and Elizabeth (Waldron) Beekman,
was born November 5. 1741. in .Somerset
county. New Jersey, where he died March 17,
1789 He married, July 30. 1769. Arriantje
Tunison, born October 12, 1753, died Janu-
ary 31, 1835. They were the parents of four
children.
(V) Cornelius, son of John and Arriantie
(Tunisonl Beekman. was born January 28,
1772, in Somerville, New Jersey, and died
July 5, 1850. He married, in 1702, Rebecca
Sharp, born January 2. 1772, died February
27, 1844, aged seventy-two years. They had
three sons and two daughters.
(VI) Beniamin. son of Cornelius and Re-
becca C Sharp) Beekman. was born Aoril 27,
1804, in Si^merville, and died at Dundee New
York, Aoril 8, 1879. ^^ married, at Plain-
field, New Tersev. March 21, 1827. Lvdia
Comnton. born there March 3. i8o5, died in
Dundee. New York. October 2. i8qt, daugh-
ter of Toshua and Catherine (Co«ad) Comn-
ton. He resided in Somerville. New Tersev,
and New York Citv. and removed to Dimdee
after T820. Children: i. Corneliiis C,
born Januarv 27, T828, in New York, now
resides at Jacksonville, Oregfon ; married, at
Jacksonville, Julia E. Hoffman. 2. Abram.
mentioned below. 3. John, born March 9,
1832, at Dundee; married (first) Elizabeth
Disbrow, (second) Helena Ackerson, and
died at Bath. 4. Lydia Ann, May 30, 1834,
died in Dundee in 1910; married there in
1853, Marcus T. Seely. 5. Thomas De Witt.
August 22, 1841, now resides at Dundee, New
York : married, in 1863, Isadore Fowler, of
Elmira, New York. 6 and 7. Cyrus and
Augustus, twins, born August 25, 1844, i"
Dundee. The former died there in 185 1, and
the latter when four days old.
(VII) Abram, second son of Benjamin
and Lydia (Compton) Beekman, was bom
December 26, 1829, in New York City, died
at Bath, Steuben county, New York, May 10,
1907. He married, October 30, 1861, Sarah
McKay Fowler, of Bath, born there Novem-
ber 21, 1843, died there September 27, 1905,
daughter of John W. and Helen D. (Clement)
Fowler, who were married November 12,
1823. Children: i. Lydia, born June 28,
1863, married George H. Parker, of Bath. 2.
George N., born September 17, 1865, in Bath,
now resides there; married there, in 1891,
Julia E. Averell. 3. John Fowler, mentioned
below. 4. Edgar, mentioned below. 5. Cor-
nelius C, mentioned below.
(A'lII) John Fowler, second son of
Abram and Sarah M. (Fowler) Beekman,
was born February 18, 1869, in Bath, where
he is now living engaged in the manufacturing
business. He is a Presbyterian in religious
faith, and a Republican in politics. He re-
ceived his education in Bath and for a short
time resided in New York City, returning to
his native place in 1912. He married, in New
York City, May 22, i88g, Caroline A. Young,
daughter of William H. and Polly (Brund-
age) Young.
(VIID Edgar, third son of Abram and
Sarah M. (Fowler) Beekman, was born
March iq, 1872, at Bath, and now resides at
Bronxville, New York. He was educated at
the Haverling Union School in his native
place and became an expert in corporation
taxation. He is a Presbyterian in religious
faith, a Republican in politics, a member of
the Aero Club of .A.merica, the RTasonic Club,
and the Bronxville Athletic Association. He
married, at Jersey Citv, New Jersey, Decem-
ber 21, 1893, May Hastings Leonard, bom
August 23, 1869, in Troy, Pennsylvania,
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
5"
daughter of Solyman and Elizabeth (Hast-
ings) Leonard. They have one son, Abram
Leonard, born August 21, 1895, at Forest Hill,
New Jersey.
(VHI) Cornelius C, youngest child of
Abram and Sarah M. (Fowler) Beekman,
was born August 17, 1880, at Bath, where
he grew up, receiving his primary education
at the Haverling High School of his native
town. He subsequently entered Columbia
Law School of New York City and is now
engaged in the practice of law in New York,
with residence in Brooklyn. He is a Presby-
terian in religion, and a Republican in his
political views. He married, in Brooklyn,
November 8, 191 1, Josephine Estelle Egan,
born November 9, 1882, in Syracuse, New
York, daughter of the late William G. Egan
and Josephine M. Egan, now Mrs. H. R. H.
Nicholas, of Brooklyn, New York.
This surname in the old
WORTENDYKE records is also found in
the forms of Woorten-
dyck, Woertendky and Weortendijck. The
bearers of the name have a common ancestry
with those who bear the name Somerindyke,
the other forms of which, found in the old
records, are: Somerindyck, Somerindyk,
Somerindick, Somerindicke and Somerindijck.
The immigrant ancestor, Cornelius Jacobsen,
is found at an early date bearing the sobriquet
of Stille (or The Silent), which may have
been no true surname, but merely an appella-
tion given to him to denote one of his charac-
teristics. Cornelius Jacobsen came to this
country with his brother John, and it has been
said that the descendants of Cornelius adopted
the surname of Wortendyke, while the de-
scendants of John assumed that of Somerin-
dyke. Cornelius, however, had a large family
of children, and the descendants of some of
the sons took the surname Wortendyke, and
the descendants of the others took that of
Somerindyke. What were the motives gov-
erning the choice are not now quite clear.
(I) Cornelius Jacobsen, alias Stille, the
immigrant ancestor of the Wortendyke familv.
came to this country from Amsterdam. Hol-
land, with his brother, John, in 1639. Shortly
after their arrival they are said by one author-
ity to have assumed the name of Somerin-
dyke, which in the case of Cornelius was sub-
sequently changed to Wortendyke. Besides
the sobriquet of Stille, Cornelius also appears
to have been known as "Van Vreelandt," in-
dicating from what part of Holland he had
come. One authority states that Cornelius,
and perhaps also John, his brother, was in
New Amsterdam as early as 1631, and re-
sided at the head of what is now Chatham
Square. The records indicate that after re-
maining a short time in New Amsterdam
(later New York) he bought and located on
a plantation at Bushwick, Long Island. From
there he removed to what is now the Williams-
burg district of Brooklyn. In 1664 he took
the oath of allegiance to the British govern-
ment, at which time he was residing on a farm
of a hundred acres in what was formerly the
Greenwich district of New York City. He
married (first) August 24, 1692, Classic
Teunis; (second) July 28, 1675, Trynte Wait-
ings Van Winkle, of Amsterdam, Holland,
Among his children was Jacob, mentioned
below.
(II) Jacob, son of Cornelius Jacobsen,
surnamed Stille, also Van Vreelandt, also
Somerindyke, and also Wortendyke. and his
wife, Trynte Wallings Van Winkle, was born
in New Amsterdam (later New York) in
1644. Very little concerning the details of
his career is given in the records, but he prob-
ably died at a not very advanced age, for his
children numbered only four. He married,
March 11, 1671, Aeltje Fredericks, an estim-
able Brazilian lady. Children : Jacob, Nicho-
las, Frederick Jacobsen, mentioned below;
Cornelius.
(III) Frederick Jacobsen, son of Jacob
and Aeltje (Fredericks) Wortendyke, was
born on Manhattan Island, probably about
1679. He spent his boyhood on his father's
farm, and seems to have taken advantage of
the educational facilities then offered. In
course of time he located on the upper west
side of Manhattan Island. Concerning him
it is said by one authority that he and his
descendants permanently adopted the surname
of Wortendyke, which had been somewhat
loosely applied up to that time, while the
descendants of his brother retained the name
of Somerindyke, which had till that time alter
nated with Wortendyke as the family cogno-
men. The old Somerindyke mansion hoii=e.
built of stone, stood a few years ago on the
512
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
Bloomingdale road near the west of Seventy-
fifth Street. About 1722 Frederick removed
to Bergen county, New Jersey, where he pur-
chased several tracts of land, the principal
one of which was nearly five hundred acres
in area at what is now Park Ridge, formerly
Pascack. On this tract, lying on both sides
of Pascack Brook, he built his residence and
two or more mills. He was founder of the
Pascack settlement, and left a large landed
estate. After his death his will became the
subject of judicial construction in an eject-
ment suit reported in 7 New Jersey Law Re-
ports, page 363. He married Divertie Rynear-
sen Quackenbush. Children : Aeltie, Reynier,
mentioned below ; Elizabeth, Frederick F.,
Classic.
(IV) Reynier, eldest son of Frederick
Jacobsen and Divertie Rynearsen (Quacken-
bush) Wortendyke, was born in New York,
and baptized March 14, 1714. His mother
was the granddaughter of Peter Quackenbush,
of Oostergeest, Holland. With his brother,
Frederick F., he obtained part of the home-
stead farm at Pascack. Reynier was a man of
considerable varied ability, not content with
the scope that agricultural interests alone
offered. He was a successful farmer and
brought his property to a high state of devel-
opment. But a good deal of his time was also
occupied in running a mill and in other avo-
cations leading him into the industrial and
commercial field. He married (first) Decem-
ber 10, 1746, Jannetje Peters Durie. He mar-
ried (second) March 2, 1752, Jannetje Smith.
His original will was made February 24, 1799,
and to this he added a codicil, February 6,
1799. By this will be bequeaths to his eldest
son, Frederick, his old Dutch Bible, which
was to continue in descent to the eldest son.
This will indicates possession of a large
amount of real estate and personal property
Probably not all of his children were living
at that time, as several are not mentioned in
the will. To each of the living sons he gave
valuable lands, and provided for liberal lega-
cies in cash to his daughter and to the children
of a deceased daughter. Children : Frederick,
Peter, Jannetje, Cornelius, died young; Diver-
tie, Cornelius, Reynier, Jenny, married Fred-
erick Wortendyke ; John, Jacob, mentioned be-
low ; Mary, Albert, Aeltje, married John De-
baun.
(V) Jacob, son of Reynier and Jannetje
Peters (Durie) Wortendyke, was born May
5, 1763, at Pascack, died December 18, 1858.
From his father he received the land on which
he was then living in the town of Harring-
ton, Bergen county, containing fifty acres, and
three other parcels amounting to eleven acres,
including three acres of fresh meadow at Tap-
pan. Besides this he was to receive one-fourth
of his father's right in the swamp known as
Bear Gat, lying in the town of Harrington,
and in consideration of this inheritance he
was to pay thirty pounds cash to one of his
sisters. He continued in the cultivation of
his lands at Pascack, and by his skillful op-
eration and development his estate became
very valuable. He married Elizabeth Camp-
bell, born October 10, 1773, at Pascack, Park
Ridge, New Jersey, and died March 20, 1862.
Children : Luthische, Reynier, mentioned be-
low; Elizabeth.
(VI) Reynier (2), son of Jacob and Eliza-
beth (Campbell) Wortendyke, was born De-
cember, 1792, at Chestnut Ridge, Bergen
county. New Jersey, died December 3, 1884.
He was a farmer, and owned several hundred
acres of land in Chestnut Ridge, where he
died. He was a Democrat in politics, and a
member of the Dutch Reformed church. He
took considerable interest in public afifairs, as
also in the welfare of his party, and he held
several local offices in the gift of the town.
He was a man of considerable ability, and
much respected throughout his long life. To
the property that come to him by inheritance
he added considerably, and greatly developed
it along various lines. He sought always to
use the most approved methods in farming,
and his main farm was one of the model ones
of the country. He owned a considerable
amount of live stock as well. He married
Cornelia Haring. She died August 12, 1891.
Children : Jacob Reynier, mentioned below ;
Peter Reynier, Garrett, Elizabeth, who mar-
ried Peter Merseles Holdrom.
(VII) Jacob Reynier, son of Reynier (2)
and Cornelia (Haring) Wortendyke, was
born at Chestnut Ridge, Bergen county. New
Jersey, November 18, 1818, died in Jersey
City. November 2, 1868. He was graduated
from Rutgers College in 1839, after which he
read law in the office and became a partner of
Chancellor A. O. Zabriskie. After his ad-
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
513
mission to the bar he attained great success in
the practice of his profession and held numer-
ous official positions in Hudson county. He
organized the Jersey City water board and
served as a member of the riparian commis-
sion. In 1857 he was elected to congress from
the Hudson district and served two terms in
that body. In 1868 he was a delegate to the
Democratic National Convention. His posi-
tion as a prominent lawyer of New Jersey
made him well known, and he was held in the
highest esteem by his colleagues and friends.
In religion he was affiliated with the Dutch
Reformed church. He was always a staunch
Democrat in active public life and remained
such until his death. He married Susan Jane
Doremus, born August 18, 1826, in Pompton
Plains, New Jersey, died August 25, 1910.
Children : Nicholas Doremus, married Mary
Elizabeth Quick ; Cornelia Elizabeth, married
William Perry Watson, M.D. ; Reynier Jacob,
mentioned below; Jacob, died in 1867; Jacob
Reynier, married Anna Traphagan.
(VIII) Reynier Jacob, son of Jacob Rey-
nier and Susan Jane (Doremus) Wortendyke,
was born August 24, i860, in Jersey City, New
Jersey. He graduated from Rutgers College
in 1882, with degree of Bachelor of Arts. He
was admitted to the bar of the State of New
Jersey in the June term of 1885, and has since
been engaged in the general practice of law
in Jersey City, becoming a member of the law
firm of Carrick & Wortendyke, in May, 1890,
with offices at No. 15 Exchange Place, Jersey
City, New Jersey. Mr. Wortendyke is a Dem-
ocrat in politics, and is a member of the First
Presbyterian Church of Jersey City. He mar-
ried (first), at Newtonville, Massachusetts,
October 17, 1893, Carolyn M. Cooley, born
in Springfield, Massachusetts, October 27.
1870, died September 22, 1900. He married
(second) Carolina Laubach, born in Hamil-
ton, Ohio ; the second marriage occurring at
Hamilton, Ohio, October 17, 1906. Children
by first wife : Reynier J., Jr. ; Howard Blakes-
ley and Carolyn,
The vast majority of people
BOGARDUS bearing the name of Bogar-
dus are descended from the
Rev. Everardus Bogardus, the minister of the
Dutch Reformed Church in New Amsterdam,
who came from Holland in 1633 with Gov-
ernor Wouter Van Twiller. The church in
which he preached stood at what is now No.
33 Pearl Street, and his residence was at No.
23 Whitehall Street. He married the widow
of Roeloff Jansen, the famous Anneke Jans,
and had children: Jonas, Willem, Cornelis,
Peter. Several branches of the family were
deeply involved in the well known contest
between the heirs of Anneke Jans and Trinity
Church. Anneke came to Rensselaerwyck in
1630 with her husband, Roeloff Jansen, who
acted as assistant bouwmeister for the patroon
at a salary of one hundred and eighty guilders.
Her marriage w^ith the Rev. Everardus Bogar-
dus or Bogart or Bogard, took place in 1637.
There were others of the name at that early
time and their connection with the Rev. Ever-
ardus is not very clear. Willem Bogardus, of
New Amsterdam, in 1656 was appointed clerk
in the secretary's office in New Amsterdam,
and in 1687 postmaster of the province. This
Willem Bogardus married and had eight chil-
dren. Another Bogardus, Cornelis, married
Helena Teller, daughter of Willem Teller, of
Albany. He lived in Albany, where he died
in 1666. leaving one son, Cornelis, who mar-
ried Rachel De Wit, and died October 13,
1707. Peter Bogardus, mariner, resided in
Albany near the close of his life, and then he
removed to Kingston where he died in 1703.
In 1673 he was one of the magistrates of the
town, and in 1690 was commissioned with
others to treat with the Five Nations and to
look after the defense of the town. He made
his will February 3, 1701. His wife was
Wyntie Cornelis (Bosch) Borgardus, daughter
of Cornelis Teunise and Maritie Thomas
(Mingael) Bosch, who afterwards married
Jurriaen Janse Groenwout in 1664. Cornelis
Bogardus was a schoolmaster in Albany in
1700, and shortly after that year he removed
with his wife, Rachel Tjerckse (De Wit)
Bogardus. to Kingston, his wife's native place.
He died October 13, 1707. Shibboleth Bogar-
dus and Ann, his wife, lived in Albany. His
house in 1720 and from that year to 1737 was
on the north corner of James and Steuben
Streets. They had nine children, most of
whom grew up.
In the annals of Albany at an early period
we read also of other men of the name of
Bogardus, Anthony Bogardus, Ephraim Bo-
gardus, Petrus Bogardus, and others. The-
514
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
name itself is found in the form of Bogard
and Bogardus, as well as Bogart. The name
is, however, distinct from that of Bogert, the
bearers of which are in the main descended
from Cornelis Jansen Bogaerdt, who came
from Holland before 1661, and settled on a
village lot at Flatbush, Long Island, which
he shortly sold to Peter Jansen. In 1677
Cornelis Jansen Bogaerdt was one of the pro-
prietors of the Flatbush patent, and died at
that place in 1684. The name of his wife
who accompanied him from Holland is given
as Geesie Williams, which indicates that her
father's christian name was William. They
had a number of children who settled at Hack-
ensack, New Jersey. This name of Bogert
is often found in various spellings resembling
the variations of Bogardus, and there has been
a certain amount of confusion in consequence.
Of the name two distinct forms are widely in
use at the present day, many employing both
Bogert and Bogart. There were several im-
migrants bearing the name among the early
settlers of New Amsterdam and Long Island,
and their descendants have scattered over a
wide region, being especially numerous in
northeastern New Jersey.
The conspicuous Dutch traits of industry
and thrift have been well perpetuated in both
the Bogardus and Bogart families, who are
connected in various ways. A great number
of the members of various branches of the
family have been engaged in agriculture and
its allied interests and industries from the be-
ginning. In later generations many bearing
the Bogardus name have also been conspicuous
in the ranks of the professions as well as in
mercantile life. The family is a fine one, with
a Dutch ancestry second to none, associated
for all time with the development of the new
world, in the founding of whom they bore
■\ worthy part.
(I) Stephen H. Bogardus, ancestor of the
Bogardus family, was born probably near
Poughkeepsie, New York. The facts relating
to his life are meagre, but there can be very
little doubt that he was a direct descendant
of the Rev. Everardus Bogardus, the first set-
tled Dutch minister of any religion in the
New Netherlands. Investigation so far has
not revealed the name of his wife or any of
his children except one. He was engaged in
the leather business, and died in the early
eighties.
(II) Stephen H. (2), son of Stephen H.
( I ) Bogardus, was probably born in Pough-
keepsie, New York, and died of yellow fever
in the South. He received his education in
the public schools, and enlisted as corporal
in the New York Volunteers in the company
known as the Duryea Zouaves. He was ad-
jutant of Purneirs Legion of Maryland Vol-
unteers, and was captain of the One Hundred
and Ninety-second Regiment, New York
Volunteers. He was also second lieutenant of
the Fourth Infantry Regulars, United States
Army, and was mustered out in Janu-
ary, 1871, after he had been wounded. The
principal items of his military history are set
forth in "Heitman's Historical Register and
Dictionary of the United States Army," 1789-
1903. Captain Bogardus was a Republican in
politics, and most of his life was spent at
Poughkeepsie, Dutchess county, New York.
He married Ellen Mary, daughter of John
James and Harriet (Willard) Haile, of Platts-
burg. She was bom at Plattsburg, New
York, March 19, 1849, and died at Green-
wich, Connecticut, in January, 1903. Their
only child was John Haile, mentioned below.
(HI) John Haile, son of Stephen H. (2)
and Ellen Mary (Haile) Bogardus, was born
at Plattsburg. New York, January 29, 1870.
He received his preliminary education at the
Plattsburg Academy, New York, at the board-
ing school at Westport, Connecticut, and at
the boarding school at Hamden. Connecticut,
near New Haven. He was also for some
time at a boarding school at Cornwall-on-Hud-
son. After leaving school he went into the
hardware business with Russell & Erwin, who
were hardware manufacturers, and he re-
mained with that concern about one year. His
health, however, was not very strong, and
he decided that a change of occupation would
be agreeable He thus came to teach school
at Lakewood. New Jersey, his subjects being
mathematics and English, and he continued
at that occupation for a period of from two
to three vears. From New Jersey he went
to San Francisco, California, and there he
engaged in teaching for about another year.
At the end of that time he returned to New
York, and took up the study of law in the
office of Jay & Candler, at 48 Wall Street.
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
515
He was admitted to the bar of New York in
October, 1902, and has practiced in New
York since that time. Mr. Bogardus enlisted
in the Twenty-third Infantry, National
Guard, New York, February 7, 1893, and was
promoted corporal, sergeant, color sergeant,
battalion sergeant major, battalion quarter-
master and commissary, with rank of second
lieutenant, and battalion adjutant, with rank
of first lieutenant. In politics he is a Re-
publican, and he is a member of the American
Bar Association, New York County Lawyers'
Association, Marine and Field Club, United
Service Club, National Geographic Society,
Military Service Institution and United States
Infantry Association.
He married, at Brooklyn, New York, Jan-
uary 17, 1900, Lillian May, born in New York
City, March 4, 1870, daughter of William
Henry and Harriet E. (Wiggins) Stewart.
The Sahler family is of Ger-
SAHLER man origin and dates back to
the tenth century when we find
the record of Heinrich von der Sahle, who
participated in one of the tournaments of that
day. The family was noble as well as ancient
and had its home in that part of the Rhen-
ish Palatinate that is now in Hesse-Darm-
stadt. The original name of the family was
von Heppenheim, derived from their ancestral
home, but in 1019 Werner von Heppenheim
removed to Alzey on the Selz, near Mentz,
and lived in the Saal or "Hall" there, whence
he received the name Werner von Heppen-
heim von dem Saale which later on became
corrupted to von Sahler or Sahler.
(I) Abraham Sahler, the founder of the
family in America, emigrated about 1736 and
settled on the banks of the Perkiomen river
about twenty-five miles from Philadelphia and
became a large landowner there. He married
Elizabeth, daughter of Isaac and Rachel (Du
Bois) Du Bois, who was born at Perkiomen,
Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, Septem-
ber 10, 1724 (see Du Bois V). Children: i.
Isaac, married Eleanor Hartley, of York
county, Pennsylvania. 2. Abraham (2), re-
ferred to below. 3. Elizabeth, married Robert
Patton,- 4. Rachel, married John Gross. 5.
Catherine, married Christian Gross. 6. Dan-
iel, born April 16, 1762, died February 20,
1834; married, May 8, 1786, Elizabeth Van
Wagenen. 7. John, born November 23, 1765;
married Ann Barlow.
(II) Abraham (2), son of Abraham (l)
and Elizabeth (Du Bois) Sahler, was born at
Perkiomen, Montgomery county, Pennsyl-
vania, in September, 1738, died in the town
of Rochester, Ulster county, New York, Jan-
uary 14, 1800, and was buried in the Kyserike
cemetery. He married first) Tryntje, daugh-
ter of Solomon and Hannah (Bruyn) Van
Wagenen, who was baptized at Kingston,
New York, January 7, 1752. He married
(second) Hester, daughter of Isaac and Maria
(Bruyn) Hasbrouck, who was born January
8, 1760 (see Hasbrouck in Index). Chil-
dren (two by first marriage) : Abraham (3),
referred to below ; Solomon, referred to be-
low ; daughter, who married Louis Stilwell ;
daughter, who married Simeon Du Bois ;
daughter, who married Elias De Puy.
(III) Abraham (3), son of Abraham (2)
and Tryntje (Van Wagenen) Sahler, was born
in the town of Rochester, Ulster county. New
York, and died there. He married Nellie
Hasbrouck. Children : Abraham Louis ; Jacob
R. H., referred to below; James B. ; Ann
Eliza.
(IV) Jacob R. H., son of Abraham (3^
and Nellie (Hasbrouck) Sahler, married El-
mira, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Sah-
ler) van de Mark, and granddaughter of Dan-
iel and Elizabeth (Van Wagenen) Sahler,
referred to above. Children : Abraham J.,
Henry, James, referred to below; Isaac L.,
Daniel, Catherine J.. Elizabeth.
(V) James, son of Jacob R. H. and Elmira
(van de Mark) Sahler, married Sarah AUiger.
Children: Jennie, referred to below; Eliza-
beth, married Dr. N. A. Monroe, of Stone
Ridge, Ulster county. New York; Irving,
James B., Louis D., twin with James B., Har-
ry, Olive Reid.
(VI) Jennie, daughter of James and Sarah
(Alliger) Sahler, married in 1880, Dr. Charles
Oliver Sahler, son of Solomon and Caroline
(Winfield) Sahler, referred to below.
(Ill) Solomon, son of Abraham (2) and
Tryntje (Van Wagenen) Sahler, was born
in the town of Rochester, Ulster county. New
York, November 14, 1775, died there Febru-
ary 13, 1827. He was a landowner and slave-
holder, a surveyor and supervisor of the town
from 1819 to 1827. In 1816 he was appointed
5i6
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
coroner by Governor Tompkins. He married
(first) August 25, 1797, Nellie, daughter of
John and Sophie (Burgess) Perrine, who was
born June 6, 1777, died February 14, 1805.
He married (second) Catherine Davis. Chil-
dren (four by first marriage) : Tryantje Van
Wagenen, married Andries Roosa; Daniel,
died in infancy; Abraham, referred to below;
John Perrine, born January 26, 1805, died
June 27, 1866, married, February 3, 1830,
Maria Hasbrouck; Isaac Du Bois, married
Maria Schoonmaker ; Jacob, died unmarried ;
Sarah Catherine, married Dr. George
Chambers.
(IV) Abraham (4), son of Solomon and
Nellie (Perrine) Sahler, was born in the town
of Rochester, Ulster county, New York, Oc-
tober 14, 1802, died there in March, 1857.
He inherited his father's homestead near Ky-
serike and lived there until 1840 when he
bought and removed to the Van Wagenen
homestead in the same place. He was super-
visor from 1839 to 1841 and from 1845 to
1851. He was a veterinary surgeon and also
captain of cavalry in the state militia. He
married, January 3, 1822, Catherine, daughter
of Judge Richard and Wyntje (Robinson)
Davis, who was born February i, 1803. Chil-
dren : Solomon, referred to below ; Isaac
Robinson, married Kate Schoonmaker; Mary
Ellen, married Lyman Terpenning.
(V) Solomon (2), son of Abraham (4)
and Catherine (Davis) Sahler, was born in
the town of Rochester, Ulster county. New
York, December 22, 1827. He inherited the
Van Wagenen homestead at Kyserike. He
married, February 24, 1852, Caroline, daughter
of Casparus and Jane (Van Aken) Winfield,
who was born February 20, 1832 (see Win-
field). Children: Charles Oliver, referred to
below ; Kate Jane, married Luther H., son of
Abraham J. and grandson of Jacob R. H. and
Elmira (van de Mark) Sahler, referred to
above ; Mary Elizabeth, married Lawrence H.
Swisher; Caspar, died in infancy; Jeannette.
died in infancy.
(VI) Dr. Charles Oliver Sahler, son of
Solomon (2) and CaroHne (Winfield) Sahler,
was born at the home of his maternal grand-
father in the town of Esopus, Ulster county.
New York, June 23, 1854, and is now living
in Kingston, Ulster county. New York. He
leceived his early education in the public
schools, and also under the tutorship of John
H. Van Wagenen, who was at one time princi-
pal of the University of Northern Pennsyl-
vania. He also took up the study of medi-
cine and at the age of twenty years entered
the College of Physicians and Surgeons (med-
ical department of Columbia University), in
New York City, from which he graduated in
the class of 1878. He immediately commenced
the active practice of his profession in Ky-
serike, and remained there for thirteen years,
at the end of which time he opened an office
in Kingston. Early in his career he became
interested in mental therapeutics, and for
many years, even as a young physician and
knowing nothing of the experiments that were
then being made in Europe, he made use of
it in his practice, often being himself aston-
ished at the results that he obtained, and he
was among the first of the regular practitioners
in this country to recognize the power of the
mind as a curative agency, and largely through
his own experiments discovered that diseases
could be overcome through the mind, that
failed to respond to ordinary medical methods,
and began using mental suggestion in his prac-
tice with most gratifying results. This fact
becoming known, his services were sought to
such an extent that he finally abandoned his
large lucrative medical and surgical practice
and opened a sanitarium for the treatment of
nervous, mental and functional disorders by
the then almost unknown methods of psycho-
theraphy. In 1893 he purchased the fine old
estate of Marius Schoonmaker, in Kingston,
and in 1898 founded there the first mental
healing sanitarium in America. From the
first the success of the undertaking was phe-
nomenal, and it was but a short time before
he was compelled to make extensive addi-
tions to the building, and to erect others, be-
sides taking in all the available cottages and
extra rooms in the neighborhood; and in 191 1
he erected a handsome, five story, stone struc-
ture to accommodate the patients who came
to him from all parts of the world. He is
the author of the book "Psychic Life and
Laws," is a contributor to several magazines,
and for a time occupied the chair of Nervous
Diseases and Suggestive Therapeutics of the
post-graduate school of Eastern College and
of the Psychological Medical Society at Phil-
adelphia. He has been vice-president of the
^^
The Lmis Publishing Cc.
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
517
American Association of Physicians and Sur-
geons, and is a member of the American
Psychological Medical and Surgical Society,
and of the Medico-Legal Society, and has
lectured before the Phrenological Institute
and Medical and Psychic Study societies of
New York and New Jersey. He is a mem-
ber of Kingston Lodge, Free and Accepted
Masons ; Mount Horeb Chapter, and Rondout
Commandery, Knights Templar. He married,
in 1880, Jennie, daughter of James and Sarah
(Alliger) Sahler, referred to above. Child
(adopted) : Nellie, daughter of Simon Daven-
port and Jennie (Sahler) Davenport.
(The Du Bois Line.)
The Du Bois family is one of the oldest of
the noble houses of Cotentin, in the duchy
of Normandy, the heraldic records in Paris
beginning with Geofifroi du Bois, a knight
banneret, and a companion of Duke William
in the conquest of England in 1066.
(I) Chretien Du Bois, the first member of
the branch of the family under consideration
of whom we have any definite information,
was a Huguenot gentleman of the family of
Du Bois, seigneurs de Beau-fermez et de
Bourse, and owned an estate at Wicres, in La
Bassee, near Lille, in French Flanders, now
Artois. Among his children were : Louis, re-
ferred to below ; Jacques, baptized June 18,
1622, died in 1676, married April 25, 1663,
Pieronne Bentyn, emigrated to Esopus, New
York, in 1675; Albert, baptized November 13,
1625 ; Francoise, married April 20, 1649,
Pierre Biljouw ; Anne.
(H) Louis, son of le sieur Chretien Du
Bois, was born at Wicres, October 27, 1627,
died in Kingston, New York, in June, 1696.
He emigrated first to Mannheim, in the Pala-
tinate, where he married and two of his sons
were born ; April 27, 1660, came with his fam-
ily in the ship "Gilded Otter" to New Nether-
land. He and his father-in-law were granted
by patent considerable tracts of land in Hur-
ley where they both lived until their removal
to New Paltz. June 7, 1663, his wife and
three sons were captured with others by the
Indians and held prisoners for three months,
and the campaign to rescue them resulted in
the purchase of the Walkill Valley, by the
Huguenot settlers, from the Indians, which
purchase was patented to them by Governor
Edmund Andros, September 29, 1677. Here
during the following spring they founded "Le
nouveau Palatinat" or New Paltz. In 1686
Louis Du Bois and his wife removed from
New Paltz to Kingston. He married, in the
French church in Mannheim, October 10,
1665, Catherine, daughter of Mathew and
Madeline (Jorisse) Blanchan, who died in
Kingston, New York, in 1706. Children :
Abraham, referred to below ; Isaac, born in
1659, died June 28, 1690, married in June,
1683, Maria Hasbrouck; Jacob, baptized Oc-
tober 9, 1661, died in 1745, married, March
8, 1689, Lysbeth Varnoye; Sarah, baptized
September 14, 1664, married, December 12,
1682, Joost Janz, of Marbletown ; David, bap-
tized March 13, 1667, married, March 8, 1689,
Cornelia Varnoye; Solomon, referred to be-
low; Rebecca, baptized June 18, 1671, died
yotmg; Ragel, baptized in April, 1675, died
young; Louis, born in 1677, married, Janu-
ary 19, 1701, Rachel, daughter of Abraham
and Maria (Deyo) Hasbrouck; Martin, born
January 3, 1679, married, January 17, 1697,
Sara Matthyssen.
(III) Abraham, son of Louis and Catherme
(Blanchan) Du Bois, was born in Mannheim,
Germany, December 26, 1657, died at New
Paltz, Ulster county. New York, October 7,
1 73 1. He married, March 6, 1681, Margaret,
daughter of Christian Deyo. Children : Sara,
baptized June 20, 1682, married, June 13, 1703,
Roelof Eltinge; Abraham (2), born April 17,
1685; Lea, born October 16, 1687, married
Philip Fires or Ferre ; Rachel, referred to
below ; Mary, twin with Rachel, baptized Oc-
tober 13, 1689, died young; Catherine, born
May 21, 1693, married, October 4, 1728, Wil-
liam Danielsz; Noah, baptized February 18,
1700, died young; Joel, baptized June 20, 1703,
died in 1734.
(IV) Rachel, daughter of Abraham and
Margaret (Deyo) Du Bois, was baptized at
New Paltz, Ulster county, New York, Oc-
tober 13, 1689. She married (first) April 6,
1713, Isaac, son of Solomon and Tryntje
(Gerritson) Du Bois, referred to below, and
married (second) Coats.
(Ill) Solomon, son of Louis and Catherine
(Blanchan) Du Bois, was born at Wiltwyck
or Hurley, about 1670, died at New Paltz,
Ulster county. New York, between June 26,
1756, and February 15, 1759. He married
about 1690, Tryntje Gerritsen, daughter of
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
Gerrit Focken and Jacomyntje Sleght. Chil-
dren: Isaac, referred to below; Jacomyntje,
baptized November 5, 1693, married, April
23, 1715, Barent, son of Isaac and Maria
(Hasbrouck) Du Bois; Benjamin, baptized
May 16, 1697, married Catrina Zuylant;
Sarah, baptized February 11, 1700, married,
November 17, 1720, Simon Jacobse Van
Wagenen; Catryn, baptized October 18, 1702,
died in infancy; Cornelis. died in 1798, mar-
ried, April 7, 1 729. Anna Margaret Hooghtel-
ing; Magdalena, baptized April 15, 1705, died
young; Catherine, married December 9, 1722,
Petrus Matheus Louw ; Deborah, died young ;
Hendrikus, baptized December 31, 1710, mar-
ried. May 6, 1733, Jannetje Hooghteling;
Magdalena, baptized December 20, 1713, mar-
ried. July 14, 1734, Josiah Eltinge.
(lY) Isaac, son of Solomon and Tryntje
(Gerritsen) Du Bois, was baptized at New
Paltz, September 21, 1691, died at Perkiomen,
Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, February
10, 1729. He married, April 6, 1713, Rachel,
daughter of Abraham and Margaret (Deyo)
Du Bois, referred to above. Children : Cath-
erine, born February 13, 1715; Margaret, born
about 1717; Sarah, born March 19, 1720; Re-
becca, born August 14, 1722; Elizabeth, re-
ferred to below.
(V) Elizabeth, daughter of Isaac and Rachel
(Du Bois) Du Bois, was born September 10,
1724. She married Abraham Sahler, the em-
igrant, referred to above.
(The Winfield Line.)
Caroline Winfield, mother of Charles Oliver
Sahler, M.D., was born February 20, 1832,
died March 2, 1896. She was married to
Solomon Sahler, February 24, 1852.
Casparus Winfield, grandfather of Charles
Oliver Sahler, was born August 4, 1795, died
January 15, 1879. His wife, Jane Van Aken,
was born October 9, 1798, and died June 14,
1842. She was the daughter of John Van
Aken and Maria Degruff. Grandmother and
grandfather Winfield were both from the town
of Esopus, and buried in the Grand View
cemetery, town of Esopus.
John Winfield, great-grandfather of Charles
Oliver Sahler. was born September 9, 1764,
died February 5, 1853 ; and his wife, Jane
Van Nostrand, was born March 12, 1770, died
October 26, 1849. John Winfield was a soldier
in the revolution. His gun is now in posses-
sion of James M. Winfield, M.D., Brooklyn,
New York. He also was made member of the
Livingston Lodge, No. 23, December 18, 1799.
There is a silver medal with name, date of
initiation and with the dove and olive branch
on one side, and on the reverse side all of the
emblems of the Master Mason. This jewel
was given to his son, Casparus Winfield, who
was also a member of the same lodge, called
Kingston No. 10. He, John Winfield, attended
a banquet given by the city of Kingston to
its veterans September 10, 1832 ; was over-
seer for Hurley in 1781 ; assessor for Esopus
in 181 1 ; trustee of the corporation of Kings-
ton, 1813-14-15; school commissioner for
Esopus, 1813-44. Jane Van Nostrand was a
daughter of Casparus Van Nostrand. a
soldier of the revolution, and Eva Freling-
huysen ; and a granddaughter of Judge Van
Nostrand and Annatie Steimets. Eva Frel-
inghuysen was a daughter of the Rev. Johan-
nes Frelinghuysen and Dinah Van Berr, and
a sister of General Frederick Frelinghuysen.
Their grandfather, the Rev. Jacobus Freling-
huysen, was sent by the classes of Amster-
dam to take charge of the Dutch Reformed
Church in New Jersey in 1719. He married
Eva Terhune.
John Winfield, great-great-grandfather of
Charles Oliver Sahler, was born March 8,
1727, died January 9, 1798. His wife. Eliza-
beth Smit, was born August 11, 1828.
John Winfield, great-great-great-grand-
father of Charles Oliver Sahler, was born
September 6, . He was a soldier in the
foot militia for the battle of Shawangunk,
under Colonel Rutsert, in 171 5, Zara Kool,
his wife, born November 16, 1694. and mar-
ried in 1716, was the daughter of Simon Kool
and Biliye Pieters ; granddaughter of Jacob
Barent Kool, and Maria Simmons, and great-
granddaughter of Barent Jacobset Kool and
Marie Leenderts.
Richard Winfield (Rutsert Wintveld), great-
great-great-great-grandfather of Charles Ol-
iver Sahler, was born in Derby, England, in
1657. He also lived in Albany, New York.
His wife, Magdalena Schutt, was a widow of
Gerrit Decker, and daughter of William Jan-
sen Schutt. Of the family of Winfield. says
Camden, famous for their knighthood and
ancient nobility, as stated of them before,
seated at Wingfield, county of Suffolk, before
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
519
the conquest of 1066. The castle of Wing-
field is situated low, without any earthmarks
for its defense. The ruined walls are still
standing, the south front or principal entrance
entire. The chequered fates and fortunes of
its noble, but often turbulent inmates, ex-
pressed this term, "Magnificence of feudal
times."
Of the many prominent fam-
ERVING ilies in America none can claim
a more honorable lineage. They
trace their ancestry to the Celts, who at an
early date settled on the east coast of Erin
and the west hills and islands of Albyn. The
word was originally written Erevine, meaning
a stout, westland man, and is derived from
the Celtic-Scythic words, Erin-vine, or fein,
Erin meaning west, and the early name for
Ireland, the westland, and vine or fein, a
strong and resolute man. The name is vari-
ously written : Erevine, Erwine, Ervine, Er-
ving, de Irvin, Irvine and Irving. One of the
first of the name was Crine Erevine, who was
Abthaine of Dull and senechal and collector
of "all the King's rent in the western isles."
He married the Princess Beatrix, eldest daugh-
ter of Malcolm II. Their son became Dun-
can I. of Scotland. Descendants of Crine
Erevine located in Bonshaw, where about I2q6
Robert the Bruce found an asylum in the
castle, when a fugitive from Edward Long-
shanks. Here he was concealed for some
time. Sir William Irvine (de Irvine), a son
of the owner of the castle, became an ardent
supporter of the cause of Robert the Bruce.
He was appointed his squire and armor bearer
and accompanied his royal master in his vari-
ous wanderings. He shared in his many nar-
row escapes and took part in his many excit-
ing encounters and battles, culminating in the
battle of Bannockburn in 1306, which resulted
in victory for the heroic Bruce. In 1323
Robert the Bruce awarded him for his ser-
vices and fidelity in his support the forest of
Drum in Aberdeenshire, originally the Royal
forest, and one of the hunting seats of the
Kings of Scotland ; also his coat-of-arms.
which he wore during the time he was con-
cealed in the Bonshaw castle. William Ir-
vine was also knighted by Robert the Bruce,
who gave him for his coat-of-arms : Three
holly leaves branded together on a shield
arant ; also his own motto, sub sole sub umbra
virens. A direct descendant of Sir William
Irvine located in the Orkneys, and from there
descendants of the family went to Stromness,
where John Irving, father of the progenitor
of the family in America, was born.
(I) John (2), son of John (i) Irving, born
in the island of Shapinsha in the Orkneys, in
1693, came to America about 1700 and located
in Boston, where he made his home until his
death, August 30, 1786. He was buried in
the Granary cemetery on Tremont Street, after
coming to this country he changed the spell-
ing of his name from Irving to Erving. At
an early age he began a mercantile business,
in which avocation he gained distinction, be-
coming one of the most prosperous and best
known merchants in the colonies. He took
an active interest in the civic and business
affairs of Boston, serving for twenty years
as a member of the council of Massachusetts,
He also took a deep interest in the educational
system of Boston. His portrait painted by
Copley is now in the possession of his great-
great-grandson, John Erving, of New York
City. He was married in Boston, December
I, 1725, to Abigail, daughter of John and
Mary Philips. She died June 20, 1759, and
was buried in King's Chapel, Boston. Chil-
dren: I. John, mentioned below. 2. George,
graduated from Har\'ard University in 1757;
married (first) Lucy Winslow, (second) Mary
Mcintosh Royall ; he died in London, Eng-
land, January 16, 1806; his son, George Wil-
liam, became American Consul at London and
minister to Denmark and Spain. 3. Abigail,
born May 16, 1729, died young. 4. Mary,
married Governor Scott, of the island of St.
Christopher. 5. Elizabeth, born September 14,
1731, died May 5, 1803; married Governor
James Bowdoin. 6. Abigail, born September
17, 1733. 7. William, born September 8, 1734.
died in Jamaica Plains, Massachusetts, May
27, 1791 ; graduated from Harvard University
in 1753: he served as major in the British
army and took part in General Wolfe's cam-
paign against Quebec; at the commencement
of the revolutionary war he resigned from the
army ; the British government, in recognition
of his services, gave him a grant of land in
Coos county, New Hampshire, which for
many years was known as the Erving loca-
tion ; he bequeathed one thousand pounds to
520
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
Harvard University to found the Erving Pro-
fessorship of Chemistry. 8. James, born April
14, 1736. 9. Sarah, born June 8, 1737; mar-
ried Brigadier-General Waldo. 10. Ann, born
January 20, 1740; married Duncan Stewart.
(II) John (3), son of John (2) and Abi-
gail (Philips) Erving, was born in Boston,
Massachusetts, January 26, 1727, died in
Bath, England, July 22, 1816, and was buried
in Walcot Parish churchyard (St. Swithins),
Bath. He attended the schools of his native
city, and in 1747 graduated from Harvard
University with the degree of A.B. He took
a prominent part in the civic affairs of his
native city and the Massachusetts colony. In
1760 he was one of the fifty-eight who signed
the "Boston Memorial," thus being one of the
first in America to oppose the officers of the
Crown; in 1774 he was an addressor of Hut-
chinson and in the same year was appointed a
mandamus councillor. In 1776 he fled to Hal-
ifax, and from there proceeded to England.
In 1778 he was proscribed and banished from
America; in 1779 his property was confiscated
under the Conspiracy Act. He married,
April 18, 1754, Maria Catharina, youngest
daughter of William Shirley, governor of
Massachusetts Bay, and commander-in-chief
of the British forces in North America. She
died March 12. 1816, aged eighty-seven years,
and was buried in the Walcot Parish church
yard. Children: I. Maria Catharina, christened
August 17, 1755. 2. Frances, baptized Sep-
tember 24, 1756. 3. John, mentioned below.
4. William, born in 1758, died November 14,
1772. 5. Shirley, christened November 23,
1759. 6. Abigail, born April 20, 1760.
(III) John (4), son of John (3) and Maria
Catharina (Shirley) Erving, was christened
in Boston, Massachusetts, November 20, 1757,
died there about 1847. He received a liberal
education, and for many years engaged in mer-
cantile business in his native city. He took
a prominent part in the civic and social af-
fairs of Boston. He married, September 24,
1785, Ann (Nancy), daughter of William
Sheaffe, collector of the port of Boston, and
sister of General Sir Robert Hale Sheaffe,
Baronet. Children: i. John, mentioned below.
2. William, born in 1790, died June 7, 1791.
3. Frances Anne, died in Waltham, Massa-
chusetts, May 12, 1880.
(IV) Colonel John (5) Erving, son of
John (4) and Ann (Sheaffe) Erving, was
born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1789, died
in New York City, October 26, 1862. He at-
tended the schools of his native city. On Jan-
uary 9, 1809, he was appointed second lieu-
tenant of the United States army. He then
for two years at the National Academy
at West Point. He was promoted first lieu-
tenant, August 16, 1812, and from April 6,
1813, to June 15, 1815, during the war of
1812, served as assistant adjutant-general,
with the rank of major. He was retained as
first lieutenant artillery corps. May 17, 1815,
and from March, 1817, to April, 1818, was
battalion adjutant. On April 25, 1818, he
was promoted captain and transferred to the
Fourth Artillery ; was brevetted major, April
28, 1828, for "ten years of faithful service
in one grade." He was commissioned major,
June I, 1821, and assigned to the Third Artil-
lery, and on December 2, 1843, was trans-
ferred to the Second Artillery. He performed
gallant service in the Seminole and Greek
wars in Florida. He was commissioned lieu-
tenant-colonel, August 16, 1846, and served
with distinction during the Mexican war. On
October 5, 1837, he was promoted colonel and
transferred to the First Artillery. He was
retired from active service because of failing
health, October 26, 1861.
He married, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
December 6, 1831, Emily Sophia, daughter
of Thomas Langdon-Elwyn, of Portsmouth,
New Hampshire, born March 12, 1802. died
March 13, 1878. Children: i. John, mentioned
below. 2. Langdon. born November 20. 1834,
died May 20, 1862 ; married, in Baltimore,
Maryland, December 18, i860, Sophia Clap-
ham, daughter of Josiah Pennington. 3.
Ehvyn, born June, 1839, died November 8,
1867 ; married, in Baltimore, April, i860,
Lydia Hollingsworth, daughter of Captain
Adams, United States navy. Mrs. Erving
was a granddaughter of John Langdon, born
in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, June 25,
1 74 1. He became one of the most prominent
citizens of the state, serving as delegate to
the continental congress, 1775-76 and 1783;
and was for several years a member of the
house of representatives, being speaker of the
house, 1776-82, 1804-05. He was president
of New Hampshire in 1785, and in 1787 was
delegate to the federal constitutional conven-
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
521
tion. He was governor of the state in 1788,
1805-09-10-11, and served as United States
.senator from New Hampshire, March 4, 1789,
to March 3, 1801, being for some time presi-
dent of that body. He decHned the appoint-
ment of secretary of the navy in 181 1. In
1812 he was the Democratic nominee for vice-
president of the United States. He died in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, September 18,
1819. Governor Langdon married, February
3. 1776, Elizabeth Sherburne, and had one
child, Elizabeth, born December 4, 1777. She
married, July 16, 1797, Thomas Elwyn, and
Tiad nine children. A daughter, Emily Sophia
Langdon-Elwyn, married Colonel John Er-
ving. United Stales Army, mentioned above.
(V) John (6), son of Colonel John (5)
and Emily Sophia (Langdon-Elwyn) Erving.
was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July
6, 1833. After a five years' course of study
at the Brothers Peugnet School in New York
City, he entered the sophomore class of Har-
vard University in 1850, and graduated in
1853 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts
In 1858 his alma mater conferred upon him
the degree of master of arts. He entered the
Harvard University Law School in 1853 and
graduated in 1855 with the degree of LL.B
In 1856 he was admitted to the bar in New
York City, but for many years has been re-
tired from active practice. He joined the
Seventh Regiment New York National Guard,
in i860, and was honorably discharged in
1868. In 1861 and 1863 he served with his
regiment in the war. He is a member of the
Union League and Harvard clubs, and a
charter member of the New York Bar As-
sociation. Mr. Erving married, April 22,
1862, Cornelia, second daughter of William
Paterson Van Rensselaer, son of Stephen Van
Rensselaer, of Albany, the last Patroon (see
Van Rensselaer V). She was born Septem-
ber 22, 1841. Children: i. Susan Van Rens-
selaer, born May 11, 1863, died July i, 191 2
2. Cornelia Van Rennsselaer, born April 6,
1865; married (first) John V. L. Pruyn, June
II, 1895; children: John V. L., Jr., born June
6,- 1896, died May 17, 1897; Erving, born Oc-
tober 26, 1897; Hendrik, born December 28,
1900; she married (second) April 6, 1908,
Hamilton L. Hoppin. 3. John Langdon, men-
tioned below. 4. Emily Elwyn, born June 29,
1868 ; married Henry Woodward Cooper, Jan-
uary 22, 1895; he died April 30, 1912; chil-
dren : Cornelia Van Rensselaer, born Febru-
ary 6, 1896, died July 20, 1899; Lamberton,
born February 16, 1900; John Erving, born
September 30, 1905. 5. Sarah Elizabeth, born
May 4, 1870; married, April 22, 1896, James
Gore King; children: James Gore, Jr., born
May 25, 1898. Eleanor Erving, born Novem-
ber 29, 1900; Edward Ramsay, born May 20,
1905, died October 21, 1907; Cornelia Van
Rensselaer, born February 7, 191 1. 6. Wil-
liam Van Rensselaer, born November 15, 1871 ;
is a lawyer residing in Albany, where he is
a representative of the estate of his grand-
father, the late William Paterson Van Rens-
selaer ; Mr. Erving was municipal civil ser-
vice commissioner for ten years, and is now
commissioner of public safety in Albany. 7.
Katharine Van Rensselaer, born November
19, 1873. 8. Eleanor Cecilia, born September
20, 1875. 9. Frances Shirley, born Novem-
ber 7, 1877, died September 29, 1878. 10.
Walter Shirley, born January 3, 1880. 11.
Justine Bayard, born December 22, 1881. 12.
Philip Livingston, born March 12, 1884, died
May II, 1885.
(VI) John Langdon, son of John (6) and
Cornelia (Van Rensselaer) Erving, was born
on Manising Island, Rye, New York, July
31, 1866. He was educated in private schools
of New York City, and for twenty years was
connected with the Mexican Cable Company.
In January, 1885, he enlisted in the Sixth
Company, Seventh Regiment New York Na-
tional Guard. In August, 1887, he was com-
missioned first lieutenant in the Twelfth Regi-
ment. In March, 1895, he enlisted in Troop
A, Second Army Corps, United States Army,
and served with his troop in the campaign in
Porto Rico during the Spanish-American war
in 1898, and in the fall of this year was hon-
orably discharged. He married, November 3,
1904, Alice Hanchet Rutherford. Children:
I. Alice Rutherford, born May 24, 1906. 2.
Cornelia Van Rensselaer, born November 23,
1907. 3. John Langdon, Jr., born August i,
1909- "
The surnames Dickey, Dick
DICKEY and the like are manifestly de-
rived from the personal or bap-
tismal name Richard. Richard besides being
itself a surname, like a number of other per-
522
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
sonal names having the dual capacity, has
given rise to other surnames. Among the
surnames that have been derived from Rich-
ard and its modifications in almost every
country of Europe, are Richards, Richardson,
MacRichard, Rich, Riche, Ritchie, Riches,
Rick, Dick, Hitchin, Dix, Dickinson and so on.
These names are common, some of them to
every country in Europe, though Dickey is
confined for the most part to England and
Ireland. It is in some cases a rendering from
the Gaelic term, MacRiocard, which is also
in many cases rendered as Richardson. The
Dickey family or rather families bearing the
name of Dickey were known in America in
the early part of the eighteenth century.
(I) Robert Dickey, immigrant ancestor of
the Dickey family, was born in Ireland, and
died in New York City. He came from Ire-
land in 1798 and was a shipping merchant in
New York. He married Anne Brown. Chil-
dren : Hugh T., Anne, Elizabeth, Jane, George,
Robert, John, Charles Denston, mentioned be-
low : Mary.
(II) Charles Denston, son of Robert and
Anne (Brown) Dickey, was born October 8,
1818, in New York City, and died at Islip,
Long Island, in 1897. He received his pre-
liminary education in the schools of the city,
and in 1835 entered the office of Brown
Brothers & Company, remaining with the firm
till his death in 1897. During this period he
represented the house at various times in Sa-
vannah, New Orleans and Mobile, and became
a partner in 1859. In 1850 he married, at
Greensboro, Alabama, Mary, born October 28,
1825, daughter of Dr. John and Sophia
(Graham) Witherspoon. Sophia (Graham)
Witherspoon, mother of Mary (Witherspoon)
Dickey, and grandmother of Charles Denston
(2) Dickey, was a daughter of Governor Jo-
seph Graham, of North Carolina. Children
of Charles Denston and Mary (Witherspoon)
Dickey: Eliza Goldthwaite, born in Mobile,
Alabama, 1853; Charles Denston, mentioned
below; Sophia Witherspoon, New York, 1864;
Mary Witherspoon, New York, 1866.
(III) Charles Denston (2), son of Charles
Denston (i) and Mary (Witherspoon)
Dickey, was born at Mobile, Alabama, May
8, i860. He was educated in St. Paul's
School, Concord, New Hampshire, and at Har-
vard University, graduating in the class of
1882. After leaving college he entered the
office of Brown Brothers & Company. In
1885 he became their representative in Phil-
adelphia, where he lived for a period of about
two years, afterwards returning to New York
as a partner in the New York house. Mr.
Dickey is a director of the Commercial Trust
Company of New Jersey, trustee of the Green-
wich Savings Bank, trustee of the London
Assurance Corporation, director of the Mer-
chants' National Bank of the City of New
York, director of the Niagara Falls Power
Company, United States trustee of the North-
ern Assurance Company, Limited, of London,
trustee of the Ocean Accident and Guarantee
Corporation, and director of the United States
Mortgage and Trust Company. Mr. Dickey
also belongs to a number of leading clubs.
He married, in New York City, March 14,
1893, Louise, daughter of Stephen and Mar-
garet (Johnson) Whitney, of New Haven.
Children: Charles Denston (3), born Decem-
ber 3, 1893; Stephen Whitney, January 2,
1897; Lawrence Witherspoon, April 12, 1906.
Originally spelled Rosseter,
ROSSITER this name is of undoubted
Saxon or Norman origin, and
probably was carried into England with the
conquering army of William the Norman. It
is still a conspicuous one in England, as well
as in the United States, and has borne its
part in developing this country in the various
branches of progress.
(I) Sir Edward Rossiter, the founder of
the family in the United States, came from a
good substantial family of the English gentry,
and owned a large estate in the county of
Somerset, England. He was commissioned
in London in 1629 as one of the assistants to
Governor Winthrop, and embarked for the
colonies from Plymouth, England, March 20,
1630, in the ship "Mary and John," com-
manded by Captain Syuet, with one hundred
and forty persons abroad. Their original
destination was the Charles river, but the cap-
tain decided to land them at Dorchester Neck,
at the end of a two months' voyage. In the
histories of the colonies Edward is spoken of
as a "godly man of good repute,"' who left
England for the sake of religion. He lived to
fill his position but a few months after his
arrival in this country, and died October 23.
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
523
1630. There is no mention of Sir Edward's
wife, and it is supposed that she had previ-
ously died.
(II) Dr. Brayard Rossiter, son of Sir Ed-
ward Rossiter, was the only member of his
family who came with him. He was accom-
panied by his wife, Elizabeth (Alsop) Ros-
siter, whom he had married in England. Dr.
Rossiter is spoken of in history as a finely
educated man from the best schools in Eng-
land. He was one of the principal men who
commenced the settlement of Windsor, Con-
necticut, in 1636, where he was a magistrate
for eighteen years, and became widely known
as a physician. In 1652 he removed to Guil-
ford, Connecticut. On March 11, 1662, he
performed the first post-mortem examination
in the Connecticut colony, and history has it
that it was the first autopsy of which there
is any record in New England, antedating by
a dozen years the one in Boston, in 1674, an
account of which is given by Dr. Greene in
his "History of Medicine." Dr. Rossiter died
in Guilford, September 30, 1672. He had five
sons and five daughters, but the only son who
had descendants was Josiah.
(III) Josiah, son of Dr. Brayard and Eliza-
beth (Alsop) Rossiter, was born in 1646, in
Windsor, died January 31, 1716, in Guilford,
whither he had removed with his father when
a boy. He was one of the twelve patentees
of the town of Guilford in 1685, and was a
very prominent man in that community, fill-
ing many official positions. He represented
the town in the state legislature nine times,
the last year being 1700. He was town clerk
from 1695 to 17015, and from 1707 to 1716,
the time of his death. In 1676 he was ensign
of the local militia company; he served as
county and probate judge of New Haven,
Connecticut, and was for ten years one of the
assistants of the governor, and was also the
first naval officer of the port of Guilford. He
married, in 1676, Sarah, daughter of the Hon,
Samuel Sherman, of Stamford and Wood-
bury, Connecticut, from whose grandfather
descended Roger Sherman, one of the signers
of the Declaration of Independence, General
William Tecumseh Sherman and Senator John
Sherman. Children of Josiah Rossiter : Sarah,
who died young; Elizabeth, born in April,
1679; Josiah (2), born March 31, 1680;
Samuel, died young; Timothy, born June 5,
1683; John born October 13, 1684; Samuel,
born February 28, 1686 ,■* David, born April
17, 1687; Jonathan, born April 3, 1688;
Nathaniel, of whom further; Sarah, born Feb-
ruary 25, 1691 ; Patience, born April 6, 1692;
Johanna, born April 23, 1693.
(IV) Ensign Nathaniel Rossiter, eighth son
of Josiah and Sarah (Sherman) Rossiter, was
born November 10, 1689, in Guilford, where
he died October 4, 1751. He resided in his
native town, and was a joiner by occupation.
In 1716 his property was valued for taxation
at fifty-eight pounds, nineteen shillings and six
pence. He married Anna, daughter of Lieu-
tenant Nathaniel Stone. She died April 20,
1776, having survived her husband about a
quarter of a century. Children: Nathaniel
(2), born March 23, 1716; Benjamin, born
September 25, 1718; Sarah, born June i, 1720;
Noah, born April 15, 1725, died February,
1757; David, born in October, 1728, died in
September, 1731 ; Nathan, of whom further.
(V) Nathan, youngest child of Ensign
Nathaniel and Anna (Stone) Rossiter, was
born October 31, 1730, in Guilford, died in
1788, in Richmond, Berkshire county, Mass-
achusetts. He settled in the latter town in
1775, locating in the western part, a little over
one mile west of the village of Richmond, at
the intersection of two roads. He married,
June 14, 1755, Sarah, daughter of Timothy
and Bathsheba (Stone) Baldwin, of North
Guilford, born July 24, 1735, in that town.
Children: Nathan (2), of whom further;
Noah, born June 5, 1759, resided on the
paternal homestead; Abraham, died young;
Sarah, born August 28, 1763; Abraham, born
October 20, 1765, resided on the homestead;
Samuel, born February 26, 1768 ; Benjamin,
born November 23, 1771, lived in New York;
Rebecca, born June 20, 1774.
(VI) Nathan (2), eldest child of Nathan
(i) and Sarah (Baldwin) Rossiter, was born
in 1756, in Guilford. He settled in the south-
ern part of the town of Williamstown, Berk-
shire county. New York, where he was a
prominent citizen, and died in 1829. His
name appears frequently as a witness to deeds
and other legal documents. He married Han-
nah, daughter of Timothy and Hannah (Wad-
hams) Tuttle, of Goshen, Connecticut, born
there August 10, 1758. Children: Dr. David,
born in February, 1783, died in February,
524
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
1870; Timothy Tuttle, of whom further;
Louis Nathan, born in 1788 ; MeHssa, born in
1790, died in June, 1859; Edward.
(VTI) Timothy Tuttle, second son of Na-
than (2) and Hannah (Tuttle) Rossiter, was
born in 1785, probably in Williamstown,
though his birth is not there recorded. He
died in that town, July 29, 1809, at the age of
twenty-four years. He married Cynthia
Powers. She married (second) intentions re-
corded December 20, 1813, in WilHamstown,
Charles Bulkeley, of Granville, Massachusetts.
Son of Timothy Tuttle and Cynthia (Powers)
Rossiter ; Lucius Tuttle, of whom further.
(Vni) Lucius Tuttle, only son of Timothy
Tuttle and Cynthia (Powers) Rossiter, was
born October 2, 1809, in Williamstown.
though not recorded there, and died August
24, 1879, in Guilford, Connecticut. In 1843
he went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he was
a dry-goods merchant until 185 — , when he
retired and settled in Brooklyn, New York.
He always maintained a summer home in
Guilford. Owing to business reverses in 1865
he entered the service of the United States in
the customs department in New York City,
where he continued ten years. Following this
he became secretary of the York County Iron
Company, of York, Pennsylvania, but did not
remove his residence from Brooklyn. He
continued in this capacity until a short time
before his death, being prevented by illness
in his last years from further activity. He
was a regular attendant of the Lafayette Ave-
nue Presbyterian Church, of Brooklyn, and a
steadfast supporter of Republican principles,
but not an active politician. He married,
August 28, 1843, at Troy, New York, Mary
Wickes, bom January 30, 1817, at Jamaica,
Long Island, died January 4, 1907, at the
home of her daughter in New York City.
She was a descendant of General Van Wyck
Wickes, of Jamaica. Children of Lucius Tut-
tle Rossiter and wife: i. Edward Van Wyck,
of whom further. 2. Walter King, born
May 25. 1846, died October i, 1910; married,
April 26, 1 87 1, Emilie K. Mayo, daughter of
Joshua C. Mayo. Children : i. Marie Louise
born February 16, 1872. ii. Ethel Mayo, born
March 28, 1874, married Peter Duncan Mc-
Naughton; child, Walter, iii. Helen Wickes,
born March 14, 1876. 3. William Wickes, of
whom further. 4. Mary Wickes, bom Au-
gust 19, 1849, died January, 1852. 5. Frank
Powers, born August 19, 1852. 6. Anna, born
October 7, 1853, died February, 1856. 7.
Elizabeth, born December 12, 1854. 8. Lucius
Tuttle, born September 4, 1856. 9. Arthur
Lawrence, born October 18, 1857, died in
August, 1858. 10. CHnton Lawrence.
(IX) Edward Van Wyck, oldest child of
Lucius Tuttle and Mary (Wickes) Rossiter,
was born July 13, 1844, in St. Louis, Missouri,
died December 10, 1910, at Flushing, New
York. He was educated at the Collegiate and
Polytechnic Institute, of Brooklyn, and upon
attaining his majority became a clerk in the
office of the Hudson River Railroad Company,
where he continued two years. For the suc-
ceeding seven years he was a clerk in the
treasurer's ofifice of the same company, and
from 1867 to 1877 was cashier of the com-
pany. From 1877 to 1901 he was treasurer
of the company, and after 1901 was vice-presi-
dent of the New York Central & Hudson
River Railroad Company, and from 1883 to
1900 he was treasurer of the same company.
After November 9, 1900, was vice-president of
the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad
Company, and since January 3, 1905, of the
Michigan Central Railroad Company. He
was a vice-president of the Cleveland, Cin-
cinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Com-
pany, and an officer and director in other sub-
sidiary companies of the New York Central
system. He was a vice-president and a di-
rector of the Lincoln National Bank of New
York; vice-president and trustee of the Lin-
coln Safe Deposit Company ; trustee of the
Bowery Savings Bank ; director of the Queens
Insurance Company of America; and also of
many coal and other corporations. He was a
member of the Chamber of Commerce of New
York ; New England Society of New York,
and of the Union League Club ; and for many
years he was a warden of St. George's Pro-
testant Episcopal Church, of Flushing. He
married, at Great Neck, Long Island, June
16, 1S69, Estelle Hewlett, born 1845. daughter
of Joseph Lawrence and Mary (Cromwell)
Hewlett, of Hewlett's Point, Great Neck, Long
Island. Children: i. Edward Lawrence, of
whom further. 2. Estelle Hewlett, born Oc-
tober 6, 1872 ; married, November, 1898,
Charles Edward Titus, and resides in New
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
525
York City; children: Arthur Rossiter, born
November, 1899; Charles Edward, March,
1902. 3. Arthur Wickes, of whom further.
4. Frank Herriman, born March, 1878; con-
nected with the accounting department of the
New York Central Railroad. 5. Mary Hew-
lett, residing in New York City. 6. Ernest
Tuttle, born April, 1884; graduated from a
school in Pomfret, Connecticut; unmarried;
resides in New York City.
(X) Edward Lawrence, eldest child of Ed-
ward Van Wyck and Estelle (Hewlett) Ros-
siter, was bom August 14, 1870, at Great
Neck, Long Island. He was educated in
Flushing Institute, and in 1887, at the age of
seventeen years, entered business as a clerk
in the office of the New York Central & Hud-
son River Railroad Company. In 1900 he
became assistant treasurer of the same, and
in November, 1902, became treasurer. Since
December, 1910, he has been a director of the
Lincoln National Bank of New York ; is a
director in a number of subsidiary companies
of the New York Central railroad system.
For two years he was a member of the Seventh
Regiment, National Guard State of New
York, receiving his discharge about 1897. He
is a member of Christ (Protestant Episcopal)
Church, of Greenwich, Connecticut, and is
identified with numerous clubs, including the
LTnion League of New York, Transportation,
Greenwich Country, and Field of Greenwich.
Politically he is an Independent. He now
resides at Greenwich, Connecticut.
Mr. Rossister married, June 5, 1895, i"
Brooklyn, Ella Fowler, a graduate of Packer
Institute, born October 29. 1875, daughter of
Henry J. and Sarah (Quimby) Fowler, of
Brooklyn, New York. Children : Lawrence
Fowler, born March 23, 1896, in Brooklyn,
now a member of the class of 1913, afthe Al-
len-Stevenson School, of New York City ;
Dorothy, a student at the Ely School of Green-
wich.
(X) Arthur Wickes, second son of Edward
Van Wyck and Estelle (Hewlett) Rossiter,
was born October 8, 1874, at Flushing, Long
Island. He attended the Flushing Institute
and Drisler's private school of New York
City. In 1892, at the age of eighteen, he
entered the employ of J. W. Davis & Com-
pany, bankers and brokers (then located at
No. 66 Broadway, but now at No. 100 Broad-
way), as a boy, and since then has filled by
steady advancement every position in the busi-
ness. In 1900 he became a member of the
firm. At the present time (1913) he is one
of the active members of the Stock Exchange.
He holds membership in the Union Club,
Racquet and Tennis Club, Automobile Club,
the Stock Exchange Lunch Club, the Nassau
Country Club, the Piping Rock Country Club,
and the Oakland Golf Club. ■ He is a Re-
publican in politics. He resides at Glen Cove,
Long Island.
He married, in 1906, Alice Riggs Colgate,
of Flushing, Long Island, daughter of Robert
and Henrietta (Craig) Colgate. Children:
Henrietta Craig, born March 22, 1907; Arthur
Wickes, Jr., born March 30, 1908.
(IX) William Wickes, son of Lucius Tuttle
and Mary (Wickes) Rossiter, was born in
Troy, February 9, 1848, and died in Brook-
lyn, April 27, 1897. As a merchant in general
produce he began business with the firm of
Wallace & Wickes ; afterwards the company
was reorganized under the name of Rossiter &
Skidmore, and Mr. Rossiter was its principal
member until the time of his death. He was
also the president of the Terminal Warehouse
Company, in New York City. He was a Re-
publican and a member of the Presbyterian
church. He was prominent in the social and
club life of Brooklyn, serving on the boards of
such organizations as the Hamilton Club, Chil-
dren's Aid Society, etc. He married (first)
in Brooklyn, August 2, 1870, Emma L., daugh-
ter of Robert Richmond, who was born in
Brooklyn, in 1849, and died October 23. 18S8;
(second) Helen, daughter of James Hendrick,
of Albany, New York. All his children were
by the first wife. Her father, Robert Rich-
mond, was born in Scotland, and came to
America at the age of twenty-one, and died in
1879. Children: Van Wyck, of whom further:
Julie, born January 21, 1875, married, April
29, 1896, John J. Hinchman ; William Wickes.
born November 13, 1877.
(X) Van Wyck, son of William Wickes
and Emma L. (Richmond) Rossiter, was born
in Brooklyn, May 12, 1871. After having had
a thorough preliminary course of study in the
Holbrook School, Ossinning, he completed his
education at the Polytechnic Institute, of
Brooklyn. His first business experience was
with H. A. Rogers, at No. 19 John Street,
526
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
New York City ; but this position he was after
a time compelled to give up on account of ill
health, and going out to California for re-
cuperation, he remained for a year. In 1893
he organized the firm of Rossiter, McGovern
& Company, the company being incorporated
in 1899, and Mr. Rossiter serving as its presi-
dent until he retired from the business. He
was also president of the Queensboro Electric
Light & Power Company, of the borough of
Queens, New York City; of the Citizens' Elec-
tric Lighting Company, of Far Rockaway,
Long Island, New York ; of the Liberty Light
& Power Company, of Liberty, Sullivan
county. New York, and a director of many
other companies. He organized and was for
six years the president of the Rockland County
Trust Company ; is president of the Gregory
& Sherman Company, and of the Braeburn
Association, all three of these organizations
being of Nyack, Rockland county, New York,
Mr. Rossiter making his home at Upper
Nyack. He is president of the Nyack
Country Club, and is a member of the Union
League Club, of New York City. In politics
he is a Republican, and he has served as
village trustee of Upper Nyack.
Mr. Rossiter married, in California, Octo-
ber 10, 1895, Mabel, daughter of Lewis Cass
and Anna L. (Davis) Fuller, who was born
in Portland, Oregon. Her father was a well-
known banker of that state. Children: Rich-
mond, born November 8, 1896; Ruth Mabel,
born September 29, 1897; Van Wyck, born
May 26, 1900; Margaret, born April 22, 1901 ;
Elizabeth, born July 23, 191 1.
This old Dutch family has been con-
SIP tinuously located in New Jersey for
two and a half centuries, and seven
generations have been born in one house, lo-
cated at the south corner of Bergen Avenue
and Newkirk Street in Jersey City. This
house was built by Adraen Hendrickse Sip
about 1664, and is still occupied by his lineal
descendant, who was born there.
(I) Adraen Hendrickse Sip, of Breda, Hol-
land, came to America in 1641, and joined the
church in Bergen, November 13, 1666. The
house which he built there in 1664 is still
standing in almost its original form. The
h-omes of that period were usually one-story
structures built of stone or wood and some-
times of both, and were comfortable and
hospitable in appearance. The steep roof
curved slightly toward the lower part and often
extended beyond the walls to form a piazza,
the edge being supported by pillars. There
were spacious rooms on either side of a wide
hall which ran through the middle of the house,
and the attic contained several sleeping apart-
ments, a spinning and loom room and a store-
room. A very fair example of one of these
is the Sip homestead. Adraen H. Sip married
(first) February 4, 1656, Grietje Warnants
Van Schonevelt, and (second) Geertje Aur-
ians, a widow, who survived him and died May
17, 1691. Children: Henricus, Jan Arianse,
Antje, became the wife of Symon Jacobse
Van Winkle ; Maritje, married Sibi Opdyke.
He was one of the original purchasers on
January 30, 1658, of the Peninsula between
the Hudson and Hackensack rivers, south
from Weehawken to Bergen Point, from the
Indians, which was finally granted to the in-
habitants of Bergen in the year 1661.
(II) Jan Arianse, second son of Adraen
Hendrickse and Grietje Warnants (Van
Schonevelt) Sip, was born May 24, 1662, died
August 12, 1729. He was an important and
influential person in the town of Bergen. He
was lieutenant in the Bergen militia under
Captain John Pinhorne from 1703 to 171 1,
and later captain. He married, April 22, 1683,
Johanna Van Vorst. Children, all baptized in
New York: Arie, born October 25, 1684, bap-
tized November 11, 1684: Hillegend, bap-
tized August 28, 1687 ; Ide, twin of Hillegond,
died in infancy; Margaret, August 17, 1690;
Annetje, February 22, 1693; Ide, mentioned
below: Johannis. born May 10, 1698; Abra-
ham, April II, 1704; Lena, baptized Decem-
ber I, 1708.
(III) Ide, son of Jan Arianse and Johanna
(Van Vorst) Sip, was born September 3, 1695,
in Bergen, and died February 26, 1762. He
was commissioned lieutenant of the Sixth
Company of the Bergen militia under captain
Michael C. Vreeland. March 13, 17^3, and
was active in the affairs of the town. He mar-
ried (first) April 12, 1715, at Hackensack,
Ariantje Cornelisse Cadmuys, a native of
Passaic, and (second) June 9. 1725, in New
York, Antje Van Wagenen, born about 1704,
daughter of Johannis and Catalyntje (Hel-
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
527
migse) Van Wagenen, died January 25, 1749.
Children of second marriage : John, Cornelius,
Annetje, Catalyntje, born August 5, 1731 ; Ar-
riantje, baptized June 2, 1733; Jannetje, Sep-
tember 30, 1735; Garret, mentioned below.
(IV) Garret, youngest child of Ide and
Antje (Van Wagenen) Sip, was baptized Au-
gust 21, 1740, in Bergen, and died October
4, 1775. He married Jannetje Merselis, who
survived him almost fifty years, dying October
4, 1775. Children: Antje, born September 6,
1764; Peter, mentioned below; Jenneke,
March 12, 1770.
(V) Peter, only son of Garret and Jannetje
(Merselis) Sip. was born August 18, 1767,
in Bergen, and died May i, 1852. He was a
jurist of the finest type, being judge of the
Bergen Court of Common Pleas, and in 1840
was elected county judge of Hudson county
by the Republican party, of which he was an
earnest supporter. He was the founder of
the New Jersey Railroad & Transportation
Company; Newark Plank Road Company;
Mechanics Bank, Newark ; Jersey City & Ber-
gen railroad, which has since grown to enor-
mous proportions He married, November i,
1789, Elizabeth Vreeland, who died March i,
1827. Children: Garret, born March 11, 1791 ;
Marritje, February 27, 1795 ; Richard, men-
tioned below.
(VI) Richard, second son of Peter and Eli-
zabeth (Vreeland) Sip, was born August 31,
1800, in Bergen, and died April 10, 1865. He
was engaged in looking after his father's es-
tate, and bv his good judgment and foresight
the value of the property was greatly increased.
He was a member of the Dutch Reformed
church of Bergen, now Jersey City, and in
politics was a Republican. He married, in
Jersey City, September 5, 1856, Sarah Eliza-
beth Wayland, born July 31, 1818, in New
York City, died October 20, 1910, daughter
of Letitia Wayland, born in Bath, England,
June 22, 1789, died July 12, 1864. They had
one son, Richard Garret, mentioned below.
(VII) Richard Garret, only son of Richard
and Sarah Elizabeth (Wayland) Sip, was
born July 2, i860, in Jersey City, New Jer-
■ sey. He first attended private schools in New
York City, and later Professor Anthon's
Grammar School, where he remained until he
was sixteen years of age, when he entered
the School of Mines. He studied Chemistry
and Mining Engineering. He then made an
extensive tour of the world in a 560-ton bark,
when he returned to Jersey City He is now
retired and is living in the old homestead built
by Adraen Hendrickse Sip in 1664. In poli-
tics he is a Republican. Mr. Sip is vice-presi-
dent of the Holland Society of New York,
president of the Hudson County Holland So-
ciety, and of the Alpha Beta Delta. He is a
charter member of the Carteret Club of Jersey
City, Indian Harbor Yacht Club, Lake Hopat-
cong YacTit Club, Manhattan Bicycle Club,
New York, and member of Chamber of Com-
merce, Jersey City, New Jersey.
Mr. Sip married, December 31, 1889, in
Jersey City, Mary Ella Riker, born March
26, 1863, in Jersey City, daughter of John
Kidney and Martha Ann (Van Derlinder)
Riker. The latter was born December 16,
1832, and died November 9, 1908, in Jersey
City. John K. Riker was engaged in the hotel
business. He died April 14, 1867. Mr. and
Mrs. Riker had children : John Romine, born
October, 1855; Henry H., December 3, 1857;
Albert : Mary Ella, above mentioned as the
wife of Richard Garret Sip.
Captain John Luther was born
LUTHER in Shrewsbury, England. He
set sail from Dorset county,
England, for the new world, landing in Bos-
ton, Massachusetts, in 1635. and in 1637 was
one of the first purchasers and settlers of
Swansea ; his ninety acres of land were said
to have been purchased from the Indians for
a peck of white beans. It is quite probable
that the land was assigned by the government
and the peck of beans merely quieted any
claim made by the Indians. He sold his in-
terests there and in 1642 became one of the
fir.st settlers of Gloucester; in the same year
he was made governor of Rhode Island. He
was employed by the merchants of Boston as
captain of a vessel to go to Delaware Bay on
a trading voyage, and while there was killed
by the Indians in 1644. Evidently his son was
captured at the same time, for on May 2, 1646,
the general court of Massachusetts decreed
that the widow Luther should have the balance
of her husband's wages according to the cus-
tom, after allowing the merchants what they
paid for the redemption of her son. Children:
528
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
Samuel, of whom further; Hezekiah, of whom
further, and James.
(II) Rev. Samuel Luther, son of Captain
John Luther, was born in 1636, in Taunton,
and died December 20, 1716, at Kickemuit,
Rhode Island. He was among the first set-
tlers of Swansea, Massachusetts, in 1667, and
made a demand upon the town of Taunton,
October 19, 1672, for his father's purchase
rights, but it was shown that his brother had
been for many years in peaceful possession of
the property and his appeal was denied. He
served as selectman of Swansea before 1675.
His wife bore the baptismal name of Mary,
and they had children ; Samuel, born October
25, 1663; Theophilus, October 9, 1665; Mary,
July 25, 1668; Ebenezer, December 27, 1678;
Mehitable, married Ebenezer Cole; Martha,
married Huge Cole. The first four are re-
corded at Rehoboth.
(II) Hezekiah, son of Captain John Luther,
was born about 1639-40, in Taunton, and died
July 23, 1723, in Swansea, Massachusetts,
where he was one of the first settlers, in asso-
ciation with his brother Samuel. His descend-
ants continued to itside there and in Rehoboth.
and in Warren and other towns in Rhode
Island. His first wife bore the name of Eliza-
beth, and his second that of Sarah, Children
of first wife, born in Swansea: John, born
1663, died 1697; Nathaniel, 1664, married,
June 28, 1693, Ruth Cole. Children of second
wife: Joseph, born February 12, 1669, died
March 23, 1736; Elizabeth, December 29,
1671, married John Kinnicutt ; Edward, April
27, 1674, married (first) Sarah Callender,
(second) Elizabeth Mason; Hezekiah, men-
tioned below; Hannah, married Dr. Richard
Winslow.
(III) Hezekiah (2), fifth son of Hezekiah
(i) and Sarah ( ) Luther, was born
August 27, 1676. in Swansea, and married.
March 23, 1704, Martha Gardner. They were
the parents of twelve children.
(IV) Hezekiah (3), .son of Hezekiah (2)
and Martha (Gardner) Luther, was born Feb-
ruary 19, 1728, in Swansea, where he resided.
He married, December 23, 1750, Mary Jolls,
and they were the parents of eight children :
Hannah, born 175 1 ; William, mentioned be-
low; Mehitable, 1755; Israel, 1757; Elizabeth,
1759; Rebecca, 1761 ; Hezekiah and Hopestill
(twins), 1763.
(V) William, eldest son of Hezekiah (3)
and Mary (Jolls) Luther, was born December
31, 1752, and died at sea, May 11, 1784. He
was a soldier of the revolution, serving first
under Captain Ezra Ormsbee, of the town of
Warren, in 1776, and in 1781 in Captain Cur-
tis Cole's company of Colonel Nathan Miller's
regiment. Caleb Salisbury was a soldier in
the same companies, as was also his relative
Gideon Luther. He married, about 1774,
Patience Miller, and they were the parents of
the following children, born in Warren : James
Miller, October 23, 1776; Hezekiah, Novem-
ber 26, 1778 ; Asa, mentioned below ; William.
April I, 1784. The mother married (second)
Caleb Salisbury.
(VI) Asa, third son of William and Pa-
tience (Miller) Luther, was born April 24,
1781, in Warren, Rhode Island, and settled
when a young man in Albany county, New
York. Thence he removed to Saratoga
county, where he engaged in the manufacture
of pottery ware and lived until his death. He
married Phebe Purinton, a native of Saratoga
county, and they were the parents of three
children: John Purinton, George W., and
Caroline.
(VII) George Washington, son of Asa and
Phebe (Purinton) Luther, was born October
5, 1815, in Saratoga county, New York, and
died May 10, 1889, in Albany. For more than
forty years he conducted a retail coal busi-
ness in Albany, and was successful in business
and esteemed as a private citizen. He mar-
ried Phebe Andrews, born March 28. 1813. in
Stillwater, Saratoga county, and died in Al-
bany, September 23, 1882, daughter of
Machiavel Andrews ; her father was a prom-
inent civil engineer, residing in Stillwater,
Saratoga county, and constructed vari-
ous water works in the state of Pennsylvania,
and was chief engineer in charge of construc-
tion of the Delaware & Hudson canal. George
W. Luther and wife have three children: i.
Ellen Elizabeth, wife of Edward Gary, who
has been for several years editor of the New
York Times, and has a daughter Elisabeth
Luther Gary. 2. John Asa. 3. George Mar-
tin, mentioned below.
(VIII) George Martin, junior son of
George W. and Phebe (Andrews) Luther, was
born .'\ugust 25, 1849. '" Greenbush, \'an
Rensselaer countv. New York, and attended
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
529
Albany Academy. Entering Cornell Univers-
ity, he graduated in 1870, in his twenty-first
year, after which he continued to reside at
home, assisting his father in business until
1885. In the last named year he removed to
New York City and engaged in the manufac-
turing business, becoming treasurer of the C.
W. Hunt Company of New York, in which
position he continued until 1890. At this
time the Nichols Chemical Company was
formed and Mr. Luther became its secretary,
and soon after was made secretary and gen-
eral manager of the Nichols Copper Company
of New York, in which relation he has con-
tinued until the present time. He is also presi-
dent of the Granby Consolidated Mining
Smelting and Power Company. Ltd., of Brit-
ish Columbia, and is vice-president of the
Albert Mines Company of Canada. He is a
member of the Albany Society of New York.
He married, February 12, 1873, Mary H.
Gould, born in Albany, New York, daughter
of William and Sarah (Hartness) Gould.
Mr. and Mrs. Luther are the parents of two
daughters: Mary Gould and Phebe Andrews.
The" latter is the wife of Philip Lee Gill, of
Brooklyn, New York, and is mother of Philip
Lee Gill Jr., born in that borough.
The Saugerties and Albany
MYERS families of the Myer or Myers
name are descendants of Chris-
tian Myers, who was born in the village of
Wolferlingen, about six miles northeast of
Coblenz, in the Palatinate on the banks of
the Rhine, March 11, 1688, and died in Sau-
gerties, New York, January 5, 1781. He
and his wife are buried on the old Christian
Myers farm at Churchland, town of Sauger-
ties, New York. He married, 1710, Ann Geer
trury Theunyes, born May 15, 1690, died Jan-
uary 9, 1766. Christian Myers and wife, with
the Palatinate emigration, arrived in New
York, June 24, 1710, remaining with Governor
Robert Hunter during the summer, and were
then transported to West Camp, Ulster county
New York, the exact date of their arrival
there not being known, nor the length of their
stay at that place. We next hear of him as
the purchaser of the farm at Churchland, just
west of the village of Saugerties, February 24,
1724, and there he spent his remaining days.
In the course of time he added a large tract of
land to his original purchase, and this was
later apportioned as farms among several of
his sons. He also erected a mill on the Mud-
dah Kill. In 1738 he was named as one of
the freeholders of Kingston, and he was an
elder in the Kaatsbaan church. His will, ex-
ecuted March 15, 1773, proved May 8, 1783,
bequeaths to his sons Willem, Johannis, Ben-
jamin (of whom further), Petrus and Tobias;
and children of his son Christian, deceased,
and heirs of his daughters, Marytje, Christina
and Catrina (deceased), and his daughter
Geertje ; it also liberates and provides for his
old slave Cut? during his life.
(II) Benjamin, son of Christian and Ann
Geertruy (Theuyes) Myers, born October 21,
1730, died December 12, 1819. He married
Leah, daughter of Teunis and Catrina (Legg)
Osterhoudt, the banns of marriage being pub-
lished August 13, 1756. Children: i. Teunis,
of whom further. 2. Christian, born June 5,
1759; unmarried. 3. Stephanus, born Decem-
ber 27, 1760, died March, 1841 ; married Helen
Low. 4, Petrus, born November 17, 1762,
died March, 1841. 5. Catherine, born April
10, 1769; married David Myer. 6. Annetje
(or Anna), born June 23, 1772; married Isaac
Vandenberg. 7. Marytje, born May 10, 1775;
married Tjerck Schoonmaker, Sr. 8. Solomon,
born October i, 1786; died unmarried.
(HI) Teunis. son of Benjamin and Leah
(Osterhoudt) Myers, was born in 1757, and
died November 22, 183 1. He resided at Sau-
gerties, New York, where he owned consider-
able property, on which was a stone house
typical of the period and bearing upon its
portals the date of its erection, 1746. This
house was not far from Mount Marion, in
the Catskill mountains, a beautiful location
for a residence. It was long and low, with
an unusually steep roof, and was still stand-
ing in 1910. Teunis Myers married, 1781,
Cornelia, daughter of John Legg, who resided
where in 1910 was the Shefifield place, now
the property of Henry Barclay, of Saugerties.
Cornelia (Legg) Myers was an intimate friend
of the wife of George Clinton, and when the
British proceeded up the Hudson, working
devastation, she witnessed the burning of
Kingston, October 13, 1777. Children: i. Ben-
jamin Teunis, of whom further. 2. Jane, born
September 17, 1793, died November, 1872;
married Peter G. Post, born January 19, 1792.
530
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
3. Solomon, born July 14, 1798; married Eliza-
beth Goodwin.
(IV) Benjamin Teunis, son of Teunis and
Cornelia (Legg) Myers, was born at Platt-
skill, Ulster county, New York, May 9, 1783,
died at Saugerties, January 31, 1869. He was
originally a farmer on a somewhat large scale,
supplying the neighborhood and river towns
with the produce from his estate, but in the
later years of his life he was able to retire
from business cares and all activities in Sau-
gerties, where he lived the greater part of his
life. He married, at Plattskill, September 2,
1804, Sarah, only daughter of Johannes and
Leah (Myer) Snyder, and granddaughter of
Colonel Johannes Snyder, of Ulster county,
who was colonel of the First Regiment of
Ulster, May i, 1776, also delegate to the pro-
vincial congress, member of the council of
safety, member of assembly, and president five
terms of the board of trustees of Kingston
corporation. Sarah (Snyder) Myers inherited
a number of slaves as a portion of her dowry,
one of whom (Flora) taught Mrs. S. M. Tay-
lor to knit, and another was known as "Old
Rub."
(V) John Benjamin, child of Benjamin
Teunis and Sarah (Snyder) Myers, was born
at Brabant, near Kingston, New York, Febru-
ary 27, 1806, and died in the town of Mentz,
near Port Byron, New York, February 27,
1861, buried in Fort Hill Cemetery, Auburn.
New York. His birth took place on a farm
rented of a Mr. Cockburn by his father, who
soon purchased a farm where the other chil-
dren were born. He married, at Saugerties,
August 12, 1828, Arriet, daughter of Captain
John Gillespy, who had a record as a fighter
in the American cause, and was son of Major
John Gillespy, who engaged in the French and
Indian wars, and afterwards in the war of the
Revolution as a member of the Fourth Ulster
County Militia. Captain John Gillespy fought
at the head of his company in the War of
1812; for a time he was stationed on Staten
Island. Children: i. Benjamin Gillespy, born
at Saugerties, August 20, 1829, died at No.
372 Clinton avenue, Albany, New York,
March 5;, 1901 ; married, at Port Byron, New
York, November 23, 1858: Minerva Kerns;
children: Howard Gillespy, born at Port
Byron; Leila Whitney, born in New York
City; Lotta Wright, born in New York City.
2. John Gillespy, of whom further. 3. Sarah,
born September 21, 1833; was residing in Al-
bany in 1910; married, at Port Byron, May
28, 1863, Captain David Austin Taylor; chil-
dren: John Myers, born near Port Byron;
Lawrence Hartshorne, born at Camden, New
Jersey ; Grace Brown, born at Oneida, New
York ; Ernest Chandler, born at Guineys, Vir-
ginia ; Marion Lee, bom at Albany, New York ;
Bessie Myers, born at Albany. 4. Jason Gil-
lespy, born January 25, 1840; unmarried. 5.
Lavinia, died at Albany, October 29, 1855,
buried at Auburn, New York. 6. Elizabeth,
born near Port Byron; died young. 7. Eliza-
beth (2d), living at present time (1913). 8.
Selina, married, at Auburn, New York, July
10, 1878, S. Henry Atwater ; children: Wini-
fred Moore, born at Windham, New York;
Reginald Myers, born at Canon City, Colorado.
(VI) John Gillespy, son of John Benjamin
and Arriet (Gillespy) Myers, was born in
Saugerties, New York, August 4, 1832, died in
Albany, December i, 1901. Until the age of
eight years he lived with his parents on their
farm in their typical Dutch farm house in the
shadow of Mount Marion, in the Catskill
mountain range. About that time his father
selected better land than the rocky soil
of Ulster county, purchasing a tract
near Montezuma, Cayuga county, and
here his son aided him in agricultural
pursuits. When fourteen years old he
returned to Saugerties and began his business
career as a store boy and general clerk for
his uncle, P. M. Gillespy. He had been accus-
tomed from early youth to dispose of the
produce of his father's farm, and he acquired
a strong tendency for trade, made keen by his
competition with other lads of the neighbor-
hood. The connection with the store in a
minor capacity -simply interested and aroused
him to make more rapid progress in some-
thing better. But until he became of age he
remained in the employ of his uncle, except
such times as he was engaged in study in the
little red school house. He was fond of read-
ing and very quick to observe, so that he ac-
quired much knowledge even when not in
school, and what he learned in this fashion he
was clever enough to turn to good account in
later life. Even in those days he possessed a
keen insight into character, a faculty for de-
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
cision and rapid action, and these governed
him throughout his life.
When twenty-one years old he became asso-
ciated with two men in the conduct of a gen-
eral country store at Port Byron, Cayuga
county, but this partnership did not last long,
and finally he was left in sole possession to
dispose of the stock for the benefit of the cred-
itors. He succeeded in doing this by means
of a trip through the west, and the result was
that through his ability every creditor was paid
in full. After this he obtained a position in
the large wholesale house of Clapp & Kent,
clothing and dry goods merchants of New
York City, and was rapidly promoted. At the
commencement of the rebellion he started in
business for himself in New York, securing
for a location the corner of Bleecker and
Christopher streets, and here he made some
money. In 1865 he formed a partnership with
William M. Whitney, in Albany, where they
succeeded the firm of Ubsdell, Pierson &
Lenox, in the dry goods business, and the store
on North Pearl street. Albany, was known
as the "New York Store." It was by far the
largest of its kind in Albany, and was a pro-
nounced success. This partnership continued
five years, when it was dissolved, each partner
continuing in business for himself. Mr. Myers
opened another large store at Nos. 39-41
North Pearl street. An incident in its his-
tory was a catastrophe on the morning of
August 8, 1905, when, during the course of
repairs and alterations, the floors sank, and as
a result the handsome new building was erected
immediately upon the site of the old one, and
is a leading adornment of the business section
of the city. But of far more importance than
a beautiful building in showing the character
of the merchant, stands the system inaugurated
by him through which method the employees
receive each year proportionate financial re-
turns dependent upon the success of the year,
and it is safe to say that no employees are
more interested in doing their best by co-
operation than are these, and at the same
time he gained what he most desired — their
good will and high regard.
The business career of Mr. Myers knew
no wavering from that time on. His strict
attention even to details, and thorough know-
ledge of the requirements of each depart-
ment, to make for absolute success, were the
great factors which brought such excellent
1136098
531
results. As his wealth increased he became
associated with the development of local en-
terprise, and his name was valued on dififer-
ent boards and companies for it was a guar-
antee of high standard. While aiding many
institutions liberally, probably more so in
some instances than any other citizen, he was
decidedly averse to any publicity. He was
among the four special commissioners ap-
pointed from among the citizens by the mayor,
in 1891, to investigate means by which an in-
creased and purer water supply could be se-
cured to the city, which was prior to the
attempt to acquire a driven well supply and
the installation of the filtration system.
He joined the Holland Society, December
7, 1888, as one of the earliest members, and
always took a decided interest therein. He
also joined Philip Livingston Chapter, Sons
of the Revolution, and aided in all of its
movements. He was a member of the Fort
Orange Club, and his religious association was
with the Presbyterian faith. In politics he
was a staunch Republican throughout his life,
and a firm believer in the policies of that
party. He was president of the Albany Hos-
pital, which probably interested him more than
any other institution in the city with which
he was associated, and it received his most
liberal support and thoughtful attention. He
was a governor of the Albany Orphan Asy-
lum, a director of the Albany railway ; vice-
president of the Merchants' National Bank
in 1880; trustee of the Albany Female Acad-
emy, now known as the Albany Girls' Acad-
emy, and in the erection of its new and hand-
some edifice he played an important part ; was
first vice-president of the newly organized
Albany Trust Company, and had been a lead-
ing spirit in its organization as one of the
foremost business institutions ; vice-president
of the Commerce Insurance Company ; and
a trustee of the Albany Rural Cemetery.
The death of Mr, Myers occurred on a
Sunday morning, at his home, No. 240 State
Street, Albany, following an illness of a few
weeks' duration. In his demise the citizens
as a body felt that from their midst had been
removed one who had been respected among
the best of them, and who had been a pillar
of strength to many philanthropic institutions.
His honesty and painstaking measures had
brought about a success well merited and far
beyond the average. His mode of living had'
532
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
been simple, although his home was one of
the most beautiful in the city, and his bene-
factions were the unostentatious acts of a
man bent upon doing good, tlis associates
in business admired his straightforward,
manly methods, imd those who met him so-
cially were impressed by his charming person-
ality. Both in public and in the privacy of
his family he lived the conscientious, kindly
life of a Christian. The Albany Hospital,
having long received the benefits of his coun-
sel and benefactions, felt his loss keenly, and
the board declared that "while his death is a
loss to the whole city, it falls especially upon
the hospital board, and on the benevolent work
in which with them he was so deeply inter-
ested." He had been governor of this insti-
tution for many years, and both his wisdom
and liberality had been of the greatest ser-
vice, with a record of never having been ab-
sent from a meeting when possible to attend
When the work of constructing a new hos-
pital was begun, his contributions created one
of the pavilions, and were also an encourage-
ment to those struggling with the enormous
undertaking.
John Gillespy Myers married, at Cayuga,
New York, August 19, 1857, Mary Augusta
Young, the Rev. Frederick Starr, of Auburn,
officiating. She was born at Auburn, Febru-
ary 22, 1833, died at her home in Albany,
February 9, 1904, daughter of Jacob Young,
of Auburn, who enlisted at the age of sixteen
years, served in the War of 1812, and was
present at the sortie at Fort Erie ; and grand-
daughter of Christian Young, who served
throughout the Revolution, and received his
honorable discharge, which is signed by Gen-
,eral George Washington.
During their long residence in Albany Mr.
and Mrs. Myers co-operated with each other
in philanthropic work, she making good use
of the means placed at her disposal for the
alleviation of suffering and the comfort of
the afflicted. But the good accomplished was
not allowed to reach the public ear, for it was
her own pleasure akin to her nature. She
was a woman of sympathetic nature, and
more than willing to listen to appeals. She
was a member of the State Presbyterian
Church, aided in its various interests, belong-
ing also to a number of local institutions. Of
her it was said : "When the final honors have
been paid to her mortality, and her last rest-
ing place on earth has become a reality, the
world will know no more a woman who bene-
fited it by her bemg, and whose memory will
long be cherished for the good that she did."
Children of John Gillespy and Mary Au-
gusta (Young) Myers, are as follows: i.
Margaret Fuller, born at Mintline, Cayuga
county, New York, May 6, 1858 ; married, at
Saugerties, New York, September 2, 1891,
Henry King Sturdee, born in London, Eng-
land, August 13, 1859, son of Captain Edwin
Thomas Sturdee, of the Royal Navy, and had
children : Georgiana Myers, born at Albany,
April 7, 1892; Flora Margaret, born at Al-
bany. November 27, 1894. 2. Jessie Kenyon,
born at Auburn, October 19, 1859; married
at Albany, September 14, 1899, Colonel
George Porter Hilton, son of Charles and
Mary Etta (MacWhorter) Hilton, born in
Albany, March 19, 1859, died at his home. No.
240 State Street, Albany, October 7, 1909;
had one son : John Gillespy Myers Hilton,
born in Albany, May 11, 1901. 3. Georgiana
Seymour, born in New York City, August 14,
1861, died at Saugerties, New York, June 13,
1893; married, at Albany, November 24, 1891,
Walter Launt Palmer, A. N. A., born at Al-
bany, August I, 1854, son of Erastus Dow
and Mary (Seaman) Palmer.
One finds the signifi-
VAN ALSTYNE cance of the family
name of Van Alstyne
in the Dutch, meaning from the old or high
stone, and therefore those who first bore that
name as a distinctive family in Holland dwelt
upon the top of a rocky eminence, or near to
some enormous boulder which for years had
been a prominent landmark among all the in-
habitants of that neighborhood. There have
been a number of forms for the spelling of
the name, as the early records show by the
variety of signatures attached to official docu-
ments, such as Van Aelsteyn, Van Aalsteyn,
Van Alstyn, Van Alstein and Van Alstine.
Since coming to this country the centuries
have not added to the diversity, but rather
simplified matters, for at the present time the
chief forms are Van Alstyne, Van Alstine and
Van Alstyn.
Those who have delved deeply into the
family history have demonstrated that the
records still preserved in Holland show that
the line of descent mav be traced tc the vear
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
533
936, dating contemporaneous with the crown-
ing of Otho, Henry Van Alstyn was present.
It may seem peculiar, but the family name
first appears as Ralsko, which was abandoned
in order to take that of Wartemberg, which
it bore for several centuries. Jean Ralsko
who died in Flanders, in 1236, had built there
the Chateau de Waldstein, the name of which
he took in order to distinguish himself from
his brother, who bore that of Wartemberg.
The family has been traced under the name
of Balstein in Spain, Vallenstcin in France.
Halsteyn in Flanders, and Van Alstein in
Holland. From Waldstein the name changed
to Wallenstein, Walstein, Valstein, and finally
became Van Alstein. Those who located in
Flanders were loyal to the Church of Rome,
and those living in Holland allied themselves
to the Reformation of Martin Luther, and
displayed the courage of their convictions.
Those who came to America have particularly
demonstrated their courage of independent
thought and action, and were well represented
in the war of American independence as well
as in the Civil War. Invariably they have
been men of middle ground, neither acquiring
great riches nor suffering poverty, freed both
from the worries of life and the cares of
wealth. In like degree they have been prom-
inent in politics and religion, as well as in
the professions,
(I) Jan Martense Van Alstyne was the pro-
genitor of the family in America. He was
the son of Marten (or Martin) Van Alstyne,
of Holland. There is a record to prove that
he was in New Amsterdam (New York City)
as early as 1646, the exact date of this entry
being December T7, 1646, upon a bill of sale
of a yacht, namely, Thomas Hall and Jan
Peterson to Hendrick Jansen and Jan Mar-
tense. It seems evident from what transpired
later, that he engaged in transportation upon
the Hudson river, between New York and
Albany, for within a decade he began buying
land at the latter place. It is not known just
how long he remained upon Manhattan, but
he was recorded in 1657 as owner of a lot
in Beverwyck, or Albany, New York, located
upon the east side of Broadway and north of
Columbia street, which was beyond the north
wall of the stockade, built to keep out the
Indians about that time. This land he held
as late as 1693, and in the meanwhile had be-
come the patentee of two tracts of land in
Ulster county. Possibly he had stopped there
while making one of his trips and had been
shown good land which was offered to him.
He likewise purchased a large tract of land
"behind" Kinderhook, New York, about a
score of miles from Albany and east of it.
This became the real home of the family, and
he the founder of it in every sense. The place
was so named because in the Dutch it signifies
"Children's Point," which is thought to have
been bestowed because of the great number
of Indian children who ran out on the point of
land the better to observe the passing of Hen-
drick Hudson's ships. (Rev. Mr. Collier's ad-
dress, "Kinderhook.") The first proprietor re-
sided there until his death, which was about
1698, and the land continued for more than
two centuries in the possession of the descend-
ants of his son Abraham, to whom he con-
veyed the farm in 1695, conditioned on his
paying the other heirs certain sums of money
as provided explicitly. He married Dirckje
Harmense, a woman endowed with all the
characteristics necessary to make her a fitting
helpmate for a pioneer husband. Their chil-
dren were named Marten, Abraham, Lambert
and Isaac.
(II) Lambert Janse, son of Jan Martense
and Dirckje (Harmense) Van Alstyne, emi-
grated to this country in 1665, and settled in
Kings county. New York ; but no record has
been found of his birth. About 1684 he came
into possession of a tract of land lying on the
east side of Kinderhook Creek, and adjoining
the lands of his father. This he acquired by
purchase of the patent or lease from the heirs
of Peter Van Alen. He held it until his
death, October 13, 1703. About the year 1682
he married Jannetje, daughter of Thomas and
Marritje Abrahamse (Vosburgh) Mingael,
she and her husband being first cousins once
removed, as her father and her husband were
first cousins. There is no record of her birth,
but she was doubtless much younger than he,
for following his demise she married, Febru-
ary 2, 1713. Jochem Lambertse Van Valken-
burgh, and had five sons. As all their chil-
dren excepting the first-born were baptized in
Kinderhook, it is safe to believe that the eldest
was born in Kings county. New York, and
all the others after his removal, about 1684,
in Kinderhook. Children: i. Catherine, born
about 1683; married Bartholomeus Van Val-
kenburgh. 2. Marritje, baptized December 2y.
534
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
1685. 3. Thomas (see forward). 4. Johan-
nes, baptized August 11, 1691. 5. Dirckje,
baptized May 26, 1695 ; married Pieter Vos-
burgh. 6. Antje, or Annetje, baptized Janu-
ary 16, 1698; died young. 7. Annetje, bap-
tized July 28, 1700. 8. Pieter, baptized Au-
gust 9, 1702.
(III) Thomas, son of Lambert Janse and
Jannetje (Mingael) Van Alstyne, was bap-
tized in Kinderhook, New York, August 22,
1688. Upon the death of his father in 1703
he came into possession of the homestead ly-
ing along Kinderhook Creek, adjacent to the
farm of his grandfather, the pioneer settler.
He was a member of the Dutch church of
Muitzeskill, where were baptized most of his
offspring, although one of them. Maria, was
baptized in Albany. In 1752 he bought a tract
of land in the district of Claverack, described
in the records kept at Hudson, New York, as
lying between the Claverack and Kinderhook
creeks. His will, dated November 15, 1760, on
file in Albany, devises the farm occupied by
William and his big gun to that son, provided
that he pay off the debt on it, amounting to
£100, and divided the property among five
children, after providing for the support of his
wife during life, and to Pieter his bouwerie or
whole farm, with all belongings thereto, pro-
vided that he pay his brother Lambert £400
in current money within six years of the tes-
tator's death. He died in August, 1765, at
Kinderhook. He married, December 12, 1718,
Maria Van Alen. She was baptized June 21,
1695, daughter of Willem and Marritje (Van
Patten) Van Alen. Children: i. Jannetje,
baptized March 6, 1720; died young. 2. Wil-
liam (see forward). 3. Lambert, baptized
October 4, 1724; married (first) Alida Conyn ;
(second) Aletteka Osterhout. 4. Maria, bap-
tized September 10 1727; died young. 5.
Catherine, baptized January 17, 1731 ; married
Petrus Hoffman. 6. Maria, baptized Novem-
ber 18, 1733; married Dr. Johannes Paterson.
7. Pieter, baptized May 16, 1736; married
Marritje Conyn.
(IV) William, son of Thomas and Maria
(Van Alen) Van Alstyne, was baptized at
Muitzeskill (near Troy), New York, Decem-
ber 10, 1721. In 1752 he and his wife were
members of the Dutch church of Kinderhook.
He probably settled upon the farm which had
just come into possession of his father by pur-
chase of the patent from John Van Rensse-
laer, and which was bequeathed to him out-
right on his father's death, situate between
Kinderhook and Claverack creeks. On May
1, 1772, he leased a house, shop and a fulling-
mill, with dam and two acres, to Thomas
Avery, and as much wood as he required for
burning. In August, 1791, he bought a farm
in Hillside, from John Collier. A document
bearing date October 19, 1793, deeds a negro
boy named Tom to his son Lawrence. On
July 12, 1799, he sold to the same son the
farm he had bought of Nicholas and Philip
Hoffman a few years before. He was com-
missioned a captain in Colonel Jeremiah Hoge-
boom's regiment, which served in the revolu-
tionary war; his commission signed by Gov-
ernor Cadwalader Colden, preserved by the
Holland Society, bears date April 4, 1770.
He died May 22, 1802, and his tombstone was
found a century ;ater on the farm which he
had bought of the Hoffmans. William Van
Alstyne married (first) in 1744, Christina
Van Alen, baptized June 16, 1723, daughter of
Stephanus and Mary (Muller) Van Alen, by
whom he had five children. He married (sec-
ond) September 17, 1762, Catherine Knicker-
bocker, who was baptized October 19, 1731,
daughter of Lawrence and Catherine (Van
Home) Knickerbocker; by whom he had four
children. Children: i. Maria, baptized
March 23, 1745 ; married Richard Esselstyn.
2. Hilletje, baptized January 25, 1746; died
young. 3. Jannetje, baptized February 29,
1749: married William Winne, Jr. 4. Alber-
tina, born in 1754 ; married John De Forest.
5. Thomas (see forward). 6. Lawrence, born
June 22, 1767; married Mary Murdock. 7.
William, born January 31, 1770; married
Maria Vosburgh. 8. Mary, born January 6,
1773; married John Leggett.
(V) Thomas (2), son of William and Cath-
erine (Knickerbocker) Van Alstyne, was born
at Kinderhook, New York. February 18, 1765,
In the Columbia county records, under date
of May 7, 1795, it is stated that he and his
wife, together with other owner<;hip claim-
ants, deeded the farm which ■>rently
the property of the first Thomas van .-vlstyne
secured from John Van Rensselaer, in 1752,
to Thomas Goldthwait. He died September
10, 1838. Thomas Van Alstyne married Ma-
bel Butler, born January 3, 1768. died January
10, 1832, daughter of Ezekiel and Mabel
(Jones) Butler. Her father displayed so much
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
535
zeal in the American cause for liberty that
the British offered a reward for his head,
dead or alive, and it is probable that he died
before the close of hostilities, because he was
privately buried for fear that his body would
be disinterred for the sake of the reward.
Mabel Butler was a lineal descendant of
Colonel John Jones, one of the regicides of
Charles I., whose wife Henrietta was sister
of Oliver Cromwell. Children: i. William,
born November 12, 1791 ; died October 12,
1867; married Polly Ostrander. 2. Maria,
married February 14, 1815, Martin Barton.
3. Catherine, married, March 13, 1819, Scovil
Martin. 4. Thomas Butler (see forward). 5.
John Thomas, born September 28, 1800; mar-
ried, February 8, 1826, Jane Ackerman ; died
February 10, 1876. 6. Temperance, born in
1802; died October 29, 1877. 7. Jane, born
March 4, 1805 ; died December 18, 1886; mar-
ried, December 27, 1827, Dr. Levi B. Skinner.
8. Lawrence, born February 16, 1807 ; died
January 18, 1835 ; married, March 28, 1829,
Eliza Van Hoesen. 9. Sally, married John
Van Bramer. 10. Ezekiel Butler, born No-
vember 6, 181 1. II. Louisa, born November
27, 1813; died February 11, 1871 ; married,
December 14, 1839, Rev. Nicholas Van
Alstine.
(VI) Dr. Thomas Butler Van Alstyne, son
of Thomas (2) and Mabel (Butler) Van Al-
styne, was born in Ghent, Columbia county,
New York, July 27, 1797, and died at Rich-
mondville, Schoharie county, New York, Octo-
ber 26, 1867. He was a well-known physician of
Richmondville, Schoharie county, New York.
After attending school in his native place he
went to Hudson, near there, as a clerk in a gen-
eral merchandise store. This work was not con-
genial, hence he decided to follow his inclina-
nation, which was for the medical profession.
With this in view he began his studies under
Dr. Samuel White, of Hudson, and graduated
in 1818 from the Fairfield Medical College.
The following year, according to the advice
of his forrner friend, Dr. White, he located
at Rio'' Jlle, and continued . to practice
there •. .-^^.^vi forty years, making consider-
able success and gaining a reputation through
out a wide area. He was often summoned in
consultation cases, and was offered a medical
professorship, which he declined. He was a
forceful advocate of the abolition of slavery,
and not only practiced what he preached in
that line during the civil war; but was also a
strong advocate on the platform in the move-
ment for abstinence from intoxicants.
Dr. Thomas B. Van Alstyne married, Au-
gust 10, 1820, Eliza Shepard Giles, who was
born October 28, 1799, and died at Richmond-
ville, New York, May 13, 1877. Children;
I. Jane Ann, born May 22, 1821 ; died De-
cember 4, 1853 ; married, October 8, 1839
Rev. Joseph Kingsley Barry. 2. Thomas W.,
born December 12, 1822; died A.pril 25, 1825.
3. Thomas Jefferson (see forward). 4. Syl-
vester Memford, born February 28, 1833;
died October 28, 1882; married, July 9, 1855,
Cynthia E. Whitney. 5. Fayette Edgar, born
June 15, 1837; died September 30, 1905; mar-
ried, August 19, 1857, Rose M. Markel. 6.
John Lawrence, born October 8, 1840; mar-
ried, October 8, 1868, Carrie A. Shults. 7.
Mary Eliza, born March 18, 1846; married,
November 7, 1873, J. Leslie Multer.
(VH) Hon. Thomas Jefferson Van Alstyne,
son of Dr. Thomas Butler and Eliza Shepard
(Giles) Van Alstyne, was born in Richmond-
ville, Schoharie county, New York, July 25,
1827, where his father was practicing medi
cine, and died at his home. No. 289 State
street, Albany, of heart failure, October 26,
1903. He first attended the public schools,
but his strong inclination for knowledge and a
desire for success in life's work led him to
prepare for higher education. At the age of
thirteen, while visiting at the home of his
brother-in-law, a Baptist minister in Cayuga
county, he conceived the purpose of
acquiring an education which would place
him in position to make his mark, if
backed by serious effort, so he entered
the Moravia Academy. After that he pre-
pared for college at Hartwick Seminary,
and with six companions matriculated at Ham-
ilton College, from which he was graduated
in 1848, receiving the degree of Bachelor of
Arts, and in 185 1 that of Master of Arts. He
was especially excellent in mathematics, and
had a high general standing He then took up
the study of law under Professor Theodore
W. Dwight, who was prominent later on at
Columbia College. Having graduated, he en-
tered the law office of Harris & Van Vorst.
at Albany, and by diligent application, com-
bined with his previous study of the law, was
able to pass a most satisfactory examination
before the close of the year, the examining
536
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
committee consisting of the well-known attor-
neys, Hon. John H. Reynolds, Hon. John K.
Porter and Orlando Meads. He was admitted
to the bar on March 6, 1848, and in 1850
opened his office, continuing to practice alone
until 1853, when he formed a partnership with
Matthew McMahon, which firm continued
four years, when Mr. Van Alstyne formed a
partnership in 1858 with Winfield Scott Heve-
nor, of Albany, and they opened their office
in the old Douw Building, at the southwest
corner of Broadway and State street, Albany.
From 1858 until he died in 1903, or for forty-
five years, he practiced there.
Mr. Van Alstyne had a noteworthy political
life, and ranked high in the councils of the
Democratic party, at whose hands he received
a number of offices, each of which he filled
with a noble record for efficiency and integ-
rity. He was elected judge of Albany county
in 1871, and presided for twelve years. In
1882 he was elected congressman, taking his
seat in the Forty-eighth Congress, and was
appointed a member of the committee on
claims, and also on that of expenditures of
the department of justice. To his constitu-
ents he gave thorough attention to their needs,
and he furnished entire satisfaction to friends
and foes alike. His party renominated him,
but dissension in the ranks ruined his chances.
Judge Van Alstyne was elected mayor of
Albany on November 2, 1897, and served
from January i, 1898, to 1900. His oppo-
nents were General Selden E. Marvin, of the
Republican party, who received 6,014 votes ;
Alderman George H. Stevens, Independent,
who received 6,012 votes; Robert H. Moore
and George Du Bois ; and the judge received
8,172 votes. Judge Van Alstyne was a prom-
inent Mason, associating himself with that
body when a young man by entering Mount
Vernon Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons,
October 4, 1855; made master mason, Novem-
ber 19, 1855; master, 1858-61; marshal, 1865.
He officiated frequently on various commit-
tees and often rendered excellent service by
sound advice. In his religion he was a mem-
ber of the Emmanuel Baptish Church at Al-
bany, and along the lines of Christian work
he became a life member of the Young
Men's Association, organized for the upbuild-
ing of the youth, in those days conducting the
only city library and educating by the medium
■of platform lectures addressed by lyceum
speakers. He was particularly concerned in
the work of the Albany Institute, and the
preparatory work of its curator, Cuyler Reyn-
olds, in combining that old organization with
the Albany Historical and Art Society, was
only carried through by the vigorous speech
in the advocacy of the plan made by Judge
Van Alstyne, for there was almost overwhelm-
ing opposition to what has since proved a prac-
tical combination of societies performing simi-
lar work. He had the faculty of being aggres-
sive in the right, along logical lines, and his
arguments were always convincing. He was
impatient at delay in discussions at meetings
of any sort, when lay members talked around
the subject, and when satisfied he saw the
features would introduce his views through
the medium of a resolution which usually
closed the matter immediately. In this man-
ner he would have made an exceedingly able
executive official of a big corporation ; but he
enjoyed the practice of law, and maintained
in his office an ample library of legal
works. He was very fond of his well stocked
home library of more than 10,000 volumes,
which contained mostly histories, biographies
and works pertaining to America. One of his
greatest pleasures was to gather them where-
ever he traveled. He was a man of more
than ordinary physique both in stature and
power of frame, with a bright, piercing eye,
and a firm, elastic step. His ready wit and
delightful conversational powers were charm-
ing attributes of one who was welcomed so-
cially everywhere he went. Best of all there
was no hypocrisy about him, and those who
were his friends and family could ever rely
upon his deep affection and help. In a word,
he was a good official and citizen.
Judge Thomas J. Van Alstyne married
(first), at Albany, September 2. 1851, Sarah
Clapp ; she was born at Albany, February 29,
1832, died there, September 25, 1859, daughter
of Reuel Clapp, of the Albany firm of Clapp
& Townsend. and Sarah Coon, of Dorchester,
Massachusetts. He married (second), at Al-
bany, New York, September 2, 1875. Nancy
Louisa Peck, of Albany, New York ; she was
born July 14, 1842, died at Albany, New York.
November 12, 1884, daughter of Samuel S
Peck and Eliza M. (Collum) Peck. He mar-
ried (third), at Washington, D. C, February
17, 1886, Laura Louisa, daughter of Williani
and Lydia (Van Derbilt) Wiirdemann, of
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
S37
Washington. D. C, the former having been a
noted manufacturer of astronomical and
mathematical instruments. Children: i.
Thomas Butler, born at Albany, June 3, 1852 ;
married, May 7, 1879, Anna Richards, daugh-
ter of Lysander and Content (Clapp) Rich-
ards, of Washington, D. C. 2. Charles Edwin,
born at Albany, July 18, 1855 ; died at Albany,
New York, July 10, 1858. 3. William Thomas
(see forward).
(VIII) William Thomas Van Alstyne, son
of Hon. Thomas Jefferson and Laura (Wiir-
demann) Van Alstyne, was born at Albany,
New York, in his father's home, No. 289 State
street, July 28, 1887. He received his prepa-
ratory education at the Albany Academy, un
der a private tutor, and then entered Yale
University. While there he belonged to the
Yale Chapter of the Acacia fraternity, and
graduated Ph.B., in 1910. He studied law at
Columbia University, having selected upon
the profession in which his father had made
his mark, graduated February, 1913, LL.B.,
and November 10, 1913, it was announced that
he had passed his examination for admission
to the bar of New York State. He associated
himself with Charles Oakes, formerly of Al-
bany, at No. 2 Rector street. New York City.
He joined the Seventh Regim.ent in April,
191 1, and in December, 1913, was promoted
to the grade of second lieutenant and assigned
to the First Regiment Field Artillery, N. G.
N. Y. He is a member of Mount Vernon
Lodge No. 3, Free and Accepted Masons; in
politics he is a Democrat and attends the
Baptist church. He is a member of the Uni-
versity Club of Albany, and the Yale Club,
of New York City, where he resides.
The highly distinguished fam
CLINTON ily of Clinton traces its ances-
try in America to Charles
Clinton (1690-1773), who in 1729 came from
county Longford, Ireland, and with other
Protestant immigrants organized a settlement
at Little Britain in what was then Ulster (now
Orange) county. New York. A descendant
in a cadet branch of Edward Clinton (1512-
85), ninth Baron Clinton and first Earl of
Lincoln, he belonged to that historic house of
Clinton, which was established in England at
the Norman conquest, received extensive
grants of estates, and, enjoying constantly in-
creasing dignities, with the highest distinction
for public services and the fairest pedigree
and reputation, came down to his time in an
unbroken male succession for six centuries. A
man of character, attainments and ability
Charles Clinton was a useful and influential
citizen of New York, commanded a regiment
in the French and Indian war (participating
in the capture of Fort Frontenac), was a com-
missioner for the settlement of the boundary
dispute with New Jersey, and was judge of
his county.
He had four sons, two of whom left issue
and to-day have posterity. These were James
Clinton (1736-1812), the eminent revolution-
ary general, and George Clinton (1739-18 12),
the first governor of the State of New York,
for twenty-one years the incumbent of that
office, and for eight years vice-president of
the United States. Arms: Argent, six
crosses crosslet fitchee sable ; on a chief azure
two mullets pierced or. Crest: Out of a
coronet gules five ostrich feathers argent,
banded azure. Motto: Patria cara carior
libcrtas. In a British work of eminent au-
thority occurs the following striking charac-
terization of the Clinton family:
"It is really a great house, . . . and fot
seven hundred years has thrown a scarcely in-
termitted succession of men who have spent
their lives in the furtherance of England's
greatness and policy. If it has never had
genius it has also never produced a traitor, and
if it has never risen to the lofty position of
one or two of its rivals, it has not in its records
chapters which it would give estates to conceal.
Always in front but never in command, this
great house had the clearest pedigree in all
England."
This expresses in brief the conclusions of
all writers who have given critical attention to
the Clinton family history. The pedigree is
one of the most remarkable to be found in the
whole scope of genealogical science. It is
completely and precisely traceable from the
Norman conquest to the present time, a most
exceptional fact, as every j^eneilogist knows.
As long ago as 1558, in an examination by the
House of Lords to determine the exact status
(as to precedence) of the th^n head of the
Clinton house, reference was made to the
"great antiquity" and "long continuance" of
his ancestral line, and he was declared the
"second lord of the realm." Moreover, the
Clinton descent — embracing at the present time
538
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
some twenty-five generations — has never suf-
fered any interregnum in the male stem (re-
medied by subsequent resumption of the fam-
ily name in the female succession), as is so
often the case in pedigrees of such length.
There is historical evidence that the Clinton
name existed in England before the conquest.
In 1592 John Hakluyt, the antiquarian, dis-
covered in the church of Loominster a brass
tablet which perpetuated, in the Saxon lan-
guage, the memory of one Kenelm, of the
Saxon royal house, who was buried in that
place in 1060. The inscription included the fol-
lowing: "My fathers did build upon this, my
town, and at Kenelmsford, Kenelmswearth
(Kenilworth) and at Clint . . and
Reinelmebald at Clinton is my kinsman." The
early adoption after the conquest of the sur-
name de Clinton by the Norman founders of
the family in England indicates the pre-exis-
tence there of the name and probably the
blood. The most authentic genealogists of the
peerage — Dugdale Collins, and others — trace
the ancestry of the Clintons to the ducal house
of Normandy. A progenitor was William,
Earl of Arques, son of Richard, second Duke
of Normandy (known as Richard the Good).
William, Earl of Arques, had a daughter,
Maud, who married William, Earl of Tancker-
ville. Of their grandsons w^ere the brothers
Geoffrey and Osbert, who, established in Eng-
land on estates inherited from their father
(the gift of his kinsman, the Conqueror), took
the surname of de Clinton. GeoiTrey de Clin-
ton the elder brother, is in most American ac-
counts of the ancestry of the Clinton family
designated as the founder of the line, but this
is erroneous, as his branch soon expired
through the failure of male succession. He
was lord chamberlain and treasurer to Henry
I., and afterward chief justice of England.
The manor of Kenilworth in the county of
Warwick was bestowed upon him by the king,
and he built the great and strong castle of
Kenilworth, so famous in English history.
He married Agnes, daughter of Roger, Earl
of Warwick, and was succeeded by his son,
Henry de Clinton. The latter married Amicia
de Bidun and had a son, Henry de Clinton,
who died without issue in 1233.
(English Lineage.)
(I) Osbert de Clinton, brother of Geoffrey,
left four sons: Osbert, Roger (who as bishop
of Coventry died in 1148), Hugh, Maurice.
(H) Osbert (2) de CHnton, eldest son of
Osbert ( i ) de Clinton, was granted the lord-
ship of Coleshill by his kinsman, Geoffrey de
Clinton, and he was denominated as of Coles-
hill. He married Margaret, daughter of Wil-
liam de Hatton, who was the son of Hugh,
founder of the priory of Wroxhall.
(HI) Osbert (3) de Clinton, son and heir
of Osbert (2) de Clinton, received, in addi-
tion to the lordship of Coleshil! that of Am-
ington in County Warwick, as the inheritance
of his mother. Living in the reign of John
he was one of the insurgent barons who
wrested from the king the Magna Charta. In
consequence of his rebellion his lands were
seized, but upon the accession of Henry III.
(1216) he "made his peace'' and they were
restored to him. He died in 1223. His wife's
name was Elisant.
(IV) Thomas de Clinton, son and heir of
Osbert (3) de Clinton and his wife Elisant,
was resident at Amington in Warwickshire;
justice of assize for County Warwick. He
married Mazera, daughter and heir of James
de Bisege, of Badsley, Warwick, and had five
sons : Thomas, mentioned below ; Sir John de
Clinton, of Coleshill; Osbert de Clinton, lord
of the manor of Austrey, County Warwick,
no issue; William de Clinton, rector of Aus-
trey ; James de Clinton, seated at Badsley, the
inheritance of his mother, which to the present
time has retained the name of Badsley Clin-
ton. His son and heir, Thomas, was survived
by daughters only — Joan, who married (first)
John Coningsby, and (second) John Fowkes;
and Petronilla, who married John Woodward,
of Solihull in Warwickshire.
(V) Thomas (2) de Clinton, son of Thomas
(i) and Mazera (de Bisege^ de Clinton
(first Baron by tenure), married Maud
Bracebridge, of Kingsbury, and was succeeded
by his son.
(VI) John de Clinton, son of Thomas (2)
and Maud (Bracebridge) de Clinton, resided at
Amington and later at Maxtock Castle, which
he had from his wife. On February 6, 1298,
he was summoned to parliament as Baron
Clinton. In 1301 he was "specially summoned
among divers great men to attend the king
(Edward I.) at Berwick-upon-Tweed on June
25. the feast day of St. John the Baptist, to
march against the Scots, at which time the
king, invading Scotland with his royal army,
as a particular badge of his favor to him for
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
539
his special services in that expedition, called
him his beloved Esquire. He, by letters patent
dated August 2, at Glasgow, granted him lands
in that kingdom which were part of the pos-
sessions of Malcolm Dromond (ancestor of
the family of Perth), then in arms against
Edward." In 1305 he participated in another
Scottish expedition, and in 1308 by the king's
special command, accompanied Edward,
Prince of Wales, to Pronthieu. During the
latter year the castle and honor of Wallingford
were committed 10 his keeping. He married
Ida, eldest of the four daughters and coheirs
of Sir William de Odingsells, lord of Maxtock
Castle and other possessions in Warwickshire
whose wife was Ela, daughter of William
Longspee (second of that name), Earl of
Salisbury. Two sons were born of this mar-
riage : John, mentioned below ; William.
( VII) Sir John de Clinton, second Baron
Clinton, eldest son of John and Ida (de Oding-
sells) de Clinton, was knighted before 1325, in
which year he was returned among the prin-
cipal knights of the county of Warwick, who
bore ancient arms from their ancestors. As a
baron of the realm he was summoned to par-
liament. In 1326 he accompanied John, Earl
of Warren, in the expedition for the relief
of the duchy of Guyen. He died after 1333
He married Margery, daughter of Sir Wil-
liam Corbet, of Chadsley Corbet in Worcester-
shire. Children : John, mentioned below ;
Mary, married Baldwin de Mountfort, of
Coleshill.
(VIII) Sir John de Clinton, third Baron
Clinton, son of John, second Baron Clinton,
and Margery (Corbet) de Clinton, was born
1326. From youth he fought in the wars
under his uncle, the Earl of Huntingdon.
Later he participated in the glorious French
campaigns of Edward the Black Prince, and
he was at the great historic battle of Poictiers
in 1356. Upon his return to England, his
father being deceased, he was summoned to
parliament by virtue of his position as a
baron of the realm. In the French military
expeditions of Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of
Warwick, Thomas of Woodstock, and several
others he performed conspicuous services. He
was the Lord Clinton who. as observed by
Froissard, in the English invasion of Brittany
"rode with his banner displayed and performed
certain feats of arms at Nantes with Sir
Galoys D'Aunoy." When Thomas Beauch-
amp, Earl of Warwick, was attainted and ban-
ished (1397), the custody of Warwick Castle
and all the manors and lands belonging to it
was confided to him. He died September 8,
1399. He married (first) Idonea, eldest
daughter of Jeffery, Lord Say, and grand-
daughter, maternally, of Guy Beauchamp, Ear!
of Warwick. She was coheir with her brother,
William, Lord Say, cousin and heir of Wil-
liam de Say, Baron of Sele. As the result
of the failure of male issue in the Say line, she
became the eldest coheir of this noble family,
which from the time of the conquest had pro-
duced men of distinction. Children: Cather-
ine de Clinton, married Thomas, Lord Berke-
ley; Sir William de Clinton, mentioned be-
low ; Sir Thomas de Clinton ; Edward de Clin-
ton, died unmarried 1400. Sir John de Clin-
ton, the third Lord, married (second) Eliza-
beth, daughter and at length heir of William
de la Plaunch, of Haversham, County Buck-
ingham (cousin and heir of Sir Roger Hillary,
knight), and widow of Sir Robert Grey, of
Rotherfield, knight. No issue.
(IX) Sir William Clinton, eldest son of Sir
John, third Baron Clinton, and Idonea (Say)
de Clinton, died during the lifetime of his
father. He married Elizabeth, daughter of
Sir William Deincourt, knight, by Alice his
wife, who was the daughter of Lord John
Nevile, of Raby, and sister of Ralph, first Earl
of Westmoreland.
(X) Sir William Clinton, fourth Baron
Clinton, eldest son of Sir William and Eliza-
beth (Deincourt) Clinton, succeeding his
grandfather in the estates, title and arms, was,
like his ancestors, summoned to parliament as
a baron of the realm ; his name appears in this
connection continuously from 1400 to his
death. During the reigns of Henry IV. and
Henry V., and a portion of that of Henry VI.,
much of his time was engaged in the wars
After serving in expeditions to Ireland and
Scotland, he took part in the campaigns in
France, where he was concerned in many no-
table sieges and engagements. At various
times he was "retained by indenture" to serve
the king with his followers, who on one occa-
sion consisted of thirty-eight men at arms and
three hundred archers. In addition to his
hereditary dignity of Lord Clinton, he bore
the title of Lord Say by virtue of his heirship
to William de Say and to his grandmother,
Idonea. His landed possessions, as enumer-
540
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
ated by Collins, consisted of manors and ham-
lets in the counties of Kent, Sussex and War-
wick. He died July 30, 1432. He married
Anne, daughter of William, Lord Botreaux.
and widow of Sir Fouke Fitzwaryn, knight.
(XI) John Clinton, fifth Baron Clinton, son
of Sir William, fourth Baron Clinton, and
Anne (Botreaux) Clinton, was born about
1410. In 1438 he exchanged with Humphrey,
Earl of Stafford, his castle and manor of Max-
stock for the manors of Whiston and Wood-
ford in County Northampton. To his kins-
man. Sir James Fynes, knight, he resigned, in
1449, his title of Lord Say. From early man-
hood he fought valiantly in the French wars.
In 1441, while serving in the retinue of Rich-
ard, Duke of York, he was taken prisoner by
the French and he remained in captivity for
six years, when he bought his ransom for six
thousand marks. Returning to England he
received from the king a special license to buy
and sell wool and woolen cloths as a means of
reimbursing himself. He was one of the no-
bles (1459) who revolted against Henry VI.
and sustained the pretension of Richard, Duke
of York, to the throne. He was consequently
attainted and his estates were seized, but upon
the accession of Edward IV. (Richard's son)
in 1461 his property was restored to him. He
afterward served in another expedition to
France and in a successful campaign made by
Edward against the Lancastrian party in the
north of England. He died September 25,
1464. He married Elizabeth, daughter of
Richard Fynes, Lord Dacre of Hurst-Mon-
ceaux in Sussex.
(XII) John Clinton, sixth Baron Clinton,
only son of John, fifth Baron Clinton, and
Elizabeth (Fynes) Clinton, was born about
1434, died February 29, 1488. He married
Anne, daughter of Sir Humphrey Stafford.
(XIII) John Clinton, seventh Baron Clin-
ton, son of John, sixth Baron Clinton, and
Anne (Stafford) Clinton, died June 4, 1515 He
was with Sir Henry Poynings in the expedition
in aid of Margaret, Duchess of Savoy, against
the Duke of Guelders and in 15 14, "with
divers other persons of honor and four hun-
dred men at arms, went over to Calais for the
better defense of that garrison." He married
Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Morgan,
knight, of Tredegar, Countv Monmouth.
(XIV) Thomas Clinton, eighth Baron
Clinton, son of John, seventh Baron Clinton,
and Elizabeth (Morgan) Clinton, was born |
1491. He "succeeded to the manor of Folke- i
stone in Kent with other large possessions, and
having summons to parliament took his place
among the barons of the realm. But two years
after a distemper called the sweating sickness
raging with that malignity as to kill in three
hours divers knights, gentlemen, and officers
of the king's court, the Lord Clinton and
others of quality, who are recited by Lord
Herbert in his life of Henry VIII. as of the
king's court, died thereof (August 7, 1517)-
He married Mary, daughter of Sir Edward
Poynings, baronet and knight of the Garter.
(X\') Edward Clinton, ninth Baron Clin-
ton and first Earl of Lincoln, son of Thomas,
eighth Baron Clinton and Marv (Poynings)
Clinton, was born 1512. His career, beginning
in the time of Henry VIII., extended through
the reigns of Edward VI. and Mary I. and a
portion of Elizabeth's; and under all these
sovereigns he served with distinction in mili-
tary, naval and civic employments, becoming,
says Collins, "one of the most en inent persons
this nation has produced." An infant at his
father's decease, he was reared as a ward to
the king (Henry VIII.) and received a care-
ful and polished education At the age of
twenty he attended the king in his memorable
interview with Francis I. of France at Sand-
ingfield and in the subsequent entertainments
at Boulogne and Calais. Mention of him ap-
pears frequently in connection with the con-
cerns of the court. In 1541, "a great joust
at tourney and barriers having been pro-
claimed in France. Flanders. Scotland, and
Spain for all comers, to be holden at West-
minster May I, the Lord Clinton was the third
of the forty-six defendants who very richly
apparelled, appeared on that occasion, which
continued five days, the king, queen, and whole
court being present."
Having at an early age contracted an inti-
macy with John, Viscount of Lisle, Lord High
Admiral, he entered the naval service, in
which he rose rapidly to distinction. He was
with the fleet which in 1544 escorted the Earl
of Hertford, general of the army, to Scot-
land, and after the successful assault on the
Canongate he was the first of those who for
meritorious conduct received the honor of
knighthood. The fleet then scoured the coasts
of Scotland and besieged and took Boulogne,
of which he was made governor; and in con-
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
541
junction with Lord Lisle he was a witness to
the resulting agreement signed by the French
king to observe the treaty (June 7, 1546). At
the funeral of Henry VHI. (1547) he was
one of the twelve principal peers who were
appointed chief mourners. After the accession
of Edward VL he was appointed admiral of
the fleet which was to assist the Duke of Som-
erset in the expedition against Scotland for
refusing to comply with the treaty that pledged
the young Mary (Mary Queen of Scots) to
marry King Edward. With fifty men-of-war
and twelve galleys, he rode into Edinburgh
Frith, greatly contributing to the memorable
victory of Musselborough ( September 10,
1547). On his return he was the object of
marked evidences of favor, being granted ex-
tensive estates in the County of Lincoln. He
was next sent to Boulogne as the ablest person
to defend that place against a threatened siege
by the French. This trust he discharged with
signal courage and skill, only surrendering the
town when ordered to do so by the king and
council pursuant to the treaty of peace. For
his great services at Boulogne he received the
personal thanks of the king and council, was
made one of the privy council and a lord of
the bedchamber with the title of Edward, Lord
Clinton and Say, was appointed for life lord
high admiral and chief commander of the
fleets and seas, and was endowed with numer-
ous other estates and manors. On April 24,
1551, he was elected a knight of the Garter
with Henry H., king of France, and about the
same time he was appointed, with the Earl of
Rutland, lord Heutenant of Lincolnshire and
Nottinghamshire. Being designated to receive
the embassy (1552) which came to propose a
marriage between Edward and the Lady Eliza-
beth of France, he personally conducted the
ambassadors to the king. Afterward he was
sent on a special mission to France, bearing
costly presents, and concluded the negotiations
for the marriage. Other honors which he en-
joyed under Edward were those of sole lord
lieutenant of the County of Lincoln and gov-
ernor of the Tower of London. During the
reign of Mary L he also rendered conspicuous
services, retaining his previous dignities. He
was present at the marriage of that sovereign
to Philip of Spain. Upon the breaking out of
war in 1557 he was appointed general of the
army, and subsequently was lieutenant-general
and chief commander of the fleet and forces
against France and Scotland. He was in chief
command of the military and naval expedition
against Brest in 1558. During the same year,
becoming involved with Lord Stafl^ord in a
dispute as to precedence, the matter was re-
ferred to the peers, and after an exhaustive
examination of all the records it was decided
"that the Lord Clinton had place next above
the Lord Audley and next to Lord Abergave-
ney, and that he was the second lord of the
realm because of the long continuance of the
Lords Clinton and of the great antiquity of
the family, and that the Lord Stafi^ord was
eleventh in rank or order of precedence."
When Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558
she appointed him privy councillor and con-
tinued him as lord high admiral. In the sixth
year of her reign he attended her to the Uni-
versity of Cambridge, and there received the
degree of master of arts as a person of the
highest rank. With other lords he was ap-
pointed during the eleventh Elizabeth to "hear
and examine matters brought against the
Queen of Scots by the Earl of Murray, regent
of Scotland." In conjunction with the Earl
of Warwick he marched against the rebellious
Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland
(1569) and dispersed their forces. In recog-
nition of his prolonged and eminent services
he was elevated by Elizabeth to the peerage,
May 4, 1572, as Earl of Lincoln. The next
year, "attended by a great train of noblemen,"
he was sent to France to receive from Charles
IX. the ratification of the treaty of Bloise.
He was one of the commissioners named by
the queen to treat of her proposed marriage
to the Duke of Anjou. He died January 16,
1585. "Always of unspotted report, specially
for allegiance," says Hollinshead, "and there-
fore singularly beloved in his life, so accord-
ingly he was bemoaned in his death." He was
buried in the south isle of the Chapel of St.
George in Windsor. The tomb is a sumptuous
monument of alabaster, with pillars of por-
phyry. The Earl "lies in armor with his lady
by him, in full proportions, their heads on a
pillow and their hands uplifted as praying;
on one side three sons in armor kneeling, and
on the other five daughters in the same atti-
tude." There is an elaborate Latin inscrip-
tion.
He married (first) EHzabeth, daughter of
John Blount and widow of Gilbert, Lord Tal-
boys. She was known as "the beautiful Eliza-
S42
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
beth Blount." Children: i. Bridget, married
Robert Dymock, Esq., of Scrivelby, County
Lincoln. 2. Catharine, married William, Lord
Brough. 3. Margaret, married Charles, Lord
Willoughby of Parham. The Earl married
(second) Ursula, daughter of William, Lord
Stourton. Children : 4. Sir Henry Clinton,
tenth Lord Clinton and second Earl of Lin-
coln. He married (first) Catherine, daughter
of Francis Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon.
Two sons, of whom the elder, Thomas, suc-
ceeded as third earl ; but owing to ultimate
failure of male issue in the line ci this Thomas
the succession to the earldom finally reverted
to the descendants of his younger brother, Sir
Edward, who married Mary, diughter of Sir
Thomas Dighton, Esq., of Stourton, county
Lincoln. A descendant of this Sir Edward
was Henry Clinton, ninth Earl of Lincoln;
married, 1744, Catherine, eldest daughter and
heir of Rt. Hon. Henry Pelham. Her uncle.
Thomas Pelham Holies, was created duke of
Newcastle-under-Lymp on the 17th of No-
vember, 1756, with special remainder to the
Earl of Lincoln ; and upon the death of this
Thomas, first duke, in 1768, Henry Clinton,
ninth Earl of Lincoln, succeeded as seconJ
Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, assuming by
royal license the surname of Pelham — whence
the present family name, Pelham-Clinton. The
head of this house is now Henry Pelham
Archibald Douglas Pelham-Clinton, seventh
Duke of Newcastle and fourteenth Earl of
Lincoln, born September 28, 1864. Another
present representative is Mr. Charles Staple-
ton Pelham-Clinton, of Moor St. Stoud, Eng-
land, born 1857, giandson of the fourth duke,
who married, in 1886. Lizzie, only daughter
of Louis di Zeresra, of New York City. Re-
curring to the Clinton line previous to the
merging of the earldom of Lincoln in the
dukedom of Newcastle, we find that Francis
Clinton, sixth Earl of Lincoln, died 1693,
aged fifty-eight, was the father, by his sec-
ond countess, Susan, daughter of Anthony
Penniston, Esq., of Hon. George Clinton,
royal governor of the province of New York
from 174-^ to 1753. This provincial governor,
George Clinton, who died July 10, 1761, mar-
ried Anne, daughter and heir of Hon. Peter
Carle, major-general, their onlv surviving son
being the distinguished Sir Henry Clinton,
born 1738. died December 23, 17Q5, wlio was
Knight of the Bath, member of parliament.
lieutenant-general, and commander-in-chief of
his majesty's forces in America during the
revolutionary war, with headquarters in New
York City. It was he who led the brilliant
and successful expedition against Forts Clin-
ton and Montgomery on the Hudson (1777),
defended by his American kinsmen, General
James Clinton and General George Clinton
(then governor of the State of New York).
Sir Henry left descendants in England. 5.
Edward, unmarried. 6. Thomas, mentioned
below. 7. Anne, married William Ascough,
son and heir of Sir Francis Ascough, knight
of Kelsy, county Lincoln. 8 Frances, mar-
ried Gyles Bruges, third Lord Chandos. Ed-
ward Clinton, first Earl of Lincoln, married
(third) Elizabeth, daughter of Gerald Fitz-
gerald, ninth Earl of Kildare, and widow of
Sir Anthony Browne, knight. This was the
lady celebrated by Henry, Earl of Surrey, as
the Fair Geraldine. No issue.
(X\T) Sir Thomas Clinton, third son of
Edward, ninth Baron Clinton and first Earl
of Lincoln, and Ursula Stourton, inherited
estates in Ireland; in 1618 was seated at
Dowdston in that country. He married Mary,
daughter of John Tirrell, Esq., of Warley, in
county Essex. England. Children : William,
mentioned below ; Margery, married James
Crelie, of the Newry, Ireland, who was
drowned at Ringshead, April 2, 1618.
(XVII) Sir William Clinton, son of Sir
Thomas and Mary (Tirrell) Clinton, like his
father, resided in Ireland. In the civil wars
he supported the fortunes of Charles I. and
was an ofiicer in the royalist armies. It may
be remarked that the head of the Clinton house
at that period, Theophilus, fourth Earl of
Lincoln, was also a royalist, and for his ac-
tivity in the cause his estates were seized.
.^fter the triumph of Cromwell. Sir William
Clinton went into exile on the continent, liv-
ing in France and Spain. Later he was for
some time in Scotland, where he married. He
died in Glenwharry, Ireland. He married
Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Kennedy,
Earl of Cassilis in the Scotch peerage, known
as "the grave and solemn earl." Kennedy,
and the Earls of Cassilis, were descended from
Duncan de Carrick, who lived in the reign of
Malcolm IV. of Scotland (beginning about
1150). The grandson of Duncan, Roland of
Carrick, had a grant of the country of Car-
rick from Neil, Earl of Carrick, and was de-
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
543
clared chief of his name, this grant being
confirmed by Alexander III. Sixth in descent
from Roland was Sir John Kennedy (desig-
nated as son of Sir Gilbert de Carrick in many
writs), who had a confirmatory charter from
David II. of the lands of Castlys, county Ayr,
with other lands which came to him from
his wife, Mary, daughter of Sir Neil Mont-
gomery. Descended from him in a distin-
guished line was Lord David Kennedy, who
was created Earl of Cassilis by James IV.,
1509. The earldom of Cassilis is now sub-
ordinate to the marquisate of Ailsa, Archi-
bald Kennedy, twelfth Earl of Cassilis, having
been created, 1831, marquis of Ailsa. This
Archibald, twelfth earl, was the son of Archi-
bald, eleventh earl, who married (first) Cath-
erine Schuyler, daughter of Peter Schuyler
of New Jersey, and (second) Anne Watts,
daughter of Hon. John Watts of New York
(the descent being through the second mar-
riage). Children of Sir William Clinton and
Elizabeth Kennedy: i. Margaret, married John
Parks ; children : John Parks ; Jane Parks,
married John Young; Barbara Parks, married
John Crawford. 2. James, mentioned below.
(XVTII) James Clinton, son of Sir Wil-
liam and Elizabeth (Kennedy) Clinton, was
an infant at his father's death. He was born
in Ireland and continued there, residing in
county Longford, where he had considerable
estates. A portion of his life was passed,
however, as an officer in the military service
under Queen Anne in England, where he made
an effort to recover patrimonial lands, in which
he was unsuccessful on account of the limita-
tion of an act of parliament. He died in
■county Longford, Ireland, January 24, 1718.
He married Elizabeth Smith, of an English
family, daughter of William Smith, a Crom-
wellian officer. She died December 5, 1728.
Issue: Christina, Mary, Charles, mentioned
below.
(The Family in America.)
(I) Charles Clinton, son of James and Eliza-
beth (Smith) Clinton, the founder of the
family in America, was born in Ireland about
1690 According to a letter brought by him
to. America from Rev. James Bond, pastor
of the dissenting (Presbvterian) congregation
at Corbay, countv Longford, both he and his
wife lived "within the bounds" of that con-
gregation "from their infancy." He was active
and prominent in the afifairs of the church,
occupying the position of ruling elder. After
his mother's death (1728) he made prepara-
tions for removal to the colonies and was the
leading spirit in organizing a company hav-
ing for its object the founding of a settlement.
On the 20th of May, 1729, with his wife and
three young children, his two sisters, and his
associates, he sailed from Dublin on the ship
"George and Ann," bound for Philadelphia.
The party numbered ninety-four persons, in
whose behalf he paid the passage money. The
voyage, chronicled in his diary, which is now
preserved in the New York State Library in
Albany, was one of the most unfortunate and
distressing in colonial records. There was a
shortage of supplies, the vessel was over-
crowded, and many died of disease and
famine, including two of Clinton's children.
It was not until October 4, four and a half
months, that land was seen, and instead of
Philadelphia, whither the emigrants were
destined, they were put ashore on Cape Cod,
the master, who appears to have been a man
of the greatest barbarity, positively refusing
to carry them further. The Clintons passed
the winter in Massachusetts. After due in-
vestigation land for a settlement was selected
in the province of New York some six miles
southwest of the present city of Newburgh.
The tract, about four miles square, received
the name of Little Britain, also being called
the "precinct of the Highlands." Though
within a short distance of the Hudson river
and only sixty or seventy miles from New
York City, it was wholly unsettled, "border
land to the Indians" In a petition asking
for protection, which was addressed to the
colonial legislature after this period by some
inhabitants of Ulster county, it was stated
that they were bounded on the west by the
desert, where only the wild Indian made his
home and grave. Here Clinton and his com-
panions from Ireland built their homes, and
the country being fertile and salubrious, grad-
ually advanced to prosperity. His house was
very strongly constructed as a frontier post
and fortification for security against the
Indians, and was often called "the fort." From
an early period of his settlement Clinton,
known for energy and ability, exercised a
marked influence. Being a proficient surveyor
and mathematical scholar, he was employed in
various important matters in this connpction
and so came into association with the officials
544
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
of the provincial government. In November,
1736, he joined with a son of Governor Cosby
in petitioning for a grant of land extending
on both sides of the Mohawk river around
Fort Stanwix. He was appointed in 1738
clerk of a military organization in the pre-
cinct of the Highlands. During the admin-
istration of his relative, George Clinton, royal
governor of New York from 1743 to 1753, he
formed an acquaintance with him which rip-
ened into intimacy. Continuing his identifica-
tion with the militia, he was promoted to lieu-
tenant-colonel and colonel, and in 1758 he led
in person a regiment against the French, which
marched to the Mohawk Valley and was sta-
tioned at Fort Herkimer, where he was for a
time in command. Soon afterward he joined
with his forces the main army under General
Bradstreet and participated in the taking of
Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario, one of the
most brilliant and important events of the
war. In this campaign he was near seventy.
Two of his sons, James and George, were of-
ficers under him, the former as captain, the
latter as lieutenant. For manv years he oc-
cupied the position of justice of the peace
In 1764 he was one of the commissioners
named to settle the controversies as to the
New Jersey boundary line and similar vexed
matters resulting from the confusion of the
old Dutch grants. His last public employment
was that of county judge of Ulster county
(1769). He died at his residence, Little
Britain, New York, November 19, 1773. In
his will he directed that he be buried in the
graveyard on his farm beside his daughter
Catherine, and added the following request:
"That my executors procure a suitable stone
to lay over my grave, whereon I would have
the time of my death, my age, and coat-of-
arms cut. I hope they will indulge me in
this last piece of vanity." Charles Clinton
was distinguished for dignity and refinement
of manners, purity and elevation of character,
sincere devotion to the interests of religion,
and earnest attachment to his adopted country.
He lived to witness the events which fore-
shadowed the conflict with Great Britain, and
his dying injunction to his sons was to main-
tain the liberties of America
He married, in Ireland, Elizabeth Dennis-
ton, born about 1705. died December 25, 1779.
She was of the very ancient Scottish family
of Dennistoun, from which Robert II. was
descended ; over the mantel in the hall of the
ancestral castle were inscribed the words:
"Kings came of us, not we of kings." An
exceptionally accomplished and intelligent
lady, she gave every encouragement to her
husband and sons in their various activities,
and shared in their patriotic ardor. Issue: i.
Catherine, born in Ireland, August 11, 1723,
died in Little Britain, New York, November
28, 1762 ; she married, June 22, 1749, Captain
James McClaughry, who came to America
with the Clinton party in 1729; no issue. 2.
James, born in 1726, died on the passage to
America, August 28, 1729. 3. Mary, born in
Ireland, July 11, 1728, died on the passage,
August 2, 1729. 4. Alexander, born in Little
Britain, New York, April 28, 1732, died in
Shawangunk, New York, March 11, 1758; he
was graduated from Princeton College in 1750,
studied medicine under Dr Peter Middleton
in New York City, and practiced his profes-
sion in his native neighborhood; no issue. 5.
Charles, born in Little Britain, July 20, 1734,
died April 3, 1791, unmarried. 6. James, men-
tioned below. 7. George, born in Little Britain,
July 26, 1739, died in Washington, D. C,
April 20, 1812.
(II) James, sixth child of Charles and
Elizabeth (Denniston) Clinton, was born
August 9, 1736, in Little Britain, Ulster coun-
ty (now Orange county). New York. During
his entire life he resided in his native locality.
"With a hardy and vigorous constitution, ac-
customed to alarms and Indian incursions, he
became in early life attached to the profession
of arms," and it is as a soldier that he is
chiefly remembered. In 1757, at the age of
twenty-one, he was commissioned ensign, and
the following year was made first lieutenant
with power to enlist troops in the war with
France. He commanded a company of his
father's regiment in the expedition against
Fort Frontenac (1758), and with his brother,
George, exhibited an intrepidity in the result-
ing attack which gained him great credit. On
the same occasion the brothers further dis-
tinguished themselves by the capture of a
French vessel on Lake Ontario Continuing
in the army until the peace of 1763, he was
variously employed throughout these five
years as an ofiRcer at frontier posts, in border
skirmishes, and in enlisting new recruits under
orders from the colonial governors, achieving
a high reputation for soldierly qualities. In
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
545
1763 he organized and commanded a corps
of two hundred frontier guards. After the
war he resumed the duties of peaceful Hfe
at his native place, but, retaining his military
enthusiasm, was active in promoting the effi-
ciency of the local militia, in which he was
advanced to lieutenant-colonel. In the devel-
opments which led up to the separation of the
colonies from the mother country he took an
intense interest, and his name appears prom-
inently in the early movements both for mili-
tary and civil preparation. After the battle
of Lexington, April 19, 1775^ he, with his
brothers. Dr. Charles and George, and brother-
in-law, Captain McClaughry, was instrumental
in the formation of the committees which met
at New Paltz on May 11. He was one of the
delegates from Ulster county to the first
provincial convention, held in New York City,
and signed the strong document promulgated
by that body on May 26. Later he was
conspicuous in circulating the "association"
agreements for support of the continental
congress and in organizing forces. On
June 30, 1775, he was unanimously ap-
pointed by the provincial congress colonel of
the Third New York Regiment; and in the
fall he was made colonel of one of the new
regiments which had been raised in Ulster
county. With a portion of his command he
accompanied General Montgomery to Canada,
and he was with the army before the walls of
Quebec when that heroic leader fell. In June,
1776, Colonel Clinton was stationed at Fort
Montgomery on the Hudson. Under his
supervision the works there and at the neigh-
boring Fort Clinton were completed, and with
great energy he labored to put them and their
garrisons in readiness for defense. Only
scanty munitions being sent him, he manufac-
tured his own powder and ball. He was pro-
moted to brigadier-general in the army of the
United States in August. Possessing the
especial confidence of General Washington,
who regarded the security of the Hudson as of
the very highest importance, he was continued
in the command at Fort Montgomery.
The next year occurred the memorable
descent of Burgoyne's army from Canada,
the prime object of this invasion being
the mastery of the Hudson, which if realized
would have isolated New England and
have prevented all future conjunction be-
tween the eastern and western colonies. At
the same time that Burgoyne advanced from
Canada, Howe, the British commander in New
York, sailed with a formidable expedition for
Philadelphia, thus engaging the main Ameri-
can army under Washington in that quarter.
Thereupon Sir Henry Clinton, Howe's suc-
cessor in New York, proceeded to carry out
that very vital part of the British plans which
involved forcing the defenses of the lower
Hudson and effecting a junction with Bur-
goyne. On the 4th of October, 1777, Sir
Henry embarked his forces, some four
thousand men, at New York, sailed up the
Hudson, and landed at Verplanck's Point be-
low Peekskill in Westchester county. Peeks-
kill was at that time the headquarters of the
military district of the Highlands, which com-
prehended Forts Montgomery and Clinton.
The command of the district was held by
General Israel Putnam at Peekskill, subor-
dinate to him being the brothers. General
(Governor) George Clinton at Fort Mont-
gomery and General James Clinton at Fort
Clinton. (In the very grave military situation
Governor George Clinton had leemed it his
duty to take the field in person, and had come
to the support of his brother in the Highland
forts.) General Putnam, at Peekskill, mis-
apprehended Sir Henry's object, supposing it
was to attack his main position in force, and
he not only neglected to strengthen the Clinton
brothers in the forts, but even sent to them
for troops. In the night the British com-
mander transferred some three thousand of
his men to the west bank of the river, leaving
the remainder of Verplanck's Point to con-
tinue the ruse. Everything worked to his sat-
isfaction ; Putnam still thought the objective
of the enemy was Peekskill, and it is said that
though he received early intelligence of the
passage of a body of the British to the other
•,ide, he concluded this was only a detachment ;
certain it is he took no measure to reinforce
the brothers, for which he had ample time after
hearing of the new movement. On the morn-
ing of October 5, the three thousand British
who had landed on the west side took up the
difficult march northward through the moun-
tain passes. About five o'clock in the after-
noon they arrived in the vicinity of the forts,,
and, surrender being refused, divided into two
columns and stormed them from the rear. The
forces under the brothers did not exceed five
hundred, but a terrific resistance was made
546
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
which lasted till after nightfall, when the
overwhelming power of numbers prevailed. In
the fight General James Clinton suffered a
severe bayonet wound. The last to leave Fort
Clinton, he escaped down a precipice, one
hundred feet high, fronting the river, and
made his way to his home at Little Britain.
The governor crossed in a rowboat to the op-
posite shore. The taking of the Highland
forts was one of the most sensational events
of the revolution, standing as much to the
credit of the British general who planned and
executed the enterprise as did the subsequent
capture of Stony Point, a few miles below,
to that of the American General Wayne. Sir
Henry Clinton, having an unobstructed path
before him (West Point had not then liieen
built,) immediately marched to assist Bur-
goyne. but was too late, and so, after burning
Kingston and committing other ravages, re-
turned to New York. Forts Montgomery and
Clinton were demolished and never recon-
structed. For this disastrous afifair Putnam
was sharply criticised but the conduct of the
Clinton brothers was regarded by both Wash-
ington and congress with unmixed approba-
tion. Against odds of six to one their situation
was hopeless unless reinforced ; but as help
miglit still come from Putnam, and as in any
case it was their duty to maintain the honor of
the American arms, they made a desperate
defense, prolonging it in sheer heroism until
further fighting could have had no other issue
than the mere massacre of their little remnant.
After recovering from hi? wounds. Genera!
James Clinton returned to the army and was
stationed at the new post of West Point on
the Hudson. As a result of the Wvoming
and Cherry Valley massacres it was decided to
di=patch a strong expcd'tinn against the
Indians. To the details of this matter ^^''ash-
ington gave very particular attention, and the
preservation among Tames Clinton's papers of
the original letter of the commander-in-chief
shows that it was referred to him General
Sullivan was placed at the head of the expedi-
tion, with Clinton second in command. In
June, 1779, Clinton moved with his division
of two tliousand from Albany, proceeded up
the Mohawk Valley, crossed to Lake Otsego,
and there embarked in two hundred and
eighteen boats which had been carried over-
land with great labor. At the lower extremity
of the lake, where it has its outlet in the east-
ern branch of the Susquehanna river — ordin-
arily an unnavigable stream — he built a dam,
elevating the water several feet. Men were
sent ahead to clear the river of driftwood, the
flood was released, and the troops rode quickly
and safely down, reaching the point of ren-
dezvous in the Susquehanna Valley before
the main army. On the 29th of August, Sul-
livan having arrived, the united forces en-
countered the Indians at Newtown (now El-
mira, New York), and completely defeated
them. The object of the campaign being re-
■ tributive, an extensive march was then made
through the country of the Onondagas, Cayu-
gas and Senecas. which was thoroughly laid
waste, villages, stores and crops being de-
stroyed. This was one of the most comprehen-
sive and successful expeditions ever under-
taken against the savages. Years afterward
General Clinton, revisiting the scene, was re-
membered by the chiefs of the tribes and was
offered large donations of land (which he
declined) because of their admiration for him
as a brave man. In 1780, after the treason of
Arnold, Washington wrote to Clinton, then at
West Point: "As it is necessary there should
be an ofificer in whom the state has confidence
to take the general direction of afifairs at Al-
bany and on the frontier, I have fixed upon
you for this purpose, and request you will
proceed to Albany without delay and assume
command." He administered this post — the
northern department — very efficiently until
August, 1781. when, with his troops, he joined
Washington and accompanied him in the York-
town campaign. It was his brigade which
received the colors of the British army at the
surrender of Cornwallis. Afterwards he was
for several months in command of the Ameri-
can forces at Pompton, New Jersey. He was
one of the distinguished officers present at the
evacuation of New York in November, 1783.
LTpon his retirement from the army he held the
rank of maior-general.
The remainder of his life was for the most
part passed in the privacy of his home, al-
though on several occasions he was summoned
to the public service in honorable position.
In 1784 he was appointed regent of the LTni-
versity of the State of New York. He was
a delegate to the famous Pous^hkeepsie con-
vention of 1788. held to consider the Ignited
States constitution, and strongly supported his
brother in opposition to that instrument : but
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
547
after its ratification he defended it with his
accustomed sincerity and energy. At various
times he was a member of the assembly and
state senate, and he also was a commissioner
on the New Jersey boundary and sat in the
convention of 1801 which revised the state
constitution. He died in Little Britain, New
York, December 22, 1812.
In person General Clinton was one of the
most striking individualities of his times — of
commanding stature and powerful physique,
finely proportioned, and with features of re-
markable beauty, indicative of the greatest
dignity, resolution and candor. As a military
leader he was above all distinguished by ef-
ficiency — self-possessed amid the most serious
dangers, a firm disciplinari?cn, and absolutely
loyal to every trust. These qualities led to
his constant employment by Washington in
responsible commands on the Hudson river,
where unquestionable reliability, incessant
alertness, and administrative vigor were the
prime requirements. On the other hand, his
campaign of 1779 to the Indian country, in-
volving an extraordinarily toilsome march and
a delicate engineering feat, executed with pre-
cision of detail and surprising dispatch, dem-
onstrates that as a field commander he also
possessed exceptional abilities. His son. Gov-
ernor De Witt Clinton, in a tribute to his
character said: "He was ?. p^ood man and a
sincere patriot, performing in the most ex-
emplary manner, all the duties of life, and he
died as he had lived, without fear and without
reproach."
He married ffirst) February t8, 1761;, Marv
(baptized Maria) De Witt, onlv daughter of
Egbert De Witt, of Naoonach, Ulster county.
New York, and Mary (Nottingham) De Witt.
Her ancestry was as follows : Tjerck Claesen
De Witt, from the Netherlands ; married, in
the Reformed Dutch Church, New Amster-
dam, April 24, 1656, Barbara Andriessen ;
fourteen children, of whom the eldest was
Andries De Witt, born in New Amsterdam,
1657. died July 22, T710: lived for some years
in Marbleton, New York, later removing to
Kingston ; married. March 7, 1682, Jannetje
Egbertsen, daug-hter of Egbert Meindertse and
Jaepe Tans : twelve children, the tenth of whom
was Esjbert De Witt, born March 18. i6qq;
lived in Naponach, Ulster county, married,
November .1. 1726, Mary Nottino-ham, daugh-
ter, of William and Margaret (Rutsen) Not-
tingham ; nine sons and one daughter, Mary
De Witt, married James Clinton, mentioned
above. Issue of James and Mary (De
Witt) Clinton: i. Alexander, born in Deer-
park, Orange county. New Y'ork, 1765,
drowned in the Hudson river, March 15, 1787;
he served as lieutenant in Colonel Lamb's regi-
ment of artillery during the revolution, and
was for a time private secretary to his Uncle
George ; unmarried. 2. Charles, mentioned be-
low. 3. De Witt, governor of New York, etc.,
born in Little Britain, March 2, 1769, died in
Albany, New York, February 11, 1828. 4.
George, born July 6, 1771. 5. Mary, born
July 20, 1773; married (first) Robert Burrage
Norton, (second) Judge Ambrose Spencer; no
issue. 6. Elizabeth, born January 15, 1776;
married Lieutenant WilHam Stuart, who
served in the revolutionary army ; seveil chil-
dren. 7. Katherine, born September 24, 1778.
died 1837; married (first) Samuel Lake Nor-
ton, brother of Robert Burrage Norton, her
sister Mary's first husband ; no issue ; married
(second) Judge Ambrose Spencer, her sister'.';
widower. General James Clinton married
(second) Mrs. Mary (Little) Gray, widow
of Alexander Gray. .She was born in county
Longford, Ireland, August 22, 1768, died in
Newburgh, Orange county, New York, June
22, 1835. Issue: 8. James, died young. 9.
Caroline H., born March 27. 1800; married
Judge Charles A. Dewey, of Northampton,
Massachusetts. 10. Emma L., born February,
1802, died July 6, 1823 ; unmarried. 11. James
Graham, born January 2, 1804, died May 28,
1849, "Honored, loved, lamented." 12. Leti-
tia, born April 12, 1806. died April 23, 1842,
aged thirty-six ; married Dr. Francis Bolton ;
children: Thomas Bolton, died young; James
Clinton Bolton, lawyer in New York; married
Laura Tallmadge. 13. Anna, born July 26,
1809, died December 11, 1833, aged twenty-
four ; married Lieutenant Edward Ross, of
the LTnited States army.
(Ill) Charles (2), second son of James and
Mary (De Witt) Clinton, was born February
t8, 1767, in Little Britain, and died in New
York Citv, April 20, T829. He prepared for
the practice of law, was admitted to the bar,
and gave much of his time to his profession.
He had a particular taste for surveying, in
which he was very skillful and devoted consid-
erable time to that occupation. His home was
in Newburgh, New York, where he filled vari-
548
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
ous positions of irust and responsibility. In
1802 he represented his district in the state
assembly. He married, in 1790, Elizabeth,
daughter of William and Mary (Denniston)
Mulliner, of Little Britain, born there April
27, 1770, died August 15, 1865, in New York
City. Children: Maria, born March 26, 1791,
married Robert Gourlay Jr. ; Alexander, men-
tioned below.
(IV) Dr. Alexander Clinton, only son of
Charles (2) and Elizabeth (Mulliner) Clin-
ton, was born April 7, 1793. in Newburgh,
and died February 16, 1878, in New York
City. He studied medicine and engaged in
practice. He joined the United States army
in which he attained the rank of lieutenant
He married Adeline Arden Hamilton, daugh-
ter of ^Captain James and Mary (Dean) Ham-
ilton, natives of Scotland. Captain Hamilton
was a descendant of the ancient family of
that name of the Baronage of Innerwick.
Children : Mary Elizabeth, married John
Rhinelander, of Bleecker ; Adeline Arden, wife
of Thomas E. Brown ; Alexander James, many
years president of the Eagle Fire Insurance
Company, of New York City ; Ann Eliza,
Mrs. Thomas A.. Wilmerding; Charles Wil-
liam, a noted architect of New York City
De Witt, mentioned below ; Katherine Spen-
cer, died in childhood.
(V) De Witt, third son of Dr. Alexander
and Adeline Arden (Hamilton) Clinton, was
born July 5, 1835, in New York City. He re-
ceived his education in private schools of his
native place. From i860 to 1897 he was a
member of the New York Stock Exchange
and is now retired from :ictive business, re-
siding in Ridgewood, New Jersey. He is not
affiliated with any religious body. During
the first thirty-three years of his life his home
was in New York City, and from 1868 to 1897
he resided in South Orange, New lersey,
whence he removed to Ridgewood. Politically
he is a Republican. He served a term of en-
listment in the Seventh Regiment, National
Guard, State of New York, during the period
of the civil war and the draft riots. He was
married in St. Anne's Church, New York City.
September 25, 1862, to E'izabeth Sigourney
Burnham, born August 9, 1840. in New York
City, died at Ridgewood, New Jersey. Janu-
ary 9. 1912. daughter of Michael and Jane
(Carter") (Si.Erourneyl Burnham, of New York
City. Children: Alexander, born August 11,
1863, in New York, died at Norwalk, Connecti-
cut, July 23, 1864; De Witt, mentioned below;
Jennie Sigourney, born September 14, 1867,
in New York ; Roland Burnham, mentioned
below; Elizabeth Sigourney born December 13,
1880, at South Orange, New Jersey.
(VI) De Witt (2), second son of De Witt
(i) and Elizabeth Sigourney (Burnham)
Clinton, was born October 23, 1864, in New
York City. He attended private schools in
South Orange, New Jersey He is connected
in business with the firm of Clinton & Russell,
architects, with offices in Liberty street. New
York City, practicing architecture. He is also
a professional musician and church organist,
and has been director of various choruses and
church choirs, though not connected otherwise
with any religious organization. He is a mem-
ber of the Architectural League of New York,
and the Manhattan Single Tax Club and Sun-
rise Club of the same city. He has long en-
gaged actively in the single tax propaganda,
and other economic and social reform work,
and is politically independent. He was reared
at South Orange. New Jersey, and now resides
at Ridgewood. same state.
(YD Roland Burnham, third son of De
Witt (i) and Elizabeth Sigourney (Burnham)
Clinton, was born October 14, 1878, in South
Orange, New Jersey. He attended public and
private schools in that place. Since attaining
manhood his time has been devoted principally
to literary work. He is not connected with
any religious organization, and is politically
independent. His home is now at Ridgewood,
New Jersey, where he was married, November
8. 191 1, to Pauline L. Provine, born Novem-
ber 2, 1887, in New York City, daughter of
James Edwin and Stella Mary (Bates) Pro-
vine. They have one son • De Witt Provine
Clinton, born October 18, 1912. in Brooklyn.
New York.
In preparing the gene-
FLOYD-JONES alogy of the Floyd-
Jones family it becomes
necessary to take into consideration two fam-
ilies which for centuries have been of fore-
most account in the State of New York, and
with an influence much wider. For genera-
tions the Jones family, settled on Long Island,
has contributed a line of distinguished legisla
tors and jurists, and has maintained promin-
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
549
€nce in political life under both British and
American rule. The Floyd family was among
those of this state which were held in esteem
before the revolution, gained distinction at
that period, and since then its members have
invariably been worthy.
The line of descent to be considered here
is traced separately through the Floyd and
Jones families. In the year 1757 they were
united by an important intermarriage, and the
united strains became known as Floyd-Jones
by the legislative enactment of 1788, which
enabled Colonel David Richard Floyd to add
the name of Jones to his surname, hence he
and all of his descent since then to the present
day have borne the name Floyd-Jones. As
the male line was that of the Floyd family, at
tention will first be paid to it.
(I) Colonel Richard Floyd was the first of
this family in America. He was born about
1620, and was a native of Brecknockshire,
Wales. He came to this country in 1656, set-
tling in Setauket, Long Island. There he be-
came one of the fifty-five original proprietors
of Brookhaven, was made a justice, and ap-
pointed a colonel of the Suffolk militia com-
pany. His wife, Susanna , was born in
1626, and died in 1700. They had one child,
who bore the name of its father.
(II) Colonel Richard (2) Floyd, son of
Colonel Richard d) Floyd and his wife Sus-
anna, was born May 12, 1661, and died Febru-
ary 28, 1737. He was appointed county colonel
m the days when King William's war made
troubled times, and by the grace of Anne be-
came a judge of the court of common pleas.
He married, September 10. 1686, Margaret,
daughter of Colonel Matthias Nicoll, secre-
tary of New York colony, and many years
judge of Sufifolk county, anci his wife Abigail.
Margaret Nicoll was born in 1662 and died
in 1718. The inscription upon Colonel Floyd's
tombstone, still in a state of preservation at
Setauket, Long Island, reads: "Here lies ye
body of Richard Floyd, Esqre.. late Collonel
of this County, and a Judge of ye Court of
Common Pleas, who deed. Febry 28, 1737, in
ye 73 year of his age." Children : i. Su.sannah.
born 1688; married Edmund Smith, son of
Adam, son of Richard, of the "Bull" Smith
family of Smithtown. 2. Marg-aret, born 1690:
married Rev. John Thomas, of Hempstead. 3.
Charity, born 1692, died in 1758; married
(first) Benjamin Nicoll; (second) Dr. Samuel
Johnson. 4. Eunice, born 1694; married Wil-
liam Stephens. 5. Ruth, born 1699; married
Walter Dongan. 6. Richard, born 1703 (see
forward). 7. Nicoll, born 1705, died 1752;
married Tabitha Smith.
(III) Colonel Richard (3) Floyd, son of
Colonel Richard (2) Floyd and Margaret
Nicoll, was born December 29, 1703, and died
April 21, 1771. He married Elizabeth Hut-
chinson, born in 1709, died in 1778, daughter
of Benjamin and Martha Hutchinson, large
property owners bordering on Long Island
sound. Children: Richard, of whom further;
Elizabeth ; John ; Margaret ; Benjamin ; Gil-
bert : William ; Samuel ; Mary ; Anna.
(IV) Colonel Richard (4) Floyd, son of
Colonel Richard (3) and Elizabeth (Hutchin-
son) Floyd, was born February 26. 1731, and
died February 6, 1791. He settled upon the
estate left to him by his father at Mastic, Suf
folk county. Long Island, where he was re
garded by all as the most generous man who
had ever resided within that county. He en-
tertained all ranks of neighbors not only
courteously but cordially, and sustained the
reputation of keeping the most hospitable table
on the entire island. Needless to say, these
characteristics of his nature made him num-
erous friends and precluded enemies. To the
poor he likewise extended unstinted generosity,
and all those in distress lived to revere his
memory as their best friend. He was a Tory
of the deepest dye throughout the revolution,
and became one of the proscribed individuals
who came under the Act of Attainder. For
this reason he was obliged to leave the country
in order to save any portion of his valuable
property. The remainder, including the fine
family place at Mastic, Long Island, was con-
fiscated, and his wife fortunately succeeded
to the property bequeathed b^ her father
Colonel Richard Floyd was also related to
General Nathaniel Woodhull, of the American
army, who married Ruth Floyd, first cousin of
Richard, and they were near neighbors at
Mastic. The battle of Long Island was fought
August 27, 1776, in which the British arms
were victorious. Nathaniel Woodhull was ap-
pointed brigadier-general and commander-in-
chief of all the militia on Long Island. Before
he reached Jamaica, with less than one hun-
dred men, the battle was decided, so he re-
mained there at an inn kept by a man named
Carpenter, about two miles east of the village.
550
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
for reinforcements, which he could not get, as
the American army had escaped from Long
Island, leaving the enemy in possession. The
British received information where he was,
and surrounded the house, making him and all
his party prisoners. This happened on the
night of August 28, 1776, and not a gun was
fired. The general, favored by darkness, at-
tempted to escape; but being discovered by
sentries while attempting to get over a fence,
he received a number of strokes from their
.swords, particularly a severe one upon the
arm. He was carried aboard a man-of-war,
and treated with hospitality. The surgeons
advised amputation, but he would not give his
consent, and hence the wound mortified, caus-
ing his death, which occurred September 20,
1776.
Colonel Richard Floyd married, November
2, 1757, Arabella Jones, born December 7,
1734, died May 29, 1785, daughter of Judge
David Jones and Anna Willett. The judge
amassed a fortune of considerable size, being
a large property owner on Long Island. His
daughter Arabella thus became wealthy by
inheritance, and through her issue the property
was to descend provided a child of hers would
carry down the name of Jones. In order to
take the best of care of the will of her father,
in 1783 she desired Ruth Woodhull, widow
of the general, to take care of it. The will was
delivered to her by Mrs. Floyd sealed in a
paper, with the declaration *hat it was the will
of Judge David Jones. This was placed in a
sealskin trunk by Mrs. Woodhull for safe-
keeping with the will of General Woodhull ; but
on April 5, 1784, Mrs. Woodhull's house
caught fire and the trunk, with its valued con-
tents, was destroyed. Colonel Richard Floyd
left his home on Long Island in 1783, for Con-
necticut, and from there went to Nova Scotia.
He died at Maugerville, New Brunswick, June
30, 1791, where he was buried. His wife was
buried at Mastic, Long Island. Children: i.
Elizabeth, born August 8, 1758, died May 7,
1820; married. September 28, 1785. John P.
De Lancey. 2. David Richard, born November
14, 1764. later known as David Richard Floyd-
Jones (see forward"). 3 Anne Willett, born
August 17, 1767, died June 8, 1813; married,
December 3, 1784, Samuel Benjamin Nicoll.
As David Richard Floyd, son of Colonel
Richard Floyd and Arabella Jones, became
known as David Richard Floyd-Jones by Act
of Legislature of New York State in 1788, the
Jones line will be considered.
(The Jones Line.)
By its very name, the family proclaims itself
of the country of Wales. Johnes is the style
of the primitive orthography, although the
contracted form of Johns is equally correct
and Jones the modern form, now in common
use in America. Besides consideration of the
name, students of the family history assert
that traits and characteristics of the Welsh as
a race stand out in succeeding generations ever
since the arrival of the first of the name in
this country, and they even go so far as to
point out the transmission of these traits in
the female line, when reflecting on the quali-
ties of allied families Edward F. de Lancey
has defined them. "The distinguishing char-
acteristics of the family are penetration, judg-
ment, independence, resolution, clearness of
intellect, strength of memory, coolness, de-
termination of action and high honor, united
with a temperament sanguine and choleric,
great fearlessness, and a disposition extremely
social and hospitable " Another has said :
"Other characteristics of the family, those not
based upon the ideas of any one individual,
are its longevity, the excellence of its matri-
monial alliances, the great eminence which
many of its members have obtained in legal
jurisprudence, and the continuance of the
latter through successive generations." Were
either of these views half right, one would have
abundant reason to be proud if a member of
the family, which for righteous reason finds its
name recorded on numerous pages of Ameri-
can history. In substantiation of this a single
paragraph will make the matter perfectly
clear. Commencing with Major Thomas
Jones, the first of the name in this country,
one finds that shortly after his arrival on Long
Island, about 1695, he held the official position
of high sheriff, and in 1710 was justice of the
peace for Queens county. After his decease
his eldest son David became judge of Queens
county, in 1734, and was made the second
justice of the Supreme Court of New York
in 1763, sitting for ten years, when he was
succeeded by his son Thomas, who filled the
offices of recorder of the City of New York
and judge of the Supreme Court, holding the
latter office until the end of the revolution,
when, because of his adherence to the Crown,
he was forced to lea\-e the country for Eng-
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
551
land, where he wrote his vyell-known history,
"New York During the Revolutionary War."
These facts not alone seem to, but actually
do prove, the previous declaration regarding
this family's standing in the community.
(I) Major Thomas Jones was the progenitor
of this family in America. It is a matter of
tradition that the family was descended in
remote times from a good family resident of
Ireland who intermarried with another of
Wales, supposed to have originated in Merion-
etshire or Glamorganshire. But. as previously
stated, the blood of the Wel.=;h family seems to
have been predominant and has given the
name.
Thomas Jones, after the king's defeat at
the battle of the Boyne, fought between the
English under William III. and the Irish
under James II., 1690, emigrated to America
from Straubane, Ireland, in 1692', his title
of major having been bestowed when he was
an officer in the army of the dethroned mon-
arch. He was a Protestant gentleman of
Straubane, in county Tyrone, Province of
Ulster, Ireland, some one hundred and fifty
or more miles to the northwest of Dublin,
where he was born about the year 1665 The
family had come there, the north of Ireland,
from England. He landed at Port Royal, in
the island of Jamaica, where he was at the
time of the great earthquake in June of that
year. It is unverified tradition that he com-
manded one . of the vessels in the harbor
whither the people then flocked for safety — the
"Swan" and the "Siam Merchant." Thomas
Jones figures in history as a regularly com-
missioned privateer under King James II.,
for there is record of a trial for being a pirate,
whereas his business differed essentially as
may be shown. In his testimony he avers :
"We accepted the King's commission and acted
under it, and for which we were condemned as
traitors, and we never received any protection from
King William; but served all along as subjects to
King James II., etc., etc., and that after the sur-
render of Limerick we (and thousands more) were
conveyed as enemies into France, with our arms,
brass guns and ammunition, and that being thus
convej-ed to France, continued to act under King
James II., as our King, and he all along, while we
were in Ireland and after, commissioned us as his
subjects, and that the ship and goods we took by
virtue of a commission as privateers, etc., etc., and
that thereafter we ought to be treated as only ene-
mies and prisoners of war, etc. Some of these
men were executed, not all."
The above shows the activity of the man in
adventure and a portion of his life in following
the sea. When he arrived in Rhode Island
he held a commission as captain. This was
in 1692. The governor of New York colony
from 1692 to 1698 was Colonel Fletcher, and
he it was most likely who allowed him the com-
mission or recognized him as a captain to
cruise against Spain while that country was
at war with England. While in Rhode
Island, he became associated with Captain
Thomas Townsend, who was an active trader.
He participated in his numerous enterprises
and married his daughter Freelove. Captain
Townsend was son of John Townsend and
his wife Elizabeth, and had come to Rhode
Island from their place on Long Island. The
latter colony had proved a refuge for the
Quakers when persecuted, and there Thomas
Townsend, his father-in-law, died in or about
1712. Thomas Townsend gave to Major
Thomas Jones and Freelove Townsend Jones,
his wife, in 1695, a large tract of land which
had formerly belonged to the Massapequa
Indians at Fort Neck, on the south side of
Long Island. He had previously offered it
to his son, John Townsend ; but the land
seemed so distant from other built-up places
that the son refused it, saying: "Does father
want me to go out of the world?"
Seven Indians from this place had come
on November 27, 1655, fo f^^^' with Peter
Stuyvesant, the Dutch governor at New Am-
sterdam, representing the Marsepain, or Mar-
sepingh tribes, whose chief was Tachpausaan,
alias Meautinnemin, Fort Neck, Queens coun-
ty, Indians. To this vast estate Major Thomas
Tones and his wife removed in 1696 There
he built a substantial house of brick, at the
head of the creek, on the portion now known
as the Massapequa Farm. Many relics of the
tribes liave been dug up at this locality, and
it is believed by what has been discovered that
the Indian cemetery was on the north side of
the turnpike, just west of Little Massapequa
creek. Lord Cornbury, governor of the
province of New York, commissioned Thomas
Jones a captain of militia in Queens county,
October 20, 1702. On October 14, 1704, he
was appointed high sheriff of Queens county,
and on April 3, 1706, he was made major
of the Queens county regiment. Governor
Hunter of New York appointed him ranger
general of the Island of Nassau. The last-
552
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
named commission bears date September 4,
1710. Rangers general were sworn officers of
the Crown, to whom were granted by the
sovereign or his representative the royal rights
or franchises, of waifs, estrays, hunting royal
fish, treasure trove, mines, deodands, forfei-
tures and the like. This particular office gave
Major Jones the monopoly of the whale and
other fisheries from both the north and south
shores of Long Island Subsequent to Thomas
Jones' settlement upon this domain, he ac-
quired from the Indians and other owners, as
well as by inheritance by his wife from her
father, various tracts which included the West
Neck and Umqua properties. By accumula-
tion he was eventually the possessor of about
6,000 acres of land, all contiguous, which at
a later date was designated as follows : "That
part extending from or near the Jerusalem
South Creek, later called 'Verrity's,' or At-
ianticville creek, now designated as Seaford
creek, to the Little West Massapequa creek,
was denominated 'West Neck From the
West Massapequa creek to the east branch of
Fort Neck creek was called Fort Neck, and
from there east to Carman's creek, running
south to Umqua Point, was designated as
Umqua. The northern boundary of the es-
tate ran very close to the village of Hard-
scrable. now Farmingdale." The dwelling
which he erected was for many years the
wonder of the age, its cognomen being the
"Old Brick House." Many strange and weird
stories are told about it, one to the effect that
after the death of Major Jones, strange noises
were heard there, and that a small, cir-
cular window, seen in the gable, could never
be closed, for sashes, boards and even bricks
held by mortar, placed over or in it, were in-
stantly removed by an invisible power. This
house was demolished in 1837, and for a long
time afterward any negro passing by would
shrink with terror, expecting the appearance
of a ghost. The inlet from the Great South
Bay into the ocean has for a long time been
known as Jones" Inlet, and the long sand dune
as Jones' Beach, taking the name directly
from the progenitor of the family and original
owner. Freelove Townsend Jones also re-
ceived from her father a house and two lots
in Oyster Bay, which Major Jones sold to
George Townsend in 17 12.
When Major Thomas Jones died, Decem-
ber 13, 1713, he was buried in a small grave-
yard on the bank of what was then called
Brick House Creek, now known as Massa-
pequa Creek. A brownstone headpiece marks
the spot, on which was carved the inscription
which he wrote: "Here Lyes Interd The
Body of Major Thomas Jones, Who Came
From Straubane, In the Kingdom of Ireland,
Settled Here and Died December, 1713." Be-
neath that :
"From Distant Lands to This Wild Waste He Came,
This Seat He Choose, And Here He Fixed His
Name.
Long May His Sons This Peace Full Spot Injoy,
And No 111 Fate his Offspring Here Annoy."
On May 21, 1709, Major Thomas Jones,
Colonel Henry Smith, and Colonel Richard
Floyd were ordered by Lieutenant-Governor
Ingoldesby "to engage the Long Island In-
dians to join the expedition into Canada.'' In
171 1 he subscribed £2 Eng'ish towards build-
ing Trinity Church steeple in New York City.
As early as 1710 he held the office of super-
visor of Oyster Bay, and was annually re-
elected until he died. September 2, 1709, he
was appointed assistant justice of court of
common pleas for Queens county. His wi-
dow, who was born December 29, 1674, mar-
ried Major Timothy Bagley (no issue), and
died July, 1726. Children: i. Sarah L., born
1695, died August 18, 1696. 2. David, of
whom further. 3. Freelove, born 1700, died
before 1768. 4. Thomas, born 1701, died
November 13, 1741. 5. Sarah, born 1703. 6.
Margaret, born about 1706, died before 1768.
7. William, born April 25, 1708, died August
29, 1779 8. Elizabeth, born about 1710, died
after 1768.
(II) Judge David Jones, son of Major
Thomas Jones and Freelove Townsend, was
born at Fort Neck, Long Island, September
16, 1699, and died there'^ in the "Old Brick
House," October 11, 1775. As early as 1734
he had from Governor Cosby, of New York,
the appointment of judge of Queens county,
fitting in the court of common pleas. On
June 2, 1737. at an election for members of
assembly, he had 390 votes and Colonel Isaac
Hicks 432, the latter supported by the Quak-
ers, who were of course numerous. From
1737 to 1758 he was member of assem-
bly and also in 1761. For thirteen years
he presided as speaker of the house. It
was here he made a decided mark in his-
tory. On December 15, 1737, he introduced
a bill to repeal so much of the law of this
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
553
colony concerning the Quakers as required
them to produce certificates. This bill was
lost, Chief Justice de Lancey dissenting. Oc-
tober 20, 1737, he introduced a bill "to restrain
tavern keepers from selling strong liquors to
servants and apprentices." It was passed.
September 14, 1738, he, with Colonel Isaac
Hicks and others, were appointed by the legis-
lature as a committee to prepare an address
of condolence to His Majesty on the lamented
death of her late Majesty Queen Charlotte.
November, 1739, a bill was introduced by him
and passed, to prevent setting fire or burning
the old grass on Hempstead Plains. October
4, 1752, he was chosen speaker. July 4, 1753,
he and John Townsend and others were ap-
pointed commissioners to examine the en-
croachments made on this province by neigh-
boring colonies.
Although Judge David Jones was an Epis-
copalian, he was not of the high church party
favored by his son, Thomas, and it is inferred
that he inclined somewhat to the Presbyte-
rians, because they were so largely his con-
stituents. In 1754, while speaker of assembly,
he had much to do in procuring the charter
for King's College in the city of New York,
now Columbia University. A clause in this
charter provided that its president should al-
ways be a member of the Church of England.
This created a serious storm of opposition, and
he was roundly abused for favoring it. His
son has left a statement regarding the incident
in these words : "It threw the whole Province
into a ferment, and Presbyterian pulpits thun-
dered sedition." In the election for Assembly,
February 24, 1761, David Jones received 382
votes ; Thomas Cornell 363 : Thomas Hicks
342; and Zebulon Seaman 217. He was first
appointed judge in 1758, and although the
rule that an office-holder went out on the death
of the monarch, he was reappointed in 1761,
arid he continued to hold the position until,
wishing to resign in 1773, his son Thomas took
his place.
He built a large house on his estate at Fort
Neck, which he called Tryon Hall, in honor
of the governor. He possessed the clearness
of mind and incisiveness of character which
is so marked a characteristic of his race, never
"hesitating in doing anything he believed to be
right, regrardless of consequences, and alwavs
commanded the confidence of the public
throughout his career. While speaker of as-
sembly, he had the firmness to order the doors
of the chamber closed against the governor
until a bill, then under discussion, was acted
upon, it being known that the governor was
opposed and had determined to prevent action.
Throughout his life he was an imyielding ad-
vocate of the rights of the people against every
species of royal encroachment.
To Judge David Jones and his heirs in taile
was devised the greater portion of his father's
large estate located at South Oyster Bay, who
by sufifering a common recovery the life estate
thus devised to him was changed into a fee,
which he devised to his son Thomas during
his life, with remainder on failure of issue,
to his daughter Arabella and her issue in-
tail-male. The entailment of the property by
Judge David Jones saved it from being for-
feited, as he adhered to the royal cause during
the revolution, and on the restoration of peace
was "attainted" and forced to leave the coun-
try for England, where he died without issue.
The estate thus devised him under his father's
will was by a provision in that will vested in
the testator's daughter, Arabella, and her heirs
in-taile-male. An abstract of this important
will states :
"All his beaches, lands, marshes and grounds cov-
ered with water in Queens County, he gives to his
son, Thomas, for his use during his life, and after
his death to the use of the first son of his said son
Thomas, and the heirs male of such first son, etc.,
and in failure of such issue to the use of the second
son, and sons of his Said son Thomas during their
lives. On the failure of heirs male of his son,
Thomas, he gives all the said real estate to and for
the use of the oldest daughter of his said son,
Thomas, during life, etc. In case of a total failure
of issue of his son Thomas, he gives the same to
and for use of his grandson, David Richard Floyd,
the oldest son of his daughter Arabella, for his life,
and after his death to and for the use of the first
son of his said grandson, in-tail forever, they taking
the surname of Jones."
Judge Jones made further provision, in case
there was no male heir and no one of his fam-
ily took the name of Jones. In either event
the said lands were to go to King's College,
New York; the rents and issues to be applied
yearly to the maintenance of charity schools,
two of such schools always to be in Queens
county — one at Jamaica and the other in the
town of Oyster Bay.
Judge David Jones married, November 22,
1722, Anna, then aged eighteen years, called
the second daughter of Colonel William Wil-
lett, of Willett's Point, Westchester county.
554
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
New York, great-granddaughter of the settler,
Thomas WiUett, of Bristol, England, who
married Sarah Cornell, of New York, in 1643.
She died January 31, 1750, and he later mar-
ried Margaret, widow of John Treadwell, by
whom no issue. She was a daughter of
Colonel William Willett and- his wife Alice,
daughter of Governor CoMen, therefore a
niece of his first wife. Children: i. Anna,
born May 11, 1724. 2. Sarah, born February
12, 1728, died April, 1828. 3. Thomas, born
April 20, 173 1, died July 25, 1792. 4. Ara-
bella, born December 7, 1734, died May 29,
1785 ; married, November 2, 1757, Colonel
Richard Floyd (see foward). 5. David, born
April 30, 1737, died September 9, 1758. 6.
Mary, born April 29, 1743.
(The Floyd-Jones Line.)
(V) David Richard Floyd-Jones (formerly
David Richard Floyd), son of Colonel Rich-
ard Floyd and Arabella Jones, was born No-
vember 14, 1764, and died February 10, 1826.
He took possession of the Fort Neck estate
about 1782 to 1783, it being with his mother's
consent, and that of his uncle. Judge Thomas
Jones, when the latter became civilly dead by
reason of the Act of Attainder. As his grand-
father. Judge David Jones, by his will entailed
his Fort Neck property in-tail male upon his
only son, Judge Thomas Jones, and in default
of issue to his daughter Arabella in-tail male,
by reason of such default David Richard
Floyd inherited. But there was another pro-
vision in the will, and that was to the effect
that the son inheriting must take the surname
of Jones or annex it. He therefore appealed
to the legislature to be allowed to affix the
name of Jones to his own. The Act of the
Legislature reads :
"Chap. 75, of the New York Laws of 1788; an Act
to enable David Richard Floyd to add the name of
Jones to his surname, passed March 14. 1788:
Whereas, David Richard Floyd by his petition to
the Legislature has prayed that the surname Jones
may be added to his present name. Therefore. Be
it enacted by the People of the State of New York,
represented in Senate and Assembly, and it is hereby
enacted by the authority of the same, that the sur-
name of Jones be and the same is hereby added to
the name of David Richard Floyd and that at all
times hereafter he shall and may take upon himself
the name David Richard Floyd-Jones, and by the
same name be known and called in all cases what-
soever,"
Shortly after his succeeding to the estate, he
was admonished by his uncle. Judge Thomas
Jones, as follows : "Behave with caution and
prudence, and let me beg of you by your con-
duct never to disgrace the families of your
two grandfathers. Always remember one was
first in Queens, the other in Suffolk." There
is every evidence that he regarded this ad-
vice, and lived Vifith probity and honor, as
had his ancestors. It is known that he was
a most faithful churchman, never failing to
drive on Sunday mornings ten miles to St.
George's Church at Hempstead, which was
the nearest in the parish.
David Richard Floyd-Jones married, Sep-
tcinber 20, 1785, Sarah Onderdonk, born
March 26, 1758, died February 29, 1844,
daughter of Hendrick and Phoebe (Tread-
well ) C)nderdonk. Her father-in-law was of
the third generation in this country, being the
son of Andries .and his wife, Gertrude Lott.
He was born December 11, 1724; died March
31, 180C); married May 20, 1750; and she was
born July 12, 1730, died December 19, 1801,
Children: i. David Thomas, born April 25,
1787, died June 12, 1787. 2. Thomas, of
whom further. 3. Arabella born February 6,
1790, died May 5, 1790. 4. Henry Onderdonk,
born January 3, 1792, died December 20, 1862;
became a major-general ; married Helen,
daughter of Charles Watts, of South Caro-
lina, who was born November 24, 1792, and
died July 18, 1872; seven children. 5. An-
drew Onderdonk, born January 9, 1794, died
February 11, 1794.
(VI) Brigadier-General Thomas Floyd -
Jones, son of David Richard Floyd-Jones and
Sarah Onderdonk, was born July 23, 1788,
and died August 23, 185 1. On the death of
his father he succeeded to the estate at Fort
Neck, which was in 1826, and was the last
owner under the entail created by his great-
grandfather. Judge David Jones. \\''hen the
law of entail was abolished in 1830 he be-
came possessor of the entire estate in fee
simple. When he died in 185 1, intestate, his
estate was divided among his four children so
that each was the recipient of about 1,200 acres
of the land which had been left from father
to son since the time of the Indians. He was
one of those contributing to the erection of
Grace Church, at Massapequa, Long Island;
in fact, he was the one to give the land there-
for and was one of the two coninrising the
building committee. Because of his love and
affection for his brother, Henry Onderdonk
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
555
Floyd-Jones, he deeded to him a good farm
on the eastern part of the Fort Neck property,
between the two branches of Fort Neck creek,
on which a house of some size then stood,
which was rebuik and the place named "Rose-
dale." This brother was a member of assem-
bly in 1829-30, and a member of the State
senate in 1836-40, besides which he held the
position of major-general of Queens county
militia. Both the brothers received exceed-
ingly long and interesting epistles from James
Fenimore Cooper, which were published in a
book entitled "England by an American."
General Floyd-Jones commanded a company
of detached militia in the Second Regiment
of New York State Infantry, commanded by
Colonel Daniel Bedell, at Fort Green, Brook-
lyn, in the war with England, 1812-1815. He
was regarded as a thoroughly representative
man of the gentry of Queens county, and was
esteemed by his neighbors. In 1837, he re-
ceived the letters mentioned from his friend
Cooper, who was making an extensive tour
abroad and was a connection by marriage.
General Thomas Floyd-Jones married January
z8, 1812, Cornelia Haring Jones, born April
22, 1796, died December 29, 1839, daughter of
Major William and Kezia (Youngs) Jones, of
Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, and thus a
third cousin of her husband. Children: I.
David Richard, of whom further. 2. William,
born March 10, 1815, died February 7, 1896;
married Caroline Amelia, daughter of Robert
Blackwell, of New York, and who was born
July 31, 1822, died December 9, 1886. 3. El-
bert, born February 7, 1817, died February
17, 1901 ; married (first) June 5, 1838, Emily,
born 1815, died April 29, 1845, daughter of
Plunket F. Glentworth, M.D., of Philadelphia,
and Harriet Bostock, his wife. 4. Sarah Ma-
ria, born December 10, 1818, died January 2,
1892: married, 1854, Coleman Williams, born
1805, died December 27, 1891, and formerly
resided in Halifax Court House, Virginia.
(VII) Lieutenant-Governor David Richard
Floyd-Jones, son of Brigadier-General Thomas
Floyd-Jones and CorneHa Haring Jones, was
born at Fort Neck. Long Island, April 6, 1813,
and died at the old homestead, January 8, 1871.
He was buried in the ancient family burial-
ground at Massapequa, Long Island.
He received his early education at a public
school near his father's residence at Fort Neck,
and commenced his classical studies in Christ
Church School at Manhasset. He then entered
the sophomore class of Union College, gradu-
ating in 1832. After that he studied law in
the office of Judge Samuel W. Jones, of
Schenectady, and began practice in 1835, with
James P. Howard, in New York City. He
started his political career in 1840, and identi-
fied himself with the Democratic party. In
1840 he was chosen a member of assembly of
New York, and was re-elected in 1841, and
again the following year. In 1843 he was
elected to the senate from the first district,
which then comprised the counties of New
York, Kings and Richmond. He was a prom-
inent and influential member of the constitu-
tional convention of 1846 from New York
City. On the close of his senatorial term,
1847, and following the death of Jesse Oakley,
he was appointed clerk of the superior court
of New York City, by Chief Justice Oakley,
Judges Sandford and Van der Poel, which
office he filled faithfully until the death of his
father, 1852, when he returned to his native
place. Through 1858-59 he held the position
of president of the Queens County Agricul-
tural Society, for he had been as successful as
a country gentleman as in politics.
In 1856 he was lured from a pleasant retire-
ment to be assemblyman and in the subse-
quent session filled the speaker's chair. He
was nominated with great unanimity of senti-
ment for secretary of state by both wings of
the Democratic party in the fall of 1859, and
was triumphantly elected, holding the position
at the breaking out of the civil war. He co-
operated with Governor Morgan in enlisting
and sending forward troops, and was a pa-
triotic figure along these lines. He took a
most decided stand against the dissolution of
the Union, and made a ringing speech July 4,
1862, which attracted wide attention and was
published. It brought him more into the
limelight of public life, and in the fall of that
year he was elected lieutenant-governor on the
ticket with Horatio Seymour heading it for
governor. His oration upon assuming office,
January 5, 1863, when he was the acting cx-
officio president of the senate, was a burst of
patriotism which stirred the souls of listeners.
One who had known him intimately and had
been his political opponent, spoke of him in thi?
strain after his death :
"He passed through life from the beginning to
the end of it, I believe, without a single blemish
556
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
upon his reputation or standing before the entire
communitv of this State. No man in the heat of
partj- strife or conflict, no man in the heat of debate
upon the floor in either branch of the Legislature,
was ever heard to say aught against his pure and
upright character, and no man who watched him
can say aught than that he worked with his whole
heart and soul for the benefit of those who had
placed him in position."
In the work of the Episcopal church he was
a devout and consistent helper. The Church
Journal of 1871 has this to say:
"His influence and usefulness in the councils of
the church need no other record than the important
positions which he filled in the Diocese of New
York previous to its recent division, and subse-
quently in the Diocese of Long Island. In the new
diocese his important services were immediately rec-
ognized and acknowledged at its primary convention
by his being elected a member of the standing com-
mittee, a deputy to the General Convention, and also
a deputy to the Federal Council. He was appointed
on the Special Committees on Canons, and on the
Revision of the Constitution and Canons, in both of
which he served with marked ability."
Lieutenant-Governor David Richard Floyd-
Jones married, at Albany, New York, June 25,
1845, Mary Louisa Stanton, born August 14,
1818, died at Massapequa, Long Island, July
22, 1906, daughter of George W. Stanton, of
Albany, and his wife Sally, daughter of Theo
philus Morgan, of Killingworth, Connecticut
Children: i. Stanton, born June 11, 1846,
died February 17, 1848. 2. George Stanton,
of whom further. 3. Thomas Richard, born
December 15. 1851, died February 4, 1857. 4.
Mary Louisa, born September 29, 1853. 5
Henrietta, born October 22, 1855, died No-
vember 13, 1897; graduate of St. Mary's Hall,
Burlington, New Jersey; joined Sisterhood of
St. John the Baptist. 6. Sarah Hall, born Sep-
tember 18, 1857; married, June 28, 1892, Cap-
tain Nathaniel W. Barnardiston, an officer in
the Duke of Cambridge's "Own Middlesex
Regiment," England, eldest son of Colonel
Nathaniel, of the Ryes, Sudbury, Suffolk
county, England, and Lady Florence Barnard-
iston, daughter of the fourth Earl of Dart-
mouth ; by whom : Joan, born January 31, 1897,
at Colchester, England. 7. Thomas Langley,
born October 7, 1859, died August 30, 1861.
(VIII) George Stanton Floyd-Jones, son of
Lieutenant-Governor David Richard Floyd-
Jones and Mary Louisa Stanton, was born at
Albany, New York, December 25, 1848. He
received his early education at the Albany
Academy, then at the Walnut Hill Academy
in Geneva, New York, and followed this course
with studies in the Oak Hill Academy at
Yonkers. He became associated with the At-
lantic Mutual Insurance Company, September
25, 1865, and in 1913 was secretary of that
corporation, having succeeded Mr. J. H. Chap-
man in 1902. He is a member of the Demo-
cratic party, and was an attendant of St. Igna-
tius Episcopal Church in New York City and
of Grace Church, Massapequa, and was a
member of the vestries of each until 1894,
when he and his wife joined the Roman Cath-
olic church, attending St. Martin's Church,
Long Island, and the Church of the Blessed
Sacrament in New York City. His summer
home is at Massapequa, Long Island, and is
called "Seawan," and his city residence is at
No. 207 West Seventieth Street, New York
City. He is a member of several clubs and
societies, among them the Union Club, Cath-
olic Club, Automobile Club, Society Sons of
the Revolution, Union Society of the Civil
War, Society for the Protection of Game, etc.
George Stanton Floyd-Jones married, at
Christ Church, New York City, February 4,
1880, Anita Owen. She was born in New
York City, May 3, 1855, and was the daughtet
of Thomas Jefferson Owen and Emilie Ket-
cham Piatt, of New York City.
(VI) Henry Onderdonk Floyd-Jones, son of
David Richard and Sarah (Onderdonk)
Floyd-Jones was born January 3, 1792, and
died at his home in South Oyster Bay, Long
Island, New York, December 20, 1862. He
was member of assembly from Queens county
in 1829 and 1830, and from 1836 to 1840 was
State senator for the First District, compris-
ing then Long Island, Staten Island and New
York City. He was major-general of the
Queens county militia.
General Henry O. Floyd-Jones married
Helen, daughter of Charles Watts, of Charles-
ton, South Carolina, who was born Novembe;
24, 1792, and died at South Oyster Bay, July
18, 1872. Children: i. Charles, born 1817,
died 1874; married Isabella M. Semple, who
died November 3, 1888, by whom: Robert,
Semple and Edgar. 2. Sarah, born October i,
181S, died August 10, 1900; unmarried. 3.
Henry, born March 10, 1820, died February
20, 1849; unmarried. 4. Edward, of whom
further. 5. De Lancey, born January 20,
1826, died January 19, 1902, New York City;
married, June 24, 1852, Laura Jeannie Whit-
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
557
ney, daughter of Warcham Whitney, of Ro-
chester, New York ; no issue. He was a West
Point graduate, June, 1846, when twenty years
old, and commissioned second Heutenant in
the Seventh U. S. Regiment of Infantry,
served under General Zachary Taylor in Mex-
ico; in 1848 was made lieutenant because of
his gallantry in the battle of Molino del Rey,
and July 31, 1854, was commissioned cap-
tain; was sent to California in 1856 to serve
against the Kalmath Indians, and May 14,
1861, was commissioned major of the Eleventh
Infantry, serving in the battle of Yorktown,
Gaines Mill and Malvern Hill. In 1863 he be-
came lieutenant-colonel of the Nineteenth In-
fantry, and on June 25, 1867, was made colonel
of the Third Regiment Infantry, serving
against the Indians during the period of terri-
torial expansion, 1868 to 1879, when the red-
man was supreme the breadth of the western
prairies. In the latter year he retired, and
living in New York City the remainder of his
life was held in highest esteem. 6. Helen
Watts, born December 9, 1827, died July 25,
1855 ; unmarried. 7. Josephine K., born Au-
gust, 1832, died November 15, 1905; married
John D. Jones.
(VII) Edward Floyd-Jones, son of Major-
General Henry Onderdonk and Helen (Watts)
Floyd-Jones, was born at South Oyster Bay,
Long Island, New York, January 26, 1823,
and died at New York City, January 23, 1901.
He was buried in the ancient family burial-
place at Massapequa, Long Island.
He was educated at Easthampton and at
the Union Academy, Jamaica, Long Island.
Civil engineering was adopted for his profes-
sion, and he followed this calling some years,
being engaged in building railroads. In 1849,
when the gold fever possessed so many and
the people of the Eastern States were flock-
ing in numbers to the gold lands of the Pacific
coast, he made the trip by vessel around Cape
Horn and landing in California engaged first
in engineering work and afterward in the sale
of agricultural implements and general mer-
chandise. The firm was known as Jones &
Hewlett, and was located at Stockton, Califor-
nia. Later on Mr. Hewlett became president
of the Bank of Stockton. Returning to the
East in 1862 Mr. Floyd- Jones lived for a few
years at Hempstead, Long Island, returned to
Stockton in 1869 and came East permanently
in 1872, living at Greenport till the death of
his wife in 1874, when he settled in the old
homestead at South Oyster Bay. He was
chosen supervisor of the town of Oyster Bay
in 1886, and in 1891 was elected State senator,
receiving in Queens county 11,537 votes, while
Roswell P. Flower, who was elected governor,
received 11,543 votes. His district comprised
Queens and Suffolk counties.
Edward Floyd-Jones married, at Greenport,
Long Island, December 10, 1862, Mary Smith
Lord, of Greenport, Long Island. She was
born at Sag Harbor, Long Island, December
14- 1839, died at San Francisco, California,
May 23, 1874, and was daughter of Dr. Fre-
derick W. Lord and Louisa Ackerley.
(VIII) Edward Henry Floyd- Jones, son of
Edward Floyd-Jones and Mary Smith Lord,
was born at Hempstead, Long Island, New
York, January 2, 1869, and resides at Massa-
pequa, Long Island, on the old estate of his
ancestors.
He received his preparatory education at
St. Paul's School, in Garden City, Long Island,
1878-1883, and at St. Paul's School, Concord,
New Hampshire, 1883-1888. He then at-
tended Yale University, 1888-1892, and gradu-
ating, entered the New York Law School,
where he studied, 1892- 1894, and entered the
practice of law in New York City, with office
at No. 49 Wall Street. He entered Squadron
A, National Guard, New York, serving from
1895 to 1897. He has usually voted the Demo-
cratic ticket; is a member of the Protestant
church, and a vestryman of Grace Church,
South Oyster Bay, New York. Before resid-
ing in Massapequa he had lived some time in
Hempstead, Long Island, Stockton, California,
and at Greenport, Long Island. He is a mem-
ber of several clubs in New York City, among
them the University, Yale, Graduates Club (of
New Haven), City Midday, New York Bar
Association, Automobile Club of America and
the Aztec Club of 1847. He is also a member
of the South Side Sportsmen's Club of Long
Island.
Edward H. Floyd-Jones married, November
22, 1905, at the home of the bride's father.
No. 33 West Forty-sixth Street, New York
City, Miss Edith Carpender, who was born
at No. 16 East Forty-second Street, April i,
1880, and was the daughter of William Car-
pender and Ella Floyd-Jones, daughter of
William Floyd- Jones.
558
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
This name is of English origin, and
FISH was very early identified with Long
Island. Little trace of it is found
in New England, but it has long been well
known in New York.
Nathaniel, John and Jonathan Fish were, as
early as 1637, among the founders of Sand
wich, on Cape Cod, coming there from Lynn,
Massachusetts.
(I) Jonathan, the youngest of them, later
moved to Oyster Bay on Long Island. He
again appears in Middelburg, or Newtown,
Long Island, as early as 1659, and was evi-
dently a man of worth and standing. The
records of that town show frequent mention of
his name in official capacities as a magistrate.
He was owner of a twenty-shilling right in the
town lands, which secured him a share in the
various divisions of the common lands. He died
about 1663, leaving a widow, Mary, and three
sons (John, Samuel and Nathan), all of whom
were among the patentees of Newtown in
1686. Samuel died in 1700 without issue, and
John removed to New Jersey.
(II) Nathan, son of Jonathan and Mary
Fish, inherited from his father a right in the
undivided lands of Newtown and continued to
reside there, where he died August i, 1734.
(III) Jonathan (2), eldest child of Nathan
Fish, was born'October 11, 1680, in Newtown,
and died there in November, 1723. He in-
herited the ancestral homestead and other
lands in the village of Newtown, where he re-
sided. He occupied, and perhaps built, the
house afterwards kept as an inn by his son,
and long known as the "Corner House." In
1715 he gave to the "Dissenting Presbyterian
Congregation of Newtown" the land on which
the old Presbyterian church stood until the
present church was built in 1895 He served
fifteen years as town clerk. He was survived
by his wife Mary, but only two of his seven
children appear to have reached maturity:
Samuel, mentioned below, and Jane, born May
26, 1721, married Charles Palmer.
(IV) Captain Samuel Fish, only surviving
son of Jonathan (2) and Mary Fish, was born
November 24, 1704, in the village of New-
town, and inherited from his father the "Cor-
ner House," which became noted as an inn
during his lifetime. He seems -to have been a
useful citizen in various ways, and died Au-
gust 27, 1767. He married (first) June 21,
1727, Agnes, daughter of John Berrien; (sec-
ond) April 22, 1748, Abigail, daughter of Ed-
ward Howard; (third) November 19, 1752,
Anna Betts, who survived him. Of his fifteen
children the following appear in the records:
Jonathan, mentioned below; Ruth, born May
7, 1730; Samuel, April 13, 1734; Mary, July
9, 1736; Sarah, February 24, 1739; Richard,
August 9, 1743; Abigail, August 27, 1749;
Elizabeth, August 24, 1753.
(V) Jonathan (3), eldest child of Samuel
and Agnes (Berrien) Fish, was born May 11.
1728, in Newtown, where he died December
26, 1779. He owned the homestead in New-
town, on which he dwelt, with the exception
of some years when he was a merchant in
New York City and there resided. He mar-
ried (first) October 5. 1750, Elizabeth,
daughter of Joseph Sackett, who died April 9,
1778; and (second) Elizabeth, daughter of
Thomas Whitehead, who died October 26,
1798. There were two children, both of the
first marriage: Sarah, born October 22, 1755.
married Terence Reilly; and Nicholas, men-
tioned below.
(VI) Nicholas, only son of Jonathan (3)
and Elizabeth (Sackett) Fish, was born Au-
gust 28, 1758, in New York City, and died
there in his house. No. 21 Stuyvesant street, on
June 20, 1833. He studied law in the office
of John Morin Scott On the breaking out
of the Revolutionary War he entered the ser-
vice of the Colonies as a lieutenant in the
First New York Regiment. On November 21,
1776, he was appointed by Congress major of
the Second New York Regiment of the Con-
tinental army, and served with that rank
throi'gbort the war. .A^t its close he was. by
a resolution of Congress, commissioned as
lieutenant-colonel. He participated in the bat-
tle of Long Island, the battle of Monmouth,
and General Sullivan's expedition against the
Indians. He took an active part in the battles
which led to the capture of Burgoyne at Sara-
toga, and the surrender of Cornwallis, and
with his lifelong friend, Hamilton, was in the
final assault at Yorktown. He enjoyed the
confidence of General Washington and of all
his contemporaries, and was by him appointed
a division inspector of the army in 1778 under
General Steuben, who was inspector-general.
He continued in the regular army for a few
years after the close of the Revolutionary
War, commanding a regiment of infantry at
Fort Mcintosh and other points on the Ohio
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
559
river in 1785-6. He was one of the original
members of the Society of the Cincinnati, and
assistant treasurer of the New York State So-
ciety at its organization, and president thereof
from 1797 to 1804. In 1786 he was appointed
as the first adjutant-general of the State of
New York, serving in that capacity until 1793.
He was appointed Supervisor of the Revenue
by President Washington in 1794, and served
for several years. He was alderman of the
Ninth Ward of the City of New York, 1806 to
181 7, serving on the committee of defense dur-
ing the War of 1812 with Great Britain. He
was chairman of the board of trustees of Col-
umbia College from 1824 to 1832, and in 1831
was the last president of the Butchers and
Drovers Bank. He was a devout communi-
cant of the Protestant Episcopal church,
and for some years a member of the
standing committee of the Diocese of New
York. As Colonel Fish's epitaph in St.
Mark's Church in the Bowerie aptly rec-
ords: "He was the faithful soldier of Christ
and of his Country." He married, April 30,
1803, Elizabeth, daughter of Petrus Stuyve-
sant, a great-grandson of the last Dutch Gov-
ernor of New Netherlands. Children: Susan
Elizabeth, born July 25, 1805, married Daniel
Le Roy, of New York ; Margaret Ann, Febru-
ary II, 1807, married John (2) Neilson, of
New York ; Hamilton, mentioned below ;
Elizabeth Sarah, May 25, 1810, married Dr.
Richard L. Morris; Petrus Stuyvesant, May
13, 1813, died unmarried, November i, 1834.
(VH) Hon. Hamilton Fish, eldest son of
Colonel Nicholas and Elizabeth (Stuyvesant)
Fish, was born August 3, 1808, in New York,
and graduated from Columbia College in 1827.
He was admitted to the bar in 1830, but early
turned his attention to political affairs. He
became prominent in the Whig party. In
1842 he was elected to the National Congress
from the Sixth New York District. In 1846
he was the nominee of his party for the office
of lieutenant-governor, with the Hon John
Young as candidate for governor. Although
the head of the ticket was elected, the oppo-
sition of the anti-renters, whose plans Mr.
Fish emphatically condemned, prevented his
election. His successful competitor, Addison
Gardner, .'^oon resigned the office to accept the
position of judge of the Court of Appeals, and
Mr. Fish was elected in 1847 ™ his place. In
1848 Mr. Fish was elected governor of the
State by a plurality of nearly 100,000, and in
185 1 was chosen United States Senator and
served for six years, following which he made
an extended tour of Europe. While he was
in the Senate, the Republican party was or-
ganized, and Governor Fish, as he was always
called, became one of its loyal supporters. On
the outbreak of the Civil War he took a de-
cided stand in defense of the Union and at-
tained a commanding influence. In 1862
President Lincoln appointed him a member of
the Commission to visit the Union prisoners
confined in Richmond, with a view to obtain-
ing an exchange, which was eventually ef-
fected. He also was chairman of the Union
Defense Committee. In 1869 he was called
to the cabinet of President Grant, hold-
ing the high position of Secretary of
State for eight years. Through his skill-
ful and untiring efforts a peaceful settle-
ment of the Alabama claims was made,
through the Treaty of Washington in 1871 and
the subsequent Geneva Arbitration in 1872.
He became president general of the Order of
the Cincinnati in 1854, and so continued until
his death. He was also president of the New
York Historical Society, of the Union League
Club, and of the United Railroad and Canal
Company of New Jersey, and from 1859 until
1893 chairman of the board of trustees of
Columbia College. Governor Fish served re-
peatedly as a delegate from the Diocese of
New York to the Triennial Conventions of the
Protestant Episcopal Church and devoted
much of his time to the study of and became
an authority in respect to the canon law of the
church. After a long, extremely active, and
useful life, Mr. Fish passed awav at the age of
eighty-five years, on September 7, 1893, at his
country seat, "Glenclyffe," near Garrison, in
Putnam county. New York, leaving behind
him the memory of a patriotic citizen and
an upright, able and honorable man. Mr. Fish
built and for more than forty years lived in
a house at the corner of Second avenue and
Seventeenth street, fronting on Stuyvesant
Square, the land occupied bv which public
park had been given to the city by his uncle,
Mr. Peter G Stuyvesant. The site of Mr.
Fish's house and garden is now that of the
Maternity Hospital. His country seat. "Glen-
clyffe," embraced the famous "Beverley
House," which had been the headquarters of
General Benedict Arnold at the time of the
56o
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
detection of his treason and from which he
had fled to the British.
Hamihon Fish married, December 17, 1836,
Julia, daughter of Peter Kean, of Ursino, near
Ehzabeth, New Jersey. Children: Sarah
Morris, married Sidney Webster; Elizabeth
Stuyvesant, married Frederic S. G. d"Haute-
ville; Julia Kean, married Colonel S. N. Ben-
jamin,' of the United States army; Susan Le-
Roy, married William E. Rogers; Nicholas;
Hamilton; Stuyvesant, and Edith Livingston,
married Oliver Northcote.
(Vni) The eldest son, Nicholas, born in
New York, February 19, 1846, graduated from
Columbia College in 1867 and from the Dane
Law School of Harvard in 1869. In 1871 he
was second secretary of the United States
legation in Berlin, and first secretary in 1874.
From 1877 to 1881 he was charge d'affairs to
the Swiss Confederation, and Alinister to Bel-
gium, 1882-86. He was subsequently engaged
in banking and financial affairs in New York.
He married Clemence S. Bryce, and had chil-
dren : Elizabeth S. Claire, who was married
to Robert Burnside Potter ; and Hamilton.
(Vni) The second son, Hamilton {2) Fish,
was born April 17, 1849, in Albany, while his
father was governor, and graduated from Col-
umbia College in 1869. For two years he
served as secretary to his father, who was then
Secretary of State. In 1873 he graduated
from the law school of Columbia College, and
ser\'ed several terms as member of assembly
from Putnam county, New York. He was
aide-de-camp on the staff of Governor John
A. Dix, and was a leader in the Republican
party, serving repeatedly as chairman of im-
portant committees of the legislature, and in
1895 ^"<^ 1896 as speaker. In 1884 he was a
delegate to the National Republican Conven-
tion. He was United States Assistant Treas-
urer at New York from 1903 to 1908, and
Member of Congress from 1909 to igii. He
married (first) in 1880, Emily M., daughter
of Hon. Francis N. Mann, of Troy, New
York, and they had five children. He married
(secondly) in 19 12, Florence Delaplaine, the
widow of Gustav Amsinck.
(VIH) The youngest son, Stuyvesant, was
born June 24, 185 1, in New York, and gradu-
ated from Columbia College in 1871. In Oc-
tober, 1871, he became a clerk in the New
York office of the Illinois Central railroad,
serving as private secretary to W. H. Osborn,
chairman, and later in Chicago to John Newell,
president of that company. From 1872 to
1876 he was connected with the banking house
of Morton, Bliss & Company in New York,
and Morton, Rose & Company, in London.
From 1877 onward he devoted himself chiefly
to railroad affairs. He became a director of
the Illinois Central railroad, March 16, 1877,
vice-president in 1883, and advanced to the
presidency May 18, 1887, and continuing in
that position until November 7, 1906. He is
now interested in other railroads. Like his
father, he has long been a trustee of the
New York Life Insurance and Trust Com-
pany. He is a director of the National Park
Bank and other financial corporations. He
was a member of the Monetary Commission
created by the Indianapolis Monetary Con-
ference in 1897; was president of the Ameri-
can Railway Association in 1904-6, and chair-
man of the Seventh International Railway
Congress, held at Washington in 1905. Mr.
Fish is identified with many clubs, including
the Union, Metropolitan, Downtown, and is
a member of the St. Nicholas Society of New
York, of which his father was one of the
founders.
He married, June i, 1876, Marian G. An-
thon, and they have three children. Mrs. Fish
is the daughter of William Henry Anthon, one
of the prominent members of the New York
bar, born 1827. in New York, died in 1875
In 185 1 Mr. Anthon was a member of the New
York Assembly, and during the Civil War,
judge advocate general on the staff of Gov-
ernor Edwin D. Morgan. His grandfather.
Dr. George Christian Anthon, was a native of
Germany, who entered the British army and
attained the rank of surgeon-general, serving
from the commencement of the French War
until after the close of the Revolutionary War.
In 1784 he resigned from the British service
and settled in New York. His son, John
Anthon, was born in 1784, in Detroit, Michi-
gan, and died in New York in 1863. Graduat-
ing from Columbia College m 1801, he studied
law, and was one of the founders of the New
York Law Institute, which he served as presi-
dent, and was author of numerous law re-
ports and treatises. It was largely through his
efforts that the Supreme Court of New York
City was established. During the War of
1812 he commanded a company of militia and
served in defense of the city. His son. Wil-
'O^^/li^
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
561
liam Henry, was father of Mrs. Stuyvesant
Fish, as above noted.
George SulHvan Ludlow was
LUDLOW born at Neshanic, Somerset
county, New Jersey, Septem-
ber 16, 1873. His family removed to New
Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1888, where
he prepared for college and entered Rutgers
in 1891. In college he v/on distinction in
athletics, particularly in football, and also in
his studies, and graduated with honors in 1895,
taking the degree of A.B. He entered the
New York Law School in the fall of 1895,
and was graduated therefrom in 1897 with the
degree of LL.B., and was admitted to the bar
of New York State shortly thereafter. In
1898 he received the degree of A.M. from
Rutgers College. Since his admission to the
bar Mr. Ludlow has devoted himself to the
practice of law in all the New York State
and United States Courts. He married, De-
cember I, 1908, Grace D. Fackler, daughter
of George W. and Fanny (Trimble) Fackler.
and has one daughter, Hope Ludlow, born
January 4, 1913. Mr. Ludlow is an enthus-
iastic golfer and is a member of the Engle-
wood Country Club and the Deal Golf and
Country Club. He is also a member of the
Bar Association of the City of New York
and of the Manhattan Club. Mr. Ludlow
comes of a very r)1d and distinguished English
family, which first came to New York City
in 1694, and he is the first of his direct line
to return to New York City as a place of resi-
dence since his ancestor, John Ludlow, re-
moved to New Jersey in 1734. Few families
in the United States, certainly none in this
state, can trace their descent back to noble
and even royal ancestors with more certainty
than the Ludlows. The genealogy, descending
from King Edward III. of England, is clear
and exact.
The name "Lude-lawe" in Saxon means
"lude," a ford, and "lawe" or "lowe," low
ground. In the reign of Edward the Confes-
sor "Ludelawe" was held by "Saisi the Sax-
on," and at Domesday Survey it was held by
Roger de Laci from Osberne Fitz Richard,
who held it in chief from the crown. Lude-
lawe Castle was built by Roger de Laci about
the year 1086, and stands on a hill just above
the old town of Ludelawe, which is clustered
on low ground just around the ford from
which it derives its name. The present family
of Ludlow appears to owe its origin to (I)
Simon de Ludelawe, who flourished in the
reign of Stephen, 1135-1154, and was father
of (II) Turstino (Thurstan), filius Simonis,
castellan of Ludelawe Castle in 1177. His
successors, and, presumably his eldest male
line, as the office appears to have been heredi-
tary, were (III) Willelmus, (IV) Rogerius,
(V) Rogerius Tunerius, (VI) Willelmus,
(VII) Henricus; and (VIII) Matthew de
Ludelawe, castellan of Ludelawe Castle in
1229, who married Petronilla, daughter of
Norman de Swineton and Matilda de Misec,
feudal lords of Ludelawe Castle at that time
(IX) Nicholas de Ludelawe, son of Mat-
thew de Ludelawe, was a merchant and a man
of great wealth. He was much thought of by
Edward I. who, in 1276, appointed him one
of the special proctors to receive the sum of
£4755 17s. sterling from Margaret, Countess
of Flanders, due to merchants of England for
wool exported into Holland. Ilis son, John,
was burgess of Shrewsbury and Coventry, and
Chancellor of the University of Oxford. His
son, Thomas, was knighted by Edward I. for
distinguished services in the Welch and Scot-
tish wars.
(X) Lawrence de Ludelawe, son of Nicho-
las de Ludelawe, succeeded his father in busi-
ness as a wool merchant. He became very
wealthy, and in 1281 purchased the manor of
Stoke Say, County Salop. He was appointed
one of the three commissioners to take 4,000
marks to France to Henry, Count de Bar,
brother-in-law of Edward I.
(XI) William de Ludelawe, son of Law
rence de Ludelawe, was a member of Parlia-
ment from Salop in 1307, assessor for the
counties of Hereford and Salop, burgess of
Shrewsbury, justice of the peace for Salop,
and a judge oi Oyer and Terminer from 1313
to his death in 1316. His son, Thomas, was
appointed recorder of the City of London,
November 20, 1362. and Baron of the Ex-
chequer, May 7, 1378.
(XII) Sir Lawrence de Ludelawe of Stoke
Say, Hodnet and Great Merkeley, son of Wil-
liam de Ludelawe, was born March 2, 1301.
He was appointed one of the commissioners of
the wool trade by Edward III. In 1349 he
founded the House of St. Mary's of the
White (Carmelite) Friars. He died October
S62
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
14, 1353. His son and heir, Sir John de Lude-
lawe, was born May 6, 1320, and died Febru-
ary 17, 1382. He was high sheriff of Salop,
justice of the peace for Worcester, one of
the assessors and commissioners of array for
Salop and was knighted by Edward HI. for
long and faithful service to the king.
(XHI) Roger, or Robert, de Ludelawe, sec-
ond son of Sir Lawrence de Ludelawe, was
high sheriff of Salop in 1379 and 1388, and
justice of the peace in 1389
(XIV) Sir William de Ludelawe, son of
Roger or Robert de Ludelawe, was one of the
deputy butlers to Henry IV., 1399-1412. His
son, Richard, was made a Knight of the Bath
by Henry VI.
(XV) William de Ludlowe, son of Sir Wil-
liam de Ludelawe, was one of the "Servitors
of the Cellar" to Henry V. in 1414, and "Yeo-
man of the Cellar" to Henry VI. in 1427. He
acquired the estate of Hill Deverell, which
remained in the family for over two centuries.
He was parker of the Royal Park at Ludgers-
hall, and represented that borough in Parlia-
ment. He also occupied many other positions
of honor and trust.
(XVI) John Ludlowe, of Hill Deverell, son
of William de Ludlowe, was constable of
Carrisbroke Castle, parker of the Isle of
Wight, assistant parker of Ludgershall, and
mayor of Southampton in 1478.
(XVII) John Ludlowe, of Hill Deverell,
son of John Ludlowe, married Philippa,
daughter of William Bulstrode, of London,
and died in ISI9-
(XVIII) William Ludlowe, of Hill
Deverell, son of John Ludlowe, married Joane,
daughter of Nicholas Moore, of Withford,
County Hants, and died in 1533.
(XIX) George Ludlowe, of Hill Deverell,
son of William Ludlowe, was high sheriff
of Wilts in 1559 He married Edith, third
daughter of Andrew, first Lord Windsor, who
through her mother could trace a lineal descent
from Edward III. and Philippa of Hainault.
Their third son, Lionel, Duke of Clarence,
married Elizabeth, daughter of William de
Burgh. Earl of Ulster, and had PhiHppa Plan-
tagenet who married Edmund Mortimer, Earl
of March. Thev had Elizabeth Mortimer,
who married Sir Henry Percy, surnamed
Hotspur," whose son Henrv. second Earl of
Northumberland, married Eleanor, daughter
of Ralph Neville, first Earl of Westmoreland,
and had Henry, third Earl of Northumber-
land, who married Eleanor, daughter of
Richard, Lord Poynings, and had Eleanor
Percy who married Sir Reginald, fourth Lord
West and seventh Lord De la Warr. Lord
West was also of royal descent in the direct
line from Edward I. and Margaret, daughter
of Philip IV. of France. Their daughter,
Margaret West, married Thomas, Lord Ech-
ingham, and had Margaret Echingham, who
married William Blount and had Elizabeth
Blount, who married Andrew, first Lord
Windsor, and had Edith who married, as
stated above, George Ludlowe, who died in
1580. His eldest son was Sir Edmund Lud-
lowe from whom descended the Earls of Lud-
low, and the famous Lieutenant-General Ed-
mund Ludlow, who was one of the judges who
tried and condemned Charles I., and Lieuten-
ant Philip Ludlow, who served in Admiral
Blake's fleet and was buried in Westminster
Abbey.
(XX) Thomas Ludlowe, the younger son
of George Ludlowe, acquired the estate of
Baycliffe in the parish of Dinton, County
Wilts. He married Jane, daughter of Thomas
and sister of Sir Gabriel Pyle. He died in
1607. His third son, Roger, came to New
England with his youngest brother, George,
in the "Mary and John" in M.iy, 1630. He
was assistant to Governor Winthrop, 1630-
34, deputy governor of Massachusetts Bay
Colony, 1634-35, first deputy governor of Con-
necticut, 1636, and member of Council of
United Colonies of New England, 1651-53
He married Mary, daughter of Governor John
Endicott. He was the ancestor of Israel and
John Ludlow, the founders of Cincinnati,
Ohio, and of Governor and Supreme Court
Justice, George C. Ludlow, of New Jersey.
His youngest brother, George, went to Vir-
ginia, where he was a member of the Gov-
ernor's Council from 1642 unti' his death in
1656. He owned 17,000 acres in York and
Gloucester counties, and in his will he be-
queathed his sixteenth part of the ship "May-
flower" to his nephew, Thomas Ludlow, and
ten pounds to Captain Augustine Warner,
great-grandfather of George Washington.
(XXI) Thomas Ludlow, son of Thomas
Ludlowe, married Jane, daughter of John
Bennett, of Steeple Ashton and Smallbrooke,
County Wilts, and died in 1646.
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
563
(XXII) Gabriel Ludlow, son of Thomas
Ludlow, married Martha Gary at Gastle Gary,
County Somerset, in 1662.
(XXIII) Gabriel Ludlow, son of Gabriel
Ludlow, was born at Gastle Gary, November
2, 1663, and came to New York, November
24, 1694. He was a merchant and also clerk
in Governor Bellomont's office in 1698. He
was clerk of the Assembly in 1699, a vestry-
man of Trinity Parish, 1696-98, and a revenue
officer of the Port of New York in 1722. He
married, in Old Trinity, on April 5, 1697,
Sarah Hanmer, daughter of Rev. Joseph Han-
mer, D.D., the first Episcopal minister in New
York. This lady was also of royal lineage
by direct descent from Humphrey, fourth son
of Henry IV.
(XXIV) John Ludlow, third son of Gabriel
Ludlow, was born January 20, 1706. He mar-
ried Susannah, daughter of Gornelius Brad-
bury. In 1734 he removed to New Jersey,
and in 1739 Governor Lewis Morris appointed
him one of the justices of the peace and
quarter sessions for Essex county. He died
November 4, 1775.
(XXV) Richard Ludlow, fifth son of John
Ludlow, was born August 17,. 1745. He served
during the Revolutionary War as Major and
Gornmissary of Issues, Commissary General's
Department, New Jersey Militia. He mar-
ried (first) Jane, daughter of John Van Nos-
trand. He married (second) Elizabeth Van
Camp, and died November 20, 1820.
(XXVI) John Richard Ludlow, eldest child
of Richard Ludlow, was born August 5, 1769.
He married (first) Elizabeth Vreeland. He
married (second) Catalina Ditmars, and died
April 14, 1849.
(XXVII) Gabriel Ludlow, third son of
John Richard Ludlow, was born April 23,
1797. He was graduated from Union College
in 1817, and later from the New Brunswick
Theological Seminary, which conferred on him
the degree of Doctor of Diviniti' in 1850. He
was ordained and installed as pastor of the
Dutch Reformed Church at Neshanic, New
Jersey, September 5, 1821, and held the pas-
torate until his death, February 19, 1878. It
is one of the record pastorates of the Dutch
Reformed Church and it is remarkable that he
ministered to the children, grandchildren and
great-grandchildren of those who were present
at his ordination. He married Susan Rapelyea,
June 22, 1820, and had the follov/ing children:
Elizabeth Vreeland Ludlow, Dr. Jacob Rapel-
yea Ludlow, Mary Rapelyea Ludlow, Dr. John
Richard, Anna Phoebe, Susan, Dr. Richard
Gabriel Ludlow, and Caroline. His brother,
John Ludlow, was also a celebrated divine
in the same church. He was graduated from
Union College in 1814 and from the New
Brunswick Theological Seminary in 1817. He
was professor of Biblical Literature and Ec-
clesiastical History in the New Brunswick
Theological Seminary, 1819-23, and Provost of
the University of Pennsylvania from 1834 to
1854, and later again professor in the New
Brunswick Theological Seminary and in Rut-
gers College. Union College gave him the de-
gree of D.D. in 1827, and LL.D. later on.
James Reily Ludlow, son of John Ludlow, was
graduated from University of Pennsylvania in
1843, which institution gave him the degree
of LL.D. in 1870. He was admitted to the
Philadelphia Bar in 1846, and in 1857 was
chosen Judge of the Court of Common Pleas,
serving until 1875. Although a Democrat he
was twice elected by votes of all parties. In
1875, under the new constitution, he was trans-
ferred to the President Judgeship of the Court
of Common Pleas, serving until his death in
1886.
(XXVIII) Richard Gabriel Ludlow, third
son of Gabriel Ludlow, was born May 29,
1840. He entered Rutgers College in the class
of 1862 but left before graduat'on to take up
the study of medicine at the University of
Pennsylvania, from which he received the de-
gree of Doctor of Medicine in 1863. After
graduation he served as resident physician at
the Blockley Hospital in Philadelphia for a
year, and thereafter served the Union cause
in the Civil War as surgeon for over a year.
After the war he settled at his old home in
Neshanic, New Jersey, where he practiced his
profession until his untimely death by accident
on December 5, 1879. He married Jeannette
Rapelyea Van Camp, daughter of Tunis and
Ida (Schenck) Van Camp, in 1868, and had
the following three sons : John Van Camp
Ludlow, born April 29, 1870, and died just
after he had entered Rutgers College in 1889;
Gabriel Ludlow was born May 29, 1872, and
was graduated from Rutgers College in 1895.
He married Louise Richards, daughter of Wil-
lard and Anna (Randolph) Richards, in 1900,
and has two sons, Willard Richards Ludlow,
born March 15, 1902, and Richard Gabriel
5^4
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
He resides at
Ludlow, born May 23, 1912.
Macon, Georgia.
(XXIX) George Sullivan Ludlow, third son
of Richard Gabriel Ludlow, the subject of
the above sketch.
Hon. Alphonso T.
CLEARWATER Clearwater, of King-
ston, New York, prom-
inent as a lawyer and jurist, historian and an-
tiquarian, is descended from ancestors long
prominent in the annals of Holland and
France, who were noted for their patriotism
and liberal contributions to the cause of re-
ligion and learning.
The present form of the name (Clearwater)
was adopted in this country about the begin
ning of the nineteenth century, being angli-
cised from the original form of Klaarwater, as
it exists in Holland at this day. There are as
well changes in the spelling of the family
names of his other ancestors. In France, Deyo
was spelled Doiau, and the American patentee
used the latter form. The original form of
Tromper is yet in use in Holland, though there
it frequently appears as Tromp ; it was angli-
cised to Trumpbour about the time that
Klaarwater became Clearwater. The original
French name of Boudouin is retained in
France ; here it was anglicised to Bowdoin in
the eighteenth century. There are many vari-
ant spellings of these names, there being
twenty-seven different ways of spelling Deyo,
and almost as many of spelling Clearwater,
Boudoin and Tromper.
In the fifteenth century the Clearwaters had
large and valuable possessions in the vicinity
of Hattem, Holland, where .a. d. 1414 they
built a castle, and with it a cloister which was
'dedicated by Roedericus, Bishop of Utrecht,
and devoted to the Sisters of the Order of St
Benedict. It was known as the Kloster Klaar-
water, and was the home of the Benedictines
until late in the seventeenth century. At the
time of the Reformation in Holland it was
the only cloister Ihe inmates of which escaped
the censure of the Reformed Church. An in-
teresting historical account of it has been
published in Holland.
Theunis Jacobson Klaarwater, a member of
this ancient family, left Holland in the latter
naif of the seventeenth century and with his
son Jacob came to America, settling in Ulster
county. New York. On May 24, 1709, with
Colonel William Peartree, Governor Rip Van
Dam, Adolphus Philipse, Dr. Gerardus Beek-
man, Hendrick Vernooye and Abraham Deyo,
he and his son Jacob obtained from Queen
Anne the grant of a patent of four thousand
acres of land in what was then the town of
Shawangunk. Jacob married Marie, daughter
of Pierre Deyo, one of the Huguenot patentees
of New Paltz, he being the first Dutchman to
marry into the Huguenot families of that set-
tlement. Their son A.braham, who was bap-
tized by the pastor of the Huguenot Church
of New Paltz, July 3, 1699. was Judge Clear-
water's great-great-grandfather.
On his mother's side, Judge Clearwater is
descended from Jacob Tromper, who was a
great Dutch ship owner, and a city counsellor
of Rotterdam, Holland, from 1524 to 1540;
schepen, 1527-29-32; city treasurer from 1535
to 1539; and burgomaster of that city from
1527 to 1532. In 1533 he was unanimously
chosen head of the Orphans Commission of
Rotterdam, which looked after its still famous
orphan asylums, the homes of the orphan
children of the soldiers and sailors of Holland.
He discharged these public and official duties
without compensation, quietly; and quaintly
saying, "Heaven and Holland have done much
for me, and I must do a little bit (kleyn
beetje) to help pay back.'' The Trompers
were regarded as among the most public spir-
ited and enterprising citizens of the Nether-
lands.
Nicolas Tromper came to America late in
the seventeenth century, and married Jeanne
Boudouin, a descendant of Pierre Boudouin,
the distinguished Huguenot who've estates were
confiscated and who was exiled from France
at the time of the revocation of the Edict of
Nantes in 1685, and from them Judge Clear-
water's mother, Emily Boudouin. daughter of
Peter Tromper and Jeanne Corquet, was de-
scended. Among other descendants of Pierre
Boudouin were James Boudouin, founder of
Bowdoin College; and Robert C. Winthrop of
Massachusetts.
Judge Clearwater was born at West Point,
New York, September 11, 184S, his father,
Isaac Clearwater, being there under designa-
tion by the Secretary of War to superintend
the buildings then being constructed at the
Military Academy under the Act of Congress.
He was educated at the f.imous old Anthon
Latin Grammar School in the City of New
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
565
York, and at the Kingston (New York)
Academy. He studied law at Kingston, with
Senator Jacob Hardenburgh and Judge Au-
gustus Schoonmaker, and was admitted to the
bar in November, 1871. His notable public
career began in 1877, when he was elected dis-
trict attorney of Ulster county; he was re-
elected in 1880 and a third time in 1883. In
1884 and 1886 he declined the nomination for
congress in the Ulster-Greene-Delaware dis-
trict. In 1889 he was elected county judge of
Ulster county, and re-elected in 1895. In
1898, Alton B. Parker, having been elected
chief judge of the Court of Appeals, Judge
Clearwater was appointed by Governor Black
to be justice of the Supreme Court in Judge
Parker's stead. In 1909 he was appointed by
Governor Hughes a member of the New York
State Probation Commission to fill the va-
cancy created by the resignation of Felix
Warburg, was reappointed by Governor
Hughes for the full term, and subsequently
appointed for another full term by Governor
Sulzer in 1913.
Judge Clearwater has been notably active
in public aiifairs aside from his professional
and ofificial career. He is a trustee of Rutgers
College, and chairman of the library commit-
tee of the board ; he was a delegate of the
New York State Bar Association to the Uni-
versal Congress of Lawyers and Jurists, held
in connection with the Louisiana Purchase Ex-
position at St. Louis in 1904; he is and has
been for several years chairman of the law
reform committee of that association ; is
chairman of its committee to suggest reform in
the introduction of medical expert testimony
in civil and criminal trials ; and at the request
of the editor of the North American Review
wrote an article upon "Medical Expert Tes-
timony," which appeared in the June, 1909,
number of that publication. He is chairman
of the joint committees of the New York
State Bar Association, the New State Medical
Society, the Homoeopathic Medical Society of
New York, the Academy of Medicine of New
York City, and the Society of Medical Juris-
prudence, to urge the passage by the legisla-
ture of New York of a law regulating the in-
troduction of such testimony in courts of jus-
tice ; is chairman of the committee of the
New York State Bar Association, to suggest
matters to be brought to the attention and for
the consideration of the aproaching Constitu-
tional Convention to be held in 19 16 to re-
vise the Constitution of the State of New
York; and is a member of the committee upon
workmen's compensation of the Association.
To the subject of workmen's compensation,
he has devoted much time and thought, fami-
liarizing himself with the workmen's compen-
sation acts of the different states of the Union,
and of Great Britain and the countries of con-
tinental Europe. He made strong addresses
upon this subject at the annual meetings of
the New York State Bar Association in 1912
and 1913.
Judge Clearwater was appointed by the gov-
ernor of New York a member of the Hudson-
Fulton Celebration Commission in 1906, and
in 1907 edited an authoritative history of Ul-
ster County. At the request of David Dudley
Field, he prepared many of the provisions of
the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal
Procedure of New York. In 1895 he was ap-
pointed commissioner to super\ise the trans-
lation from Dutch into English of the Dutch
records of Ulster county (1664-84), and
completed the work in 1898. He was one of
the founders and the first vice-president for
Ulster county of the Holland Society, was
president of that society in 191 1, and now is
one of its trustees. He was one of the found-
ers and since its formation has been a vice-
president of the Huguenot Society of America :
is president of the following organizations :
The Farm Bureau of Ulster County, the Old
Senate House Association of Kingston, the
Ulster Historical Society, the Ulster County
Bar Association, the Ulster County Bible So-
ciety, and the Wiltwyck Rural Cemetery Asso-
ciation. He is a member and one of the man-
agers of the St. Nicholas Society of the City
of New York; member of the American Bar
Association, and of the Society of the Sons of
the Revolution ; an honorary member of the
St. Andrew's Society of Charleston, South
Carolina ; a life member of the Huguenot So-
ciety of South Carolina, and in 191 1, at the
request of that society, delivered at Charles-
ton the commemorative address on the occa-
sion of the celebration of the two hundredth
anniversary of the founding of civic govern-
ment by the Huguenots in South Carolina ; is
a member of the Huguenot Society of New
Paltz ; a member of the Ex Libris Society of
London ; a member of the American Peace
Society, the New York Peace Society, the
566
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
American Scenic and Historic Preservation
Society, the Historical Society of Newburgh
Bay and the Highlands, the Minnisink His-
torical Society ; and is a corresponding member
of the historical societies of many states. In
191 1, he was made an honorary fellow for life
of the Metropolitan Museum of Art of the
City of New York, in recognition of his loans
of old American silver to that museum, and a
like member of the American Numismatic
Society.
He has delivered and is the author of many
valuable monographs He delivered the ad-
dress at the opening of the great Protestant
Mission at Menilmontant, Paris, France, in
June, 1888; and the response to the address
of welcome to the Holland Society made by
the burgomaster of Rotterdam, Holland, on
the occasion of the visit of the Holland So-
ciety to that country in the same year. He
is a contributor to the North American Re-
view, and is and has been an extensive con-
tributor to the historical literature of New
York. He is author of : "The Influence of the
Dutch and Huguenots in the Formation of the
American Republic," "Louis XIV. and the
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes," "The
Huguenot Settlement at New Paltz, in Ulster
County," "Huguenot Medals in the British
Museum," "Founders of New Amsterdam,"
"The Dutchmen of Albany and the Iroquois,"
"Dutch Governors of New York," "The Jur-
ists of Holland," "Lord North and the Ameri-
can Colonists," "Ulster in the War of the
Revolution," "The Adoption of the First Con-
stitution of New York, at Kingston, 1777,"
"The Struggle for the Highlands During the
War of the Revolution," "The Inaugural of
George Clinton, the First Constitutional Gov-
ernor of New York, at Kingston." He has
delivered notable memorial addresses upon the
life and services of Abraham Lincoln, General
Ulysses S. Grant, and William McKinley ; an
address upon "Ulster in the War of the Re-
bellion." "Protest Against the Destruction of
the City Hall of New York," "The Significance
of Dutch Local Names," "Antiquity of Free
Masonry," "The Trial of Christ From the
Standpoint of a Roman Lawyer of the Time
of Tiberius." He has written extensively on
criminological, legal and public matters, includ-
ing "Heredity and Criminal Propensity,"
"Lombroso, and the Danger of Sentimental
Criminology," "Moral Accountability of Crim-
inals," "Goethe and the Sentimentalists," "The
Disregard of Law," "The Deterioration of the
Trial Jury." At the request of the New
York Historical Association he prepared and
in September, 1913, delivered the annual ad-
dress at its fifteenth annual meeting at Os-
wego, the subject being "The Undervaluation
of American Citizenship." He was one of the
founders and has been president of the King-
ston Club; was one of the founders and is
president of the Twaalf skill Golf Club; is a
member of the Union League, Metropolitan
and Grolier Clubs of New York City, and of
the Automobile Club of America. He is and
for many years has been a collector of early
American silver; much of his collection he
has loaned to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
of the City of New York, and to the Museum
of Fine Arts of the City of Boston. He has
repeatedly been a delegate to national, state,
judicial, congressional and senatorial conven-
tions of the Republican party, with which he
has always been identified.
Judge Clearwater has twice been invited by
Presidents of the United States to accept
diplomatic positions abroad, and frequently
asked by the Republican party to become a
candidate for political office. He always has
declined to accept any position not connected
with the administration of justice, having fully
determined when he entered the bar never
to embark upon a political career. It is at
the bar, and upon the bench, therefore, that
his most important work has been done, the
record of which appears in the annals of the
Ulster Bar, in the records of the courts, and
in the volumes published by the state of
New York, which contain the decisions of the
old, general term, the Appellate Divisions of
the Supreme Court and of the Court of Ap
peals. In 1903 he received the honorary de-
gree of Doctor of Laws from Rutgers College
for distinction in the public service
He married, in 1875, Anna Houghtaling
Farrand, daughter of Colonel William D. Far-
rand, of San Francisco, California, and grand-
daughter of Henry Houghtaling of Kingston.
New York.
This is one of the early Dutch
CRUM names of this State and is now
spelled differently from the form
used in the early church records, where it
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
567
occurs first as Krom and Crom. There are
numerous descendants bearing the name now
Hving in this State and New Jersey, who have
done credit to a worthy ancestry.
(I) According to the church records of Tap-
pan, New York, Floris Willemsen Krom Hved
at one time in Flatbush. His wife was Cata-
lyntie Ariaens and they had baptized at the
Dutch church in New Amsterdam (New
York) May 3, 1685, a daughter, Willemyntie.
Their son Dirck (Richard) was baptized No-
vember 14, 1694, It is evident that they lived
somewhere outside of New York at this time.
A record at Hackensack shows that their son,
Willem Florisse Crom, was married there in
1699.
(H) Dirck Crum, son of Floris Willemsen
and Catalyntie (Ariaens) Krom, baptized as
above noted in New York, resided at Tappan,
New York. His wife, Catriena Kuyper
(Cooper) Crum, was a daughter of Cornelius
Kuyper and his wife, Aeltie (Bogert) Kuyper
of Tappan and Schraalenburg. Cornelius
Kuyper was a son of Claes Jansen, who came
in 1647 from Permerond, a village near the
Zuyder Zee, between Amsterdam and Hoorn,
Holland, and settled at Brooklyn, where he
married (first) Pietartie Brack Hoengie. of
Gowanus. She died soon after and he re-
moved to Bergen, New Jersey, where he mar-
ried (second) November 11, 1656, Anna Van
Vorst. He received a patent, January i, 1662,
for a tract of land near Harsemus, New Jer-
sey, on which he settled and remained until
his death, November 20, 1688. His widow
survived him many years, dying January 12,
1726. He was an active and prominent citi-
zen, a cooper by trade, hence is often referred
to in the records as Kuyper, and from this
time on the family adopted the surname now
rendered Cooper. On April 10, 1671, he re-
ceived a deed of two hundred and forty acres
of land on the Hudson River, where the village
of Nyack now stands. Subsequently he pur-
chased four hundred and sixty-eight acres of
meadow north of Nyack, being a partner in
part of these lands with the Tallmans. He had
fifteen children. The eldest son Cornelius set-
tled at Tappan in 1689, but soon sold to Tall-
man, and removed to Schraalenburg, New
Jersey, where he bought two hundred and
sixty-six acres on the Hackensack River. His
daughter Catriena became the wife of Dirck
Crum, as above noted. Children : Helena, born
October 12, 1718;' Katharyna, August 15,
1723; Willemyntie, October 9, 1725; Dirck,
December 16, 1728; Cornelius, mentioned be-
low; Maria, December 26, 1735; Johannes,
January 5, 1740.
(HI) Cornelius, second son of Dirck and
Catriena (Kuyper) Crum, was born April 27,
1 73 1, and baptized May 30, of the same year,
at Tappan, where all of his father's children
were baptized, and settled at Haverstraw,
New York.
(IV) Richard, son of Cornelius Crum,
was born February 4, 1763, in Haverstraw,
New York, where he grew to manhood. He
was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, serv-
ing first as a drummer boy and later becoming
a matross in the Continental artillery. New
York line, throughout that struggle. He was
a member of Captain John Doughty's com-
pany, under Colonel John Lamb, and saw many
hardships. At one time he was stationed with
a force at Fort Herkimer, during a severe
winter, with the snow attaining a depth of
more than four feet. The soldiers were forced
to carry wood on their shoulders from the
timber a half mile distant to keep from freez-
ing. Because of the great depth of snow their
food supply was very much reduced and many
were glad to get a crust of bread. After the
winter had somewhat moderated a supply of
cattle was driven in and the soldiers fared bet-
ter. Their clothing was ragged and filthy and
when warmer weather came every one engaged
in washing. Two members of his squad, Jacob
Van Wart and John Paulding, were members
of the party which captured Major Andre, and
Richard Crum was present at the execution of
that unfortunate officer. He witnessed the de-
parture of General Arnold in his boat when
he went on board the English frigate on the
Hudson. He was a member of the party of
ten men which defended a fort on the bank of
the Hudson from an attack of Hessian soldiers,
during which two field pieces in the fort
mowed down the assaulting party with grape
shot and successfully repulsed two attacks in
this manner. Their fire was held until the
Hessians were so close that they could see
them wink their eyes, and the suddenness and
deadly character of the fire caused a panic and
compelled a retreat. After darkness came on
the cannons were spiked and the little garrison
fled up the river. At the same time the sol-
diers were frequently attacked by Indian allies
568
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
and British, and Mr. Crum was wont to say
that they were "between the devil and the
deep sea," with red coats on one side and In-
dians on the other. He often engaged in
friendly conversation with Indian girls, who
passed the fort, and on one occasion one of
these gave him an implement used by the In-
dians for skinning deer and preparing the
hides for tanning. This implement is now in
possession of his son, and no one to whom it
has been shown has been able to name the ma-
terial of which it is made. The powder horn
in which he carried his priming material for
the artillery is also preserved by his son. After
the men were discharged a barrel of whiskey
was rolled out for their use, the head knocked
out and the men helped themselves with their
cups. This resulted in much fist fighting and
General Lamb remarked that he "thought the
war was over, but the hard fighting seemed to
have just begun." After the war Richard
Crum returned to his father's home at Haver-
straw, but soon after went to New York
There he boarded a schooner for Eatontown,
New Jersey, whence he proceeded to what was
at that time called the Liberty Pole in Shrews-
bury township, Monmouth county, now the
city of Long Branch.
There he settled and married Elizabeth Gard-
ner, born September 14, 1768, died 1827. He
died in 1847. Children: i. Deborah, married
Joseph West, a farmer and fisherman of Long
Branch. 2. Nancy, married a Throckmorton.
3. Hannah, became the wife of Joseph Brown,
and resided in Long Branch. 4. John, a very
powerful man, standing six feet, four and a
half inches in his stockings. 5. Catherine, wife
of Hugh Read, lived in Long Branch. 6.
Gardner, was for some time a clergyman of
the Methodist Episcopal church and later en-
gaged in the practice of law. 7. Jacob. 8.
Susannah, married a Baldwin. 9. Richard, men-
tioned below. 10. Elizabeth, married Hugh
Managhan. 11. William W., mentioned below.
12. Sarah, married Barnabas Clark, who was
a fish dealer in New York City. 13. Rebecca,
wife of Isaac Emmons, a sailor, was the
mother of Edward Emmons, of Long Branch.
(V) Richard (2), fourth son of Richard
(i) and Elizabeth (Gardner) Crum, was born
March 31, 1803, at Long Branch, New Jer-
sey, died September 19, 1847. He married, at
Long Branch, July 26, 1831, Mary Brooks,
born at Doylestown, Bucks county, Pennsyl-
vania, died April 23, 1873, daughter of Ben-
jamin and Rebecca (Harkins) Brooks.
(VI) Richard Benjamin Brooks, only child
of Richard (2) and Mary (Brooks) Crum,
was born November 23, 1832, at Long Branch,
New Jersey, where he remained until he came
of age. He then removed to Pennsylvania,
where he was employed in the lumber woods
for several years and settled in Gibson town-
ship, Cameron county, Pennsylvania. Through
successive changes in boundaries, although
remaining on the same farm, he has lived suc-
cessively in Lycoming, Elk and Cameron coun-
ties. He has been quite active in public affairs,
serving as school director, three years as con
stable, four years as supervisor, and also as
justice of the peace. For several years he
travelled in the interest of the nursery busi-
ness. He married, August 11, 1853, Sarah
Jane Miller, born April 25, 1836, at Sinema-
honing, Pennsylvania, daughter of John and
Elizabeth (Loque) Miller. Children: i. Mary
Elizabeth, widow of George H. Boardman. 2.
Martin Luther, a real estate broker in Chicago,
Illinois. 3. Charles Washington, a railroad
engineer. 4. Victor Emanuel, resides in Si-
nemahoning, Pennsylvania, where he is as-
sistant superintendent of the Keystone Tire
Company. 5. Richard McClelland, an exten-
sive farmer, and state forestry warden of
Pennsylvania. 6. Martha Rebecca Victoria
Lucinda, wife of James W. Montgomery, a
Pennsylvania railroad engineer. 7, Nancy
Jane, married Abel Dent, a merchant and hotel
proprietor. 8. John Calvin. 9. Roscoe Al-
bert, a railroad conductor. 10. Melancthon
Vespasius, engaged in business at Sinemahon-
ing. II. James Harrison, was accidentally
killed at Butte City, Montana, August i, 1902.
(V) Rev. William W. Crum, fifth son of
Richard (i) and Elizabeth (Gardner) Crum,
was born January 24, 1807, at Long Branch,
New Jersey, where he grew up and learned
the blacksmith's trade. Having adopted the
religion taught by the Methodist Episcopal
church, he became a clergyman, and thus con-
tinued until the end of his life. He was a
pioneer minister in Western New York, es-
tablishing many churches, and was later con-
nected with the Michigan Conference. Dur-
ing the civil war he served on the Christian
Commission, bringing comfort to many soldiers
of the Union army. He died September 16,
1866. He married Sarah, daughter of Henry
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
569
Latham, who was an earnest religious worker
in co-operation with her husband, and held in
high esteem on account of her excellent
Christian character and earnest labors in every
enterprise of the church. She was born Feb-
ruary 13, 1808, in New York City, died Oc-
tober 16, 1891. Her father was commander
of the brig "Delia," and was lost at sea. Chil-
dren: I. John, born November 26, 1828; was
a soldier in the First Michigan Cavalry during
the civil war, and served five years, dying as
a result of that service ; he married, Decem-
ber 22, 1855, Harriet Johnson. 2. Richard
Donly, mentioned below. 3. William Henry,
born November 23, 1832 ; has a large stock
farm in Missouri, and is an honored citizen ;
married, December 18, 1857, Ann Totten.
4. Delia, born October i, 1834; married, Sep-
tember II, 1851, William Hibbard, and was
the mother of four children. Mr. Hibbard
was a Union soldier, and died from wounds
received in battle. 5. Sarah Elizabeth, born
December 11, 1837; married, December 30,
1855, George Sherman, and died without is-
sue. 6. Ruth, born January 23, 1843 ! was a
member of the Methodist Episcopal church,
and a devoted Christian woman ; married, July
31, 1858, Jerome Biteley. who was an officer in
the First Michigan Cavalry, and served with
distinction through the civil war ; he established
the town of Biteley in Michigan, where he
operated large lumber mills. 7. Hannah B.,
born January 17, 1845 • married, January 22,
1863, Rev. M. H. McMahon, and now resides
in Portland, Oregon, where in 1913 was cele-
brated the golden anniversary of their mar-
riage. Mr. McMahon is a veteran of the civil
war, having served in Company G, Fifth New
York Duryea Zouaves, one of the famous
fighting regiments ; he was severely wounded
at the second battle of Bull Run ; was dis-
charged from the army at the age of twenty,
and entered the ministry in 1878. Their daugh-
ter, an accomplished artist, is the wife of Hon.
Elisha A. Baker, formerly prominent in In-
diana, and now residing in Portland, Oregon.
8. George Latham, mentioned below.
(VI) Richard Donly, second son of Rev.
William W. and Sarah (Latham) Crum, was
born February 11, 1831, in New York City,
and was a small child when his parents settled
in Schuyler county. New York. It was diffi-
cult for a struggling clergyman in a pioneer
region to sustain his increasing family, and
Richard D. was bound out to a Methodist
brother by the name of Archibald Tilford.
Here he was reared in the fear of God, with
plenty of work and little schooling thrown in,
the latter consisting mainly of the double rule
of three and the multiplication table. At the
age of fifteen years he determined to learn a
trade, and going to Watkins, the county seat,
he served an apprenticeship for several years
as wheelwright. In time he constructed a
buggy, which he thought good enough for a
bride, and with it drove back over the hills to
a cross road named Oak Hill, where lived
Mariah R. Du Vail, who was a descendant of
the Mohawk Valley Dutch. On December 22,
1852, they were married, and have dwelt in
peace and harmony over sixty years. In 1853,
on account of precarious health, Mr. Crum
abandoned his trade, and engaged in photo-
graphing. This business he followed for more
than fifty years, when he retired. He was
one of the pioneer photographers of views in
and about Watkins Glen, in the days when
the developing outfit must be carried to the
scene of operations. He very greatly aided
in making that section the popular resort which
it is today. In the spring of 1898 he removed
with his family to Long Branch, New Jersey,
where he now resides. Children: i. Adelaide,
born January 31, 1854; a talented musician
and gifted artist in oils ; she married, Febru-
ary 25, 1892, Levi H. Bower, formerly of
Watkins, now of Long Branch ; they have one
son, Richard Crum Bower. 2. Fred, born
July 21, 1858, in Watkins; is a photographer
in Syracuse, New York ; he married, in 1879,
Sadie Bedient. 3. Ellen Gertrude, born March
16, 1865 ; graduated, 1886, from the Woman's
College of New York City ; died August 3,
1898, at Long Branch. 4. Delia, born Decem-
ber 12, 1873; now the wife of John Henry
Brown, a merchant of Long Branch ; children :
Joseph, Duvale, Helen Gertrude.
(VI) George Latham, youngest child of
Rev. William W. and Sarah (Latham) Crum,
was born February 28, 1847, in Beaver Dam,
Schuyler county. New York.
He attended the public schools at Watkins,
Schuyler county, New York, up to the age
of twelve years, at which time his school days
ended and he became a workman in the Fall
Brook Company shipyard at Watkins, engaged
in making coal barges for carrying coal down
Seneca lake and Erie canal. He was employed
570
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
at this until he was fifteen years and six months
of age, when at the breaking out of the civil
war he enlisted in Company B, One Hundred
and Sixty-first New York Infantry Regiment,
and served for three years and two months.
His regiment was in the First Division, Third
Brigade, Nineteenth Army Corps, under Gen-
eral Banks, commander of the Department of
the Mississippi Valley, and served through all
the operations below Vicksburg, including the
siege of Port Hudson, which continued forty-
five days. On July 13, 1863, he participated
in the battle of Donaldsonville, Louisiana, in
which he lost a brother-in-law, William Hib-
bard, husband of his sister Delia. After that
battle he returned to Baton Rouge, Louisiana,
and in the spring of 1864, when the Red River
campaign was organized and troops assembled
at Algiers, he was among the sharpshooters
assigned to gunboats, attached to the gunboat
"Arizona," and took part in the engagement
of Sabine Pass, where the gunboats, "Sachem"
and "Clifton" were destroyed. As soon as the
tide permitted, the gunboats withdrew, and the
"Arizona" returned to Algiers, whence all the
forces organized for the Red River campaign,
marched about four hundred miles up and
back. They came back to Morganza Bend, and
at this point word was brought that the enemy
was driving cattle across the river by the
thousands for supplies for their army, and a
detachment was sent out against them by Gen
eral Guppy of the Twenty-third Wisconsin
Regiment, its brigade commander. When
some fourteen miles from headquarters, Gen-
eral Guppy found it necessary to make another
day's march into the interior to reconnoiter.
Finding it necessary to send a messenger back
to headquarters through an enemy-infested
country, with orders for the wagon-train to
come up with supplies, and after others re-
fused to undertake the errand without an es-
cort, which was practically impossible, young
Crum was recommended by Colonel Kinsey
of the One Hundred and Sixty-first New York
State Volunteers. Readily accepting the com-
mission, he made the dangerous trip, without
mishap. This feat of courage was widely
spoken of and commended in army circles.
After leaving Morganza Bend, his regiment,
the One Hundred and Sixty-first New York
State Volunteers, was ordered to Vicksburg,
and being largely made up of mechanics, was
set to work repairing the rolling stock on the
Jackson & Eastern Mississippi railroad. Here
Mr. Crum was detailed on the staff of Major
Alexander Shaler, who was put in charge of
the Department of Arkansas, with headquar-
ters at Duvall's Bluff. In the spring of 1865,
the Mobile campaign being organized, he was
directed to return to Carlton to his own regi-
ment, and there was placed on the staff of
Major-general Steele, in which capacity he re-
mained until after the fall of Fort Blakley. The
army was then ordered to Spanish Fort, thence
to Mobile, Alabama. While on the march
news of General Lee's surrender reached the
troops. Finding that the fort had been eva-
cuated, the troops moved against the city of
Mobile, and after its evacuation marched into
the city at night and went into camp in the
suburbs. After several weeks his regiment
was sent to Apalachicola, Florida, with other
troops, to take care of the cotton which had
accumulated there during the war, in hopes
that the blockade runners might get in to carry
it away, but which had not been done. This
cotton was seized in the name of the govern-
ment. Colonel B. Kinsey being detailed as
judge advocate, under Major-general Ashboth,
Mr. Crum assisted in trying cases against
delinquent soldiers and officers. Here he spent
two months, when he came home and was
mustered out of service, October 25, 1865. He
participated in thirty-three engagements dur-
ing the war ; Avas on the staffs of Major-gen-
eral Shaler, Major-general Steele, Brigadier-
general Guppy and Colonel Kinsey; was con-
tinuously under fire for forty-five days at the
siege of Port Hudson. He fervently believes
that his life was spared in answer to the fer-
vent prayers of his righteous parents.
After the war, he entered the New York
Fire Department, and became a member of
Engine Company No. 35, with which he re-
mained nearly three years, when he became
assistant foreman of Engine Company No. 7,
and four months later was made foreman in
command of Engine Company No. 4, at 39
Liberty Street, New York City, with which
he served fourteen years and seven months.
He then became connected with the Mutual
Life Insurance Company as assistant super-
intendent of the real estate department of New
York City, holding this position for two years,
when he was sent to Boston to take charge of
the real estate department of the same company
in that city. He remained there three years,
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
571
when failing health caused him to retire from
active business for some time. When he re-
signed his position with the Mutual Life, the
company accepted his resignation and pre-
sented to him a check amounting to three
thousand dollars in evidence of appreciation
of his long services. After regaining his health
he became connected with the Equitable Life
Assurance Society as a solicitor, and for the
past twenty-four years has been acting in the
capacity of agency manager. During this time
he has probably written some twelve million
dollars worth of policies. His offices are in
the Singer Building, Broadway, New York,
and he is a well-known figure in the insurance
line, and most highly esteemed by every ex-
ecutive officer of the company. This is evi-
denced by the following letter :
THE EQUITABLE LIFE ASSURANCE SO-
CIETY OF THE UNITED STATES.
June 17, 1913.
My Dear Financier :
I have followed your career with interest and
pride for a quarter of a century or more. At one
time I see you breaking into politics and making an
impress on affairs of State— at another time, as the
present, I see you breaking into the financial affairs
of the world, vide your interest in the Long Branch
Banking Company, "tlie pioneer concern along the
Jersey coast," and all the while I know your heart
is true to your first love, the Equitable, 'and I see
you continuous in your endeavors to give your fellow
men "protection that protects" by insuring them in
the greatest company in the world.
So here's to j-ou ! and long life, happiness and
content to you !
Sincerely yours,
(Signed) Geo. T. Wilson,
GiiORGE L. Crum, Esq. Second Vice-President.
Mr. Crum is a man of strong force of char-
acter; is a director in several large corpora-
tions and banks. He is a member of A. E.
Kimball Post, Grand Army of the Republic,
of New York, and of the Board of Trade at
Long Branch, which is his home, and where
he was candidate for mayor in 1910. In pol-
itics he is a Republican. He has been a mem-
ber of Harlem Lodge, No. 201, Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, since 1868, and is also
a member of what is known as the Half Mil-
lion Club in insurance circles. He and his
family attend the Methodist Episcopal church.
He married (first) in 1866, Mary Lanzer,
daughter of Frederick and Elizabeth (Mar-
jory) Lanzer; she was born in New York City.
Of this marriage two children were born: i.
William K., born in New York City, August
II, 1868; married Mamie Pasterelle, and they
have four children : John, William, Patrice,
George L. ; his residence is at College Point,
Long Island ; he is a machinist, and employed
by the Auto-Press Company there. 2. Ella
Frances, married William G. Colling, of
Brooklyn, New York ; they have a daughter,
Marion. Mr. Crum married (second) Fannie
L. Rabb, of New York City, a native of Aus-
tria, who came to this country when a child.
She is the mother of three children : 3. Maurice
R., born in Boston, April 16, 1888, died at the
age of two years. 4. Mercedee Latham, born
November 11, 1890, in New York City; she
was educated in the Long Branch high school,
and was selected by the Long Branch Board
of Trade as Queen of the Carnival of 1912,
she is an ardent student of music. 5. Ortrude
Latham, born in New York City, October 7,
1893 '• she is a graduate of the Long Branch
high school, and is an ardent student of music,
and an elocutionist and vocalist of high order.
Willem Florisse Crum, son of
CRUM Floris Willemsen (q. v.) and
Catalyntie (Ariaens) Krom, was
probably baptized somewhere on Long Island,
born about 1677-78. He was a small child
when his father removed to Tappan, and there
resided. He married, at Hackensack, Sep-
tember 29, 1699, Geritje Van Houte, and the
marriage record at Tappan describes him as
a native of Flatbush, and his wife as a native
of Harsamus. They had children baptized at
Tappan: Floris Willemse, mentioned below;
Theunis, April 14, 1703; Willem, July 4, 1705.
Willem F. Crum died before October 15, 1707,
on which date his widow married Jan Hogen-
canb.
(HI) Floris Willemse, eldest child of Wil-
lem Florisse and Geritje (Van Houte) Crum,
was born October 16, 1701, at Tappan, New
York, and resided in that vicinity. He mar-
ried Cytie (Seitje) Brouwer, and they had
children baptized at Tappan : Johannes, men-
tioned below ; Samuel, born May 14, 1731 ;
Geritje, July 24, 1733; Willem, March g,
1739; Margrietje, March 17, 1741 ; Theunis,
November 27, 1743.
(IV) Johannes, eldest child of Floris Wil-
lemse and Cytie (Brouwer) Crum, was born
July 31, 1728, baptized August 23, same year,
at Tappan, New York, and resided in Upper
Nyack. He married, at Clarkstown, Lena
572
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
Benson, daughter of Johannes and Lena Ben-
son, and was described at the time of his mar-
riage as a resident of Clarkstown. Only one
of his children is recorded there and he evi-
dently moved up the river in 1751-52.
(V) Johannes (John) Benson, son of Jo-
hannes and Lena (Benson) Crum, was bap-
tized March i, 175 1, in Clarkstown, New
York, and resided at Spring Valley, in the
town of Ramapo. He was probably twice
married. The family records show that he
married Katee Sarvent, December 31, 1782.
All of his children were born previous to that
date. No record of the former marriage has
been discovered. The Sarvent family is of
French origin and- the name appears on the
Dutch records of Tappan in various forms, the
most usual being Server. It is also found as
Sarven. Philip Sarvent, born about 1720-21,
is described as coming from Holland at the age
of thirteen years. He worked thirteen years
for Cornelius Cooper in Clarkstown, whose
farm of fifty-five acres he purchased in 1747.
This is in Upper Nyack, and the stone house
on the farm contains a chimney made of bricks
brought from Holland. He died August 15,
1786. His wife was Maria (Onderdonck)
Crum, and they had children : Philip, Adrian,
Garret, Abraham, born May 22, 1752, and
probably Katee, wife of Johannes B. Crum
The birth of the oldest son is recorded at
Clarkstown, August 5, 1748. Katee was prob-
ably born about 1752-53. Jacob Sarvent and
Catrina De Beer had a son Abraham, born
November 25, 1760. baptized December 7, at
Clarkstown. Katee may have been theii
daughter. Children of Johannes B. Crum :
Elizabeth, born February 22, 1767; James,
December 25, 1768; Thomas, January 27,
1771 ; Katie, March 20, 1773; Jacob, January
18, 1776; Henry, January 17, 1778; John, Jan-
uary 12, 1781 ; Abram, mentioned below.
These records are supplied by the family and
cannot be found in any of the Rockland county
or New Jersey churches. The family may
have crossed the river for church privileges.
(VI) Abram, son of Johannes (John) Ren-
son and Katee (Sarvent) Crum, was born
September 29. 1783, in Nyack, New York,
died March 24, 1858. He probably resided in
the town of Ramapo, as his marriage was per-
formed bv Rev. George Brinkerhoff, pastoi
of the Kakiat Dutch Church of that town.
He was born just at the close of the revolu-
tionary war, was imbued with the patriotic
spirit of his ancestors, and served as a soldier
from Rockland county in the war of 1812. He
married, September 11, i8o8, Peggy (Mar-
garet) Sarven. They had children: i. Mary,
born August 30, 1810, married Levi Spring-
steen, November 3, 1829; their children were:
Theodore and Levi Jr. 2. John Abram, merv
tioned below. 3. Abram Sarven, born Decem-
ber 12, 1814; married, January 2, 1840,
Uphemia Sickles ; they had one child, Martha
Blanch, born December 28, 1840; married Dr.
Alonzo C. Rembaugh in 1874, and has one
child. Bertha, born in 1876, unmarried. 4.
Theodore, born October 26, 1826, died in in-
fancy. 5. Cyrus Mason, born September 29,
1831 ; married (first) Laura Ann Dickey,
September 29, 1857; married (second) Edith
Mathilda Hope ; his children by first marriage
were : Margaret and Florence. Children of
second marriage: Margaret, Elizabeth, Helen,
Louise, Harold.
(VII) John Abram, eldest son of Abram
and Peggy (Margaret) (Sarven) Crum, was
born June 16, 1812, and baptized July 10, fol-
lowing, at the Kakiat Church. He resided
for many years in New York City, where he
was a dry goods merchant, and retired upon
a competence. Religiously he was a Presby-
terian, and in politics acted with the Republi-
can party. He married, October 25, 1870, at
the Brick Church, New York City, Janet Mac-
donald Rait, born March 22, 1836. died April
^^. ^^77' daughter of James and Margaret
(Dean) Rait. They had two children: Emma,
born March 27, 1874; John Egbert, mentioned
below.
(VIII) John Egbert, only son of John
Abram and Janet Macdonald (Rait) Crum,
was born in Nyack, Rockland county. New
York, March 26, 1876 When quite young
he received private tuition in Nyack and was
prepared to enter the public school. He finally
attended the high school and in 1889 he grad-
uated with his class with honors. He was
then thirteen years old. Immediately upon
his graduation he entered the employ of the
Rochester Lamp Company in New York City
as a clerk and salesman, and remained with
them for about six years, when he resigned
and accepted a position in the Shoe & Leather
National Bank in New York City. LTpon the
consolidation of the bank with the Metropoli-
tan Bank in 1906. he became its general audi-
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
573
tor and is still connected with it, and is highly
respected. John Egbert Crum is a Republican
in politics, but has never held any public of-
fice. He is a notary public and a commissioner
of deeds of New York county. He is a mem-
ber of Doric Lodge, No. 280, Free and Ac-
cepted Masons, New York City ; Phoenix
Chapter, No. 2, New York City; Sons of the
Revolution; and is also an honorary member
of the Orangetown Fire Company, No. i,
Nyack, New York. He is a member of the
First Presbyterian Church of Nyack. He
married, June 12, 1906, in Tacoma, Wash-
ington, Marie Agnes, born November 27,
1874, in Coldwater, Mercer county, Ohio,
daughter of George Rosenbeck. George Ro-
senbeck was born August ig, 1836, in Ham-
burg, Germany. He emigrated when young
to America and finally became a prominent
dry goods merchant in Coldwater, and also
owned a large farm in the same place. He
has now disposed of all his interest in Cold-
water and leads a retired life in Los Angeles,
California. He married Marie Elizabeth, born
in Bantzen, Germany, daughter of Frederick
Kalkhofif. Their children were: Catherine,
born in 1872; Marie Agnes, mentioned above;
Elizabeth, born in 1876; Josephine, born in
1878.
Gysbert Crum appeared in New
CRUM York City when it was under
English rule. The first mention
of him is found in the land records at Albany,
showing that he received a deed of confirma-
tion of thirty acres at Marbletown, Esopus,
October 11, 1671. He appears to have been
living in New York in 1677, when he had a
child baptized there. Possibly he may have
been living at Marbletown at this time and
brought the child to New York for baptism.
The survey of one hundred and fifty-eight
acres on the south side of Esopus Creek, in
Marbletown, for him, was recorded April 13,
1686. No record of his marriage is found in
New York or Kingston but his wife was
Giertie (Van Vliet) Crum. Their oldest child,
Mayken, was baptized in New York, October
31, 1677. Others, recorded in Kingston, are:
Gysbert, born February 9, 1679; Henric, De-
cember 9, 1683; Archie, January 31, 1686;
Zacharias and Elizabeth (twins) March e,.
1688.
(U) Dirck, or Richard, undoubtedly the
son of Gysbert and Giertie (Van Vliet) Crum,
born about 1681, resided in the vicinity of
Marbletown or Rochester, near Kingston.
New York, where the baptisms of his chil-
dren are recorded. No record of his own birth
or baptism appears, or of his marriage. He
married Eva de la Montanjen, baptized March
23, 1683, in New York, daughter of William
and Leonora (de Hooges) de la Montanjen.
Children: Willem, baptized September i, 1709;
Gysbert, mentioned below ; Geertjen, March
I, 1713 ; Johannes, March 13, 1715 ; Elehonora,
June 3, 1716; Henderick, January 12, 1718;
Abraham, February 5, 1721 ; Elizabeth, March
10, 1723; Lydia, January i, 1727.
(HI) Gysbert (2), second son of Dirck
or Richard and Eva (de la Montanjen) Crum,
was baptized at Kingston, New York, No-
vember 12, 1710, and appears to have been
baptized a second time at Rochester, October
18, 1724. He married, at Kingston, October
2^1 > ^737 > Zara Bogaard, both being residents
of Marbletown, where she was born. They
had children baptized at Kingston: Marthen,
February 26, 1738; Dyne, April 6, 1740;
Henry, mentioned below; Anneke, December
17, 1749; Marte, February 11, 1759.
(IV) Henry, eldest son of Gysbert (2) and
Zara (Bogaard) Crum, was born at Marble-
town, New York, baptized September 4, 1743,
at Kingston, and made his home in Marble-
town. He married, at Kingston church, May
4, 1777, Janneke Phoenix, a native and resi-
dent of Hurley, baptized September 3, 1758,
at Kingston, daughter of Matthew and Mary
Phoenix. He was a soldier of the revolution,
was shot in the legs and always a cripple there-
after. He resided in the vicinity of Kingston
until 1785, or later, and had children baptized
at Kingston: Mathias, October 3. 1779; Re-
becca, September 29, 1782; Willem, May i,
1785. Tradition says he resided in Kingston
or Saugerties. He brought no more children
to Kingston for baptism.
(V) Henry (2), son of Henry (i) and
Janneke (Phoenix) Crum, was born in the
vicinity of Kingston, New York, and died
August 20, 1834, in Bergen county, New Jer-
sey, where he was a farmer. For a time he
lived in New York City. He was a Democrat
politically, and affiliated with the Dutch Re-
formed church. He married, March s, 1814.
Maria Becker, who married (second), in 1839,.
William Wyley. She died May 20, 1881.
574
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
Children : Henry, mentioned below ; Mary
Ann, married George Bloomer; Peter James,
born May 17, 1822; John William, February
22, 1828; Theophilus Hanford, August 12,
1830; Andrew Jackson, June 26, 1834.
(VI) Henry (3), eldest child of Henry (2)
and Maria (Becker) Crum, was born July
27, 1815, in New York City, died there July
19, 1849. He married, November 3, 1846, i'l
New York City, Henrietta Frances Garns,
born April 23, 1827, died February 11, 1906,
daughter of Henry and Eliza (Herring)
Garns. The last named was a daughter of
Benjamin Herring, who was an officer under
Washington and one of the Cincinnati Society.
His wife, Catherine (Myers) Herring, was a
daughter of Benjamin Myers, who was put
aboard the prison ship "Jersey," and never
heard of after. Children: Frederick Henry,
mentioned below ; Emma Frances, born Ma>
4. 1849, unmarried.
(VH) Frederick Henry, only son of Henry
(3) and Henrietta F. (Garns) Crum, was
born September 27, 1847, at No. 83 Charlton
Street, New York City. In 1862 he graduated
at the Dutch Collegiate Institute of New York.
In his sixteenth year, on March 9. 1863, he
entered the employ of the North River Fire
Insurance Company as a clerk and has risen
through various positions in that establish-
ment, being now its vice-president and secre-
tary. He is also president of Crum & Forster
fire underwriters; vice-president of the Hut-
chins Security Company; director of the Nas-
sau Fire Insurance Company; the United
States Fire Insurance Company ; the Williams-
burg City Fire Insurance Company; and ot
the People's National Bank of Hackensack,
New Jersev. Mr. Crum is a life member of
the New York Historical Society, a member
of the Economic Club of New York, and of
the Episcopal church at Oradell. New Jersey
He is active in the local councils of the Dem
ocratic party, and is an esteemed and useful
citizen of his home town.
He married (first) February iq. 1871. Marv
Laura Petrowitch. born in 1844. in New York
City, died April 6. 1883. daughter of Chris-
tian Petrowitch. He married (second) Feb-
ruary II. 1903, Louise M'altbie Wortendyke.
born June 9, 1869. Children of first wife:
I. Frederick Henry, born November 3. 1871,
died December 15, 1882. 2. Mary Laura,
born June 3. 1873. 3. Helen Louise, born
January 15, 1878; married, June, 1903, S. A.
Van Der Water, M.D., of Oradell, and has
a daughter Helen, born September 27, 1904.
4. Hubert, born August 20, 1882; married,
February 28, 1906, Lucy Sparks, and they
have one child, Edith Lucile, born January
22, 1907. Child of second wife: 5. Frederick
Davenport, born August 20, 1904.
Rev. William Leverich, the
LEVERICH founder of this family, first
appears as a student at
Emanuel College, Cambridge, England, where
he graduated in 1625. He died in Newtown,
Long Island, before June 19, 1677, when letters
of administration on his estate were granted
to his son Eleazer. He came over to America
in the ship "James." as minister to the church
in Dover. New Hampshire, arriving at Salem,
Massachusetts, October 10, 1633. Two years
later he removed to Boston, and about 1637,
he became assistant to the Rev. Mr. Partridge,
at Duxbury. Massachusetts. Three years
later, he accepted the charge of the church at
Sandwich, on Cape Cod. and in 1653 he be-
came a purchaser and settler of Oyster Bay,
Long Island, the inhabitants agreeing to give
him £15 a year as their minister among them.
Here and at Huntington and Newtown. Long
Island, he spent the remainder of his life.
His wife's name is unknown. Children, so
far as known : Caleb, referred to below ;
Eleazer. married Rebecca Wright.
(II) Caleb, son of Rev. William Leverich,
came with his father to Newtown, Long
Island, where he acquired much land and was
one of the original members of the Presby-
terian church. He died in 1717, aged seventy-
nine years. He married Martha , who
survived him. Children: John, referred to
below ; Mary, married Job Wright ; Eleanor,
married Joseph Reeder.
(III) "John, son of Caleb and Martha
Wright, was born in Newtown. Long Island,
died there about 1705. He married Hannah
. Children : John, born about 1696. died
in 1780, married (first) December 14. 1720,
Amy Moore, (second) Susanna, widow of
John Sackett. and (third) Sarah (Titus)
Cornish; William, died March 25, I7.=i4. mar-
ried. July 23. 1722. Martha Way; Beniamin,
referred to below ; Hannah, married James
Way; Martha, married John Way.
(IV) Benjamin, son of John and Hannah
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
Leverich, was born in Newtown, Long Island,
died there about 1732. He married Mary
. Children: Caleb, referred to below.
(V) Caleb (2), son of Benjamin and Mary
Leverich, was born at Newtown, Long Island,
died July 6, 1758, at Sabbath Day Point, on
Lake George, while accompanying the ill-fated
expedition of General Abercrombie. He be-
gan business life early as a painter in New
York City, but was induced to enlist for the
French and Indian wars. He married Sus-
anna, died September 11, 1814, aged eighty-
eight years, daughter of William Burch. Chil-
dren: Benjamin, referred to below; John, born
September 4, 1758, died July 28, 1812, mar-
ried Ann Chase.
(VI) Benjamin (2), son of Caleb (2) and
Susanna (Burch) Leverich, was born in New
York City, and died in Cortlandtown, near
Peekskill, Westchester county, New York,
after 1790, in which year the census of the
township, gives him three white males over
sixteen years, including heads of families,
three free white males under sixteen years,
and four free white females over sixteen
years, including heads of families. He is the
only Leverich in Westchester county at that
time except his third cousin John, who at that
time was living at North Castle, but later wenl
back to his paternal home in Newtown.
(VII) John (2), son of Benjamin (2) Leve-
rich, of Cortlandtown, Westchester county,
New York, was a farmer in that county. His
wife's name is unknown. Children : Benjamin,
referred to below ; Caleb ; a daughter.
(VIII) Benjamin (3), son of John (2)
Leverich, was born in Cortlandtown, West-
chester county, New York, January 22, 1793,
died there April 14, 1878. He was a carpenter
by trade and had a shop in Cortlandtown. He
was somewhat of a lawyer and was looked up
to by his neighbors, who would ask his advice
as to the settling of their disputes. He was
a Whig in politics, and served as justice of
the peace and also as poormaster of the town.
He served on Long Island in the war of 1812.
He married (first) August 27, 1814, Eunice
Outhout, who was born May 6, 1791 ; married
(second) in 1856, Hannah Purdy. Children,
all by first marriage : Hattie Ann, married
George Cruger ; John W., born in 1819, died
about 1880, married Elizabeth Ryder; Caleb;
Mary Jane, married Gilbert Treadwell ; Wil
liam, referred to below; Benjamin; George.
(IX) William, son of Benjamin (3) and
Eunice (Outhout) Leverich, was born in
Cortlandtown, Westchester county. New York,
October 26, 1822, and is now living in Kings-
ton, Ulster county, New York. He received
his education in the country schools of Cort-
landtown, and learned the trade of mason,
which he followed in that section of the
country until 1848, when he removed to Tomp-
kins Cove, Rockland county, New York, to
set up an engine and boiler for the Tompkins
Cove Stove Company, and to do other work
for them. He remained here until 1850, when
he went to Rondout, Ulster county. New York,
where he did all the mason work for the
Newark Lime and Cement Company, building
all of their kilns, which are still standing. He
also did numerous other masonry jobs, among
them being the school house at Tompkins
Cove, the Children's Church and the district
school at Rondout, and for fifty-six years he
was the boss mason of the town. He was a
Republican in politics, and cast his first vote
for Harrison and Tyler. He married, in
Peekskill, Westchester county. New York, in
1842, Catharine, daughter of James Gale, of
Oregon, Westchester county, New York. Chil-
dren: Minnie D., born in 1864; William H.,
referred to below.
(X) William H., son of William and Cath-
arine (Gale) Leverich. was born in Kingston,
Ulster county, New York, May 9, 1866, and
is now living with his father at Kingston.
Captain John Seaman, the
SEAMAN founder of this family, was
with six of his sons one of the
patentees of the town of Hempstead, Long
Island. He was born about 1610, and died
after August 5. 1694, the date of the writing
of his will. He married (first) Elizabeth,
daughter of John Stricland. and (second)
Martha, daughter of Thomas and Martha
(Youngs) Moore. Children by first marriage:
John, married Hannah Williams; Jonathan,
married Jane ; Benjamin, married
Martha Titus; Solomon, died in 1743, married
Elizabeth Linnington ; Elizabeth, married
Colonel John Jackson ; Samuel, married Phebe
Hicks; Thomas, married Mary ; Na-
thaniel, mentioned below; Richard, born in
1673, rnarried Jane Mott; Sarah, marrie-j
John Mott ; Martha, married Nathaniel Pear-
sail ; Deborah, married Kirk ; Hannah,
576
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
married
Carman ; Mary, married
Pearsall ; daughter, died before 1694,
married Carman; daughter died un-
married.
(II) Nathaniel, son of Captain John and
Martha (Moore) Seaman, was born in Hemp-
stead, Long Island, and died there October 9,
1759. He married there, 9th mo., 8, 1695,
Rachel, daughter of Henry and Mary
(Pearce) Willis, who died August 20, 1759.
Children: Rachel, born 5th mo. 26, 1696, died
unmarried; Nathaniel, born nth mo. 18, 1699,
died June 14, 1774, married, in 1722, Sarah
Powell; Hester, born 9th mo. 8, 1701, mar-
ried John Whitson ; Jacob, born 8th mo. 10,
1703, died April 4, 1759, married, in 1726,,
Mercy Powell; Abraham, born nth mo. 10,
1706, married Deborah Townsend; Rachel,
born 1st mo. 9, 1708, married, in 1738, Jere-
miah Elfreth; Hezekiah, born 3rd mo. 11,
171 1, married a daughter of Isaac Doughty;
Thomas, born nth mo. 2, 1713, married, in
1 741, Hannah Willets; Samuel, mentioned be-
low.
(HI) Samuel, son of Nathaniel and Rachel
(Willis) Seaman, was born in Hempstead,
Long Island, 4th mo. 13, 171 5. He married
Martha, daughter of Obadiah and Martha
(Willets) Valentine. Children: Willet, mar-
ried Mary Searing; Valentine; Obadiah, mar-
ried Deborah Valentine; Rachel, born in 174Z,
died in 1797, married, February 3, 1762, Silas
Hicks ; Martha, married Henry Titus ; Phebe,
married Samuel Hicks; Miriam, married
Stephen Robbins ; Samuel, mentioned below;
Esther, married Samuel Sands ; Abigail, mar-
ried Richard Willets; Marmaduke.
(IV) Samuel (2). son of Samuel (i) and
Martha (Valentine) Seaman, was born in
Hempstead, Long Island, and died in Corn-
wall. Orange county. New York. He married
Kezia, daughter of Thomas and Martha
(Powell) Titus, who was born in 17.^7. Chil-
dren : Thomas, mentioned below ; Silas, mar-
ried Hannah Green ; Martha, married Josiah
Hazard; John, married Amy Pearsall;" Wil-
liam ; Isaac ; Rachel, married Joseph Marshall ;
Samuel, married (first) Anna Pearsall, (sec-
ond) Phebe Pearsall. daughters of Wait and
Hannah Pearsall.
(V) Thomas, son of Samuel (2) and Kezia
(Titus) Seaman, was born in 1780, died in the
town of Monroe, Orange county. New York,
February 23, 1848. He married Sarah Brown,
who was born in 1780, died in May, 1864.
Children : Jacob, mentioned below ; Kezia,
married Daniel Cornell ; Martha ; Keturah,
married Peter S. Titus.
(VI) Jacob, son of Thomas and Sarah
(Brown) Seaman, was born in Cornwall,
Orange county. New York, in 1803, died in
1888. He married, in 1826, Hannah Cocks,
who was born in 1804, died in 1889. Chil-
dren: Sarah Brown, born in 1827; Thomas,
died in infancy ; Edmund, born in 1832, died
in 1888, married Mary Willets; Thomas, bora
August 17, 1835, died in November, 1886;
Jacob T., November 26, 1838, died in 1864;
Elizabeth K., September 24, 1841 ; James,
referred to below ; Hannah Townsend, Janu-
ary 20, 1848.
(VII) James, son of Jacob and Hannah
(Cocks) Seaman, was born in Cornwall,
Orange county. New York, June 30, 1844, and
is now living at Woodbury Falls, New York.
He was born on a farm which was owned by
his grandfather and part of which is still in
his own possession. He received his educa-
tion in the district and private schools of
Mountainville, New York, and has been a
successful farmer all his life. He is a Repub-
lican in politics, and for six years, from 1900
to 1902, and from 1904 to 1906, served as
supervisor of the town of Woodbury. At one
time he was postmaster at Woodbury Falls.
He is a justice of the peace for Woodbury;
a member and trustee in the Religious Society
of Friends. He married, January 14, 1874,
Elizabeth, born November 10, 1848, daughter
of Charles Townsend and Martha (Weyant)
Ford. Children: i. Charles Ford, born Jan-
uary 29, 1875 ; married Lulu M. Viele, of Har-
riman, New York; children: James and Mil-
dred. 2. Jacob Townsend, born January 30,
1877; married Mae L. Greenleaf ; children:
Melissa G., Elizabeth and Elaine. 3. Mari-
anna, born October 12, 1879; living' at home,
unmarried. 4. Edmund, born May 20, 1883;
married Edna Smith, of Harriman ; child:
Elizabeth Meta, born August 4, 1913. 5.
James Pierre, born March 6, 1885; a civil en-
gineer in New York City.
Under the fierce per •
GIRAUD-GEROW secution following the
Revocation of the
Edict of Nantes, October, 1685, many of the
nobility, and over three hundred thousand of
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
■577
the most skillful artizans and leaders in indus-
tries found refuge in America, which was
benefited by what was lost to France. From
the folk lore of this family we learn they fled,
leaving all possessions behind them, some com-
ing in slippers and laces. Candles were left
burning in silver candle-sticks, and food left
untouched on the table.
At New Rochelle, New York, the two hun-
dredth and twenty-fifth anniversay of the land-
ing of the French Huguenots in America was
celebrated. By pageant the scene was repro-
duced, an exact replica of the caravel in which
they came floated in the harbor, realistic In-
dians surrounded the strange ship as when
she appeared in the waters years ago. Among
the invited guests were the President and Vice-
President of the United States, Secretary of
War Garrison, Secretary of Navy Daniels, the
French Ambassador Jusserand and M. Chato-
net, delegate from France to the celebration.
In one of the addresses on "The Huguenot
in America," it was said in closing: "The
Huguenot was one of the most valuable agents
God ever furnished for American Liberty and
American Independence." In Hudson Park,
New Rochelle, a granite monument has been
erected by descendants of these early settlers,
and on the bronze tablet are to be found the
names of Giraud, Coutant, Chadeyane and
others. From available records we have :
(I) Etienne Giraud, of whom we have no
information.
(II) Daniel Giraud, who came from La
Rochelle, France, in 1688, to New Rochelle,
New York. He married and had three sons ;
Daniel, of whom further ; Andrew, of Fish-
kill, New York; Benjamin.
(III) Daniel (2), son of Daniel (i) Giraud,
born in 1724, was a resident of Cortland
Manor. During the revolutionary war he ob-
tained a pass to go through the lines and pur-
chased a large tract of land from King
George's agent, which is now known as Platte-
kill, Ulster county. New York. The tract was
then known as the "Ten Stone Meadow." The
"Pass" and deed for the land is now in pos-
session of a descendant. The deed was signed
by "John Lake, Agent." Daniel Giraud mar-
ried Elizabeth Coutant, sister of Jacob, Gilbert
and Henry Coutant, and settled in Westchester
county. New York. Children: Elias, of
whom further; William, married Esther Cha-
deyane; John, married Elizabeth Palmer;
James went to St. John's, New Brunswick;
Daniel went to St. John's, New Brunswick;
Catharine married Yerksie; Deborah
married James Denton ; Esther, married Wil-
liam Clark; Betsy married James McCallum;
Sarah married Jacob Russell; Jane married
(first J Isaac Brown (second) Coutant;
Mary married Adolphus Shuart.
(IV) Elias Gerow, son of Daniel (2) and
Elizabeth (Coutant) Giraud, was born April
9, 1765, died 1838. He married Elizabeth,
born May, 1768, daughter of Jacob Coutant.
Children: Gilbert, of whom further; Annie
married Ebenezer Cooley; Daniel married
Lucy Haviland ; Phebe, deceased ; Hannah
married Samuel P. Birdsall; Catherine mar-
ried Smith Pine; Deborah married Daniel
Birdsall, cousin of Samuel P. Birdsall; Wil-
liam, deceased; Jacob married Jane Thorn;
Lydia H., married Samuel Heaton ; Elias mar-
ried Sally Ann Barber ; Isaac married Cornelia
Ann, daughter of Adolphus and Mary
(Giraud) Shuart. Elias Gerow had twelve
children and sixty-four grandchildren, whose
descendants are many, scattered far and wide,
many of them living in the Hudson river
towns, as also do the descendants of William,
John, Sarah and Mary. The French Hugue-
not name, Giraud, is still held with pride by
many, others have accepted the name as pro-
nounced, Gerow. At an early period the
Christian fellowship of this family was with
the Society of Friends (often called Quakers)
and their influence for righteousness has left
a benediction on succeeding generations.
(V) Gilbert, son of Elias and Elizabeth
(Coutant) Gerow, married Anna, daughter of
Justus and Mehetable Cooley. Children:
Louise married Harry Seeley; Emma Jane
married John Jackson; Elias, mentioned be-
low; Justus married Phebe Yoimg; Asahel
married Mary Townsend ; John C, deceased;
Mehetable married John Deming, of Cali-
fornia.
(VI) Elias (2), son of Gilbert and Anna
(Cooley) Gerow, married Sarah Cooper.
Children : Charles Cooley, married Margaret
Culbert; Gilbert Haviland, mentioned below;
Henrietta Van Cleft, married Charles Hull;
Mary, died in early life ; Emma Jane, married
William V. Many; Joseph Cooper, married
Jennie Hathaway, and occupies the homestead
at Blooming Grove, Orange county. New
York.
578
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
(VII) Gilbert Haviland, son of Elias (2)
and Sarah (Cooper) Gerow, was born in the
town of Blooming Grove, Orange county, New
York, August 12, 1844, died at Washington-
ville, Orange county, New York, March 19,
191 1. He was educated in the district schools
of Blooming Grove and at Antioch College,
Ohio. W'ith his brother, Charles C. Gerow,
and William Beattie, he was engaged in mill-
ing and coal business at Salisbury Mills, New
York. Later he purchased property at Vail's
Gate, New York, where for about twenty-five
years he conducted a general store, coal yard,
and lumber and feed business. After this he
formed a partnership under the name of
Gerow & King, and continued the business for
several years, and this was followed by the
firms of Gerow & Son, Gerow & Stone, Stone
Brothers, the latter for a term of ten years.
Mr. Gerow was one of the organizers of the
Newburgh Carpet Company, of Newburgh,
New York, of which he was treasurer. He was
an honorary member of the Tenth Separate
Company of New York State, having served
the required term of years, also honorary
member of the Fire Department, \Vashington-
ville. He was early a member of the Congre-
gational church of Blooming Grove, and later
of the First Presbyterian Church of Wash-
ingtonville.
He married, October 23, 1872, Alletta Rem-
sen, daughter of the Rev. James Rapelye and
Catherine (White) Lente, who was born at
Napanoch, Ulster county. New York ( see
Lente VIIL). Children: i. Charles Halcott,
born December 31, 1873, died March 16, 1875.
2. James Frank, born May 6, 1876, died May
19, 1878. 3. Arthur Riker, born April 8, 1879 ;
now with the Newburgh Carpet Company,
Newburgh, New York. 4. Lyman Abbott,
born October 4, 1880; graduate of Rutgers
College, 1906. 5. Walter Haviland, born July
16, 1884; now at Young Men's Christian As-
sociation at Poughkeepsie, New York. 6. Gil-
bert Westcott, born April 25, 1886; now en-
gaged in coal and feed business at the original
Vail's Gate stand which was established in
i860 by the late Gilbert H. Gerow.
(The Riker-Lent Lines.)
From European genealogy we learn that the
Rykers were located at a very remote period
in Lower Saxony, where they enjoyed a state
of allodial independence, at that day constitut-
mg nobility. There they possessed the estate
or Manor of Ryken, from which they took
their name, written von Ryken. Subsequently
the name suffered changes: de Ryke, de Ryk,
Rieche, etc., von Lentum, von Lent, Lent,
Lente.
Hans von Ryken, with his cousin, Mel-
choir von Ryken, a valiant knight, who
lived in Holland, went in the First Crusade to
the Holy Land in 1096, heading eight hundred
crusaders in the army of Walter the Penniless.
Melchoir von Ryken lived to return, but Hans
von Ryken perished in that ill-fated expedi-
tion. The coat-of-arms borne by the family
is thus explained : The shield azure, em-
blematic of knighthood ; the horns, indicating
physical strength ; the golden stars, a striving
for glory, and the white roses, symbol of dis-
cretion and fidelity. Ln time the descendants
of Melchoir von Ryken extended from Hol-
land to Switzerland and America. Before the
family is mentioned in America we learn they
occupied places of public trust for two cen-
turies, until the Spanish war occasioned great
reverses in their fortunes. Captain Jacobus
Simonsz de Ryken. of Amsterdam, a warm
partisan of the Prince of Orange, distin-
guished himself by military services when that
Prince defended Dutch liberty, and the family
for successive generations during the struggle
with Spain followed a military career. ( Rik-
er's Annals of Newtown.)
(I) Gysbert or Guisbert Rycken, founder of
the family in America, emigrated to New Am-
sterdam from Holland about 1630. Prac-
tically all that is known about him is the in-
scription on the gravestone of his grandson,
Abraham, son of Abraham and Margaret
Riker, which reads : "The grave of Abraham
Riker, son of Abraham and Margaret Riker;
born 1655. died August 20, 1746, in the 91st
year of his age ; and in memory of his grand-
sire, Guisbert Riker, a native of Holland, who
came to America in 1630, obtained a patent
for land at the Bowery bearing date 1632."
(II) Abraham, son of Gy.sbert or Guisbert
Rycken. was born in 1619, died in 1689. He
married Grietje Hendrickse, daughter of Hen-
drick Harmensen. In 1642 he purchased prop-
erty on the Heeren Gracht, now Broad street.
His children were baptized in the church at
Fort Amsterdam. Children : Ryck Abraham-
sen, mentioned below: Jacobus, born 1640,
died in infancy; Jacobus, born 1643; Hen-
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
579
drick, born in 1646, died young; Marytje, born
in 1649, married Sibout Krankheyt ; Jan, born
in 1651, married Sara Schouten ; Alletta, born
in 1553, married Captain John Harmensen;
Abraham, born in 1655, died August 20, 1746,
married Grietje Janse van Buytenhuysen ;
Hendrick, born in 1662, joined his brothers,
Ryck A. and Jacobus, in Westchester county.
New York, and changed his name to Lent,
(III) Ryck Abrahamsen, son of Abra-
ham Gysbrechtsen and Grietje (Hendrickse)
Rycken, was born on Long Island, died in
Westchester county, New York. He changed
his name to Lent, and with his brother Hen-
drick became the ancestors of the family of
that name. In 1685 he bought from the In-
dians an extensive tract of land, eighteen hun-
dred acres, in Westchester county, which sub-
sequently became famous under the name of
"Ryck's Patent." He was an elder in the
Dutch Church at Sleepy Hollow, and died
between March 30, 1720, and March 28, 1723,
the dates of the writing and proving of his
will. He married Catrina, daughter of Harck
Siboutsen and Wyntje Teunis. Children:
Elizabeth, married Thomas Hyers ; Abraham,
mentioned below; Ryck, born in 1678, married
Marytje Blauvelt ; Harck or Hercules, born
in 1681, died in 1766, married Cornelia Van
Wart ; Margaret, married Thomas Bepson ;
Catharine, married Joseph Jones.
(IV) Abraham Lent, son of Ryck Abra-
hamsen and Catrina Lent, was born in West-
chester county. New York, March 10, 1674,
died in Newtown, Long Island, February 5,
1746. He lived for some years in Westchester
county, and in 1729 settled in Newtown. He
married, late in 1698, Anna Catrina, daughter
of Adolph and Maria (Verveelen) Meyer,
who died July 2'i, 1762, aged eighty-six years.
Her father was a deacon in the church at
Sleepy Hollow. Children : Ryck, died in
1732, married, December 26, 1722, Cornelia
Waldron ; Adolph, born in 1703 ; Isaac, mar-
ried Sara Luyster; Abraham, married Mar-
garet Snediker ; Jacob ; Jacobus, mentioned be-
low; Catrina, married Elbert Herring; Eliza-
beth, married Jacob Brinckerhoff ; Maria, mar-
ried John Rapelye; Wyntje, married Jeromus
Rapelye; Ann, married Jan BrinckerhofT.
(V) Jacobus, son of Abraham and Catrina
(Meyer) Lent, was born in Westchester
county. New York, July 3, 1714, died in New-
town, Long Island, December 13, 1779. He
married Margaret, daughter of Daniel Rape-
lye, who died September 11, 1794, in her
seventy-fourth year. Children : Abraham,
born February 15, 1745, died April 13, 1816,
married Diana Lawrence; Alletta, born April
24, 1747, married George Rapelye; Daniel,
mentioned below.
(VI) Daniel, son of Jacobus and Margaret
(Rapelye) Lent, was born in Newtown, Long
Island, May 31, 1754, died there, April 20,
1797. He was the last of the family to live on
the original Rycken-Lent estate at Armen
Bouwerie. He married, December 9, 1792,
Rensie, daughter of Martin Rapelye. Child:
Daniel, mentioned below. Four children died
in infancy.
(VII) Daniel (2), son of Daniel (i) and
Rensie (Rapelye) Lent, was born in Newtown,
Long Island, August 30, 1797, died in Flush-
ing Bay, Long Island. He was a merchant in
New York City, and in later life bought a
farm at Flushing Bay. He married, June 6,
182 1. Jane Catharine, daughter of Cornelius
Rapelye Remsen. Children: James Rapelye,
mentioned below ; Cornelius Remsen, married
Ama Nafis ; Charles Henry, married Ama
Thorborn ; Elizabeth Catharine, married
Charles Halcott, deceased; Theodore, died in
infancy.
The name of van Lente was retained
by some of the family until the last century,
when it was dropped and the plain Lent was
i^sed. A few also spelled their name with a
final "e," Lente, as the best abbreviation of the
name at one time taken, van Lenten, from a
maternal inheritance. The Rev. James Ra-
pelye Lente, of Washingtonville, of more than
ninety years of age, and his son, Edward
Prime Lente, are probably the only ones bear-
ing this rendering at the present time. It is
recorded that the Lents lived friendly with
the native Indians, no record of any trouble
arising between them having been found. The
Lents were numerous in the Continental army
They voluntarily took up arms and fought
bravely for freedom from the yoke of Great
Britain. Sir Henry Clinton said he could
neither "buy nor conquer these Dutchmen."
(VIII) The Rev. James Rapelye Lente, son
of Daniel (2) and Jane Catharine (Remsen)
Lent, was born in Flushing, Long Island,
April 18, 1822, and is now living at Washing-
tonville, Orange county. New York. After
being tutored by Rev. Garrett J. Gar-
S8o
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
retson, pastor of the Reformed Dutch
Church of Newtown, Long Island, he
prepared for college at Erasmus Hall
and graduated from Rutgers College in
1842. After teaching at Erasmus Hall (Pre-
paratory School) for three years, he entered
the New Brunswick Theological Seminary and
graduated in 1850. He took charge for a few
months of the Reformed Dutch Church at
Coxsackie Landing, Greene county, New
York, in the absence of the pastor, then be-
came pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church
at Napanoch, New York. Two years later he
became pastor of the Collegiate churches at
Bloomingdale and Rosendale, New York, and
ten years later, in 1864, he retired on account
of ill health and has since lived at Washing-
tonville, New York. He married Catherine.
daughter of Colonel John White, who was
born January 22, 1825, died May 27, 1887.
Children: Alletta Remsen, born September
23, 1853, married, October 23, 1872, Gilbert
Haviland Gerow (see Gerow VH) ; Edward
Prime, born November 5, 1857, unmarried.
The name Thornton is
THORNTON said to have been derived
from Thor, the ancient
northern deity. A different origin is, however,
suggested by the coats-of-arms of two of the
oldest Thornton families of England, the
Thorntons of Yorkshire, and the Thorntons
of Tiersall, which bear upon them three haw-
thorn trees or bushes which suggest the com-
bination of the "thorn" and "town." The
name de Thornton also appears in the early
annals, indicating a possible Norman ancestry.
There are many families in Ireland and Scot-
land bearing the name of Thornton, but in
these cases it is said that the patronymic is
usually an English rendering of the Gaelic
Mac Skenaghan or Mac Sceinaghan, the root
of the name being from the Gaelic word
"sceine," a knife. Lower derives the English
name in some cases from parishes and places
in the counties in England of Buckingham-
shire, Durham, and adjacent districts. York-
shire abounds with places so-called. Thome
appears to have been an old Anglo-Saxon per-
sonal name ; and hence Thornton may have
been in some cases the homestead of Thorne.
There are numerous families bearing the
name of Thornton in the United States. One
of the earliest Thornton emigrants to America
was William Thornton, who came from York-
shire, England, prior to 1646, and settled in
York county, Virginia. This William Thorn-
ton was the ancestor of a large number of
prominent descendants, some of whom became
connected by marriage with the family of
George Washington, and some with the family
of President Zachary Taylor. Dr. John N. F.
Thornton, who married Mary, daughter of
President William Henry Harrison, was prob-
ably of this family. Another early immigrant
to America was John Thornton, who was one
of the founders of the First Baptist Church
of Newport, Rhode Island, in 1648. The Rev.
Thomas Thornton, who came from England
in 1663, and settled at Yarmouth, Massachu-
setts, was the ancestor of descendants of emi-
nence. James Thornton, father of the Hon.
Matthew Thornton, one of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence, emigrated from
Ireland to America in 1718. There were other
Thornton families that settled in Massachu-
setts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania
and Virginia.
( I ) James Thornton, the immigrant ances-
tor in America of the Thornton family here
dealt with, was born near Londonderry, Ire-
land, in 1684, died November 7, 1754, at East
Derry, New Hampshire. The family of James
Thornton lived on a farm about a mile from
the city of Londonderry and were subject to
frequent visits from King James's troops.
James and his family is said to have been one
of one hundred and twenty families, who in
five small ships arrived at Boston, Massachu-
setts, August 5, 1718, and in the fall of that
year went to Falmouth, now Portland, Maine,
where they spent the winter on shipboard, en-
during great hardships. They then went to
Wiscasset, Maine, and after a stay there of a
few years they moved to Worcester, Massa-
chusetts. In Worcester they lived on a farm
near Tactknuck Hill, adjoining the town of
Leicester. The only record that has been
found of the wife of James Thornton is in
the deed of the Worcester family, dated Feb-
ruary 14, 1730-40, in which "Keturah" Thorn-
ton joins. In 1740 James Thornton moved
from Worcester to Pelham, Massachusetts,
of which town he was one of the founders
and principal proprietors. He remained in
Pelham, where he held various town offices,
until 1748, when he moved to Londonderry,
New Hampshire, where he r-sided until his
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
581
death, November 7, 1754. He is buried in
Forest Hills cemetery, East Derry, New
Hampshire, beside his daughter, Hannah Wal-
lace. He married Nancy Smith. Children;
I. James. 2. Andrew. 3. Matthew, born near
Londonderry, Ireland, in 1714, died June 24,
1803 ; he was the most prominent member of
the Thornton family; he settled in New
Hampshire, where he became distinguished as
a physician, judge, statesman, and patriot in
the revolution ; he was one of the signers of
the Declaration of Independence for the State
of New Hampshire, and the history of his life
is to be found among the Lives of the Signers.
He was buried at Thornton's Ferry, New
Hampshire, where a monument to his memory
was erected in 1872 by the State of New
Hampshire. 4. Agnes. 5. William, mentioned
below. 6. Samuel. 7. Hannah. 8. Esther.
(H) William, fourth son of James and
Nancy (Smith) Thornton, was with his father
one of the settlers of Pelham, Massachusetts,
in 1740, and as a surveyor he assisted in the
laying out of the town. In 1744 he left Pel-
ham and moved to Kingsfield (now Palmer),
Massachusetts,, where he had a farm on the
east side of Dumplin Hill. Here his sons,
William, Matthew and James, were probably
born. In March, 1748, William sold his farm
at Palmer and became the first settler of Dub-
lin, New Hampshire, which town was granted
in 1749 to the Hon. Matthew Thornton and
others. The farm in Dublin on which William
Thornton, settled was owned by the Hon.
Matthew Thornton and was subsequently sold
by him to Deacon Isaac Appleton. A small
monument has been erected on this farm to
mark the settlement of the town. Two chil-
dren were born to William Thornton during
his residence in Dublin, a daughter, Molly, in
1749, said to have been the first white child
born in the town, and a son, Thomas. William
Thornton remained in Dublin until about 1753,
when he left on account of the Indians, and
with his family moved to Schenectady, New
York, where his son John was born in 1753.
William Thornton and his sons, Matthew and
James, served in the border warfare, their
names appearing on the muster roll of Captain
Daniel Campbell's company, of Schenectady,
on May 12, 1767. From a deed dated Febru-
ary 3. 1770, it appears that William Thornton
was then of Curry's Brook or Bush, near
Princeton, Albany county. New York. He re-
turned to New Hampshire, and after living in
Londonderry in 1773 and 1774, he went to
Thornton, New Hampshire, where he re-
mained until his death. Children: i. William,
born in 1745, married Dolly Bayley, of Can-
dia. New Hampshire ; they had seven children
born between 1784 and 1799. 2. Matthew, born
December 6, 1746, undoubtedly at Palmer,
Massachusetts, where his father then lived ; he
was probably with his father when the latter
became the first settler of Dublin, New Hamp-
shire, about the year 1748, and moved with
him to Schenectady, New York, in 1753; he
married, March 30, 1768, Mary Crawford, and
their first child, Dorcas, born March 12, 1770,
was baptized at Schenectady, New York, June
12, 1770. 3. James, born about 1747, probably
at Palmer, Massachusetts, went with his
father's family to Dublin, New Hampshire,
about the year 1748, and moved with them to
Schenectady, New York, in 1753 ; the muster
roll of Captain Dan Campbell's company, of
Schenectady, May 12, 1767, gives the names of
James Thornton and of his father and brother,
Matthew ; James also served in the war of the
revolution in the Second Regiment, Albany
county; he married Antje Schermerhorn and
had three children, May, William, Margarieta.
4. Molly, born in Dublin, New Hampshire,
about the year 1749. 5. Thomas, born in 1751,
probably in Dublin, New Hampshire; he
moved to Schenectady, New York, with his
father in 1753; he was a school teacher and
served in the war of revolution in the Second
Regiment, Albany county ; he married Eliza-
beth Richardson, sister of Paris Richardson,
aide to General Washington; they had seven
children, William, Euretta, Elizabeth, Thomas,
Charles, Wallace, George. 6. John, mentioned
below.
(Ill) Major John Thornton, youngest son
of William Thornton, was born at Schenec-
tady, New York, in 1753. He served with dis-
tinction in the war of the revolution. He was
first lieutenant in Captain Thomas Wasson's
company in the Second Regiment, Schenec-
tady division. His brothers, James and
Thomas, served in the same war. Captain,
later Major, John Thornton served with
Colonel Willets along the Mohawk Valley, and
as major he commanded the escort to General
Washington and General Clinton from Fort
Plain to Cherry Valley and Otsego Lake and
return, during the summer of 1783. On Jan-
c82
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
uary 25, 1786, Major Thornton purchased a
farm of one hundred acres at Curry's Bush
(or Brook) in the town of Princeton, Albany
county, New York, which farm had been
owned by Daniel Clyde in 1771. He married
Ann (Adelia) Clyde, daughter of Colonel
Samuel Clyde, born October 25, 1764. Chil-
dren : William A., mentioned below ; George,
died young; Adelia, married Volney Freeman,
of Schenectady ; Catherine, who died un-
married.
(IV) William A., eldest son of Major John
and Ann or Adelia (Clyde) Thornton, was
born August 29, 1802, at Albany, New York,
died April 6, 1866, on Governor's Island. He
attended the public schools of Albany, and was
appinted cadet at West Point in 1821, gradu-
ating in 1S25. He was appointed lieutenant of
artillery on the staff of General Scott in the
Black Hawk campaign, and later served in the
Seminole Indian war, Florida. When the
ordnance corps was created by congress, he
was assigned to that corps, where he remained
until the time of his death. He was made
brevet-major for meritorious service in the
Mexican war and brevet-brigadier-general for
distinguished service in the civil war. His
rank was colonel of ordnance, United States
Army. At different times he was stationed at
Watervliet, New York, Watertown, Massa-
chusetts, and on Governor's Island, New York
Harbor. He married, in 1833, Helen, daughter
of Dr. Gilbert Smith, of New York City. Mrs.
Thornton's mother was Helena De Witt, and
connected with the De Witt family of revolu-
tionary fame along the Hudson. Children :
Adelia, married Colonel James S. Casey,
United States Army, died in 1875 ' William A.,
who was a paymaster during the war and died
in 1872; George De Witt, who died in 1883;
Nora, who married John H. Walsh, died in
1904; Howard, mentioned below.
(V) Howard, son of William A. and Helen
(Smith) Thornton, was born on Governor's
Island, New York, February 25, 1849. He
was educated in the public schools of New
York City, and for a time was a student of the
College of the City of New York, later of
Union College, Schenectady, where he gradu-
ated in the class of 1872 with the degree of
A.B. He then settled in Newburgh, where he
read law in the office of Eugene A. Brewster,
and in 1874 graduated from the Albany Law
School with degree of LL.B. He continued
in his profession for a number of years in
Newburgh, where he still retains an office. In
1892-93-94 he was a member of the New York
State assembly and chairman of the judiciary
committee in 1894. He is a member of the
Military Order of the Loyal Legion, Sons of
the American Revolution, University and
Transportation clubs, of New York City, 01
the City and Powelton clubs of Newburgh.
He was a member of the board of education
of the city of Newburgh from 1906 for four
years. In 1909 he was elected president of
the National Bank of Newburgh, a position
he still holds. He was trustee of the Washing-
ton Headquarters, and part of the time presi-
dent of the board. He is a past master of
Hudson River Lodge, No. 607, Free and Ac-
cepted Masons.. He married, October 19,
1897, Julia B. Sterling, daughter of Charles H.
Burr, of Astoria, Long Island.
Colonel Samuel Clyde was born at Wind-
ham, Rockingham county. New Hampshire,
April II, 1732. The family of Clyde were
originally from the banks of that river in Scot-
land, whose name they bore. They had set-
tled in Ireland in the time of Cromwell and a
branch came to this country in that large emi-
gration from Londonderry in Ireland, which
settled the town of the same name in New
Hampshire. They were mostly farmers. The
father of Colonel Clyde owned and cultivated
a small farm on which the son labored until
he was nearly twenty years of age. He was
well educated for a farmer's son in those times,
and being of an enterprising character sought
a wider field of labor. He first engaged in
the trade of shipbuilder and later joined in
the war in this country between England and
France. Captain Clyde was in the disastrous
attack on Ticonderoga. In 1761 he married
Catherine Wasson at Schenectady. He was
prominent in the war of the revolution, and
one of the small forts in the Mohawk Valley
was named Fort Clyde in his honor. He was
appointed high sheriff' of the county of Mont-
gomery in 1785 and this office he held for
several years. The county seat was at John-
ston, and the office of sheriff of such an ex-
tensive county was one of great labor and
responsibility. He was greatly beloved by his
fellow-officers and soldiers and a vacancy hav-
ing happened in the office of brigadier, in the
brigade to which his regiment was attached,
he was earnestly urged by those under his im-
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
583
mediate command to accept the appointment,
but he dechned, giving the honor to men hold-
ing older commissions. He was from the
commencement to the close of the war chair-
man for the committee of safety for the
county, and he was also elected a member of
the legislature from the county of Tryon.
Colonel Clyde died on his farm at Cherry Val-
ley, November 30, 1790, in his fifty-eighth
year.
The surname, Seeger, is Ger-
SEEGER man in origin. It is pronounced
"Sager" in that language. The
name is well known in Germany, but it is not
what could be called a popular name. There
is also an English form of the name derived
from Segar and Seager. This name is derived
from the Anglo-Saxon word, akin to that of
German, namely, "sigora," meaning a "con-
queror," or "sigor," meaning "victorious."
In this form it was an ancient personal name
before surnames came into use, and occurs in
the Domesday Book under the forms of Segar,
Sigar and Sigarus. Another derivation of the
English name is from the northern counties,
pronunciation of or rather provincialism for
"sawyer," from the Anglo-Saxon "saga,"
meaning "a saw." In Poiton, moreover, there
is a local surname — De Segur. From this
Norman surname it is possible that the English
form or variation may be derived. Of course
it is not contended that there is any relation-
ship between the bearers of this surname.
They have in all cases come by it by chance
and there is no more connection between them,
beyond similarity of the name, than if one
had fallen into the name of Baker, and the
other had taken that of Butcher. This may be
said of nearly all occupational names. They
were assumed in an entirely independent and
arbitrary manner, and there is consequently no
sense whatever in such phrases, common
among those who try their hand at genealogv.
as "the Smith family" or the "Tanner family,"
and so on. The German Seegers were of good
social standing in the old country, and many
of them had the right to bear arms.
(I) Louis Seeger, M.D,, the ancestor in Ger-
many of the Seeger family in America here
dealt with, was a practising physician in his
own country, but died early in life in the village
of Feldrennach on the borders of the Schwarz-
wald, or Black Forest. Among his children
was John, mentioned below.
(II) John, son of Louis Seeger, M.D., was
born in the kingdom of Wurtemberg, Ger-
many, in the year 1835, and died at Newburgh,
Orange county, New York, in 1888. He was
a cabinetmaker by trade, and he was a member
of a sharpshooter corps in Germany before
coming to the United States. He came to
America in the year i860, and he was engaged
at his trade in Goshen, and later at Newburgh,
Orange county. New York, where he became a
stair builder for Charles Volckmer. In reli-
gious faith he was a Lutheran. He married
Louise Hammer, who was born at Laufen, on
the Neckar, in the kingdom of Wurtemberg,
Germany. Children: Albert H. F., mentioned
below, and several daughters.
(III) Albert H. F., son of John and Louise
(Hammer) Seeger, was born at Stuttgart, in
the kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, Feb
ruary 20, 1859. He came to the United States
in April, 1861, at the age of two years, with
his mother, his father having come over from
Germany six months previously. Young See-
ger and his mother made the trip from Bremen
to Baltimore, Maryland, in a sailing vessel
The ship encountered calm weather, and the
trip occupied seventy-two days. For some
time Mrs. Seeger and one of her daughters,
Catherine M. Seeger, made their home at No.
247 First street, Newburgh, Orange county.
New York, where Albert H. F. Seeger also
at one time resided.
The Seeger family first resided in Goshen,
Orange county, New York, but came to New-
burgh in 1867. Young Seeger saw the founda-
tion of the third ward grammar school (now
the South Street school) laid, living near the
site of the building, which he saw erected, and
where he afterwards attended school, starting
the first day the school was opened. After his
graduation from there he attended the New-
burgh Academy, from which he was graduated
in 1875. The same year he entered the law
office of Colonel William D. Dickey in the
Stern Building at Water and Third streets,
in Newburgh. He was clerk for Colonel
Dickey until 1886, and was admitted to the
bar. May 14, 1880. In 1886 he entered into
partnership with the- late L. W. Y. McCrosk-
ery, a son of former Mayor John J. S. Mc-
Croskery. This partnership continued two
years, and after that Mr. Seeger and the late
584
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
i-'rank H. Cassedy became partners in the prac-
tice of the law, the partnership continuing for
six months. Since that time Judge Seeger has
practiced alone. One of Judge Seeger's stu-
dents was Henry Kohl, a prominent and suc-
cessful lawyer of Newburgh, later its corpora-
tion counsel. Another was Addison C. Orms-
bee, a graduate of Cornell University, who
after leaving Judge Seeger's office entered into
partnership with Mr. Kohl. They practiced
law for some years together, and then Mr.
Ormsbee went to New York, where he prac-
ticed until his death in 1908. Another student
of his was Edward J. Collins, formerly of Port
Jervis, who is a successful practicing lawyer
in Newburgh. Still another was Peter Can-
tine, a rising lawyer of the city of Newburgh,
and at present its recorder.
During these years Judge Seeger did not
make speciahies, but engaged in all branches
of the law, both civil and criminal. He has
been counsel for a number of towns in Orange
county, also for Newburgh City and Town
Home and the Board of Education of the same
city. Judge Seeger was admitted to practice
in the district court of the United States and
the United States circuit court in 1886. He
has been engaged in the trial of many impor-
tant cases. In 1886 he tried the case of Town-
send versus George in the United States cir-
cuit court in New York City. This was stub-
bornly contested and he was successful in re-
covering some mining leases on the Townsend
farm, in the town of Cornwall. In 1888 the
failure of the firm of John R. Willsie & Son
occurred in Newburgh. John M. Pollock, of
the firm, had been a schoolmate of Judge
Seeger, and appealed to him for assistance,
and Judge Seeger defended him. Although
Pollock was at first convicted and sentenced to
five years' imprisonment in Sing Sing prison.
Judge Seeger took an appeal and succeeded in
securing a reversal of judgment and the dis-
missal of several indictments against Pollock.
Since that time Judge Seeger has had numer-
ous important cases. One of his most cele-
brated cases was that of Quackenbush versus
the Hon. William P. Richardson, who was
formerly state senator from the district of
Newburgh. This was an action to recover for
alleged malicious prosecution. The plaintiflF,
who was a debtor of the defendant, on account
of the illness of his wife, left the state with
her, the impression following that he had ab-
sconded. Senator Richardson, who was a resi-
dent of the town of Goshen, subsequently had
Quackenbush arrested. Judge Seeger, who up
to that time had not held any public office, se-
cured the release of Quackenbush, and then
had what proved to be a clear case against
Senator Richardson. He conducted the case
to a speedy finish and secured a judgment for
his client against the senator for a considerable
amount, in fact for the largest sum ever real-
ized in a similar case in that county up to that
time.
Judge Seeger has always been a Republican.
He has held elective office but twice, having
been chosen district attorney to succeed A. V.
N. Powelson, in 1903, he having been Mr.
Powelson's assistant for seven years previously
by appointment. While the number of con-
victions secured by District Attorney Seeger
was large, he takes pride in the fact that he
has never procured the conviction of an inno-
cent person. As district attorney he gave such
satisfaction that he was elected county judge
in 1900 by a large majority for a term of six
years. He is making a fine record in the posi-
tion.
Judge Seeger is a member of Hudson River
Lodge, No. 607, Free and Accepted Masons
("raised" in 1895) ; also of Highland Chapter,
No. 52, Royal Arch Masons, and of Hudson
River Commandery, No. 35, Knights Templar,
and Mecca Temple, Ancient Arabic Order
Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is a member
of Bismarck Lodge, No. 420, Independent
Order of Odd Fellows (of which his father
was a charter member, besides being a
D.D.G.M. of that Odd Fellows district),
and a member Newburgh Lodge, No. 247,
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Among the other organizations in which Judge
Seeger holds membership is the Republican
Club of the City of New York, the Newburgh
Mannerchor, the Newburgh Turn Verein, the
Newburgh City Club, the Newburgh Wheel-
men, the Newburgh Canoe and Boating Asso-
ciation, the Ringgold Hose Company, the New
burgh Volunteer Firemen's Association and
Brookside Grange, Patrons of Husbandry.
Judge Seeger is one of the most genial and
approachable of men. He is affable and plea-
sant to everybody. He is not only learned in
the law and successful, but he is a man among
men, whom it is a delight to know and one
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
585
whom his fellow citizens are likely to honor
to an extent still greater than they have al-
ready done.
He married," in Newburgh, Orange county,
New York, in 1884, May E. Riker, of New-
burgh, a former resident of Chester, where she
was born. They have one son, John Albert,
who has been studying law with his father.
The original name of the Ryker (Riker)
family was Rycken. In the first crusade in
the Holy Land Hans Von Rycken, Lord of
the Manor of Rycken in Saxony, was accre-
dited the honor of being the first to establish
a perfunctory form of emancipation. His
coat-of-arms was a shield, horns, stars and
roses. As the family name was changed to
De Ryck, the insignia was changed to a heap
of bears. In 1329 Louis the Fifth, Emperor
of Germany, presented the family with a new
coat-of-arms, bearing crossed spears and a
fish. Jacob Simonez de Rycke, grandfather of
Abraham de Rycke, is accredited with being
the head of the family in America. Passing
on down to 1614, we find four brothers of
the de Ryckes in New Netherlands : Abraham,
Geysbert, Rynier, and Hendrick, bringing with
them much wealth and honor. Abraham de
Rycke was the progenitor of the family in
America ; and they assumed the name of Riker
and were the first owners of Ricker's Island.
His son, Abraham, married Elizabeth Conkhn ;
their issue being John, Sophia, Abraham, Mar-
garet, Mathias, Gerardus, Maria, James,
Henry, Peter, Samuel, Tunis. Tunis was born
August 10, 1770. He married Ellen Moore.
He was commissioned as major in the United
States militia under James Madison, and
served as such in the war of the United States
and Great Britain at Mexico in the years 1812
and 1813. At the close of that war he was
honorably discharged, then retiring with a life
pension of three hundred dollars annually.
The issue of his marriage was Abraham.
Thomas, Samuel, Anthony, Perry, James,
Maria, Jane, Eliza, all of Spencer, New York!
where he died in 1863. His son, Abraham,
married Ellen Sackett and their issue was
Jane,_ Wesley, Ellen, Eliza, Jackson. Wesley
married Hannah Ackly, and their issue was
Catharine, Robert, Augustus, Wheeler and
May E., mentioned above, who married Tudee
Albert H. F. Seeger.
Allan Ainsworth was
AINSWORTH born in Denton, Lan-
cashire, England, in 1841.
The Ainsworth family undoubtedly takes its
name from the chapelry Ainsworth (i. e.,
Aynes or Haynes enclosure) commonly called
Cockey Moor, situated in the parish of Mid-
dleton, Salford hundred, in the county pala-
tine of Lancaster, England. So long ago as
1639 ^•i-'v John Ainsworth was of that ilk and
owned lands there, but "Bayne's Directory"
for 1825 gave no one of the name as an in-
habitant; there were then no Ainsworths or
Ainsworth, The place was always small, and
the census of 1881 states its population as only
1,729 and its area as 1,309 acres. Burke's
"General Armory" gives four coats-of-arms as
those of Lancashire Ainsworths that are prob-
ably ancient, two of these differ only as to
their tincture (i. e., colors). The description
given by Burke in the technical language of
heraldry is as follows: i. Gules, three battle
axes argent ; Crest — two battle axes in saltire
proper. Motto — Courage Sans Peitr. 2.
Azure, three spades argent, another within a
border. Crest — two battle axes in saltire
proper. 3. Azure, on a bend sable three cres-
cents of the first. 4. Sable, on a bend argent
three crescents of the field. In view of the
later American history of the family, these
coals-of-arms are not inappropriate ; spades
are emblematic of the agricultural occupation
of the great majority of the individuals repre-
senting the name, the battle axes symbolizing
their aptness and devotion to military service.
Every war here has seen the name of Ains-
worth repeated on its muster rolls, and the
number who died in the French and Indian
war and in the revolutionary war seems out of
proportion to the number who have borne the
name. The motto, "Fearless Courage," has
evidently been sustained by the family in
America.
Allan Ainsworth received a common school
education in Denton, and afterward learned
the manufacturing of hats as a trade. He was
a very young man when he came to this coun-
try and established himself in Yonkers, later
in Newburgh, and subsequently in Matteawan,
New York, continuing the hat manufacturing
trade. He married Delia Carey, in New
York City, about 1870; Delia Carey was born
in New York City, about 1850. There were
six children to this union : Lena, Arthur,
586
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
Edith, Ida, Walter F. and Harry. They be-
longed to the Episcopal church.
Walter Francis, fifth child of Allan and
Delia Ainsworth, was born July 31, 1878, in
Newburgh, Orange county, New York. He
went to public school and later to high school
in ]Matteawan. After graduating he entered
De Garmo Institute, and subsequently Spen-
cer's Business College, Newburgh, from
which he was graduated in 1895. He
was employed by the West Shore Rail-
road Company at Newburgh as a clerk
for three years ; later he was transferred
to the superintendent's office, where he
remained about one year; after that he was
employed by the New York, New Haven &
Hartford Railroad Company at Fishkill,
where he remained for one year. After that
he entered in the coal business for himself for
four years at Fishkill Landing. He sold out
his business and accepted a position with the
Matteawan Savings Bank as assistant treas-
urer for two years, when he came to New
York and re-entered in the coal business with
Whitney & Kemmerer, and finally entered the
firm of W. A. Marshell & Co. as secretary,
and was also secretary and treasurer of the
Lincoln Coal Company and the Maple Ridge
Coal Company. Mr. Ainsworth is owner and
operator of the Belmont Ouemahoning Coal
Company. He is founding a settlement at
Acosta, Pennsylvania, near one of his proper-
ties. Mr. Ainsworth lives in New York City.
He married Beatrice Martin, in New York
City, in 1892 ; she was the daughter of Charles
Martin and Minnie Raynor. Mr. Martin was
a wholesale produce merchant.
There has been much specula-
ODELL tion concerning this surname,
which first appears in American
records as borne by William Odell, who came
to New England in the early part of the sev-
enteenth century. Some genealogists give the
name an English origin. According to these
the name is said to have been variously writ-
ten in the public records of England as Wade-
helle, Wahulle, de Wahul, Wodhull. Wood-
hull. Wodell, Odell, Odill and Odle. The
parish registers of Bedfordshire, England,
show a very extensive settlement of the family
in that county and the name appears to have
undergone many variations in spelling, such
as Wodell, Woddell, Woodell, Woddle, Odill.
Odell and Odle. The seat of the families
bearing these variegated surnames was origin-
ally the ancient castle and barony of Wahull,
also called Wodhull, Woodhull, Woodhill,
etc. This place is now described as Odell on
the maps of the county, this being a later
orthography. In the parish registers of Then-
ford, Northamptonshire, and MoUington, Ox-
fordshire, the common spelling of the name
is Wodhull and Woodhull ; in MoUington
Church, however, is a tomb to the memory of
Mrs. Elizabeth (Merse) Woodhull, late wife
of Richard Woodhull, of MoUington. In
America the families of Woodhull have not
traced any relationship, though Richard
Woodhull. born about 1620, who is considered
the progenitor of most of the Woodhulls in
this country, was sometimes described on the
public records as Richard Odell, and William
Odell, Jr., of R3'e, New York, signed as Wil-
liam Woodhull in 1668.
The Q'Dells or Odells of Ireland are a well
known Milesian family of the race of Heber.
a branch of the family of Ring or O'Villrin.
The surname is derived from Dall ("dall" in
Gaelic meaning "Wind"), the christian name
of a military commander who is the hundred
and second on the O'Mllrin or Ring pedigree.
It has been variously anglicised O'Dally,
O'Dell, Odell and Dale. The family is of dis-
tinguished ancestry, Dall, who appears to
have been present at the battle of Clontarf
(1014 A.D.), having been a descendant in the
fourteenth generation of Daire Cearb a
brother of Lughaidh, son of Olioll Flann-beag,
king of Munster for thirty years, and great-
grandson of the celebrated Olioll Olum, king
of both Munsters in the third century, from
whom were descended all the Heberian nobil-
ity and gentry of Thomond and Desmond.
(I) William Odell, the founder and first
immigrant ancestor of the Odell family here
dealt with, was born either in Britain or Ire-
land, died in Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1676.
He came to New England in the early part of
the seventeenth century, and he is first traced
at Concord, Massachusetts, where his name
appears in the town records as early as 1639.
He removed to Fairfield, Connecticut, about
1644, and became the owner of a large estate.
His name appears there in the probate records
with the comparatively rare prefix of "Mr.,"
"W. ^. ^immcKd
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
587
which in those early days was a distinctive
and honorable title. His will, recorded at
Fairfield, Connecticut, and dated June 6, 1676,
mentions his sons William and John, his
daughter Rebecca, who had married Thomas
Moorehouse, his daughter-in-law, Mary
Odell, and others. In this will he bequeathed
lands in Concord and Fairfield and makes
his son, John Odell, and his son-in-law, Sam-
uel Moorehouse, his executors. William
Odell married before coming to America, it
is thought, but the name of his wife has re-
mained unknown. There is no trace of Mrs.
Odell's residence in Concord, the first book
of the records of that town having been lost.
In the early records of Boston, however, may
be found "A Register of the births and burials
in Concord for the years 1639 until the first
month of 1644, according to Or account." In
this register are the following entries :
"James the sonne of William Odle was born
the 2 of the 11 month 1639, and was buried
4 (2) 1 64 1." "Rebecca, the daughter of Wil-
liam Odle was borne the 17 (5) 1642." It is
supposed that Mrs. Odell died before 1644,
the year of her husband's removal to Fair-
field, Connecticut, as the records of the town
make no mention of her name, nor does Mr.
Odell's will, made in 1676, refer to her. Chil-
dren : William, mentioned below; James,
born in 1639, died in 1641 ; John, married
Abigail Walker; Rebecca, married Thomas
Moorehouse.
(II) William (2), eldest son of William
(i) Odell, was born about 1634, died about
1700 at Rye, New York. In 1659 he pur-
chased land in Fairfield from Thomas Moore-
house, and in 1668, when he appears to have
been residing at Rye, he signed a petition as
"William \^'oodhull."' such a name appearing
on the record and considered to have been
signed by him. In 1681 he owned about four
hundred acres in Fairfield, and in 1684 he
gave a deed of land in Rye, New York, to his
son Samuel. There is also a record of his
giving a deed of land to his eldest son, John
Odell, in 1693. He married a daughter of
Richard Vowles, Esq.,' of Rye, New York,
who was of Fairfield, in 1650, and was a Free-
man in 1662. Children: i. John, mentioned
below. 2. Samuel, who lived at Rye, New
York, and in 1700, gave Abraham Smith a
deed of land which formerly belonged to his
father. 3. Jonathan, who was of White Plains
in 1697 and signed the oath of allegiance to
King William. 4. Sarah, married, in 1686,
John Archer, Esq., lord of the manor of Ford-
ham, New York, and had issue. 5. Hackahal,
who is mentioned in Rye town records as wit-
nessing Robert Bloomer's deed. 6. Isaac, lived
at Eastchester, New York, and gave to Misses
Hoit a deed of land in Eastchester. 7.
Stephen, who is said to have removed to
Dutchess county, New York. 8. Michael, who
is said to have married one Bussing.
(III) John, eldest son of William (2) and
(Vowles) Odell, was probably born at
Fairfield, Connecticut, died at Fordham, New
York. There is a record of his signing as a
witness in 1683, and in 1706 he sold to George
Knififen, of Rye, New York, his interest in
the undivided lands "below the marked trees
which belong to the eighteenth," being a thirty-
sixth part of the land which belonged to his
deceased father, William Odell. He married
Joanna Turner, who in 1688 was mentioned
as Hannah, wife of John Odle, in an account
of the attempt of Nicholas Bayard to take pos-
session of the Dutch church of New York.
Lawrence Turner was the founder of this
family in Westchester county; his estate was
administered by his widow Martha and her
children in 1688. Children: i. Johannes,
mentioned below. 2. Michael, of whom no
trace has been found beyond the mention of
his name as an executor of the will of Johan-
nes Odell, of Fordham, New York, in which
instrument he is called by the testator "My
brother, Michael Odell."
(IV) Joannes, eldest son of John and
Joanna (Turner) Odell, was born probably at
Rye, New York, and died about 1738. He
lived at Fordham Manor, New York. His
will in New York City dated September 25,
1735. and proved July 27, 1738, mentions his
"honored father" John Odell, and appoints
his wife, his brother Michael, and his son John
as executors. He married Joanna, daughter
of Joannes and Altien (Waldron) Vermelje
(Vermilye) of Harlem. Joannes Vermelje
was in 1670 magistrate and in 1689 member of
the committee of safety and of Leisler's coun-
cil. Isaac Vermeille, the founder of the fam-
ily in this country, was the son of Jean and
Marie (Roubley) Vermeille, who were among
the Walloon refugees in London in the latter
part of the sixteenth century. Children of
Mr. and Mrs. Odell: i. John, married Anne,
588
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
daughter of Benjamin and Mary Benson, of
Harlem. 2. Isaac, married Lena Devaux and
had three sons : Isaac, who served in the revo-
lutionary war; John, Jonathan. 3. Abraham,
born April 22, 1725, died 1819; married Re-
becca, daughter of Joseph and Jannetje (Kier-
sen) Dyckman. 4. Jonathan, mentioned be-
low. 5. Hannah. 6. Altien.
(V) Jonathan, son of Joannes and Joanna
(Vermilye) Odell, was born December 26,
1730, died September 23, 1818, at Tarrytown,
New York, being buried in Sleepy Hollow
cemetery in that neighborhood. He lived at
Tarrytown, New York, and owned a large
estate in Westchester county. New York. He
served in the revolutionary war and was im-
prisoned by the British for loyalty to the
American cause. His will is dated May 29,
1812, and mentions his sons and daughters.
He married Margaret, daughter of Jacob and
Jannetie (Kiersen) Dyckman. She was born
in 1736, died March 20, 1783, granddaughter
of Jan Dyckman, the founder of the family,
who came from Bentheim, Westphalia, and
was a landholder in Harlem as early as 1666.
Children: i. Jacob, born February 26, 1752,
died October 15, 1798; married Hannah,
daughter of Jasper and Auly Stymus, of
Greenburg, New York. 2. Lieutenant John,
born October 25, 1756, died October 26, 1835 ;
was an officer in Colonel Morris Graham's
regiment and mounted guide to the American
army during the war of the revolution ; mar-
ried Hannah, daughter of John and Ann Mac-
Chain, of Cortlandt, Westchester county,
New York. 3. Abraham, born January 4,
1760, died February 26, 1820; married Anne,
daughter of Cornells and Rachel (Horton)
Mandeville, of Cortlandt Manor, New York :
he served in the American army in Colonel
Van Bergen's regiment during the war of the
revolution. 4. William, mentioned below.
( VT) William, youngest son of Jonathan and
Margaret (Dyckman) Odell, was born in New
York, December 18, 1762, died at Kendall,
Orleans county. New York, February 14,
1856. He served in Colonel Van Bergen's
regiment during the war of the revolution and
later held a colonel's commission in a West-
chester county regiment. In 1812 he was
named in his father's will with a bequest of
an estate called the Homestead. He was for
some years proprietor of the Bull's Head
Tavern. In 1835 he settled at Kendall,
Orleans county, New York, buying a tract of
land for the purpose of improving it. He
married Johanna, born December 30, 1769,
daughter of Daniel S. and Rebecca (Brown)
Willsea, of Greenburg. Children: i. Isaac,
mentioned below. 2. Abram, who settled in
Little Britain, near New Windsor, Orange
county. New York.
(VII) Isaac, eldest son of William and
Johanna (Willsea) Odell, was born in New
York City, about 1799, died at Newburgh
Orange county, New York. He went with his
father to Orleans county, New York
and afterwards settled in Little Britain, near
New Windsor, Orange county. New York,
where they settled on the De Witt Clinton
farm. He married Mary Ann Barker, born
in Westchester county, New York, died in
New York City at the age of eighty-one.
Children: i. Benjamin, mentioned below. 2.
Caleb, born at New Windsor, Orange county,
New York, June 28, 1827, died on Thanks-
giving Day, 1 88 1.
(VIII) Benjamin, eldest son of Isaac and
Mary Ann (Barker) Odell, was born at New
Windsor, Orange county. New York, Septem-
ber 10, 1825, in the same house in which
Governor Clinton was born. He attended
school as a boy, and at the age of fifteen
was bound out to Abram Weller of the
town of Montgomery, as a farm hand. He
remained with Mr. Weller three years, and in
the meantime attended school part of the time
at the Clineman school house, near Walden.
Mr. Odell went to Newburgh in 1843 and en-
tered the employ of Benjamin W. Van Nort,
with whom he remained four years, when he
began business for himself. In 1863 he bought
from J. R. Dickson the Muchattoes Lake ice
property. In 1886 he organized the Muchat-
toes Lake Ice Company, of which he is still
president. He was a trustee of the former
village of Newburgh and has been an alder-
man in the third ward of Newburgh and a
supervisor of New Windsor. He was sheriff
of Orange county in 1880-83, and has served
six terms of two years each as mayor of New-
burgh. He has always faithfully fulfilled
every trust reposed in him. He is a staunch
Republican, and has been ever since the open-
ing of the rebellion in 1861. He has always
been a farseeing and capable politician. As
regards religion Mr. Odell belongs to the
American Reformed church, of which he is
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
589
an elder. He married, in 1850, Ophelia,
daughter of Hiram Bookstaver, of Newburgh,
New York. Children: i. Benjamin B., men-
tioned below. 2. Hiram B., mentioned below.
3. George C. D. 4. Clara. 5. Ophelia.
(IX) Benjamin B., eldest son of Benjamin
and Ophelia (Bookstaver) Odell, was born at
Newburgh, Orange county, New York, Janu-
ary 14, 1854. He was educated in the public
schools of Newburgh and at Bethany College,
West Virginia. From 1873 to 1875 he was a
student at Columbia College. He engaged for
a number of years in banking, electric light-
ing and other commercial enterprises in New-
burgh with his father. He was a member of
the Republican State committee from 1884 to
1900, and chairman of the Republican state
executive committee from 1898 to 1900. He
was a member of congress from the seven-
teenth district of New York from 1895 to
1899, but declined renomination. He earned
considerable distinction as governor of New
York from 1901 to 1905. He married (first)
in 1877, Estelle Crist, who died in 1888; (sec-
ond) in 1891, Mrs. Linda (Crist) Traphagen,
widow of Mr. Traphagen, and sister of the
first Mrs. Odell.
(IX) Hiram B., second son of Benjamin
and Ophelia (Bookstaver) Odell, was born in
Newburgh, Orange county. New York, Au-
gust 21, 1856. He was educated in the public
schools of his native city. Soon after leaving
school in 1871 he began work with his father
in the ice business, the elder Odell being presi-
dent of the Muchattoes Lake Ice Company.
He has remained in that business and has long
been an officer in the company. In 18S0 he
was appointed under sheriff in charge of the
Goshen court house and jail by his father, who
had been elected sheriff of Orange county the
previous November. He served in that office
during a term of three years and his work
gave general satisfaction. On March 7, 1893,
Mr. Odell was elected alderman in the New-
burgh common council to represent the third
ward. He served in that office one term of
two years and declined re-election. The next
office held by Mr. Odell was that of postmas-
ter of Newburgh, in which he served his third
term of four years. He was first appointed
in March, 1900, by President McKinley and
was reappointed by President Roosevelt in
1904 and again in 1908. Mr. Odell, it is said
locally, has made an admirable postmas-
ter and there have been many improve-
ments made in the postal system of the
city since he began to hold the position.
He has been connected with the fire
department for seven years, and was secre-
tary of the Ringgold Hose Company sev-
eral years. He was a charter member of Com-
pany E, Seventeenth Battalion (now the
Tenth Separate Company) in 1878. He was
appointed first corporal by Captain Joseph M.
Dickey, and took rank as second lieutenant,
February 8, 1884, and as first lieutenant, May
22, 1885. He served seven years in the Na-
tional Guard, and left the company August 10,
1886. He married, in April, 1886, Edith,
daughter of James Ashley and Catherine
Booth, of Wilbur, a suburb of Kingston,
Ulster county, New York. Children: Mil-
dred, Edith, Hiram B., Jr.
(VIII) Caleb Odell, second son
ODELL of Isaac (q. v.) and Mary Ann
(Barker) Odell, was born at New
Windsor, Orange county. New York, June 28,
1827, and died on Thanksgiving Day in 1881,
at Newburg, Orange county, New York. He
attended the district schools in the vicinity of
New Windsor and later in life settled in New-
burg, where, with his brother, Benjamin B.
Odell, he conducted a restaurant. Later he
was proprietor of the old Van Ort House,
one of the leading hotels of that day. He
managed the Van Ort Hotel for a number of
years, and when it was torn down he engaged
again in the restaurant business, though he did
not continue very long in this second venture.
He was a very genial man and his jovial
character and conversation had much to do
with his success in his catering business. Gay
as he was he retained a firm belief in the value
of practical religion and was a regular at-
tendant with his family at the Old Dutch
church. He married, June 25, 1849, J^"^'
daughter of Joseph and Ann (Dunning) Cas-
telline (see Castelline VI). Children: Mary
Ann, who married William Ernest; George
W. ; Ophelia, who died in infancy ; Caleb ; Wil-
liam; Adelaide, who married William Corn-
wall; Katherine, who married H. E. Limmer;
Laura V., mentioned below ; Harriet E., who
married (first) Clarence Whitehill, and (sec-
ond) Dr. J. L. Rathburn ; and Cora, who died
in infancy.
590
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
(IX J Laura V., daughter of Caleb and Jane
(.Castellmej Odell, was born in Newburg,
Orange county, New York. She married, No-
vember 2^, 1898, Samuel L. Carhsle, who was
born at Newburg, Orange county. New York,
June 30, 1832, and died at Newburgh, Novem-
ber 9, 191 1. Beginning hfe in Newburgh in
obscurity, he died one of the most honored
citizens of the district, having been a represen-
tative in tlie state legislature, where he served
un important committees during the term of
1884-5. Mr. Carlisle's early education was
secured in public schools and while attending
school he was employed as a newsboy by
Stephen Hoyt. After leaving school he started
a brush factory and later went to New York
City to learn the dry goods business, but left
It to enter the service of the Singer Sewing
Machine Company, at their works in Brook-
lyn, New York. He entered the establish-
ment as an office boy, worked through the sev-
eral grades to that of buyer, and then became
a stockholder and director, holding a position
on the board of directors at the time of his
death.
After becoming associated with the Singer
Company in an official capacity Mr. Carlisle
organized in Brooklyn what was for years
known the country round as the "Carlisle Bat-
tery," an organization used exclusively for
political purposes. After Mr. Carlisle went to
Newburg to live a retired life in 1881, the
battery was reorganized and is now known as
the "Francis William Battery." In 1884 when
the Blaine and Logan campaign was on Mr.
Carlisle entered the political field locally, and
one of the largest demonstrations ever given
in the district was brought about at his sug-
gestion and with his assistance. This was the
occasion of visits from clubs representing all
river cities and towns. The closing years of
Mr. Carlisle's life were somewhat over-
shadowed by illness. He was a member of
Newburg Lodge, No. 308, Free and Accepted
Masons, and of Hudson River Commandery,
No. 35, Knights Templar. Mr. Samuel Lud-
low Carlisle, by his first marriage, had one son,
William, who died in December, 1910. Wil-
liam married Anna P. Daly, of Brooklyn, and
had three children : Avrill, who has been pri-
vate tutor to a son of Mr. William Randolph
Hearst, the newspaper proprietor ; SamueJ Car-
lisle, who is with the Remington Typewriter
Company, and Emilie. who married Martin C.
Stewart, professor of German at Union
College.
(The Castelline Line.)
The name Castelline is manifestly Latin in
origin, and particularly French. In America
it has appeared in various forms, the chief be-
ing the ordinary and probably correct form of
Castelline, and the still prevalent form of Cas-
terline, which is simply an anglicised form of
the other. The tradition is that the family
arrived on the coast of New Jersey from
France at an early period in the seventeenth
century. The name Castelline has reference
to some castle or stronghold apparently con-
nected with the original family. This was a
very common form for French or Norman
names to assume, surnames in France being
usually taken from the appellation of some
town or territory or district or feature of the
landscape, more particularly in the case of
families having pretensions to wealth and
social position.
(I) Francis Castelline or Casterline, the
founder of the family in America bearing the
name and its variations, was born in France,
probably about 1672, and died at Rockaway,
Morris county. New Jersey, December 16,
1768, aged ninety-six. According to the tradi-
tion handed down in the family he arrived
in New Jersey from France and settled near
Union or Franklin in that state, about the
year 1690. His son Francis is said to have
been a mere babe at the time and had to be
carried in his mother's arms. There is no
record as to the name of the mother. Francis
was probably a farmer and he seems to have
owned some land in the place where he set-
tled, near Rockaway, Morris county, New
Jersey.
(II) Francis (2), son of Francis (i) Cas-
telline, was probably born in France about
1690. and died in 1796 at Rockaway, Morris
county. New Jersey, at the age of one hundred
and six. He married three times and had
twenty-six children. The records as far as
known give : Abraham, Amariah, Jacob,
Stephen. Benjamin. Samuel, Francis, Phebe,
James, and Joseph, mentioned below.
(III) Joseph, son of Francis (2) Castelline,
was born at Rockaway, Morris county. New
Jersey, June 10, 1736, and died at the same
place April t8, 1832. He lived at Rockaway
and was a farmer. He married (first) Mav
16, 1772, Susannah Lyon, by whom he had
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
591
eleven children; and he married (second)
Penniah Searing, March 24, 1799; by this
marriage he had ten children. Children: 1.
Daniel, mentioned below. 2. Sarah. 3. Susan,
who married Stephen Freeman. 4. Hannah,
who married (first) one Tompkins, (second)
one Harris. 5. Phebe. 6. Huldah. 7. Simeon,
who died March 14, 1888, married (first) Re-
becca Duly, of Minkey, (second) Eveline
Atno of Succasunna, and (third) Susan
Sharf of Madison, born September 25, 1799,
died April i, 1879. 8. Jane, died July 7, 1875 ;
married (first) Hiram Henry Baxter, August
2, 1822, and had two children, one of whom
died young, and the other, William Henry,
born June 10, 1825, died in California; mar
ried (second) a Mr. Harrison of Caldwell.
Penniah Searing, the second wife of Joseph
Castelline, was the daughter of William and
Penniah { Burnett ) Searing, the seventh
daughter of a seventh daughter, and was pos-
sessed, according to the belief of some, of
great healing powers by the "laying on of
hands."
(IV) Daniel, son of Joseph and Susannah
(Lyon) Castelline, was born at Rockaway,
Morris county. New Jersey, in 1774. He mar-
ried a lady whose first name was Elizabeth,
but whose maiden surname remains unknown.
They had several children, but the records
contain the name of only one of them. There
is no means of surmising the probable date
of the death of Daniel or his wife, or of any
special incidents in their lives.
(V) Joseph, son of Daniel and Elizabeth
Castelline, was born in Rockaway, Morris
county, New Jersey, May 26, 1798, and died
at Dover, November 26, 1852, being buried
in Berkshire Valley. He settled in Orange
county, New York, and married Ann Dunning.
One of their children was Jane, mentioned
below.
(VI) Jane, daughter of Joseph and Ann
(Dunning) Castelline, was born November
19, 1827, and died February 11, 1903, at New-
burg, Orange county, New York. She mar-
ried, June 25, 1849, Caleb Odell. son of Isaac
and Mary Ann (Barker) Odell, (see Odell
VIII).
It is claimed that the surname
HOPPER Hopper is of French origin and
was originally spelled Hoppe.
There are in America three distinct Hopper
families. One is of Irish descent, another
came from the county of Durham, England,
and the third, by far the most numerous, is
of Dutch ancestry. The immigrant ancestor
of the Holland Hoppers was Andries Hopper,
and the New Jersey and New York Hoppers
are descended from him. Members of the
family have represented their districts in the
legislature, others have worn the judicial
ermine with dignity and respectability, still
others have held from time to time county and
township offices, and some have become fam-
ous as physicians, clergymen, lawyers, mayors
of cities, publicists, mechanics, sailors, soldiers
and agriculturists.
(I) Andries Hopper came from Amster-
dam, Holland, in 1652, accompanied by his
wife and two or three children, and settled in
New Amsterdam (now New York City). In
1657 he was granted the privileges of a small
burgher. He acquired considerable property
but did not live long to enjoy it, as he died in
1659. He had entered into an agreement with
one Jacob Stol to purchase the Bronx lands,
but owing to the death of both, the trans-
action was not completed. The maiden name
of his wife was Giertie Hendricks, and she
bore him several children. Those born in
America were: i. William, 1654; 2. Hendrick,
mentioned below. 3. Matthew Adolphus.
(N. B. The Hoppers of Saddle River, Ridge-
wood and Midland townships, Bergen county,
are all descended from these brothers.) In
1660 Andries Hopper's widow married (sec-
ond) Dirck Gerritsen Van Tricht, thereby
securing to each of her three children the sum
of two hundred guilders.
(II) Hendrick, second son of Andries and
Giertie (Hendricks) Hopper, was born in New
Amsterdam, New Netherland, in 1656, re-
moved to Bergen, East Jersey, with his
parents in 1680, and was married, March 14,
1680, in the Dutch church in New Nether-
lands, to Maria Johns Van Barkum (or
Maria Jans, as the name is written in the mar-
riage record). They removed to Hackensack,
North Bergen, in 1687. Children: i. Andrew,
born 1681 ; married, July, 1707, Abigail Ack-
erman and had three daughters. 2. Johannes,
born 1682; married, July, 1707, Rachel Ter-
hune. 3. William, born 1684. 4. Catherine,
1685. 5. Garret, mentioned below. 6. Ger-
trude, 1699. 7. Lea.
(III) Garret, fourth son of Hendrick and
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
Maria (Jans Van Barkum) Hopper, was bap-
tized December 25, 1696, in Hackensack, New
Jersey, and was an elder of the church there
in 1748 and 1758. He married (first) about
1725, Catherine Kejoyne, who left one son,
Jacob G., mentioned below. He married
(second) in Hackensack, October 31, 1741,
Hendrickjen Terhuen, both described as resi-
dents of Paramus. A careful search of the
church records of New York, Hackensack,
Schraalenburg and Tappan, discovers record
of only two children of this marriage, namely >
Andries, baptized November 19, 1742, and
Lidea, August 5, 1744, at Hackensack. There
were undoubtedly several others, not recorded
in any of the records just mentioned.
(IV) Jacob Garretson, only son of Garret
and Catherine (Kejoyne) Hopper, was born
in 1727, on his father's farm near Saddle
River, and died in 1815. He married, at
Hackensack, September 22, 1750, Cornelia
Ackerman. The following children are men-
tioned in his will: Catrina, Cornelius, Garret,
Elizabeth. Henry and John J. Four of these
are recorded as baptized in Hackensack. It
is presumable that his eldest son, Jacob, left
home in early life and so was not named in
the will.
(V) Jacob, son of Jacob Garretson Hopper,
born about 1768, resided in New York City,
where his children were born. He married,
in 1795, Lydia Manwaring, born March 31,
1768, daughter of John and Lydia (Plumb)
Manwaring. of New London, Connecticut.
Their children, born in New York, were : Ja-
cob Mulford, March 7, 1797; James Manwar-
ing, mentioned below ; Lydia Ann, June 4,
1804; Daniel Manwaring, March 10, 1807.
Lydia Plumb was born June 10, 1732, and was
married at New London, February 4, 1762,
to John Manwaring. She was descended from
John Plumb, of county Essex, England (see
Plumb VIII).
(VI) James Manwaring, second son of
Jacob and Lydia (Manwaring) Hopper, was
born March 26, 1798, in New York, where
he resided. He superintended the loading and
unloading of ships along the North river docks
in New York City. He was a member of the
Dutch Reformed church, and lived to see the
organization of the Republican party, which
he supported to the time of his death. He
married. September 5. 1820, Mary Faulkner.
a native of New York City, and they had
children : Jacob Manwaring, born July 24,
1822, died May 17, 1890; George Faulkner,
April 26, 1824; Mary Faulkner, January 25,
1826; Eliza Parker, May 17, 1828; James
Alexander, mentioned below.
(VII) James Alexander, third son of James
M. and Mary (Faulkner) Hopper, was born
July 17, 1831, in New York City, and died
December 11, 1900, in San Francisco, Cali-
fornia. He became a brass turner, locksmith
and gunsmith, and was highly skilled as a
mechanic. In 1855-56 he was engaged on the
famous "'Hobb's Lock," which was sent to
London in 1856 and successfully competed in
the great World's Fair. His employers were
Day & Newell, who finally secured a number
of contracts. Following this Mr. Hopper and
his family sailed from Boston. Massachusetts,
in 1859, to Honolulu, via Cape Horn, the
voyage taking one hundred and fourteen days,
where he established a brass and machine
foundry and began manufacturing whaling
guns and general ship work. After the loss
of the Arctic fleet he turned his attention to
the production of sugar and rice milling ma-
chinery and was very successful in that line of
industry. He invested in rice fields and plan-
tations, and by his thrift and energy built up
a successful business as a rice merchant. In
political principles he was a Republican. He
married, October 4, 1853, in New York City,
Ellen Lewers, born April 12. 1832, in New
York, died August 5. 1910. in San Francisco.
Children: i. William Lewers. mentioned be-
low. 2. Mary Jane, born August 9, 1859. mar-
ried Elisha Wells Peterson and had children :
Margaret Lewers. James Hopper. Dorothy
Faulkner. Ernest Wells and Lewers Clark.
3. Margaret Lewers, born December 19, 1861,
in Honolulu, resides in Honolulu ; unmarried.
4. Ellen Reaney. born February 3. 1873, in
Honolulu : married Willard Elias Brown and
had children: Willard Everett and Winifred
Lewers.
(VIII) William Lewers, eldest child of
James A. and Ellen (Lewers) Hopper, was
born February 20, 1856, at his parents' resi-
dence on Elizabeth street. New York City,
and was a small child when his parents located
in Honolulu. There he continued under the
instruction of public tutors until i86q, when
he entered in the Oahu College at Honolulu
and remained until 1871. Following this he
was a student in grammar school number
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
593
thirty-five of New York City, and passed a
successful examination in 1872 for entry in
the College of the City of New York. He
then pursued a course in Bryant, Stratton &
Clark's Business College, of Brooklyn, grad-
uating April 18, 1873, receiving a diploma as
an accountant. Upon leaving school he went
to Honolulu and was employed in his father's
business as a clerk of the machine shop and
foundry. He was admitted into partnership
with his father in the rice business, and con-
tinued actively engaged in this business until
1907, when it was discontinued. He is now
president of the James Alexander Hopper Es-
tate, Limited, and is chiefly engaged in the
care of his properties. Politically, he has al-
ways been a Republican, but has never sought
any connection with public afifairs. He is a
member of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' As-
sociation.
He married, September 14, 1882, in Os-
borne, Osborne county, Kansas, May Temple-
ton, born September 16, 1862, in West Middle-
ton, Washington county, Pennsylvania. Chil-
dren : I. Elizabeth Templeton, born Decem-
ber 25, 1883, graduated at Washington (D.
C.) Seminary in May, 1904. 2. Katherine
Matthews, October 6, 1886, graduated at Oahu
College, Honolulu ; became the wife of Chester
Gilbert Livingston and is the mother of one
child, William Hopper. 3. Mary Ellen, April
24. 1888, died two weeks old. 4^ Alice Lewers,
June 20, 1890.
(The Plumb Line.)
The origin of the surname Plumb (Plume,
Plumbe and its other variations) is unknown,
but it was in use in England among the earliest
family names. The American family of Plumb
is descended from the English family of
county Essex. There are numerous coats-of-
arms of this family, but that to which the
Essex branch has claim is described: Ermine
a bend vaire or and gules cottised vert. Crest:
Out of a ducal coronet or a plume of ostrich
feathers argent. The name of Robertus
Plumme appears in the Great Roll of Nor-
mandy, in A. D. 1 180; also Robert Plome.
John Plume was in Hertfordshire in 1240,
and in 1274 the surname is found in Somerset-
shire, Cambridge and Norfolk. One branch
of the Connecticut Plumbs traces its ancestry
direct to John Plumb, or Plume, of Toppes-
field, county Essex, England, born about 1505 ;
of this line, John Plumb, of Wethersfield,
was the immigrant and progenitor of a widely
dispersed hne.
(I) John Plumb, of Terling, county Essex,
was born about 15 10, and was doubtless closely
related to the other John. He married Johana
, and he was buried January 25, 1548-49.
Children : Elizabeth ; Jane, baptized February
23. 1538-39; Margaret, baptized May 18, 1540;
Philip, May 4, 1542; Johana, May 22, 1543;
Thomasin, April 4, 1545; George, mentioned
below.
(H) George, son of John Plumb, was bap-
tized at Terling, April 23, 1547; was buried
there October 11, 1586, aged thirty-nine years,
five months and eighteen days. The names of
his children are not known, but there is good
reason to believe that he and his sons lived at
Inworth, the register of which is lost.
(IV) George Plumb (or Plume), grandson,
it appears to be proved, of George Plumb,
was born about 1607. His will, dated July
25, 1667, bequeathing to wife Grace and sons
John and Timothy, was proved July 18, 1670,
and shows that he was father of Timothy, of
Hartford and Wethersfield, and of John, men-
tioned below. He had a second wife Sarah,
who proved the will. George was buried in
June, 1670, at Inworth, Essex, England,
where he lived.
(V) John (2), son of George Plumb, was
born in Essex, England, in 1634, and died
about 1696. He deposed at Hartford, Con-
necticut, July II, 1666, that he was about
thirty-two years old. He lived many years
at Hartford, but moved to New London,
Connecticut ; was constable there in 1680 and
also inn-holder there. His wife joined the
church in 1691. He was a shipowner and
master and owned the ketch "Hartford." His
wife was fined for selling liquor to the
Indians. He was a bearer of dispatches from
New London to the governor at Hartford,
in January, 1675-76, in King Philip's war, and
was afterward granted land for service in this
war. He was given power of attorney, when
he was of Hartford, to collect debts at Charles-
town, Massachusetts, for creditors in England,
and was named a son of George Plumb, of
Inworth, Essex. He married Elizabeth
Green. Children : John, mentioned below ;
Samuel, born about 1670; Joseph, about 1671 ;
Green, about 1673; Mercy, 1677; George,
1679: Sarah, 1682.
594
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
(VI) John (3), eldest son of John (2) and
Elizabeth (Green) Plumb, was born about
1666, and resided in New London, where he
died in the latter part of the year 1732, his
will being proved December 4, of that year.
With his wife he joined the New London
church in 1693, was judge of the county
court in 1710-12, and had long been probate
judge at the time of his death. He married,
December 13, 1689, Elizabeth Hempstead,
who died in September, 1733. Children: Eliza-
beth, born February 27, 1691 ; John, Novembei
21, 1692; Abigail, January i, 1695; Joshua,
August 3, 1697; Sarah, December 22, 1699;
Peter, mentioned below ; Lydia, April 24,
1703 ; Hannah, July 10, 1705 ; Daniel, June
12, 1708; Patience, March 4, 1710; Elisha,
March 10, 1712.
(VH) Peter, third son of John (3) and
Elizabeth (Hempstead) Plumb, was born De-
cember 26, 1701, in New London, and there
resided, where the inventory of his estate wa?
made, February 21, 1749. In 1732 he was
associated with others in forming a stock com-
pany to engage in trade by sea. He married,
about 1729, Hannah Morgan, born December
17, 1706, daughter of Captain John (2) and
Ruth (Shapley) Morgan, of New London
(see Morgan IV). Children: Lucretia ; Ly-
dia, mentioned below ; Peter, born about 1733-
34; Green, about 1735-36.
(VIII) Lydia, second daughter of Peter
and Hannah (Morgan) Plumb, became the
wife of John Manwaring. Their daughter,
Lydia, married Jacob Hopper (see Hopper
V).
(The Morgan Line.)
(I) James Morgan, immigrant ancestor,
was born in Wales, probably at Llandaff,
Glamorgan county, but the family appears to
have removed to Bristol, England, before
1636. The name of his father is unknown.
but there is some traditionary evidence that it
was William. In March, 1636, he and two
younger brothers, John and Miles, sailed from
Bristol and arrived in Boston, Massachusetts,
in April. John Morgan, who appears to have
been a High churchman, soon left Boston for
the more congenial society of Virginia. Miles
Morgan settled in Springfield. James Mor-
gan settled at Roxbury before 1640 and lived
there for ten years or more. He was admitted
a freeman May 10, 1643. Early in 1650 he
was granted land at Pequot, later called New
London, Connecticut, and soon occupied by
him as a homestead, on the path to New street
(now Ashcraft street), near the present third
burial ground in the western suburbs of the
present city. He continued to occupy this
homestead on the path to New street, or Cape
Ann Lane (as it was called, in honor of the
Cape Ann Company, who chiefly settled there)
until about March, 1657. He sold his home-
stead, however, in December, 1656, and re-
moved with others across the river to sites
granted them in the present town of GroTon.
That town and Ledyard, set off in 1836, hav:
been the places of residence of his descendants
to the present time. He was a large owner
and dealer in land and distinguished in public
enterprises ; he was often employed by the
public in land surveys, establishing highways,
determining boundaries, adjusting civil diffi-
culties as a magistrate, and ecclesiastical diffi-
culties as a good neighbor and Christian. He
was one of the townsmen, or selectmen, of
New London, and one of the first deputies to
the general court at Hartford (May, 1657) and
was nine times afterward elected a deputy.
In 1661 he was one of a committee to seat
the meeting house, a difficult task, because the
seating determined the social standing of all
the people. The spot where he built his house
in Groton in 1657 and ever afterward resided,
and where he died, is a few rods southeast
of the Elijah S. Morgan house, three miles
from the Groton ferry, on the road to Po-
quonoc bridge, and this homestead has de-
scended down to the present generation by in-
heritance. He died in 1685, aged seventy-eight
years, and his estate was soon after divided
among his four surviving children.
He married, August 6, 1640, Margery Hill,
of Roxbury. Children, born in Roxbury, ex-
cept perhaps the youngest: i. Hannah, born
May 18, 1642; married, November 20, 1660,
Henehiam Royce. 2. James, March 3, 1644;
married, in November, 1666, Mary Vine. 3.
John, mentioned below. 4. Joseph, Novem-
iaer 29, 1646. 5. Abraham. September 3, 1648.
died August, 1649. 6. Daughter, November
17, 1650, died young.
(II) Captain John Morgan, son of James
Morgan, was born March 30, 1645. He was
a prominent man and served as Indian com-
missioner or advisor. He was deputy to the
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
59S
general court from New London in 1689-90,
and from Preston in 1693-94. He removed
to Preston about 1692. His will was dated
August 23, 171 1, proved February 12, 1712.
The probate of the will was appealed from,
as he made no mention of his son Joseph, who
appeared as a party in the proceedings. He
married (first) November 16, 1665, Rachel,
daughter of John Dymond. He married (sec-
ond) Elizabeth (Jones) Williams, widow,
daughter of Lieutenant Governor William
Jones, of New Haven, and granddaughter of
Governor Theophilus Eaton. Children of
first wife : John, mentioned below ; Samuel,
born September 9, 1669; Isaac, October 24,
1670; Hannah, January 8, 1674; Mercy, May,
1675; Sarah, April 13, 1678; James, about
1680. Children of second wife: Elizabeth,
born about 1690, died young; William, 1693;
Rachel, baptized April 19, 1697 ; Audrea, bap-
tized same day ; Margery, baptized July 9,
1699 ; Joseph, April 27, 1701 ; Theophilus.
May 16, 1703; Mary, married John Norton.
(HI) Captain John (2) Morgan, eldest son
of Captain John (i) and Rachel (Dymond)
Morgan, was born June 10, 1667, in Groton,
and died about the age of seventy-nine years,
between May 30, 1744, and March i, 1746,
the respective dates of making and proving his
will. He was lieutenant of the first train band
or militia company of Groton, being commis-
sioned April 30, 1692, at the same time that
his uncle, James Morgan, was made captain of
the company. The nephew succeeded the lat-
ter, October 8, 1714, as captain, and continued
in that office until October 12, 1730. He left
a large estate in both real and personal prop-
erty. The latter was bequeathed to his daugh-
ters, while the lands descended to his only
son. He married Ruth, daughter of Benjamin
and Mary (Rickett) Shapley, of Groton, whom
he survived. Children: Ruth, born August
29, 1697; Mary, December 18, 1698; John,
January 4. 1700; Sarah, February 24, 1702;
Experience, March 24, 1704; Hannah, men-
tioned below; Rachel, July 5, 1709; Martha,
December 12, 171 1; Elizabeth, June 12, 1713;
Jemima, May 5, 1715.
(IV) Hannah, fifth daughter of Captain
John (2) and Ruth (Shapley) Morgan, was
born December 17, 1706, in Groton, and he
came the wife of Peter Plumb, of that town
(see Plumb VII).
This family is one of the old-
DOLSON est in Manhattan, coming to
New Amsterdam from Holland
before 1648. Riker's History gives space to
the family and has something to say of the
Dutch town in Holland of similar name where
the family came from.
By chance Captain Dolson, progenitor of
the family in America, came from Workum
on the coast of Friesland instead of direct
from the home town in Holland. At New
Amsterdam, in 1667, he built the first vessel
of size put upon the stocks here; it was ,a
merchant yacht for Captain Thomas Bradley.
Captain Dolson married the daughter of
Teunis Kray (Grey), who returned to New
Amsterdam in 1658. where he had already
lived for several years. Teunis Kray went
over to bring back his family, and in 1660,
at New Amsterdam, his daughter, Gerritee.
and Captain Dolson were married. They
lived in New .'Xmsterdam until the Dutch lost
New York, and then for a time in New Eng-
land where their daughter Gerritee was born,
later returning to New Amsterdam and the
adjoining town of New Harlem. Their chil-
dren, omitting the first two who died young,
were: Teunis, born 1664, married, in 1696,
Sarah Vermilie ; Gerritee, born 1667, married,
in 1685, Jans Kiersen ; Annetie, born 1669,
married, in 1690, Johannas Waldron ; Peter,
born 1671 ; Tryntie, born 1674, married John
Meyer; Jacob, born 1679; Lyabet, born 1682;
Jannetie, born 1685.
In 1670 Captain Dolson sold his residence
to Resolved Waldron, but subsequently owned
another and appears among the feofholders,
1681-83, having his home here and sailing an
open boat out of New York. It is recorded
in the council's minutes of January 28, 1684.
that he desired some land at Harlem, where
he formerly had owned land. It was agreed
by those of Harlem to give him a piece of
ground for him and his heirs provided he
would not sell it. but for want of heirs it
should relapse to the township. After this he
and his son-in-law, Jans Kiersen, got a lease
of the Great Maize Land, an Indian clearing
not far from Fort Washington, on March 30,
1686. These lands were laid out and allotted
in 1691, and Kiersen on July 2, 1694, bought
for 1,000 guilders in money the lots Nos. 16
and 18 from Thomas Tourneur as purchased
by him from Holmes and Waldron, the
596
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
original drawers. In March, 1696, Kiersen
obtained the signature of every inhabitant of
the town to a paper granting him a half mor-
gen of land from the common woods, lying
at the southeast hook of the land that Samuel
Waldron has drawn out of the common woods,
which half morgen of land he (Kiersen) may
build upon, thereon setting a house, barn and
garden, for which he promises to let lie a
morgen of land upon the northeast hook of
the aforesaid lot, leaving a suitable road or
King's way between his house and the lot of
Samuel Waldron. Kiersen built his house,
and on March 7, 1700, the town officer gave
him a deed. Here Kiersen and his wife, who
was Gerritee Dolson, lived. This was the
first settlement on the now well known Jumel
Homestead and believed to be the first spot
permanently occupied on these heights.
In 1690 Johannes Waldron. son of Resolved
Waldron, married Annetie, daughter of Cap-
tain Dolson. To begin housekeeping he bought
from his brother, Samuel Waldron, the new
house the latter had just completed west of
the road. This modest home was just north
of One Hundred and Thirty-third Street.
Johannes Waldron added to this property by
purchasing more ground, from the town, run-
ning back to the Hills. From this fact he and
his wife became known, as they prospered,
as the Waldrons of the Hill, and in 1748 sold
all their lands to their son Samuel for £400.
Samuel Waldron's daughter, Angel, the wife
of Samuel Myer, sold the farm in July, 1776,
to John De Lancey for £1,720. He was a
grandson of the great Huguenot merchant
who built and occupied the old building known
as Fraunce's Tavern at the corner of Pearl
and Broad streets. This property passed into
the hands of Archibald Watts in 1826, and has
become well known as the Watts- Pickney es-
tate. Thus it will be seen that two of Captain
Dolson's children were the original residen-
tees on two estates destined to become of the
best known of the old estates of New York.
As proof of the high esteem that his fellow
citizens had for Captain Dolson it is interest-
ing to note that Lubbert Gerritsen who de-
parted this life on November 21, 1673, and
who had held several public offices in the
town, being chosen adelborst in 1663, and serv-
ing as overseer the year before he died, chose
Captain Dolson as guardian of his children's
inheritance.
Captain Dolson appears in the tax list of
February 14, 1682, and in 1683 he with Jo-
hannes Vermilye and Jan Dyckman and others
paid a total of 608 guilders for the estate of
the deceased Thomas Hedding.
Captain Dolson's son Teunis received the
appointment of constable, September 29 1697.
He is credited with being the first male child
born in this city (New York) after it was
ceded to the English by the Dutch. He mar-
ried Sarah \'ermilye, daughter of Captain
John Vermilye, in New Amsterdam (New
York) in 1696 and later lived in W'estchester
county and advancing to different localities
up the Hudson river, finally locating in and
about Goshen, New York, where is established
the town of Dolsontown. He resided here
until his death, August 30, 1766, at the age of
one hundred and two years. The Dolsons of
Orange county, New York, are his descend-
ants.
Some of his children were baptized at
Poughkeepsie and others at Fishkill. The
first house at Dolsontown was a log house
loopholed for musketry and this was followed
by a stone house which was used as a forti-
fication as well as the block house when the
Indians were troublesome and during the
French and Indian war of 1756. Near this
fortification the Indians had had an apple or-
chard, one of the very old trees of which was
still standing in 1846. At times travel between
Goshen, Dolsontown and Napanoch was only
possible under an escort of soldiers on account
of the lurking savages.
Teunis Dolson had several children among
whom were: i. Johannas, who married Eliza-
beth Buys; children: Maria, born 1731 : Joh-
annis, born 1735; Isaac, born 1739; Abraham,
born 1741 ; Samuel, born 1744: Peter, Sally,
Betsey. 2. Jacob, married Maria Buys, Janu-
ary 12, 1734, having children: Teunis. born
r)ctober 6. 1735; Johannas. born May 15.
1737: Isaac, born May 27, 1739; Aeltie. born
April 28, 1745. 3. Abraham, married
Marytje Slot, having children : Jannetje, born
1739; Margaret, born 1740; Abraham, born
1741 : Aeltje. born 1743: Marytje. born 1745.
4. Isaac, married Polly Hussey, having chil-
dren : James, married Phoebe Meeker : Isaac,
said to have never married. James, son of
Isaac, was living in 1846, aged eighty-two
years.
Of Jacob Dolson's sons. Teunis and John,
SOU'JJJERN NEW YORK
597
we are now chiefly interested ; they lived in
and about the vicinity of Newburg-Ivlarlboro,
where they signed the revolutionary pledge
in 1767. They and their children served in
the American army during the revolution.
Teunis Dolson, after the war was over, took
up lot No. 118, three hundred and ninety acres
in town of Chemung-Big Hats, 1788, his son
John accompanying him. This John also
served in the revolution and also in the war
of 1812. He was born in 1752, married, in
181 1, and lived at Big Hats, moving in 1837-
38 to Battle Creek, Michigan, and in 1913 his
daughter, a Mrs. Andrews, still resides in Des
Moines, Iowa, aged eighty-four years ; she
says her father, John Dolson, son of Teunir
Dolson, died at age of eighty-six years ; that
there were nine children by his last wife, in-
cluding herself, and that her mother died in
November, 1849.
John Dolson, born 1737, brother of Teunis,
born 1735, and uncle of the younger John,
born 1752, continued after his servi,ce in the
revolutionary army to live in the Newburg-
Marlboro vicinity. His last wife was named
Sarah and outlived him. His son, Teunis, born
1783, married twice and had a total of ten
children, one of them, James, born 1812, liv-
ing to very old age at Tuttletown, Ulster coun-
ty. New York; he remembered his step-grand-
mother, Sarah Dolson. Teunis, born 178^,
had half-brothers, Jacob, born 1791, and Wil-
liam, born October 28, 1794. William mar-
ried Lydia Polhemus. born June 29, 1804, died
March 4, 1869, and buried at Haverstraw,
New York, in the J W. Dolson plot. She
was the daughter of Cornelius Polhemus, who
had a brother, Josiah Webb Polhemus. Their
children were: Hiram, born July 11, 1819;
Sarah, born March 18, 1821 ; Anna, born
March 22, 1823; Dorcas; born May 13, 1825;
Josiah W., born July 27, 1827, died January
21, 1890; Catherine M., born February 13,
1830; Margaret, born June 30, 1832; Charles
M., born September 23, 184^. Sarah, who
was named after her grandmother, remem-
bered her very well and told Josiah's sons
many facts of interest about her grandparents.
Josiah W. and his brother, Charles M. Dol-
son, could not both go to the civil war and
they arranged for the younger brother, Charles
M., to go, Josiah W. endeavoring to support
the families of each. Charles M. served from
start to finish, was a prisoner in Libby Prison
and when freed through an exchange of
prisoners he re-enlisted at Haverstraw, New
/ork, the Edward Pye Post Company. Josiah
W. later paid draft money as an operation on
his jaw made him unfit for army service, and
supported the two families through the means
of the brick business in which he was then
engaged. The last brick manufacturing ven-
ture of Josiah W. Dolson was at Haverstraw,
New York, about 1890, in partnership with
his brother-in-law, Hon. Samuel Carlisle, of
Newburg, New York. To get their brick to
New York they built what was at that time the
largest brick barge sailing on the Hudson
river, a boat capable of carrying about 300,000
bricks as one load. This boat was named
"Josiah W. Dolson"' and is still in service.
Josiah W. Dolson married several times, hii
first wife being Phoebe Ann Loveless, born
May 7, 1832 ; they were married December 5,
1849; she died May 27, 1856. Their children
were: Cornelius, born July 7, 1850, died De-
cember 4, 1853; Josiah W., born December
7, 1851, died September 6, 1859; Samuel Car-
lisle, born September 28, 1853, still living in
1913; Frederick B., born May 8, 1856, died
August 8, 1856; Lucy C, twin of Frederick
B., died October 13, 1856. Mr. Dolson mar-
ried (second) Jane Constant, born October
31, 1821, died November 25, 1867. He mar-
ried (third) Cornelia M. Constant, born April
13, 1840, died February 16, 1873. Children
by these marriages: Anthony Constant, born
June 4, i860, died same day; Lewis Constant,
born May 23, 1861, died April 27, 1865 ;
Frank, born July 26, 1863, died August 10,
1863. He married (fourth) Anna Hamilton
Conklin, born October 17, 1845, died Novem-
ber 9, 1895, daughter of Mannings Conklin
and the widow of Alfred Conklin, who was
also her second cousin. She was the mother
of two children by her first husband, namely
Abram J., born January 31, 1865, living at
the present time, and Alfreta, born June 10,
1868, died July i, 1903. On July 19. 1874,
she married Josiah W. Dolson, and their chil-
dren are : Josiah W., Florence Jones, William
Hamilton, Esther Phoebe Carlisle, all born
at Haverstraw, New York. These children are
all living at the present time and reside in
New York City with the exception of Florence
J., who is married to Walter Rauscher and
resides in Bloomfield, New Jersey. William
H. Dolson is the founder of the Rockland
59^
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
County Society and Josiah W. is at present
the secretary of that organization.
This is a Dutch name con-
SIMONSON forming to the usual custom
of adding "son" to the bap-
tismal name of the father for a surname. It
was of French origin, and begins with one
who fled from persecution in France to Fries-
land in Holland. His son, Simon La Blau
(also written Blan and Blant), was born about
1590 in Friesland, and went to Amsterdam,
where he settled and married.
(I) Willem, son of Simon La Blau, born
in 1632, in Amsterdam, was the ancestor of
a very large progeny, now scattered ovei
America. He was entered on the passenger
list of the ship "Fox," Captain Jacob Jans
Huys, master, which sailed from Amsterdam,
August 31, 1662, and lived in and about New
Amsterdam, finally settling on Staten Island.
He first wrote his name William Simon's son,
which soon came to be written Simonson, and
thus the name has remained in this country.
But few records concerning him can now be
found. He married, in 1662, Janneken Bar-
entsen, widow of Jan Quistout, and accord-
ing to the records of the Dutch church in New
York died in 1664. The Dutch church record,
of New Amsterdam show that he had a daugh-
ter, Lysbeth, baptized June 16, 1663. Records
furnished by the family indicate that he had
a son, Aert, born 1664.
(II) The records of Long Island show that
Aert Simonson took the oath of allegiance as
a native of Brooklyn, in 1687. Nothing fur-
ther concerning him has been discovered. From
the next generation forward the line seems
to be clearly established. Aert Simonson had
four sons : Barnt, Aert, Simon and Isaac. An
original tract of land of one hundred and
sixty acres was granted to Aert ( i ) Simonson
in 1 72 1, by Queen Anne, at Carls Neck, now
known as New Springville, Staten Island.
(III) Isaac, son of Aert Simonson, was
born about 1690. He appears to have had two
wives; married (first) Antje Van Der Vliet,
daughter of Jacob Janse and Marretje (Der-
ickse) \'an Der Vliet, who was the mothei
of Jeremias, baptized June 12, 1720, and Maria
Simonson, July 8, 1722. The Dutch church
records of New Amsterdam show that Isaac
Simonson's wife, in 1732. was Neeltje Cortel-
you. a granddaughter of Jacques Cortelyou.
who came to America about 1652, died 1693.
His son, Peter Cortelyou, born about 1664,
died April 10, 1757, married Deborah De Witt,
and they were tne parents of Neeltje Cortel-
you, who became the wife of Isaac Simon-
son.
(IV) Isaac (2), son of Isaac (i) and Neel-
tje (Cortelyou) Simonson, was born August
4 1732, and baptized December 17, 1732, at
the church in New Amsterdam. He was an
officer of the old Dutch Reformed church, at
Port Richmond, and in 1795 signed the call of
the Rev. Thomas Kirby as pastor. He mar-
ried, July 28, 1757, Elizabeth Wood.
(V) Joseph, son of Isaac (2) and Eliza-
beth (Wood) Simonson, was born on Staten
Island, and purchased forty-one acres of land
at what is now New Springville, Staten
Island. He probably owned other lands in
that vicinity. He married Elizabeth Winant,
born July 29, 1774, daughter of John and
Hannah Winant. They had children: John.
David ; i^raham ; Joseph ; Jacob, of whom
further ; Eliza ; Joanna, married John B. Hill-
yer, born 1808, died 1908, aged over one hun-
dred years, their marriage taking place in
1829, at New Springville. Staten Island, and
they became the parents of James Hillyer, of
Port Richmond ; Mary ; Jemima.
(VI) Jacob, son of Joseph and Elizabeth
(Winant) Simonson, was born in 1798, on
Staten Island, and settled on the original home-
stead of his father at New Springville, where
the records show he purchased twenty-three
acres of land. He was supervisor of the town
of Northfield from 1833 to 1840, again in 1849,
and was elected sheriff of Richmond county
in 1840. He located at New Spring\'ille, Sta-
ten Island, where he died April 4, 1883. He
was a member of the Methodist Episcopal
church, and was a Republican in politics, aftei
the organization of the party of that name.
He married (first) Ann Eliza Bedell, daugh-
ter of Israel and Lena (Crocheron) Bedell,
and (second) Caroline Jacques. By the first
marriage he had a son, John William, of whom
further. By the second marriage he had chil-
dren : Isaac Jacques, Joseph, Eliza Jane, Jacob,
the daughter married Philip Waters, of New
York.
(VII) John William, son of Jacob and Ann
E. (Bedell) Simonson, was born December
23, 1826, died December 28, 1882, at West
New Brighton. He became agent of the Con-
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
599
tinental Fire Insurance Company in i860, and
soon after was made secretary of the old New
York & Yonkers Fire Insurance Company. He
was afterward president of the New York City
Fire Insurance Company, which was ulti-
mately absorbed by the Standard In-
surance Company, of London, England.
Following this he was resident manager
of this concern until his death. He filled
various offices of trust in political affairs, was
an ardent Republican in politics, and a mem-
ber of the Episcopal church. He married,
January 18, 185 1, Charlotte Ann Stephens,
born February 24, 1832, daughter of Stephen
Dover and Elizabeth (Johnson) Stephens. The
latter was born January 28, 181 1, daughter of
WiUiam and Elizabeth (Latourette) Johnson.
Stephen D. Stephens was a great-grandson of
John Stephens, born about 1714, married
April 2'6, 1736, Mary Harding. Their son,
John (2) Stephens, born 1743, married, De-
cember 8, 1763, Elizabeth DeBow. They were
the parents of Stephen, born December 31,
1774, married, March 5, 1803, Ann Dover,
born Actober 17, 1781. Stephen Dover
Stephens, their son, was the father of Char
lotte Ann, wife of John W. Simonson, as above
noted. They had children : Stephen Dover,
born August 20, 1853, died unmarried, Octo-
ber 4, 1905 ; John William, July 14, i860, died
in his fifth year; Ann Eliza, July 20, 1862, died
unmarried at the age of thirty-seven years ;
Charles Edgar, of whom further.
(VIII) Charles Edgar, youngest child of
John William and Charlotte A. (Stephens)
Simonson, was born July 7, 1871, in Richmond.
He early received private tuition at West New
Brighton and entered Trinity School, New
Brighton, where he graduated, after which ho
received private instruction of Rev. Dr. Al-
fred Demarest, minister of the Dutch Re-
formed church of Port Richmond. At the
age of seventeen years he entered the employ
of Miller & Simonson, who succeeded Johii
William Simonson, in the agency of the Con-
tinental Insurance Company. By close ap-
plication and industry he built up a large busi ■
ness. and after several changes in the person
nel, became its sole owner in 1908. Conduct-
ing the business under the title of C. E. Simon-
son & Company. Owing to the great increase
of business a corporation seemed advisable
and in 191 1 this was accomplished under the
title of C. E. Simonson & Company, In-
corporated. It is now the largest insurance
brokerage and agency on Staten Island, repre-
senting twenty-nine fire insurance companies
and several casualty companies and having
five offices, the home office located at 1595
Richmond Terrace, West New Brighton. An
extensive real estate business is conducted, and
the concern acts as appraiser for several title
and trust companies. In 1904 Mr. Simonson
was elected a vestryman and treasurer of the
Church of the Ascension (Protestant Episco-
pal), in which position he continued several
years. He is a trustee of the Richmond
County Savings Bank, and a director of the
Staten Island Building, Loan & Savings As-
sociation, a member of the Holland Society oi
New York, and the Staten Island Club. Poli-
tically he is a Democrat, but has never aspired
to or accepted any political office.
He married, January 19, 1899, in New York
City, May Sexton, born May 20, 1870, in
Brooklyn, New York, daughter of William
Libby and Mary (Ladd) Sexton. Mr. and
Mrs. Charles E. Simonson have a son, Cortel-
you William, born December 15, 1902, in West
New Brighton. His early instruction was pro-
vided by private tutors and he is now a student
of the Staten Island Academy at St. George.
Robert R. Livingston,
LIVINGSTON jurist, son of Robert and
Margaret (Howerden)
Livingston, was born in New York City, in
August, 1718, died at his country seat, Cler-
mont, New York, December 9, 1775. He ac-
quired an excellent education which thor-
oughly prepared him for the active duties of
life, and he devoted his attention to the prac-
tice of law in New York City. He was a
member of the provincial assembly. 1759-68.
and also served in the capacity of judge of the
admiralty court, 1760-63; justice of the co-
lonial supreme court, 1763 ; a delegate to the
stamp act congress of 1765 ; commissioner to
decide upon the boundary line between New
York and Massachusetts, 1767, and again in
1773, and a member of the committee of one
liundred in 1775. He married Margaret,
daughter of Colonel Henry and Janet (Living-
ston) Beekman.
Robert R. (2), son of Robert R. (i) and
Margaret (Beekman) Livingston, was born
in New York City. November 27, 1746, died
suddenly at Clermont, New York, February 26,
6oo
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
1813. He was a student at King's College,
which institution conferred upon him the de-
grees of A.B., 1765, and A.M., 1768, after
which he pursued the study of law under the
preceptorship of William Smith and William
Livingston. He was admitted to the bar in
1773, and formed a partnership with John Jay,
with whom he practiced in New York City, and
upon his retirement from public life removed
to Clermont, New York, where he engaged in
agriculture and stock raising, being the first
to introduce gypsum in agriculture, and also
introduced Merino sheep west of the Hudson
river. Being a man of scholarly attainment
and wide influence, he was chosen for posi-
tions of public trust and responsibility, fulfill-
ing the duties thereof with ability and credit.
He served as recorder of the city of New
York by appointment of Governor Tryon,
1773-75, but was obliged to relinquish the posi-
tion on account of his outspoken espousal of
the patriot cause in the latter-named year. He
was a member of the provincial assembly in
1775; was a delegate to the continental con-
gress, 1775-77 and 1779-81, and was a mem-
ber of the committee of five, comprised of
Adams, Jefiferson, Franklin, Livingston and
Sherman, appointed to draw up the Declara-
tion of Independence, but was obliged to re-
turn to his duties in the provincial assembly
without signing the instrument. He was a
member of the committee that drafted the
state constitution adopted at the Kingston
convention in 1777; he was chancellor of the
state under the new constitution, 1785-1801,
and in that capacity he administered the oath
of office to President Washington, April 30,
1789; he was secretary of foreign affairs for
the United States, 1781-83, and was chair-
man of the state convention at Poughkeepsie
in 1788, to consider the adoption of the United
States constitution. He declined the office of
United States minister to France proffered by
President Washington iii 1794, and in 1801
the portfolio of the navy from President Jef-
ferson, who also offered him the mission to
France, which latter he accepted, resigning
his chancellorship. While in France he formed
a strong friendship with Napoleon Bonaparte ;
he also made the initial movement that re-
sulted in the purchase of Louisiana from the
French in 1803. He resigned from the office
of United States minister to France in 1803,
after which he spent some time in traveling
through Europe, and while in Paris became
interested in the invention of the steamboat of
Robert Fulton, whom he assisted in his en-
terprise with his counsel and money, eventu-
ally becoming his partner. The first steamboat,
owned by Livingston and Fulton, was built in
France and was launched upon the Seine, but
was a failure, and on returning to America
they built and launched on the Hudson an-
other steamboat, the "Clermont," in 1807,
which was named in honor of the Livingston
home in New York.
The honorary degree of LL.D. was con-
ferred on Mr. Livingston by the regents of the
University of the State of New York in 1792.
He was a founder of the American Academy
of Fine Arts in New York in 1801, and was
its first president; was president of the New
York Society for the Promotion of Useful
Arts, and upon the reorganization of the New
York Society library in 1788, he was ap-
pointed a trustee. He published many essays
and addresses on fine arts and agriculture.
His statue, with that of George Clinton, form-
ing the group of the most eminent citizens of
New York, was placed in the capitol at Wash-
ington by act of congress. In the selection of
names for a place in the Hall of Fame for
Great Americans, New York University,
made in October, 1900, his was one of the
thirty-seven names in "Class M, Rulers and
Statesmen," and received only three votes,
his votes in the class equalling those for
Richard Henry Lee and Stephen A. Douglas,
and exceeding those for Martin Van Buren,
Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, John J. Crit-
tenden and Henry Wilson.
Mr. Livingston married Mary, daughter of
John Stevens, of New Jersey. Children :
Elizabeth S., married Edward P. Livingston.
Margaret M., married Robert L. Livingston.
This name is supposed to have
DeBAUN been originally DeBaen, and to
be derived from Baen, a village
in France. In the Dutch records, the spelling-
ings DeBaen and DeBaan are of frequent oc-
currence. The family is undoubtedly of
French origin, and from this it is natural to
suppose that they were Huguenots. It is not
at all out of accord with this that the name
should be found in the Netherlands, especially
on the north side of the river Rhine, in the
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
6oi
lower Palatinate, and thence following the
course of immigration that built up New
Netherland and New Amsterdam. Although
these passed into the possession of the English
in the year 1664, this change of proprietor-
ship did not stop the flow of immigration from
France to Holland, Belgium and England, and
and from these countries to America. The
DeBauns were among the later Huguenots,
and came to New York or its vicinity about
1683. They may have lived before that time,
for two generations, in Holland, and had,
doubtless, acquired the habits and language of
the Dutch.
The following is a probable account of the
descent from the immigrant to certain of the
present Rockland county. New York, De-
Bauns. It has a background of careful and
extensive searching in the printed Dutch
church records of Hackensack and Schraalen-
burg, New Jersey; the printed baptismal rec-
ords of Tappan and Clarkstown, in Rockland
county, and in the manuscript copies of the
marriage records of Tappan and Clarkstown.
The records of Kakiat, Rockland county,
Tarrytown, Westchester county, and Flatbush,
Long Island, have also been consulted, but in
these little or nothing has been found. The
entries are mostly in the Tappan, Clarkstown,
Hackensack, and Schraalenburg records, but
distributed among these in a bewildering man-
ner. Conjecture has been used only when cer-
tain fact was not accessible. Former printed
accounts of the family, of which there are
several, have furnished some guidance, but the
account given herewith supplies a number of
deficiencies in these accounts, and casts doubt
on some of their statements, so that we are
confident that this is the fullest and most ac-
curate account of the family history in the
early generations which has yet been published.
(I) Joost DeBaun, the founder of this fam-
ily, is said to have been a native of Brussels,
in Flanders (Belgium), and to have come to
New Amsterdam in 1683. He was clerk of
the town of Bushwick, Long Island, in 1684,
and in 1685 was the schoolmaster and clerk of
the town of New Utrecht, Kings county, New
York, south of the Wallabout. The position
of schoolmaster was, in those times and places,
second only to that of the minister. Evidently
he was a supporter of the policy of the lieu-
tenant governor, Nicholson, for when the
•democratic colonists, under the lead of Cap-
tain Jacob Leisler, took possession of the state
house in the name of William of Orange, and
Captain Leisler was appointed lieutenant gov-
ernor by the committee of safety, Joost De-
Baun was deposed from his offices as clerk
and schoolmaster. Afterward, having taken
the oath of allegiance to the new rule, he was
reinstated in these positions, and continued to
reside at New Utrecht. He probably resided
at that village until early in the eighteenth
century. Early in the year 1704 he sold his
lands and removed to Bergen county. New
Jersey, where he joined the Kinderkamack
settlement, near Hackensack. In November
of that year his name appears as witness of a
baptism in his new home. From May, 1708,
to May, 1710, he was one of the churchmas-
ters of Hackensack; according to the church
records, he and the other churchmaster of the
time (in 1708) "in this year caused the steeple
to be built upon the Ackinsack church, which
has here been recorded in their praise." He was
an elder, from 1716 to 1718. Thus we have
a fair picture of the personality of this man ;
he was an educated man, for the time, a leader
in the community, though hardly to be deemed
aggressive, and strongly attached to the Dutch
Reformed church. From him, it is natural to
suppose, all the DeBauns of Bergen county,
New Jersey, and of Rockland county, New
York, are descended. His death seems to have
occurred about 1718 or 1719. It is just possi-
ble that he once returned to Holland after his
settlement in America, for against the mar-
riage record of his son Jacobus, in the Tappan
register, is set a note that this son was born
in Middleburg, a place in Holland. Yet the
Dutch dominies, with all their painstaking care,
were certainly human, and liable to make oc-
casional mistakes ; their records are of hisrh
value as evidence, but this statement is prob-
ably erroneous. He married, probably in Hol-
land, Elizabeth Drabba. Children : Matie,
married, registered November 10, 1705, David
Samuelse DeMaree ; Christian, baptized May
15, 1687. died before January 21, 171 1, mar-
ried, registered January 29, 1700, Judith Sam-
uelse DeMaree; Meyke, baptized May 4, 1690;
Carel, of whom further; Christina; Jacobus,
married (date probably that of registration),
January 12, 1709, Antje Cenneff (this is the
spelling in the Tappan register, in the Hacken-
sack records the name appears as Kennis ; our
conjecture is Kenneth) ; Margarietje, married
6o2
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
(date probably that of registration), June 22^.
1738, Theodorus Remsen.
(II) Carel, son of Joost and Elizabeth
(Drabba) DeBaun, removed with his family
to Hackensack. Perhaps, however, he lived
for a time in Rockland county, New York,
near Rockland Lake. The baptisms of his
children are scattered among the three regis-
ters, Hackensack, Schraalenburg and Tappan.
He is named in the list of the original mem-
bers of the church at Schraalenburg and those
transferred from Hackensack before 1733. In
1748 he was an elder of the Dutch Reformed
church at Schraalenburg. His marriage is re-
corded at Tappan, and the date, February 14,
1714, is probably the date of registration
rather than of the actual marriage. He mar-
lied Jannetje Haringh, who was born at Tap-
pan. Children : Joost, baptized February 6,
1715; Margritie, baptized August 18, 1717;
Petrus, baptized October 9, 1719; Elisabeth,
baptized November 19, 1721 ; Jan, baptized
April 5, 1724; Jacob, baptized October 9,
T726; Isak, baptized February 14, 1729; Abra-
ham, baptized December 12, 1731 ; Christiaen,
of whom further ; Cornelia, baptized August
14. 1737: Maria, baptized April 6 1740.
(III) Christian, whose name is noted above
as spelled in the baptismal record, son of Carel
and Jannetje (Haringh) DeBaun, was born at
Schraalenburg; his baptism is recorded at
Hackensack, under date of January 26, 1735.
He married, registered November 7, 1761,
Rachel Helm, who was born at Paramus, Ber-
gen county. New Jersey. Children : Jannetie,
baptized October 19, 1762 ; Fransytie, born
March 8, 1764; Fransytei, born January 9,
1766: Abraham, baptized May 10, 1767, died
young; Samuel, baptized December 18, 1768;
Elisabet, born October 11, 1771 ; Abraham
Christian, born August 20, 1773; Rachel, born
May 9. 1775 ; Petrus, born May 5, 1779; Cor-
neles, baptized November 25, 1781 ; Maria,
born August t, 1783; Christian (2), of whom
further.
(IV) Christian (2), son of Christian (i)
and Rachel (Helm) DeBaun, was born March
22, 1787. Although his baptism is recorded in
Bergen countv. New Jersey, he may have been
born in Rockland county. New York, and was
living there by the time of his marriaee, for
in the entry of his marriage in the Tappan
register he is said to be of Clarkstown. He
was a farmer, and in politics followed the
principles of the Democratic party. In re-
ligion he adhered to the True Reformed
church. He married (date probably being that
of registration) December 4, 1806, Elizabeth
llutton, of Clarkstown. Children: Cornelia;
Sarah; Christian C, of whom further; John;
Henry ; Mary ; Cornelius.
(V) Christian C, son of Christian (2) and
Elizabeth (Hutton) DeBaun, was born at
Clarkstown, January 31, 1812. He was a
builder and contractor. After the formation
of the Republican party he followed its prin-
ciples. In religion he was a member of the
Dutch Reformed church. He married at New
City, Rockland county, New York, Catharine
Maria, daughter of Henry Resolvert and
Maria (Tallman) Stephens, who was born at
New City, March i, 181 5. Her father was a
farmer, born January 19, 1789, died March 8,
1868; her mother was born in 1787, died in
October, 1868. Children of Christian C. and
Catharine Maria (Stephens) DeBaun: Eliza-
beth, born August 3, 1835 ; Matthew Watson,
of whom further; John, born July 5, 1841,
died in 1887; Henry, born July 12, 1844,
served throughout the civil war; Margaret
Jane, born November 18, 1846; Charles, born
June 20, 1857.
(VI) Matthew Watson, son of Christian C.
and Catharine Maria (Stephens! DeBaun,
was born at Nyack, Rockland county. New
York, November 3, 1838. At the age of nine
he went to live with his grandfather, Henry
Resolvert Stephens, at New City. His school-
ing was received at the public schools of Ny-
ack and New City, and he then learned the
trade of a carpenter. In 1859 he returned to
Nyack and entered into business with his
brother Henry, and this partnership has con-
tinued to the present day. Under the firm
name of Matthew Watson & Henry DeBaun
they are builders and contractors on a large
scale and have built up a profitable business
and gained a high standing in the community.
They have erected about two thousand build-
ings of many kinds and sizes. Their place of
business is at No. 28 Jackson avenue. Nyack.
Matthew Watson DeBaun is one of the di-
rectors of the Nyack Board of Trade, and is
a trustee of the Oakland cemetery. He is a
member of Rockland Lodge, No. 723. Free
and Accepted Masons, and of Rockland Chap-
ter, No. 204, Royal Arch Masons, both of
Nyack. He is a Republican, and from 1883
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
603
to 1887 was trustee of the village ; he has also
been president of the school board for two
terms, and is a trustee of the Nyack public
schools. The family are members of the Pres-
byterian church at Nyack, of which Mr. De-
Baun has been a trustee for over thirty years,
and is also an elder of the church. He mar-
ried, at Nyack, April 23, 1862, Catharine
Amelia, daughter of Edward and Marion
(House) Perry, who was born at Nyack, in
August, 1842. Her father was a captain of
freight and passenger vessels, and navigated
the Hudson river. Children of Edward and
Marion (House) Perry: lona ; Catharine
Amelia, married Matthew Watson DeBaun.
Children of Matthew Watson and Catharine
Amelia (Perry) DeBaun: Annie, born Feb-
ruary 4, 1863: Ella, born October 12, 1864;
Alice, born December 4, 1867; Florence, born
March 11, 1875, married Rev. George John-
son, now a professor in Lincoln University,
Pennsylvania.
(IV) Abraham Christian De-
DeBAUN Baun, son of Christian (q. v.)
and Rachel (Helm) DeBaun,
was born August 20, 1773. He was a farmer
at Nanuet, Rockland county. New York, and
a member of the Dutch Reformed church. He
married, it is said at Saddle River, Bergen
county. New Jersey, but the marriare is re-
corded in the register of Tappan, Rockland
county. New York, with the date, probably
that of registration rather than of the actual
marriage, March 18, 1798, Anna Van Buskirk,
of Clarkstown, Rockland county. New York.
Children : Christian Abram, of whom fur-
ther ; Rachel ; Christiana.
(V) Christian Abram, son of Abraham
Christian and Anna (Van Buskirk) DeBaun,
was born at Nanuet, New York, about 1804.
After the formation of the Republican party he
adhered to its policies. He was a member of
the Dutch Reformed church. He married
(first) (date probably of registration) October
i.S, 1825, Hannah, daughter of James D. and
Hannah Blauvelt, who was born at Clarks-
town, Rockland county. New York, June i,
1808, died December 17, 1846; (second) Janu-
ary I, 1850, Sally Ackerman. Children, all by
first marriage: Abram, of whom further:
Rachel, born December ig. 183 1. died August
28, 1849; Christian, born December 20, 1834.
(VI) Abram, son of Christian Abram and
Hannah (Blauvelt) DeBaun, was born at
Nanuet, New York, January 21, 1827, died at
Wyandotte City, Kansas, May 21, 1857. Hav-
ing first attended public school at Nyack,
Rockland county, New York, he entered the
normal college at Albany, New York, and
from this he graduated in the class of 1848.
Later he taught school at Haverstraw, and
was finally made principal of the school. Also
at Haverstraw he learned the business of mak-
ing brick, and in 1852 he went into the busi-
ness of brick manufacture, and also built an
iron foundry, wherein he made the castings
for brick forms and molds. This grew into a
very large business, and so continued until his
death at Wyandotte City. He was a member
of Seguel Lodge, No. 542, Independent Order
of Odd Fellows. He was a Republican, and
one of the founders of this party, which came
into existence only a few years before his
death. In 1855 he was elected county clerk
of Rockland county, and he served for one
term, but he refused a second election. A
member of the Presbyterian church, he was
for many years the leader of its choir. He
married, at Haverstraw, Jane, born at Middle-
hope, Orange county. New York, January 15,
1828, daughter of Levi Quimby and Lucretia
(Purdy) Fowler. Her father was a manu-
facturer of brick and a merchant ; he was born
December 22, 1790, died December 13, 1853.
Children of Levi Quimby and Lucretia
(Purdy) Fowler: David, died in Baltimore,
Maryland, November 10, 1873 ; Mordecai,
born in 1821, died August 28, 1847; Denton,
born December 6, 1825, died January 5, 1904;
Louisa, married John W. Gilles ; Jane, born
January 15, 1828, married Abram DeBaun, of
whom herein : Sarah, married Uriah F. Wash-
burn ; Charlotte, married, October 26, 1S56,
Daniel O. Lake Children of Abram and Jane
(Fowler) DeBaun: Ruth, married Rodney
Winans Milburn; Abram Melville, married
Carrie Fort, cousin of Franklin Fort, formerly
governor of New Jersey ; Anna, married Wil-
son Perkins Foss.
The name Stoddard is de-
STODDARD rived from the office of
standard bearer, and was
anciently written De La Standard. The coat-
of-arms is thus heraldically described : Sable
three estoiles and bordure gules. Crest : Out
a ducal coronet a demi horse salient, ermine.
6o4
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
Motto: Festina lettte. William Stoddard, a
knight, came from Normandy to England,
1066, A. D., with William the Conqueror, who
was his cousin. Among his possible descend-
ants appears the name of Rukard Stoddard,
of Nottingham, Kent, near Elthan, about
seven miles from London Bridge, where the
family estate of about four hundred acres was
located. This came into possession of the
family in 1490 and continued until the death
of Richard Stoddard, a bachelor, in 1765.
Other descendants are Thomas Stoddard of
Royston ; John Stoddard of Gundon ; William
Stoddard of Royston ; Anthony Stoddard of
London ; Gideon Stoddard of London ; An-
thony Stoddard of London, and William Stod-
dard of London. The derivation of the name
Stoddard from the phrase De La Standard
does not seem impossible or very far fetched,
as the name is known under a variety of
forms, such as Stodard and Stodart. In
Wethersfield (Connecticut) records the name
frequently appears as Stodder, Stoder, Stod-
ker, Studder and Stoddard. John Stoddard,
born about 1620, was an early settler in
Wethersfield, and was a juror in 1643. He
figures in the court records both as plaintiff
and defendant. He married Mary Foote, was
a well-to-do farmer, and left an estate of four
hundred pounds. There may have been a con-
nection between the family of John Stoddard
and that of Anthony Stoddard of Boston, but
the links have not been found.
(I) Anthony Stoddard, immigrant ancestor
of this Stoddard family, came from England
to Boston about 1639 He was admitted a
freeman in 1640, a representative in 1650-
1659-1660, and during twenty successive years
from 1665 to 168.S. He married (first) Mary,
daughter of the Plonorable Emmanuel Down-
ing, of Salem, Massachusetts, and his wife
Lucy, daughter of George Downing, and sister
of Sir George, afterwards Lord Downing.
The Honorable Emmanuel Downing and his
wife were admitted to the church in Salem,
November 4, 1638. Anthony Stoddard mar-
ried (second) Barbara, widow of Captain Jo-
seph Weld of Roxbury; she died April 15,
1654. He married (third), about 165;.=;. Chris-
tian . He died March 16, 1 686- 1687. Chil-
dren by first marriage: Solomon, mentioned
below; Samson, December 3, 1645; Simeon,
1650. Children by the second marriage:
Sarah, October 21, 1652; Stephen, January 6,
1654. Children by the third marriage : Chris-
tian, March 22, 1657; Anthony, June 16, 1658;
Lydia, May 27, 1660; Joseph, December i,
1661 ; John, April 22, 1663; Ebenezer, July i,
1664; Dorothy, November 24, 1665; Mary,
March 25, 1668; Jane (twin), July 29, 1669;
and Grace (twin), July 29, 1669; all born at
Boston.
(H) Rev. Solomon Stoddard, eldest son of
Anthony and Mary (Downing) Stoddard, was
born October 4, 1643, and died February 11,
1729. He graduated at Harvard in the year
1662 and was afterwards elected "Fellow of
the House," and was first librarian of the col-
lege, which office he held from 1667 to 1674.
About this time, on account of ill health, he
accompanied the governor of Massachusetts to
the Barbadoes, in the capacity of chaplain, and
remained nearly two years, preaching to the
dissenters. In 1669 he received a call to the
church in Northampton and settled there as
minister, September 11, 1672. In 1726 his
grandson, Jonathan Edwards, was elected his
colleague. Among his publications are the fol-
lowing: "The Trial of Assurance," 1696;
"The Doctrine of Instituted Churches," 1700,
written in answer to the work of the Rev. In-
crease Mather, entitled "The Order of the
Gospel," which occasioned exciting contro-
versy. Other works were "The Danger of
Degeneracy," 1702; "Election Sermon," 1703;
"Sermon on the Lord's Supper," 1707: "Ser-
mon, Ordination of the Rev. Joseph Willard,
Swampfield," 1708; "Inexcusableness of Ne-
glecting the Worship of God," 170S; "False-
ness of the Hopes of Many Professors." 1708;
"An Appeal to the Learned on the Lord's Sup-
per," 1709; "A Plea for Tithes"; "Divine
Teachings Render Persons Blessed," 1712; "A
Guide to Christ." 1713; three sermons: "The
Virtue of Christ's Blood," "Natural Men Un-
der the Government of Self Love." "The Gos-
pel a Means of Conversion," and a fourth, "To
Stir up Young Men and Maidens." 1717;
"Sermon at the Ordination of Mr Thomas
Cheney," 1718; "Treatise Concerning Conver-
sion," 1719; "Answer to Cases of Conscience,"
1722; "Inquiry whether God is not Angry
with this Country," 1723: and "Safety of Ap-
pearing in Christ's Riehteousness," 1724.
Solomon Stoddard married, March 8. 1670,
Mrs. Esther Mather, widow of Rev. Eleazar
Mather, and originally Esther Warham of
Windsor, Connecticut. She died February 10,
t^
<pf^
y^^/^^te^J ^^th^c/r/a f^ri
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
60s
1736, aged ninety-two. Children: Mary, bom
January 9, 1671 ; Esther, June 2, 1672; Sam-
uel, February 5, 1674; Anthony, June 6, 1675,
died the following day; Aaron (twin), August
23, 1676, died the same day; Christian (twin),
August 23, 1676; Anthony, mentioned below;
Sarah, April i, 1680; John, February 17,
1682; Israel, April 10, 1684; Rebecca, 1686;
Hannah, April 21, 1688.
(HI) Rev. Anthony (2) Stoddard, son of
Rev. Solomon and Esther (Warham-Mather)
Stoddard, was born August 9, 1678, and died
September 6, 1760. He graduated at Harvard,
1697, and settled as minister in Woodbury,
Connecticut, where he continued sixty years.
He married (first) Rev. Stephen Mix, offici-
ating, October 20, 1700, Prudence Wells, of
Wethersfield, who died May, 1714. He mar-
ried (second) January 31, 1715, Mary Sher-
man, who died January 12, 1720. Children
by the first marriage: Mary, June 19, 1702;
Solomon, October 12, 1703; Eliakim, April 3,
1705; Elisha, mentioned below; Israel, August
7, 1708; John, March 2, 1710; Prudence, Oc-
tober 12, 171 1 ; Gideon, May 27, 1714. Chil-
dren by the second marriage : Esther, Octo-
ber II, 1716; Abijah, born February 28, 1718;
Elizabeth, November 15, 1719; all at Wood-
bury.
(IV) Elisha, son of Rev. Anthony (2) and
Prudence (Wells) Stoddard, was born at
Woodbury, Connecticut, November 24, 1706,
and died in 1766. He resided at Woodbury,
where also lived his brother Eliakim, whose
death preceded his by sixteen years. Elisha
Stoddard married Rebecca Sherman.
(V) Elisha (2), son of Elisha (i) and Re-
becca (Sherman) Stoddard, was born Novem-
ber 4. 1735, at Woodbury, Connecticut. He
married Anna Hunt, May 29, 1760.
(VI) Elisha (3), son of Elisha (2) and
Anna (Hunt) Stoddard, was born May i,
1765, and died February 8, 1833. He married
Mary Crane, November 22, 1791. She was
born August 7, 1767, and died September 11,
1843.
(VII) Phineas, son of Elisha (3) and Mary
(Crane) Stoddard, was born July 7, 1797, and
died in 1879. He spent his younger days in
Massachusetts, and in early manhood went to
Greenfield, Ulster county, New York, where
he assisted his uncle in agricultural pursuits.
After his marriage in 181 5 he purchased a
farm of his own, where he followed farming
all his life, while engaging in various other in-
terests. He worked a good deal in the lumber
business, buying and selling timber property
on the land he bought while clearing it, and
became a large land owner in Sullivan and
Ulster counties. On his land he built first a
log house of the old type, and later a structure
of the modern style. He was a strong mem-
ber of the Friends Society, and took a great
interest in all the public movements of the
day, though usually too busily engaged in his
own business affairs to have an active partici-
pation in them. Mr. Stoddard was a citizen
greatly honored in the community in which he
resided. Courtesy and gentleness were habit-
ual characteristics of his deportment in the
bosom of his family and in his dealings with
other men in the conduct of his affairs. He
was a man of considerable and varied ability,
but he put the larger part of it into the energy
he expended in building up a suitable prop-
erty for himself and his family. He married,
October 18, 181 5, Marilda Fair, born October
20, 1798, and died October 30, 1848, at Green-
field, Ulster county. New York. Children:
I. Mary Eliza, born October 29, 1819, died
May 29, 1839. 2. Elisha, born June 2, 1823 ;
married, March 2, 1844, Mary Frear; chil-
dren: i. Mary E., born July 15, 1845. ii.
Phineas, Jr., born January 24, 1847, died in
1882, married Gertrude E. O'Neil ; children:
Floyd J., Nellie Marilda, Edith, Lizzie M.,
Frank P. 3. John F., born in Greenfield, New
York, July 20, 1825 ; married, October 18,
1865, Eliza A. Piatt; one daughter died at the
age of seventeen. He was noted as the author
of Stoddard's "Arithmetic." 4. Perry C, born
October 30, 1827; a successful farmer; mar-
ried July 15, 1850, Hannah W. Southwick;
children: Stephen W., born October 14, 1851 ;
Zadoc S , born February 18, 1858, married
Dora M. Winters, one child, Mildred Nor-
bury. 5. Henry, born March 5, 1831, died
June 19, 1852 ; a teacher. 6. Sarah, born Oc-
tober 26, 1835, at Greenfield, New York; mar-
ried October 23, 1856, John F. Norbury, M.
D., of New York City ; one child, Fannie Stod-
dard Norbury, born May 4, 1866, died Janu-
ary 22, 1882.
This name is English and
WHEELER appears to be a name of oc-
cupation, the word being
equivalent in meaning to wheelwright. It is
6o6
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
curious to note that, reversing the common
procedure, the name seems to have passed
from England into Normandy, and the form
which it has assumed in France is also curious
to English eyes — Houelleur. In England,
county Kent and Hertfordshire have been
special abodes of Wheelers, and persons of
this name have been numerous in London for
the last four hundred years. The name in
England is sometimes spelled Wheler, and in
this way it was spelled in the early days in
America. Kent county, England, is supposed
to be the place of origin of many of the
American Wheelers. The number of Ameri-
can families of this surname was very great
at an early day. Thirty families of the name
of Wheeler are said to have resided at Con-
cord, Massachusetts, between 1650 and 1680.
Although Wheelers are found very early in
Virginia, and the name has been handed on in
that state, it is, in America, distinctively a
Connecticut and Massachusetts name. His-
torically, the best known of this name has been
Major General Joseph Wheeler of Alabama,
the distinguished Confederate cavalry officer,
who was afterward a patriotic member of the
house of representatives of the reunited coun-
try, and finally was made an officer in the
regular army. Yet his case does not even
modify the statement that the name is distinct-
ly a New England name, for he was de-
scended from Moses Wheeler, who lived in
the colony of New Haven in 1641 ; the family
has continued in Connecticut, and General
Wheeler's father was born in Connecticut.
From about 1700 Wheelers (with various
Dutch spellings of the name), some of them
marrying Dutch women, and some of them
bearing Dutch Christian names, have been
found in Albany, New York, but they were
also of New England descent. In the present
family similarity of names suggests a con-
nection with the Fairfield (Connecticut)
Wheelers, but a very strong argument cannot
be built on this. A Daniel Wheeler was in
Rockland county. New York, by the year 1781.
(I) Isaac Wheeler, the first member of this
family about whom we have definite informa-
tion, was a Democrat, and his religion was the
Presbyterian. He married Sarah Remsen,
Among their children was Aaron Remsen, of
whom further.
(II ) Aaron Remsen, son of Isaac and Sarah
(Remsen) Wheeler, was born about 1820, and
died about 1889. For many years he was a
steamboat engineer. He long had in charge
the "Isaac P. Smith," one of the swiftest
steamers then plying between New York City
and Albany. After giving up steamboat en-
gineering he became, in 1865, chief engineer
and master mechanic of the Hoppe sugar re-
finery, at Hastings, Westchester county, New
York. Here he remained for about twenty
years; in 1885 he retired, continuing to live at
Hastings, where he died at the age of sixty-
nine. He was a Democrat in political belief,
and was also active in church and Sunday
school work, where he had a special sphere of
service and usefulness, by reason of his mu-
sical ability. He was a thorough musician,
had a fine tenor voice, and for many years was
leader of the choir of the Reformed church at
Nyack, Rockland county, New York. His
own denomination, however, was the Presby-
terian. He married, in Nyack, Eliza Taylor,
who was born at Clarkstown, Rockland county.
New York ; she survived him several years.
Children : Jacob Taylor ; Alonzo, of whom
further ; William Francis ; Theodore Freling-
huysen.
(Ill) Alonzo, son of Aaron Remsen and
Eliza (Taylor) Wheeler, was born at Nyack,
April 29, 1844. He attended the public school
at the place of his birth, and also the Ruther-
ford Military Institute at the same place. From
his youth he was striving to enter the legal pro-
fession, and availed himself of every means
to accomplish his purpose, often under most
discouraging circumstances. For a time he
was a student in the law office of Van Vorst
& Beardsley, at the corner of Broadway and
Pine street, in New York City. Afterward he
studied at Nyack with Marcena M. Dickinson.
He was admitted to the bar from this office
December 16, 1868, at the general term of the
supreme court, in Brooklyn, New York. He
at once opened an office at Nyack, and soon
went into partnership with his preceptor, un-
der the firm name of Dickinson & Wheeler, at
Nyack. This partnership was dissolved in
1S70, and Mr. Wheeler removed to Haver-
straw, Rockland county. New York, where he
began practice on the second of March. Five
years later he formed a partnership at Haver-
straw with Irving Brown, which continued
until 1883 ; from the latter year Mr. Wheeler
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
60;
has practiced alone, living continuously at
Haverstraw. He was the first president of
the Rockland County Bar Association. When
Stony Point was finally dedicated and set apart
as a state reservation, and turned over by Gov-
ernor Odell to the National Scenic and His-
toric Preservation Society, Mr. Wheeler de-
livered the address of welcome. He was ap-
pointed by Governor Odell one of the com-
mittee of fifteen "to examine into the condi-
tion of the statutes and laws of the state," of
which committee Alton Brooks Parker was
chairman. He is a member of Stony Point
Lodge, No. 313, Free and Accepted Masons,
and in 1876, 1877 and 1901 he was master of
this lodge, which is at Haverstraw ; he is also
a member of Haverstraw Lodge, No. 877,
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In
politics he is a Republican, and has been active
in public affairs. In 1878 he was the inde-
pendent candidate for the district attorneyship
and was endorsed by the Republican party.
He was elected and on the expiration of this
term was re-elected as a strictly independent
candidate, over the nominees of both the par-
ties. In 1880 and 1881 he served as surrogate
of Rockland county, by appointment of the
general term of the supreme court. In 1896
he was again elected district attorney, being on
this occasion the Republican nominee ; but he
resigned in 1898 and accepted the office of
county judge, to which he was appointed by
Governor Black. As district attorney he tried
several homicide indictments, and in four-
fifths of all criminal cases he obtained convic-
tions. He has been one of the counsel for the
village of Haverstraw. Judge Wheeler and
his family are members of the Central Presby-
terian Church at Haverstraw. For many years
he has been a ruling elder and an active
worker in the Sunday school. He married, at
Grassy Point, Rockland county, New York,
May 9, 1876, Mary Serena, daughter of Wil-
liam Henry and Mary Elizabeth (Fredericks)
Wiles, who was born at Haverstraw, April 8,
1856. Her father was a manufacturer of brick
machines and moulds. Children of William
Henry and Mary Elizabeth (Fredericks)
Wiles : Mary Serena, mentioned above ; John
Jacob, Frederick J., Lydia A., Martha L.,
Frank E., Emma L. Children of Alonzo and
Mary Serena (Wiles) Wheeler: Jeanie Suf-
fern, Jessie Louise, Ethel May.
Like most of the old Dutch
TALLMAN names founded at New Am-
sterdam and now located in
many sections of the state, this was adopted
some time after the location of the family in
this country, and its origin is hidden in the
mysteries of early days. The family is today
conspicuous in northern New Jersey and
southern New York, and is contributing to the
progress and development of the nation. The
name appears on the church records of New
York, Hackensack and Tappan as Taelman,
Talema, Taelma and Tallman. The last form
has been adopted generally by recent genera-
tions.
(I) The first of this family of whom any
definite knowledge can be obtained was Har-
man Douwenszen, who was early in what is
now New York City, and probably came with
his children to the new world when he was
well advanced in life. It is apparent from his
name that his father's Christian name was
Douwe; beyond that it is impossible at this
time to learn anything.
(II) Douwe Harmsen (Harmanszen, etc.),
born about 1625, in the province of Friesland,
Holland, came in the ship "Brown Fish," in
June, 1658, with his wife, Dierckje Theunis,
and four children to New Amsterdam. After
his arrival he had baptized in New York, Jan-
netie, February 5, 1662; Anthony, February
8, 1665 ; Douwen, September 29, 1669. About
167 1 he settled at Bergen, New Jersey, and at
the same time was owner of a patent at Nyack
in what is now Rockland county. New York.
He died at Bergen, March 25, 1678, or May
9, 1678, according to one authority. Another
authority states that he was buried at Bergen,
June 19, 1687, being the eleventh buried in
the church and the thirty-fifth in the "Pall,"
showing that his funeral was among the most
costly at that time. His sons, Theunis and
Douwe, removed to Nyack after his death and
were the progenitors of all the name in Rock-
land and Bergen counties. They received his
property in Bergen by will and sold it in 1705.
(HI) Theunis Douwese Talema, son of
Douwe and Dierckje (Theunis) Harmsen,
may have been born about 1672 at Bergen, and
resided at Nyack until his death, July 17, 1739.
He was the first high sheriff of Orange county,
which then included the present Rockland
county. New York, serving as such until 1702,
and owned about thirty-six hundred acres of
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
land at Nyack. He married (first), in 1694,
Brechtje Haring, and had children: Dirck,
born April 11, 1695; Grietje, January 13,
1697; Dierckje, April 13, 1700; Douwe, Feb-
ruary 13, 1703; Marytie, April 17, 1706;
Breckje, Harman and Jan (triplets), January
12, 1709, all baptized at Tappan. He married
(second) January 11, 1710, Margritie Hogan-
kamp, born in New York, and they had chil-
dren baptized at Tappan ; Brechie, born July 6,
171 1 ; Jannetie, August 30, 1712; Theunis,
September 16, 1714; Harne, November 25,
1716; Antje.
(IV) Jan Tallman, son of Theunis Douwese
and Brechtje (Haring) Talema, was born
January 12, 1709, at Nyack, and resided in
Orangetown, Orange county, New York,
where he was a farmer, described in the rec-
ords as a yeoman. He married, about 1735,
Helena Blauvelt, born June 27, 1715, and bap-
tized on the twenty-eighth of the same month,
daughter of Garret and Marytie (Krom)
Blauvelt. Children : Theunis, born May 22,
1737; Gerret, November 23, 1740; Breckje,
October 8, 1745; Jan, mentioned below.
(V) Jan (2), youngest son of Jan (i) and
Helena (Blauvelt) Tallman, was born Sep-
tember 3, 1751, in Orangetown, died February
7, 1839, at Tallman's, in the town of Ramapo,
same county, his body being deposited in Sad-
dle River cemetery. He resided at Greenbush,
a small settlement near Tappan, during the
revolutionary war, and afterward-s settled at
what is now called Tallman's, a station on the
Erie railroad, and by occupation was a farmer.
During the revolutionary war he was a scout
in the service of the American army and a
reward of thirty-five guineas was offered by
the British authorities for his capture. He is
recorded as a private soldier in Captain Wil-
liam Sickel's company, belonging to the
Orange County Regiment, from the Haver-
straw precinct, under the command of Colonel
A. H. Hay. This was a portion of the New
York state militia which was employed in ac-
tive service during the war. He received a
commission from Governor George Clinton,
dated September 28, 1786, as ensign. No. 2,
in Captain Cornelius J. Blauvelt's company of
the corps of state militia of the precinct of
Tappan. Jan, or John Tallman, purchased a
farm of one hundred and fifty-seven acres, re-
ceiving a deed March 23, 1797, at Tallman's.
for which he paid one thousand five hundred
and twenty-five pounds. Immediately he
erected thereon a dwelling house, which is still
standing. The homestead farm and house are
now in the possession of two of his lineal de-
scendants. James Cornell Tallman and Mrs.
Harry Sutherland. At the time of this pur-
chase the neighborhood was known as Masoni-
cus. and the new name Tallman's was prob-
ably received on his locating there. He was
the progenitor of all bearing the name now liv-
ing in that vicinity. He married Frinckye
(Fanny) Mabie, born March 27, 1757, bap-
tized April 2, of the same year, at Tappan,
daughter of Abraham and Maria (Van Are-
lant) Mabie, and granddaughter of Peter and
Callyntie (Bogart) Mabie. Children: Brid-
get, born August 9, 1778; Mary, February 13,
1781 : John, October 16. 1783: Tunis, May 17,
1790; Abraham J., mentioned below.
(VI) Abraham J., youngest son of Jan (2)
(John) and Fanny (Mabie) Tallman. was
born July 14. 1793, at Tallman's. and died
there June 4, 1884. He lived in the house built
by his father, and like him was a farmer.
September 3, 1814, he was appointed a cor-
poral in the Fifth Company, Eighty-third
Regiment, Twenty-Ninth IBrigade of the In-
fantry Militia of the State of New York, un-
der Lieutenant Colonel G. A. Blauvelt. He
married, September 14, 1814, Maria Deronde,
born February 18, 1794. died April 3. 1878, at
Tallman's, daughter of Henry and Heleche
(Van Nostrand) Deronde. Among their chil-
dren was John Abraham, mentioned below.
(VII) John Abraham, only son of Abraham
J. and Maria (Deronde) Tallman. was born
May 16, 1815, at Tallman's, and died there
April 16, 1888. He was a farmer and drover.
He married, December 8, 1842. Caroline Conk-
lin, born March 26, 1824, died June 15, 1886,
at Tallman's. daughter of WilHam and Ann
(Wilson) Conklin. William Conklin was a
son of William Conklin, born February 21,
1751, who resided at Tappan, where he died
May 19, 1825, being a tailor and farmer by
occupation. He married, in 1773. Elizabeth
Hunt, of Hunt's Point on Long Island, and
they were the parents of Margaret, William,
Mary, Ann, Abraham, John, David, Elizabeth,
Benjamin, Rachel. William (2) Conklin, born
August 27, 1775, was a farmer at Ramsey's,
New Jersey, where he died October 25, 1859*
He married. July 4. 1802', at New Prospect,
Ann Wilson, born November 23, 1783, died
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
609
October 12, 1870, at Ramsey's, New Jersey,
daughter of Albert \^'ilson, born February 14,
1755, at Woodbridge, New Jersey, and died
November 13, 1834. His wife, Mary, died
September 18, 1818. Ann, their fourth
daughter, became the wife of William Conklin,
as above noted. Children of John A. Tallman :
John Harvey, born October 3, 1843; Abram,
mentioned below; William Henry, February
25, 1851; Anna Maria, February 23, 1855;
James Cornell, March 29, i860; Caroline
Louise, May 16, 1866.
(VHI) Abram, second son of John Abra-
ham and Caroline (Conklin) Tallman, was
born May 6, 1846, at Tallman's. He resided
at Englewood, New Jersey, where he was a
carpenter and builder. His early life was
spent on the paternal farm at Tallman's, and
he attended school at Sufifern, New York. In
1862, when sixteen years old, he taught school
for a few months at Tallman's, his first ven-
ture in life on his own account. In 1863 and
1864 he was employed in a photograph gallery
in New York City, but this work proved in-
jurious to his health, and he returned to his
native place and spent six months on the farm.
Following this he was employed for two years
in the shops of the Erie Railroad Company at
Ramapo, where he learned the building trade.
Afterwards he worked as a carpenter in Suf-
fern and Middletown, New York, and Pater-
son, New Jersey, and in 1867 settled in Engle-
wood, New Jersey, where for many years he
was engaged in business as a builder, con-
structing many of the finest residences in the
city. He has always taken an active interest
in the welfare of Englewood and saw it grow
from a village of about fifteen hundred peo-
ple, when he settled there, to nearly two thou-
sand inhabitants in 1913. From 1889 to 1893
he was a member of the township committee,
and was also a member of the citizen's com-
mittee formed in 1895, to promote the move-
ment for the incorporation of the city, and
when this was accomplished in the following
year he was elected a member of the first com-
mon council, and served as chairman of that
body from 1896 to 1898. He was regarded as
a faithful municipal officer, who gave strict
regard to the public interest in the perform-
ance of his duties. Since his retirement from
active business, several years ago, Mr. Tallman
las devoted his attention to the development
of his real estate interests in Englewood, being
the owner of several acres of land, upon which
he has erected a number of houses, and
through which a street has been opened, which
has been named Tallman Place by the Engle-
wood common council in recognition of his
services to the community. He married, Sep-
tember 2-j, 1870, at Englewood, New Jersey,
Maria Zabriskie, born February 26, 1849, near
New Milford, Bergen county. New Jersey,
daughter of William Henry and Effie (De-
marest) Zabriskie, descended from one of the
oldest families of Bergen county. New Jersey
(see Zabriskie VH). Children: Abram Zab-
riskie, born April 3, 1872 ; William, mentioned
below; Margaretta, December 20, 1877; John,
February i, 1885, died April 20, 1893; James
Albert, March 19, 1892.
(IX) William, second child of Abram and
Maria (Zabriskie) Tallman, was born March
3, 1875. in Englewood, New Jersey. He
graduated from the public schools of that
city in 1891. Following this he graduated
from Drake's Business College of Jersey City,
in 1892, and entering the New York Law
School was graduated in 1897 with the de-
gree of LL.B., being admitted to the bar
in the same year in New York City. From
1897 to 1902 he practiced law in New York
City. On November 12, 1912, Mr. Tallman
was appointed by the four judges of the
United States district court for the southern
district of New York in New York City, first
deputy clerk of that court, which position he
now holds. He is also a standing examiner in
equity and has served as special commissioner
in bankruptcy of that court. He is a past mas-
ter and also historian of Tuscan Lodge. No.
115, Free and Accepted Masons, of Engle-
wood ; a thirty-second degree and Royal Arch
Mason, and a member of the Mystic Shrine.
He was one of the organizers of the City Club
of Englewood, of which he is historian, and
has served several times as a member of its
executive committee. He is also a member of
the shade tree committee of the City Club of
Englewood and one of the organizers and sec-
retary and treasurer of the Shade Tree Fed-
eration of New Jersey. In this connection he
has been active in movements leading to the
preservation of shade trees in Englewood.
He married, August 8, 1907, in Whitehall,
New York, Isabelle Jean Sleight, born Janu-
ary 3, 1876, in Dresden, Washington county.
New York, daughter of David and Jean
6io
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
(Stuart) Sleight. David Sleight came from
Northumberlandshire, England, about i860,
and was a prominent farmer of Dresden.
(The Zabriskie Line.)
John Sobieski, John III., king of Poland,
1674-96, was one of the greatest warriors of
the seventeenth century. His father, James
Sobieski, castillion of Cracow, was a man of
virtuous character, and in behalf of his fellow
countrymen he developed a warlike spirit
which secured to him the throne of Poland.
He brought up his sons, Mark and John, born
between 1624 and 1629, with the utmost care,
and they completed their education by travel
and observation in France, England, Germany
and Italy. On the death of their father, in
1648, they were recalled home, and after the
defeat of the Polish army by the Russians in
the battle of Pilawieez, the brothers Sobieski
took up arms to restore the fortunes of their
countrymen, and Mark fell in the battle on
the banks of the Bog. This spurred John to
greater valor, and he became the admiration
of the Poles and the dread of the Tartans and
Cossacks. He received the highest military
rank in the army, and on November 11, 1673,
in the great battle of Choezin, he defeated the
Turks, who left twenty-eight thousand men
dead and wounded on the battlefield. This led
to his unanimous election of king of Poland,
May 21, 1674, and he was crowned at Cracow.
In 1683 the Turks beseiged Vienna, and King
John HI., with twenty thousand Poles, aided
by the German auxiliary, raised the siege by
the victory of September 12, 1683, in which
battle he took the banner of Mohammed and
sent it as a trophy to the pope. His entry into
Vienna was that of a conqueror, and the citi-
zens of the besieged city showed every demon-
stration of joy and thanksgiving their ingenu-
ity could devise or their glad hearts express.
John Sobieski was not only a warrior and
ruler, but a lover of science and a man of
gentle disposition and agreeable manner. His
constant wars did not allow him, however, to
attend to the industrial needs of the citizens at
home, and the want of such fostering care
hastened the downfall of Poland. He died of
apoplexy June 17, 1696. His ancestors had
been for two centuries Palatine nobles of Po-
land and famous soldiers and statesmen. It
is from such ancestors with such records ol
military and executive greatness that the Zab-
riskies of New Jersey and New York are de-
scended, and the cognomen has, through the
German, Holland and English spellings,
evolved from Zobrieski, Saboroweski, So-
brisco, Zabrioski to Zabriskie.
(I) Albert Saboriski, son of a brother of
James Sobieski, and cousin of King John III.,
of Poland, who, like his nephew, was a fa-
mous soldier, was born in Zolkwa, Poland
(or Enghsburg, Prussia), probably in 1638.
He was given a liberal education, being sent
by his father to Amsterdam, Holland, with
the hope that he would enter the ministry, and
he directed his studies to that end for a time,
but the preparation proved distasteful and he
abandoned theology; subsequently he was
pressed into the Prussian army. To fight for
the old enemy of Poland was far more dis-
tasteful, and he determined to seek his for-
tune in the new world and join his friends
who had gone from Upper Palatinate to New-
Amsterdam and made homes there and in New
Jersey. He took passage in the Dutch ship
"D'Vos" (the "Fox"), Captain Jacob Hansz
Huys, at Amsterdam, Holland, August 31,
1662, and landed in New Amsterdam, where
he lived for ten or more years without set-
tling in any one place or engaging in any set-
tled business. We find him in Bergen (now
Jersey City) about the time of his marriage,
which is registered in the books of the Dutch
Reformed church of Bergen, December 17,
1676, and the marriage certificate recorded as
issued January 8, 1677. He married Mach-
telt (Matilda), daughter of Joost Van der
Linde, whose brother, Roloff Van der Linde,
became one of the largest land holders in Ber-
gen. Upon his marriage he took title to a
tract of land, patent 20, 21, 22. In 1682 he
obtained patents from Lady Carteret of sev-
eral adjacent tracts, thus extending his estate
from the Hudson river on the east to the
Hackensack river on the west. The Indians
also bargained with him for land at Tappan,
higher up the river, which, in 1702, he nomin-
ally exchanged for twenty-one hundred acres
owned by the Indians adjoining his original
purchases, and this second purchase became
known as the New Paramus Patent. (See
map of Perth Amboy.) He erected a house
at Old Ackensack (now near Ridgefield Park),
and his eldest sons, Jacob and Jan (John),
and probably all his children, were born there.
He helped to organize the church on the green
at Old Hackensack in 1696, his name appear-
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
6ii
ing on stone in present church wall, and was
the leading member and supporter of that
church for over twenty-five years. He was
also the first justice of the peace of Upper
Bergen county (his original signature appear-
ing on deed held by Wesley Van Emburgh of
Ridgewood, New Jersey), his commission
having been signed by Governor Hamilton in
1682. He died in Hackensack, and is sup-
posed to have been buried there September
II, 171 1, according to the record of the Luth-
eran churches in and about New York, and
his age is stated as between seventy-two and
seventy-three years. His widow, born in 1656,
died in 1725. In the record of his death his
name is written "Albert Saboriski."
Children of Albert and Matilda (Van der
Linde) Saboriski, born in or near Hackensack,
Bergen county. New Jersey: i. Jacob A.,
April 12, 1679. 2. Jan (John), born in Hack-
ensack, about 1682; married (first) Septem-
ber 20, 1706, Elizabeth Cloes Romeyn, of
Gravesend, Long Island, New York, born
1683, died in Hackensack, in 1712; he married
(second) December 6, 1712, Marguaretta du
Rij (Durie), and lived on the old homestead
facing the green alongside the church in Hack-
ensack, which he inherited, and besides being
a farmer he was active in public affairs ; he
had four children by his first wife and nine
by his second. 3. Yost. 4. Christian. 5.
Hendrick. There is a tradition in the family
that Jacob A., eldest son of Albert, was stolen
by the Indian sachem when seven years old and
carried to the Indian village nearby, and that
some time elapsed before his whereabouts be-
came known. As his father was a true friend
to the Indians, the sachem at last disclosed the
secret of taking the child, and he expressed
the wish that he be allowed to keep the boy
until he became versed in the Indian lan-
guage, that he might be able to maintain the
friendship established by the father, and like
him, act as an arbitrator and interpreter in
any trouble that misrht come up between the
Indians and their white neighbors. The boy
consented and when he had returned to his
father's home he had acquired the language,
and his friendship for the Indians was a fixed
principle of his life. The tradition adds that
in consideration of allowing the boy to re-
main, the second erant of Upper Paramus was
secured. The fact, however, remained that
valuable merchandise, wampum and money
was paid the Indians by Albert Saboriski for
the land.
(II) Christian Zabriskie, fourth son of Al-
bert and Machtelt or Matilda (Van der Linde)
Saboriski, was born in Hackensack, Upper
Bergen, New Jersey, was baptized in the
church at Hackensack, Upper Bergen, July 3,
1696, and died 1774. He married, May 28,
1714, Lea Hendricksje Hoope (Hooper). He
lived in Lower Paramus, and was received in
the church at Hackensack, as a member, July
13, 1723, when he appears to have spelled his
name '"Zabbroski." He was probably a far-
mer, as his father had large estates in New
Jersey, which afforded the best of land for
carrying on the business of cultivating the soil,
and in fact the early Hollanders and Palatin-
ates were farmers and both men and women
were accustomed to working in the fields, and
the women universally were the chief depen-
dence in milking and caring for the butter and
cheese. Children of Christian and Lea Hen-
dricksje (Hooper) Zabriskie, born in Lower
Paramus, New Jersey: i. Albert, baptized
September 2, 1716; married, October 26, 1739,
Aeltje, daughter of Abraham and Aeltje
(VanLeer) Ackerman ; her parents removed
from New York City to Bergen, New Jersey,
in 1694, and settled on a large tract of land
lying between the Hackensack and Saddle
rivers in Bergen county. (The chart of the
Zabriskies, prepared by Chandler Zabriskie
gives Tjilletji Ackerman to this Albert ; but the
record of baptism of Jacob, son of Tjilletji,
has the father's name "Albert Hen," and not
"Albert Christ." She must therefore have
been the wife of Albert, son of Henry and
Gertrude H. (Hooper) Zabriskie. 2. Hen-
drick, baptized May 22, 1718. 3. Jacob, bap-
tized January 22, 172 1 ; died young. 4. Jacob,
baptized January 20, 1725 ; married, August
7, 1747, Lena Ackerman. 5. Andries, men-
tioned below.
(HI) Andries (Andrew), fifth son and
youngest child of Christian and Lea Hen-
dricksje (Hooper) Zabriskie, was born in
Lower Paramus. January 3, 1729, according
to records of the Schraalenburg church. He
was a farmer. He married, in 1750, Eliza-
beth Ackerman, of Paramus: i. Christian A.,
born in Paramus, and baptized in the church
there, February 24, 1751. 2. John A., men-
tioned below. 3. Jane, January i, 1761 : mar-
ried Corponas Bogert; children: Cornelius C.
6l2
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
Bogert, Elizabeth Bogert, who married Will-
iam Pell and had six children.
(IV) John A., son of Andrew and EHza-
beth (Ackerman) Zabriskie, was born about
1752 in Lower Paramus, and died in 1824.
He was a farmer, residing on the west side
of the road in what was known as the Flats,
near New Milford, New Jersey. He married
Christina Zabriskie, born November 5, 1752,
died January 13, 1831. They had sons, John
and Henry J.
(V) Henry J., son of John and Christina
Zabriskie, was born January 29, 1787, at the
Flats, where he lived, engaged in farming until
his death, January 7, 1861. He married,
March 9, 181 1, Anna Sickels, born November
15, 1790, died February 18, 1876, daughter of
William N. and Elizabeth Sickels of Sickel-
town, Rockland county. New York. They had
sons, John H. and William Henry.
(VI) William Henry, son of Henry J. and
Anna (Sickels) Zabriskie, was born August
9, 1820, at the Flats, where he lived until his
death, December 6, 1859. He was an exten-
sive dealer in timber and also a farmer. He
married, November 3, 1841, at Schraalenburg,
Effie Demarest, born September 7, 1821, a;
Schraalenburg, died July 2, i860, at the Flats,
daughter of Abraham J. and Rachael (Blau-
velt) Demarest, of Schraalenburg. Children:
Henry, Eliza, Ann, Rachel, Maria. Abraham,
Margareta, Euphemia.
(VII) Maria, third daughter of William
Henry and Effie (Demarest) Zabriskie, born
February 26, 1849, i" New Milford, became the
wife of Abram Tallman (see Tallman VIII).
There were numerous immigrants
PECK of this name in the early days of
Connecticut, and Massachusetts,
and their progeny is now widely scattered
throughout the nation. The first in America
of the line traced below was a direct descend-
ant in the twenty-first generation of John
Peck, of Belton, Yorkshire, England. This
family is often referred to as the "Massachu-
setts Pecks," to distinguish it from descend-
ants of settlers at Hartford and New Haven,
Connecticut. They have been distinguished
for their sound sense and keen business abil-
ity, and are nearly always found in good finan-
cial circumstances.
(I) Joseph Peck was the son of Robert,
born 1546, died 1593, and Helen (Babbs)
Peck, of Beccles, Suffolk county, England,
and was baptized there April 30, 1587. He
settled in Hingham, Norfolk county, England,
and in 1638 he and other Puritans, with his
brother, Robert Peck, their pastor, fled from
the persecutions of the church to this country.
They came in the ship "Diligent," and settled
in Hingham, Massachusetts, where Joseph
Peck received a grant of land in 1638. He
remained there about seven years, and was
justice of the peace, assessor, selectman, repre-
sentative to the general court four terms. In
1641 he became one of the principal purchas-
ers of that tract of land called by them
Seekonk, afterwards incorporated as Reho-
both, and removed there in 1645, ^^''d became
one of its prominent men, as well as one of its
wealthiest. He died December 23, 1663. He
married (first) in Hingham, England, May 21,
1617, Rebecca Clark, who died and was buried
there, October 24, 1637. The name of his
second wife is unknown. The marriage was
probably in another parish, where the records
were not preserved. The records of the town
clerk at Hingham, Massachusetts, show that
"Mr. Joseph Peck, his wife, three sons and
a daughter settled there," so it is known he
married a second time before leaving Eng-
land. His children were : Anna, baptized in
Hingham, England, March 12, 1618, buried
there, July 27, 1636: Rebecca, baptized in
Hingham, May 25, 1620, married
Hubbert; Joseph, August 23, 1623; John, bap-
tized about 1626; Nicholas, mentioned be-
low : Samuel, baptized in Hingham, Massa-
chusetts, February 3, 1639; Nathaniel, Octo-
ber 31, 1641 ; Israel, March 4, 1644.
(II) Nicholas, third son of Joseph Peck,
was baptized April 9. 1630, in Hingham, Eng-
land, and was about eight years of age when
he came with his parents to America. He set-
tled in the southeastern part of Seekonk, and
there died May 27, 1710. He was often one
of the raters, or assessors, and selectmen of
the town. In 1669 he was elected deputy to
the general court, and also served from 1677
to 1690, with exception of 1687-8, when the
town elected no representative. From 1677 to
1684 he is called Ensign Nicholas Peck, later
lieutenant, and finally captain. He married,
about 1655, Mary, eldest daughter of Alexan-
der Winchester. He had a second wife, Re-
becca, who died November 2, 1704. Children:
Joseph, born October 27, 1656: John. August
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
6ii
8, 1660; Hezekiah, April i, 1662; Mary, Sep-
tember 15, 1664; Jonathan, November 5, 1666;
Nicholas, June 6, 1669; Elisha, mentioned be-
low.
(III) Elisha, youngest child of Nicholas
and Mary (Winchester) Peck, was born
April II, 1673, in Rehoboth, and resided for
a time on the homestead there, and subse-
quently in Attleboro, Massachusetts, and
Providence, Rhode Island. He removed from
Rehoboth to Attleboro about 1718. He mar-
ried, December 24, 1703, in Rehoboth, Martha
Lake, "both of Rehoboth." Children:
Martha, died young; Joel, born June i, 1707;
Jerusha, January i, 1709; Eunice, March 12,
171 1 ; Inspection, March 22, 1713; Constan-
tine, mentioned below; Martha, April 8, 1717;
Nicholas, April 30, 1719; Mary, August 31,
1724; Elijah, September 7, 1729. All except
the last two are recorded in Rehoboth, and
the last three in Attleboro.
(IV) Constantine, second son of Elisha and
Martha (Lake) Peck, was born May 26, 171 5,
in Rehoboth, and resided for a time in that
town, later removing to Providence. He mar-
ried Priscilla Peck, of that town. Children :
Joel, born September i, 1735; Susannah, May
13, 1738; Benoni, November 25, 1739; Abra-
ham, May 30, 1742; Inspection, July 6. 1745;
Nicholas, October 2, 1746; Elisha, mentioned
below; Eleazer, March 7, 1750; Martha, Au-
gust 8, 1752; Abiah, December 18, 1755;
Mary, May 19, 1758; Gershom, July 20, 1760;
Anne, January 10, 1762.
(V) Elisha (2), sixth son of Constantine
and Priscilla (Peck) Peck, was born Novem-
ber 25, 1747. He resided for a time in Pro-
vidence; soon after 1773 he settled in Lenox,
Massachusetts, where he was a farmer. He
married, in Providence, March 11, 1773, Free-
love Knight, of Cranston, Rhode Island. No
record of children is available beyond that
furnished by the family records.
(VI) Elisha (3). son of Elisha (2) and
Freelove (Knight) Peck, was bom March 4,
1789, in Lenox, and died in 18.SI. at his resi-
dence on Fourth street. New York City. He
was reared upon the farm, and early in life
went to Berlin, Connecticut, where he became
interested in the manufacture of metal ware.
Later he removed to New York City and there
formed an association with Anson G. Phelps,
under the firm name of Peck & Phelps, for
dealing in metals. He immediately proceeded
to Liverpool, where he opened a foreign
branch of the business and continued four-
teen years. In August, 1830, he returned to
America, bringing with him the machinery for
a rolling mill. Mr. Phelps had already pur-
chased land and a water privilege on Minis-
ceongo creek, in Rockland county. New York,
where they established a rolling mill wire
works and kindred industries. A village
sprang up about these mills, which was named
Samsondale by Mr. Peck, in honor of the ves-
sel which brought him from Liverpool in
1830. Here was manufactured what was
known as the E. P. brand sheet iron, which
had a high reputation among dealers. The
partnership between Messrs. Peck and Phelps
was dissolved and Mr. Peck retained the shops
at Samsondale, while Mr. Phelps took the mer-
cantile business in New York. About this
time Mr. Peck erected a screw factory and
chemical works, where was carried on chiefly
the production of sulphuric acid. In 1833 he
opened a new road, which is now the thor-
oughfare from Minisceongo creek to the rail-
road station at Haverstraw. The new plants
were established on what was known as the
Allison farm, which Mr. Peck purchased for
that purpose, and removed the old mansion,
in whose place he erected a handsome resi-
dence. His eldest son, Shubael, who possessed
an inventive mind and was of much assistance
to his father, was killed by the explosion of
a boiler in a vessel which he was navigating
on the Hudson. After this a younger son,
John Peck, became his father's partner.
About 1842 the industries began to feel the
injurious effects of changes in the tariff, and
the mills were closed. They were reopened
during the civil war and did a prosperous
business for a time, and have since been occu-
pied by various industries. Mr. Peck was a
man of keen foresight and great executive
ability, and became interested in various large
enterprises. He was one of the original pro-
moters of the Somerville & Easton railroad,
and of the Elizabeth & Easton, both of which
became part of the New Jersey Central sys-
tem, in which Mr. Peck was a large stock-
holder and director. At one time he was the
principal owner of the Providence railroad,
which under his direction as president proved
to be one of the most profitable enterprises of
the kind in this section of the L^nion. He was
a director of the Hudson River railroad, and
6i4
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
when he retired from the board resolutions
of regret were passed by his contemporaries.
He was interested in various other industries,
and it is a remarkable fact that none of those
in which he invested ever proved unprofitable.
Mr. Peck was a man of genial nature and
very liberal, and when the Presbyterian church
established at Samsondale, he donated the lot
upon which its house of worship was located,
and also contributed generously in cash to-
ward its completion.
He married, June 30, 1814, Chloe, daughter
of Shubael Pattison, of Berlin, Connecticut.
Children : Shubael, born April 10, 181 5 : Har-
riet, Januarv 22. 1817; John, born No-
vember 12, '1818; Edward, June 3, 1822;
Mary Ann, December 16. 1823. The
youngest son was born in Liverpool, England,
and the youngest daughter in West Darby,
England. The others were born in Berlin,
Connecticut. Of these only the second son
and youngest daughter survived their father.
The latter became the wife of George Gordon.
Alexander Hamilton, dis-
HAMILTON tinguished soldier and
statesman, was born in the
Island of Nevis, West Indies, and was of a
Scotch family. He was instructed under the
tutorship of a Scotch Presbyterian minister,
and in young manhood was in charge of a
mercantile business in his native place. In
1772 friends induced him to go to Boston,
whence he went to Elizabethtown, New
Jersey, where he attended a preparatory
"school, thence entering King's College, New
York, but after two years his education was
interrupted by the occupation of the college
buildings by the British troops. At the open-
ing of difficulties he took an emotional part,
and at the early age of seventeen, voluntarily
ascended a platform in New York City and
delivered a fiery phillipic against British op-
pression. Subsequently he issued a couple of
pamphlets, which were of such force and
literary merit that they marked him as a
revolutionary leader. Early in 1776, when
not nineteen years old, he had command of
an artillery company, which he made the
model of its kind in General Greene's com-
mand. His military behavior in the battles
of Long Island and White Plains brous;ht him
a commission as lieutenant-colonel in the Con-
tinental army, and assignment to the stafi^
of Washington as military secretary. Taking
ofifence at a reproof from his chief, he re-
signed his position and entered the field as
lieutenant-colonel of New York artillery. At
Yorktown he led a successful storming party
upon a redoubt, and was breveted colonel.
He served in the New York assembly and in
congress, and also in the national constitu-
tional convention. When Washington was
elected to the presidency, he made Hamilton
first secretary of the United States Treasury.
Hamilton's services at this period were con-
spicuously useful : he inaugurated a system
of internal revenue, a protective tarifi^. regu-
lated the currency, established navigation
laws and laws regulating the coasting trade,
the post offices and the disposition of public
lands, and procured the purchase of land at
West Point for a military academy. He re-
signed the secretaryship in 1795 and resumed
his law practice in New York City. He main-
tained close relation with Washington, and
was an influential factor in public affairs. In
1798 he was made major general and inspec-
tor general of the army, and the following
year was made commander-in-chief. On July
II, 1804, at Weehawken, New Jersey, he fell
in a duel with Aaron Burr. He married Eli-
zabeth, daughter of General Philip Schuyler,
of Albany.
The origin of this name seems
TELLER uncertain ; it was employed by
the first Dutch immigrant and
has been continually used by his descendants,
among whom have been many conspicuous
and useful citizens in Albany and Kingston,
and all along the Hudson river valley.
(I) William Teller, born 161 6, in Holland,
arrived in the province of New Netherlands,
in the year 1639, and was soon sent to Fort
Orange by Governor Kieft with the rank of
corporal. He was probably a soldier before
his arrival in America, and was made wacht-
meister of the fort at Albany by Governor
Kieft soon after his arrival there. He con-
tinued to reside at Albanv until 1692, except
while on trips to New York, the Delaware
river, and one voyage to Holland. For about
fifty years he was a trader at Albany, whence
he removed to New York in 1692 with his
sons, and died in 1701. In 1656 he was one
of the collectors of taxes, and in 1684 was
made alderman of the first ward of Rensselaer-
SOUTHERN NEW YORK
615
wyck (Albany) upon the first division of that
village into wards. In that year he was also
a justice of the peace. In 1678 he accidentally
killed an Indian woman with a gun which he
was taking from the wall just as she was
entering the door, and was tried for this on
May 6 of that year before the governor and
council and was acquitted. In his will, made
March 9, 1669, proved 1701, he spoke of six
of his nine children as then living, namely:
Andries, Helena, Elizabeth, VVillem, Johannes
and Jannette. It is probable that he had dis-
posed of much of his property before his
death, when the inventory amounted to nine
hundred and ten pounds, ten shillings and
two pence. He was one of the early proprie-
tors of Schenectady in 1662, though probably
never a resident there, and was one of the
patentees mentioned in the first patent of the
town in 1684. His first wife, Margaret Dun-
cassen, died before 1664, in which year he
made a marriage contract with Maria Varleth,
widow of Paulis Schrick. She survived him,
dying in 1702, when an inventory of her estate
was made, amounting to one thousand, two
hundred and seventy-five pounds, twelve shill-
ings and nine pence. She was a daughter of
Casper and Judith Varleth, early residents of
Port Good Hope, Hartford, Connecticut, be-
ing there as early as 1633. Children of first
marriage: Andries, Helena, Maria (Marga-
rette), Ehzabeth, Jacob, William, Johannes (or
John). Children of second wife : Janette (or
Janneke) and Casper.
(II) William (2), third son of William (i)
and Margaret (Duncassen) Teller, was born
in 1657, at Albany, and settled in New York,
where he made his will June 25, 1710. He
married (first) November 19, 1686, Rachel
Kierstead, of New York, daughter of Hans
Kierstead and Sarah Rolffsen, who died before
1705. He received a license, January 19, 1705,
to marry his cousin, Maria Van Tricht. Chil-
dren of first marriage, baptized in New York:
Margarita, August 17, 1687; William, died
young; William, December 25, 1690; Hans (or
John), mentioned below; Margaret, February
2, 1696; Jacobus, died voung; Andries, Janu-
ary 25, 1702; Jacobus, August 29, 1703.
(III) Hans or John, third son of William
(2) and Rachael (Kierstead) Teller, was bap-
tized March 12, 1693, in New York. He mar-
ried (first) April 23, 1719, Catherine Van Til-
burgh, and had sons, baptized in 1720 and
1722. He married (second) before 1728, Au-
lie Vermilyea. Children of second marriage:
Catherine, born 1728, married John Stouten-
burgh; Isaac, born 1730; John, born 1733,
married Margaret Stoutenburgh ; Jacobus,
born 1736; Rachel, born 1741, married Luke
Stoutenburgh; Dr. Abram, born 1744, mar-
ried Margaret Driemer; Cynthia, married
Jacobus Stoutenburgh; Luke, mentioned be-
low.
(IV) Luke, son of John and Aulie (Ver-
milyea) Teller, resided in Dutchess county
and died there. He married Sarah Snedeker,
November 10, 1765, and had ten children,
namely : James, Elizabeth, Sarah, Abram,
Rachel, Catherine, born June 16, 1778; Rich-
ard, John, Auley, Theodora.
(V) James, probably eldest son of Luke and
Sarah (Snedeker) Teller, died young. He
was a farmer and lived a short distance north
of Poughkeepsie, New York. Where the house
stood is still known as Teller's Hill. He mar-
ried, January 6, 1796, Sarah Smith, who died
January 3, 1847. Children: WilHam S. and
Caroline. The latter died at the age of eight
years.
(VT) William Smith, only son of James
and Sarah (Smith) Teller, was born February
24, 1807, and died January 21, 1892, in King-
ston. He and his mother lived in Poughkeep-
sie, where he learned the tanner and currier's
trade. He later joined his brother-in-law in
Newburgh and engaged in the leather busi-
ness for several years, then removed to King-
ston and formed a co-partnership with An-
drew Near, purchasing the Kingston Tannery
of A. H. Bruyn, and for twenty-five years car-
ried on the tanning and leather business. He
was a member of the First Methodist Episco-
pal Church from 1846 until his death and was
an officer of this body. He married (first)
October 27, 1831, Maria Broomfield, born
January 25, 1812, died June 15, 1844. He
married (second) September 17, 1846, Esther
M. Hoyt, born September 15, 1824, died
March 6, 1865